What brand of camera is the best?!

[TNH]

I'm wanting to buy a new camera, but I have no clue what brand of camera is the best to buy. Is there a certain brand that is better than others? Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Sony... What brand would you recommend?! There are so many out there!

I currently have a Nikon. I really like it, but I would like to know if there are any better brands out there. I have no clue as to what brand of cameras I should be looking at. Please help!

[Skoropada]

I personally use a Sony A200 and I like it very much, but if you already have Nikon lenses my advice is to stick with Nikon.

All the camera manufacturers provide good cameras with good image quality, chosing diferents compromises in regards of image quality.

Another important thing is to hold the different cameras in your hand in order to see how they feel. Ergonomics is an important part also.

[ceremus]

You say you have a Nikon, is it a Nikon point-and-shoot or a DSLR?
And what are you shopping for? Do you want a(nother) point-and-shoot? A DSLR? A mirrorless interchangable lens camera?

I mean, I can generally recommend Nikon or Canon if you just want a quality DSLR, but if you're just looking for a nice point-and-shoot there are lots of different choices.

[3bayjunkie]

_______Nikon_______

[inkista]

Originally Posted by TNH

...Is there a certain brand that is better than others?

In the general, overall-on-every-point "better" sense? No. There is no certain brand that is better than all the others at everything. If there were, chances are, the other brands wouldn't have survived.

Can a specific brand/system be better for you? Possibly. Depends on what you shoot and how much you have to spend.

At the $150-$200 P&S pricepoint (like your Coolpix S3000), they're pretty much all of a muchness. Pick the one with the features that appeal the most to you and go out and take pics.

But if you're thinking of a new camera, chances are good your current one is frustrating you in some way. So, start by telling us what those frustrations are, how much you have to spend, and what you envision doing with the new camera, and maybe we can nail down some of the specs/models that could help you out.

[RichardTaylor]

@ TNH

This is my reply to a similar question.
==========================

What's the best camera?
(1) It depends on your standards.

(2) Your final publishing needs.

(3) What, where, and in what lighting conditions you are shooting?

This will determine what "features" you need (not want) for the body.
Also what lenses you need.

(4) How are the erganomics for you (it can make a huge difference)?

(5) What is you budget?

(6) What equipment do you have at the moment.

For example I am a Canon shooter and if took the advice:

Originally Posted by 3bayjunkie

_______Nikon_______

It would not be "best" for me as I would be replacing 2 bodies, at least 8 lenses and two flashguns.

Similar would apply to anybody switching sytems.



---------------------------

[TNH]

Originally Posted by Skoropada

I personally use a Sony A200 and I like it very much, but if you already have Nikon lenses my advice is to stick with Nikon.

All the camera manufacturers provide good cameras with good image quality, chosing diferents compromises in regards of image quality.

Another important thing is to hold the different cameras in your hand in order to see how they feel. Ergonomics is an important part also.

Well actually, I don't have any other lenses besides the one on my camera. The one on my camera doesn't come off.
Ok, I was planning on going into a store sometime and checking out all the cameras before I bought one. That's probably a great idea.

Originally Posted by ceremus

You say you have a Nikon, is it a Nikon point-and-shoot or a DSLR?
And what are you shopping for? Do you want a(nother) point-and-shoot? A DSLR? A mirrorless interchangable lens camera?

I mean, I can generally recommend Nikon or Canon if you just want a quality DSLR, but if you're just looking for a nice point-and-shoot there are lots of different choices.

Well... uh... what is the difference between a point-and-shoot and a DSLR? And what is a DSLR...? Sorry, I'm not too smart about cameras. If you tell me what that means, then I can probably answer you questions.

Originally Posted by 3bayjunkie

_______Nikon_______

Well, you got straight to the point! I guess that's what you have?

[RichardTaylor]

DSLRS are cameras that may be configured (at a cost, in $$$ and physical size) to be the almost perfect camera no matter what the shooting situation - mainly becuse of interchangeable lenses.

P&S cameras are very small, sometimes pocketable, general purpose cameras.
Picture results can be good, in good light, or if you are using a tripod.

They can be a bit sluggish to use (they may not be responsive).

I use both styles of cameras.
If I am shooting birds/motor sport or indoor concerts I will be using a DSLR

If I am shooting 'scapes and close ups of flowers etc I will most likely be using my P&S camera.

[TNH]

Originally Posted by inkista

In the general, overall-on-every-point "better" sense? No. There is no certain brand that is better than all the others at everything. If there were, chances are, the other brands wouldn't have survived.

That's true...

Can a specific brand/system be better for you? Possibly. Depends on what you shoot and how much you have to spend.

I mostly take pictures of people, animals, and landscapes.
I want a nice camera, but probably don't want to spend over $500. But if I found one that was just what I want, a little over my price range, I would probably still get it.

At the $150-$200 P&S pricepoint (like your Coolpix S3000), they're pretty much all of a muchness. Pick the one with the features that appeal the most to you and go out and take pics.

But if you're thinking of a new camera, chances are good your current one is frustrating you in some way. So, start by telling us what those frustrations are, how much you have to spend, and what you envision doing with the new camera, and maybe we can nail down some of the specs/models that could help you out.

Yes, my camera is frustrating me. It does basically nothing.
I bought my current camera before I really got interested in photography. I bought it to mainly take pictures at birthday partied, and just for fun. Then I got really interested in photography, and I found out that my camera really can't do much.

The things about it that really frustrate me-

• Most of the time, the pictures are bad quality.
• You can't change the aperture.
• You can't change the shutter speed.
• You can't change the lenses.
• You can't manual focus. The camera just auto-focuses everything for you. Sometimes it focuses on things that I don't want to be in focus.
• The only settings that you can change manually are the flash, ISO, exposure, and macro mode. Those are the only things you can change. The camera automatically does everything else.

I'm not the only one who has complaints about my camera. Here someone talks about what my camera can and can't do.
At the end, he said, "The S3000 is a mediocre camera. There's no way that you can get publishable photos out of this thing, and if you want any advanced features or plan to do any kind of semi-serious photography, this is not the camera for you. But it is passable for its price, and better than its predecessor by a mile. Basically, the S3000 is the kind of camera to keep around for quick, casual snapshots to post on Facebook or Flickr. But even at that, I'm still not sure if it's worthy of a purchase.'

So from a photographer's perspective, my camera is pretty useless. I want a camera that can take good pictures, not just snapshots.

Well, I told you my approximate price range awhile ago. What I would like for a new camera to do is,

• Be able to change the aperture (I think that's called 'aperture priority?')
• Be able to change the shutter speed
• To probably be able to change the lenses.
• And to have more manual controls than what my current camera has, that I listed earlier.

So what cameras would do these things?

[TNH]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

@ TNH

This is my reply to a similar question.
==========================

What's the best camera?
(1) It depends on your standards.

(2) Your final publishing needs.

(3) What, where, and in what lighting conditions you are shooting?

This will determine what "features" you need (not want) for the body.
Also what lenses you need.

(4) How are the erganomics for you (it can make a huge difference)?

(5) What is you budget?

(6) What equipment do you have at the moment.

For example I am a Canon shooter and if took the advice:

Quote:
Originally Posted by 3bayjunkie
_______Nikon_______


It would not be "best" for me as I would be replacing 2 bodies, at least 8 lenses and two flashguns.

Similar would apply to anybody switching sytems.



---------------------------

Thank you for responding! I said in my previous post what my price range is and what I am wanting. I don't have any lenses or equipment that was made specifically for my camera like that. So I can really buy any brand that I would want to. That is a good point, though.