Can I use these for portraits??

[rhoraq]

I'm new to photography and I have an Olympus c-5050 zoom and a Sony A350. I'm interested in mainly portrait & family photography. But the only thing I notice with my Olympus is that I don't receive those crisp really sharp focused pictures (they're more on the soft side even when I adjust the aperture and shutter speed) that I see with other portrait photographers. And was wondering can I get this with either my Olympus or Sony? B/c a few other professionals said the Olympus was more a point and shoot camera. And the Sony I haven't been able to use yet (my mother has it still). I hope someone can help me b/c I'm torn btwn getting a new camera or just working with what I have, but of course I want crisp images so I can get some good word around about my photography. Please help!

[DonSchap]

Originally Posted by rhoraq

I'm new to photography and I have an Olympus c-5050 zoom and a Sony A350. I'm interested in mainly portrait & family photography. But the only thing I notice with my Olympus is that I don't receive those crisp really sharp focused pictures (they're more on the soft side even when I adjust the aperture and shutter speed) that I see with other portrait photographers. And was wondering can I get this with either my Olympus or Sony? B/c a few other professionals said the Olympus was more a point and shoot camera. And the Sony I haven't been able to use yet (my mother has it still). I hope someone can help me b/c I'm torn btwn getting a new camera or just working with what I have, but of course I want crisp images so I can get some good word around about my photography. Please help!

'rhoraq' ... as a new DSLR user, you really need to consider taking time to read through a book or two on exposure. Bryan Peterson has a few, but the one I would recommend would be this -> Understanding Exposure (<- click on this)

Honestly, if you read this book, you will be able to appreciate ANY DSLR you use, rather than asking a question like this. This man has gone to a lot of trouble to create a self-teaching guide to have YOU produce better images.

My advice is to go with the "knowledge first" aspect, before you start throwing real money at your photographic solution.

Good luck and read up!