Which Cameras

[thorper]

[QUOTE=Aidan;182052]

Originally Posted by jwalker

Also, many SLR's, even the renowned makes, have lenses of poor optical quality in there range and the buyer needs to be aware of this. As a rough guide, if the difference in cost between the body alone and the body + lens is not great, then the lens is likely to be a dog. Although I own one, I recognise that Canon are as guilty of this as any other manufacturer.

Very true - but in the way of all things you can find plenty of good lens reviews on the web which can help your decision. All manufacturers tend to have 2 groups of lens:

Up to £400 (ish) - consumer lenses - some crackers in there, and some lemons
over £700 - pro zoom or speciality lenses - costly but often worth it if you can afford it

It seems to go the same way with the SLR bodies - you get 3fps shooting and a reasonable buffer for under £600. If you want 8fps then you're looking at £2K+. The pro bodies also have much more bits to tweak and fiddle with, and superior autofocus etc.

Its worth having a good trawl through review sites to decide what you want! As people have said, the end image quality is the thing to concentrate on, and as codders pointed out, some of the cheaper cameras can suprise.

[Roy Smith]

I am more confused now than before.
The Local shop says the Nikon is best i like the the Canon but what do i know
The whole point of the camera is for me to take photos from the beach of the kids surfing and water sking. I surpose its suck it and see time.
Thanks for all the coments i never know there was so much to it
Roy

[Alex Brown]

It's worth noting also that fast memory helps with the speed the slr will take pics - I went for the fastest cf card I could get and the camera is always ready to take the next shot before I press the snap button unlike the compact camera which is still thinking about it as you miss the required shot

Here's one of my more productive shots from last year:-

http://files.ribseadrive.co.uk/chevtex_stitch2.jpg

Taken at 70mm on a Tamron lens with UV filter. I was annoyed about the bit of shrubbery in the way, but the rest came out good. I would never expect that sort of quality from my compact camera.

-Alex

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Roy Smith

I am more confused now than before.
The Local shop says the Nikon is best i like the the Canon but what do i know
The whole point of the camera is for me to take photos from the beach of the kids surfing and water sking. I surpose its suck it and see time.
Thanks for all the coments i never know there was so much to it
Roy

Believe me unless you want to spend thousands on lenses an SLR style camera with a fixed big lens is the way to go. The Panasonic is a classic example but there are others of this style. Been there and done it with bag fulls of lenses etc but the sheer convenience of digital is it's main attraction and if you have to buy a load of gear and a few lenses to do the job that convenience rapidly dissapears!!!

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Alex Brown

It's worth noting also that fast memory helps with the speed the slr will take pics - I went for the fastest cf card I could get and the camera is always ready to take the next shot before I press the snap button unlike the compact camera which is still thinking about it as you miss the required shot

Here's one of my more productive shots from last year:-

http://files.ribseadrive.co.uk/chevtex_stitch2.jpg

Taken at 70mm on a Tamron lens with UV filter. I was annoyed about the bit of shrubbery in the way, but the rest came out good. I would never expect that sort of quality from my compact camera.

-Alex

Love Tamron lenses - still use my SP 70-210 on my Canon A1 and T90 - once in a blue moon though!!! Exceptional quality for the price.

Spot on about the memory - it makes a big difference!!!

[Aidan]

Originally Posted by Roy Smith

I am more confused now than before.
The Local shop says the Nikon is best i like the the Canon but what do i know
The whole point of the camera is for me to take photos from the beach of the kids surfing and water sking. I surpose its suck it and see time.
Thanks for all the coments i never know there was so much to it
Roy

The Nikon is as good as the Canon but the Canon have a wider range of lens.
Add to that the Ultra sonic lens from Canon.
You cannot go wrong with either. Is it Digital or Film.
If digital and you do not care which then go with Canon. They have Pictbridge which allows full feature printing from their printers. I think this feature is also available with Sony and Fuji as shared Tech.

So if Digital then I suggest Canon (check out Canon.co.uk)
If Film then both are good.