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Question: A question about cameras!?
I want to get into Photography!.!.!. i think it will be a good outlet for me!.!.!. a good hobby!.!.!. im not a people person!.!.!. ive always been more of an observer!.!.!. so yea!.!.!. I'd like to see where this goes
here is the camera i saw advertised!.!.!. im just asking if it is a good piece of equipment for the price!.
there is something inparticular im interested in as well!.!.!. the time lapse style of photography!? like how you will have one static person/object in a picture, and the background is all crazy!.!.!.!. like stars going by or headlights going by!.!.!. are neat effects like this possible with digital cameras!?
i dont even have a general knowledge about cameras, different types, uses, anything!.!.!. so keep in mind i am a COMPLETE beginner!.!.!. i wont know the lingo or little photography terms at all!.!.!. certainly dont know what the specs and all the little bells and whistels mean!.!.!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
If possible, take a couple of photography classes before deciding what camera to buy!.
If you can't take classes, you can at least read a couple of books to increase your knowledge before committing to a camera!.
"Hands-On Digital Photography" by George Schaub
"How Digital Photography Works, Second Edition" by Ron White
If you go to http://www!.dpreview!.com and look on the left side of their home page you'll see an Index!. Click on Learn/Glossary to read a list of (and explanation of) terms associated with digital cameras and photography!.
Another good source on-line is http://www!.adorama!.com/airc AIRC is the Adorama Imaging Resource Center and contains a lot of information about digital cameras and photography!.
My personal opinion is that anyone considering photography as a hobby should begin with a 100% manual 35mm film camera like the Pentax K1000 or Minolta SRT-202 or Canon FTb!. By using a camera like one of these you will learn about f-stops and shutter speeds and ISO!. The Owner's Manual for these cameras is sufficient to get you started!. An excellent companion book is "Object & Image: An Introduction To Photography, Third Edition" by George M!. Craven!.
The camera you linked us to is a compact digital camera which is a good camera but with a lot of limitations!. More research by you may lead you to make a different choice!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Coolpix series are really good for outdoor kind of photography!.
In Indoor the flash pictures are okay if taken from a close range- at times over exposure do happens!.
But is is value for money!.
Go ahead buy it!. Will always be happy to recommend a CoolpixWww@QuestionHome@Com
Todays consumer cameras have come a long way!.
However, they still don't have the ability to do what you were implying!.
The amount of megapixels a camera can do in secondary to it's ability!.
Instead of wasting your money on that, and being frustrated in it not doing what you wanted, spend a couple hundred more and get a DSLR with lens combo!. You will be able to do what you stated and more!.
Here is a link off the same page you gave:
http://www!.nikonusa!.com/Find-Your-Nikon/!.!.!.
It is a good entry level to intermediate camera and you will find that your creativity will not have borders!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Well 10 Mp!. means picture quality!. 10 is good for a compact camera!. also 5x Zoom is very good (means how far can you zoom in, like to take a photo of an animal or a person far away, the more the better it is)!. also the screen is pretty big, so you will be able to view the pictures more better! Metal surface, means if somehow it will fall down from a short height it won't take any big damage!. It's an excellent camera to begin with!. You can make nice pictures with it!. About that star and crazy background!. Then no, it's possible in Photoshop!. But you can make the person be clear and the background fuzzy!
I would recommend it!.!.!. And after that when you settle in with photography, you can buy a SLR camera-a proffesional one!
Hope you'll be happy with it!Www@QuestionHome@Com
I don't know if the camera you want will do the things you mentioned like having headlights being blurred from the motion of movement!. This is a simple effect!. You have the camera situated on a tripod and set the camera shutter to a slow speed so that what ever passes in front of the lens is blurred from movement!. Many of the effects you are looking for are found in DSLR cameras and maybe a few of the point and shoot styles!. The Nikon D40 is a good intermediate camera that will do the things you mentioned once you learn how to use all the controls!. A regular film SLR will do the same things!. I bought a D40 and paid with shipping abouy $450!. It is a good camera for what it is for but does have limitations that film cameras don't!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Its a nice camera, but it wont do your time lapse, no fully auto camera will!.
The problem is they will alter the aperture on different frames which throws the depth of field out!. (depth of field is that part of the subject that is in focus from the lens to the horizon)!.
What you need is a camera that has Aperture Priority, so you set the aperture (which fixes the depth of field) and an 'intervalometer' which is a timer to set the time between frames and also records the number of frames it will take in a sequence, heres a link to a site that makes a gizmo that can do that, and a whole lot more,
http://www!.bmumford!.com/photo/camctlr!.ht!.!.!.
They list the supported cameras on their Specification page here;
http://www!.bmumford!.com/photo/spec!.html
ChrisWww@QuestionHome@Com