Just starting out in Photography..... I want a good camera.?

Question

I want a good 35mm camera

and a good digital.

I will probably buy the digital first....

I am willing to spend about $1,000 or so per camera. Or am I wasting my time? Is a good camera quite a bit more than $1000?

I also would like one that will take pics of the moon.

i like to take pics of

nature,

artistic view

close ups

-sometimes i will have jobs on the side of fundraiser events etc... but the pics come out a bit grainy and dark and if i am not really close to take a pic, is there a camera that will help with this?

Answer 1

You can get a really good 35 MM SLR for WAY less than $1000. It would be in your interest to buy the same brand for both so that you can use lenses, since lenses are actually much more important than the actual camera. I would buy a Nikon or a Canon with interchangeable lenses.

Answer 2

Taking pictures of the moon is harder than it looks.  You'll need a long lense.  I have a 300mm lense and even with that the moon is only about 1/5 the height of the picture.  Obviously more would be better.  A full moon is plenty bright, but there's no shadowing for depth perception.  Try aking pictures of every phase of the moon and see what you get.  

To answer your question, if you're going to get both  35mm and a digital, get them so they'll both use the same lenses (like same brand body).   Try to get a full frame digital SLR (biggest sensor) for the best performance.

Answer 3

For 1000 bucks you can buy a very decent digital SLR camera. The experts on this Website can guide you. No need to spend $1000- on a 35mm.

You might want to look at July '08 Consumer Reports at your local library.

Answer 4

Try a Canon S5IS .... it comes with a nice Zoom too and its cool ..

Answer 5

Go SLR! You'll need the speed of the shutter with the applications you mentioned.

For the moon and long-distance photography, you'll need to purchase lenses to go along with the SLR.

The beauty of SLRs is that you can change the lens depending on what you're taking a picture of.

For dark areas, you can buy lenses that have a big aperture so that pics are less likely to come out grainy (lower possible ISO) and dark if you have your settings right.

For the moon, I would still recommend a tripod and a lens at least 200mm or higher. You can also buy an extender for certain lenses that will multiply the zoom optically. I have a Canon Rebel XT with the 70-200mm f/4 lens. I put a 1.4x Extender between the two and the zoom is pretty good.