beginner camera recommendations

4 years 6 months ago #671199 by dimtick
i'm looking for some recommendations.  
I live in Cleveland.  For new years eve we had the idea to drive around and take 20 selfies at all the big landmarks.  all we used was a phone and a selfie stick.  It was a fun night but i was disappointed with the photo's and vowed that i would get a camera, tripod and a clue so that next year we would have much better results.

I'm looking for a camera that takes good low light wide angle portrait shots.   i don't want anything that's bulky or difficult to use.  this is just for family use so nothing crazy but at the same time i recognize that you get what you pay for.  my thought is that anything that can handle this specific situation will probably be able to handle all our other needs.




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4 years 6 months ago #671234 by garyrhook
A "better" camera isn't going to help with challenging situations like that. You're extremely back-lit (in your example), and without artificial fill light, you're not going to light up your faces. The camera you use is fundamentally irrelevant.

I'm not sure what I would recommend.... A modest, used DSLR (Nikon D3300, e.g.) and a speedlight would probably be the place to start.


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4 years 6 months ago #671300 by dimtick
Thanks for the reply.
yeah, i'm leaning towards a dslr. from the online research that i've done i was thinking of a sony A6000. i like that it's compact and there seems to be a lot of lens options. it has a built in flash but i don't know if it would be good for low light shots.
any thoughts would be appreciated.


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4 years 6 months ago #672695 by amatula
Do you live near a photo store?
Generally, you can demo in store and you can ask if you can shoot outside; go during early evening when the sun is setting and demo. Check how it feels in your hands (ease of handling and using the camera), how you like the photos, (can ask perhaps if they will load the photos to a USB drive so you can review them too at home -- a store did that for me).

The reason I say that is, I can rave on the ease of holding and using the Canon Rebel SL1 (which I own) and lament that big full-frame cameras feel **big** and very heavy in my hands, but I am petite; so this would not necessarily apply to someone else. We all have personal preferences in that regard, so it is hard to recommend a specific camera.

And the salesman/saleswoman should be able to offer suggestions too.
Personally I would recommend getting a camera with a pop-up flash (which would have been helpful for the photo you took).

You would also want to check on self-timer functionality of the camera (if you want to be in the photos and no one is around to take the photo). Check how that works.

Just some thoughts that came to mind.
Happy looking!

Annie.


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