Going digital at last!

Though I say so myself, I was quite capable with 35mm film photography, even winning a couple of minor competitions

But somehow, I just never made the change to digital.
When colour transparency film went up to £25 a roll I was also getting a bit fed up with messing about with all the gear, so I sold off the lot; not just cameras & lenses, but the filters, tripods and all the rest of it

That was about 4 or 5 years ago
Over Christmas I saw a leaflet for evening classes at a local college, including beginners photography, and I realised that I wanted to take photographs again

I went to the first session last week, and as I expected, I was OK with the photography, but completely lost with the digital & computer side of things

I have yet to buy a camera, and the problem is the same when you want any kind of new toy, you can go on & on and round & round for ages, but eventually you have to settle on something
I have decided to get a cheap (as these things go) bridge camera; learn on that, and if I find I need anything else I'll cross that bridge when I come to it

After hours spent slaving over hot websites, I've settled on a bundle deal from PC World
Canon Powershot SX 540 HS plus 2 memory cards plus a bag
I've also bought a copy of 'Digital Photography for Seniors'

Any comments?

Re: Going digital at last!

Before making a final decision see what you think of it in the hand. Does it feel comfortable with good hand grip, are the settings easily understood.


found this for you



PROs
Built-in Wireless (Wi-fi)
NFC Connectivity
Image Stabilization
1920 x 1080 Max Video Resolution
Face Detection Focusing
20.0MP - High Resolution Sensor
461k dots LCD Resolution
5.9fps Fast Continuous Shooting
Manual Focusing
Manual Exposure
24mm Wide Angle Lens
1200mm Good Tele Lens
50X Optical Zoom
Remote control with a smartphone



CONs
No Articulating Screen
No External Flash Shoe
No Touch Screen
No Built-in Viewfinder
No RAW Shooting
Max Sensitivity only ISO 3.200
Low Screen Resolution ( 461kdots )
Low Battery Life: 205 shots
Heavy Body: 442
No Environmental Sealing
Slow Lens at Wide: f3.40
Slow Lens at Tele: f6.50




I would worry about the low battery life( spares around £15) get backups, and no proper weather sealing. Also No RAW shooting so you are limited in shooting/editing to JPEG

no auto focus could be a pain in the backside. 1/2000sec max shutter speed is a bit slow for fast moving subjects you want to freeze in frame.

Also I would not limit myself to looking trying one camera have a look at 2/3 others in the price range and check out the specs

Have you looked at this price comparison site

https://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/

As a first entry into digital photography looks ok but that lack weather sealing would worry me

Just one other thing I thought of. You are stuck with one lens so if you wanted to stay indoors and do macro photography for example????

Whereas a DSLR camera will allow interchangble lenses

youtube worth others thoughts

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...black+reviews+

Re: Going digital at last!

I have its smaller brother Canon Sx530 HS £160. Al i could afford at the time. I needed the superzoom for bird photography, but its good for macro and landscape as well.

So cons. It has no viewfinder which i miss, and its a bit small in my hand so ifumble to get to the buttons. (Reynauds disease).

Also in the zoom mode it can be a swine for me to hold steady, but im aiming to get a shoulder pod.

Yours is better spec and you wont have my health problems so i think you will find it a very good easy carried bit of kit.

This is a link to some i took last year, im happy with the results.

http://www.over50sforum.com/showthread.php?t=49298

Re: Going digital at last!

Thanks NOM & REALSPEED

As you might imagine, I looked at lots of possibilities, including CSC/Mirrorless
I had considered a Canon 1300D SLR, but discounted that as it is big & heavy
My Surfing included YouTube

Also looked at similar models by Nikon, Sony, and others, just going round & round in circles. As I said, eventually you have to settle on something

I had also looked at the Canon SX 60 HS - Is it worth the extra?

I am willing to pay to get something worthwhile, the problem is that at my level anything too complicated would be overwhelming, and a waste
I also need to learn the computer side of things, and at my level that will be a job in itself, so let's not try to run before we can walk

Before I buy I'll run it past the lecturer and the other 8 or 9 people on the course, who have cameras covering the range from compact to quite expensive DSLR s
But I must get something soon or I won't be able to participate much

DSLR s seem to be so much bigger & heavier than 35 mm SLR s like my Pentax ME Super. In fact the trend with 35mm SLR s was to try to make them smaller. Now DSLR s are as big as what we used to call large format, like 6x7

It looks like most digital cameras of the type I'm considering have some sort of macro setting. If not, I can just get a supplementary lens/filter

I've got to start somewhere, and a bridge camera of around £300 seems as good a place as any

The slightly frustrating thing is that I got rid of my tripods, filters and a few other things. Ah well, that was what I decided at the time, and you can't turn the clock back

Re: Going digital at last!

Geoff
you have the usual worries most have first time. is the camera too complicated for me?

quote"

I am willing to pay to get something worthwhile, the problem is that at my level anything too complicated would be overwhelming, and a waste" unquote


The simple answer is no not too complicated . Why? because all DSLR cameras have full auto mode which is where you would start from and let the camera do the tech bits

The advantage, and believe me, is to get a camera a little above your expectations , my error several times. then you won't be wanting to upgrade later on and loose a bundle on the existing camera

So you start in full auto mode you may wish to stay in that but you do loose a lot of the features which can be self taught or via classes at a later date


then start experimenting with the others bit by bit such as shutter priority and aperture priority to name just a couple of things. My fault was looking at every feature and thought I could never master all that, but you don't do it that way.

As I said nothing wrong with the one you have eyes on but do consider the alternative again

Pity you don't live near me I would have lent you my Nikon D300 to see how you got on with that

Re: Going digital at last!

Ye s the SX 50 and 60 are better again. They became the choice of birders for a carry around camera as the superzoom allowed good photos without humping all the DSLR gear around. Also a bit more expensive is the Nikon Coolpix P9.

I doubt i will return to a DSLR now, weight alone means i cant carry or support them well.

Re: Going digital at last!

Remember every one in photography has their own ideas, get 10 photographer together and you get 10 different thoughts on what to get.

A camera has to suit what you want and are happy with, Nom and I can only say what suits us

Re: Going digital at last!

Try typing the name of your camera you want into Flickr and search for photos or groups to get an idea of what it can do, and does it match what you want it to do. My oldest camera is a compact Nikon Coolpix 4300, still going certainly outlasted my Canon 5D and 40D and i used that for digiscoping.

However i agree if possible try it in your hand before buying to see how comfortable it is.

Re: Going digital at last!

Good ideas Nom.

https://www.flickr.com/search/groups...on%20powershot

Re: Going digital at last!

Well, I've been Surfing, and still going round & round

I'm not that bothered about RAW as I don't even know yet how to download and file images, yet alone any manipulation
It seems to me that the more features you have, the bigger & heavier your camera gets. So I keep coming back to the Canon 540

My other thought is to go back to the idea I had when I started this - to just get a cheap compact camera to learn the digital stuff, then I could think again about anything more advanced, but with a bit more experience & knowledge
I would keep the compact for backpacking trips

Argos &PC world have the Canon IXUS 185/190 for about £90, and that seems as good as any

Tomorrow I'll go and annoy some shopkeepers, but not get anything till after the class, tomorrow night