William Porter Photography Profile

What kind of photography do you want to practice? The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is a \"premium\" compact, fixed-lens camera that allows you to control everything. Equally or perhaps even more important, it has a great Leica lens and it can take great photos. It\'s available new for a bit more than $300, but it\'s worth the money. You can learn an awful lot about photography from the LX3. And since the LX5 is about to be released, prices on LX3s might be dropping a wee bit. On the other hand if you are looking for a DSLR, then your choice is fairly simple: Buy a used camera. Check out KEH.com for example, or look at the used offerings on Amazon.com, or BHPhoto.com or Adorama.com. Or visit one of the many brand-specific forums look for a marketplace forum. I use Pentax DSLRs to shoot professionally and I know that there are good bodies available used, in good condition, in the price range you mentioned or perhaps just a little higher. A used K10D would be an ideal camera to learn on, but any model will do: *ist DS or *ist D, K100D, whatever. You will need a lens, of course. If you go with a Pentax body, on your budget, you\'ll probably have to be content with the kit 18-55mm zoom lens, but that\'s okay; it\'s a pretty decent lens and it can certainly teach you a lot, for a long time. You could also look for a used micro-4/3 sensor camera, that is, one of the interchangeable lens cameras made recently by Olympus or Panasonic. Do a little research here. Some of the older models are still available new and can be very inexpensive. The micro-4/3 cameras take different lenses and you can learn about photography on them in much the same way you would with a normal DSLR. But the micro-4/3 cameras are smaller and lighter. Unfortunately they are NOT usually cheaper. Smaller and lighter are the main advantages. I\'m providing a link to the marketplace at pentaxforums.com, because I know you can find an excellent camera there for a very good price. But there are similar forums for Nikon, Canon, Sony. Final note: If you really are interested in learning about photography, consider joining a local camera club. You might even find that the club has its own camera exchange and you can pick up something there. Or if you live in a city with a used camera store, check that out. Good luck. Source Link: PentaxForums.com marketplace forum

1 Answer  |  Asked By: Cici  3

Filters seem, generally speaking, a little less important these days than they used to be. But they are hardly obsolete. A graduated neutral density filter can effectively extend the dynamic range of your DSLR. If you are looking at a scene with a bright sky and some dark landscape below the sky, toning down the sky with a graduated ND filter may allow you to preserve valuable detail in the sky—or the mountains and woods—that you might otherwise lose. If you blow out the sky in capture, you can\'t fix that on your computer. A polarizing filter likewise eliminates reflective highlights that might normally end up as blown areas of your photo. We used to use colored filters to get different effects with black and white film and these are, I think, more or less obsolete; at least I don\'t use them any more. Shooting raw in my DSLR gives me the ability to play with the color channels in post-production any way I like. The key question these days is, does the filter make the capture better, in a way that I can\'t duplicate in post? When the answer is yes, using a filter is a smart choice.

1 Answer  |  Asked By: Aimzz  1

What\'s the best first camera? Very difficult question to answer—hard for you, even harder for anybody else. It\'s difficult in part because, right now, you have quite a few options, and none of them are really bad. For what it\'s worth, the Technical Image Press Assocation (TIPA) in Europe declared the Pentax K-x the best entry-level DSLR. It\'s a choice you should consider. The K-x\'s price is below that of cameras with fewer features. The Pentax K-x has shake reduction (a.k.a. image stabilization) built into the body of the camera so you have its advantages with every lens you use, and you don\'t have to keep paying for it as you buy lenses. It has the best low-light, high-ISO performance in its class, indeed, it comes very close to the much higher-end Nikon D90 in that regard. (See the test results at dxomark.com if you are curious about this.) Unlike the low-end cameras from Nikon and Canon (which are otherwise fine) the build of the Pentax K-x is solid. And it\'s small, which for many new users is a big advantage. Source Link: TIPA 2010: Pentax K-x best DSLR Entry Level Source Link: DxOmark Pentax K-x vs Nikon D90 Source Link: DPReview.com review of Pentax K-x

7 Answers  |  Asked By: Hannarrgghhh  1