Hi everyone. I'm new in photography. Ok, I only have a point and shoot camera, which is the Sony T70. I want to ask a question is that can I get good pictures using this camera or must a really get a DSLR only I can capture good pictures. Picture is depends on the photographer behind that camera or it depends on the camera? Sorry for asking such a question, but I really wanna know if I can take great pictures using my T70.

yes u can take good photos using T70.
practise with your T70 first and master it before upgrading yourself to DSLR. DSLRs r harder to control.

IMHO,

Theoretically, it depends on the photographer behind the camera to produce good shots.

However,

Practically, you'll need a good camera to shoot nice pictures. In other words, what you pay is what you get. A beginner with a DSLR might not capture nice pictures compared to a Pro with Point & Shoot. But it's just the matter of time before you'll be better compared to a pro who are using a pns camera due to the limitations in point and shoot camera.

Conclusion,

IF you have the money to go for DSLR, go for it.

IF you don't have enough funds, just make full use what you can afford till you are able to afford a better one.

Just go to lowyat.net photo gallery, there you can see what dslr can do, and the different with t70, like macro and etc

Dslr also got auto mode if you still not familiar with all the controls yet, try it first you will never regret that you got a dslr

every camera has it's time and place. there are times, even use DSLR users wish we have compacts.

put it this way la. photographer is the artist. the camera is the tool he uses to create his art.

to the great artist. the better the tool, the better the output. more variety, output also more variety.

give the same tool to a newbie, it still won't come out nice.

a great artist could do wonders with a pencil. a newbie given art set + canvas + paints and whatever still couldn't produce outstanding stuff.

How much is the cheapest beginner DSLR camera available in the market?

I really really wanna take good pictures with my T70 but I don't think I'm good at it. How you guys know how to take picture actually? Someone teach or just practice yourself? I don't know how to see if my picture is good or bad. I don't know how to be consider good lighting, good composition, and good angle. I wanted to get DSLR but its so expensive and I just bought my T70 2 months ago. I hope someone can tach me how to get great pictures with my T70.

Oh ya, and er, can photographers use photoshop? Will it be consider as bad if use photoshop?
Maybe you all can help me see whats wrong with my pictures here..
But mostly all my pictures has been photoshop.

come join us at the bird park gathering lor.

as a DSLR user, I'm still looking for a PnS camera.

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Added on January 14, 2008, 12:53 amoh the question to ask yourself is - WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SHOOT?

this helps a lot in deciding whether you should upgrade.

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Added on January 14, 2008, 12:54 am

nothing wrong at all.

read photography magazines? plenty of tutorial on how to touch up pictures.

just that don't PP (post process) too much la. pictures suppose to turn out as best as you can.

spending many hours on PPing makes you a software expert / image manipulation expert rather than photographer.

I don't have anything in particular. Just anything that comes to my mind but I love to do concept photo. Hmm, I don't like birds. Haha..

I used to have some friends around me who are using PnS camera telling me things like "Hey, I'm using PnS camera and I can produce shots which is better than yours."

My reply to them was, "Show me a picture taken by your Great PnS using Aperture f1.8 and I'll make my DSLR cry"

i like this particular album of mine.
http://www.goldfries.com/inperson/mygaller...5houseyard&n=17

i believe even cameras like yours could do most of the shots.

the key is to understand
1. how your camera works (features and such)
2. how light interacts with your camera

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Added on January 14, 2008, 12:57 am

it's either they're really better than you or they're just don't know what's the difference between camera types.

since u're a noob, instead of jumping straight to dslr, u might as well learn basic manual controls first with your PnS... or get a prosumer.

goldfries: Maybe I should try and take pictures like your garden and see if my camera can produce such great pictures.

Later on, I found out that they are just a bunch of dudes who suffered from "red-eye" disease.

yeah try la.

notice how i play with the composition.

try this too

Improve Your Photos with Rule of Thirds





hehe. will be more red when poisoned by "L" oh wait, people who don't know how to appreciate it won't be poisoned by "L".

motorbike vs bicycle.. winner ?

motorbike if the rider knows how..

or else, bicycle..

run out of petrol then we see who's the winner

Even 1Ds Mark III got auto mode like PnS so any DSLR camera is NEVER HARDER than any PnS but i still say: With DSLR, life is easier cause many things can not do with PnS but DSLR can.

Obviously with T70, you still can learn about the composition but the rest is limited. Of course, it still can do "some" good picture

So if u can afford, go for DSLR. If not, choose any PnS with full manual function such as Canon G9/S5 IS, Panasonic Fz-50/Fz-18 or Fujifilm S5200/S6500/S9600 etc.

After going through 18 posts, I still see no one mention about portability.
I remember reading posts in Dpreview's forum mentioned about how many people downgrade from DSLR to Canon G9 and Powershot series because they get tired of carrying kgs of equipment.

Photographing is no more fun when you lost stamina in the middle of the day. TS, do take portability into consideration.

U can change lens to suit the environment in DSLR...thats the biggest difference between pns camera and dslr.
Therefore u can zoom in and out at a very far distance..depending on ur lens....to capture wide angle image.

U can visit my picture gallery...to see some pics I captured..

I see dSLR can capture a lot of detail and low noise.
That is very important. If there's no detail, it means
its not a good photo even u frame it good.

ahah, i thought this was enough



i guess it wasn't clear. PNS / DC cameras are convenient.

and those who suggested DSLR also did not highlight the COST factor. sure, the initial stage is cheap. body + accessories. later on, it'll be costly if you are inclined to upgrade.

anyway here's what i wrote about DC vs Prosumer vs DSLR
What Type of Digital Camera For Me?

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Added on January 14, 2008, 9:42 am

details can be seen prosumer and compacts too.

noise? if you're going to resize and blow-up print, i don't think noise should be an issue.

check out this discussion. http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/609918

I couldn't find any T70 shots. Below is what T10 can produce:
http://www.dpchallenge.com/camera.php?CAMERA_ID=1616

If someone could produce such images, there's no reason you can't. As I always say, determine the bottle neck before any investment in hardware.

I remember I come across a quote from one of the pro photographer here.



Well, I feel that it's very true. TS might want to learn the technique first before move to DSLR or start up with entry level DSLR will do

Emm... any particular reason you feel so frustrated on the statement I made?

let's not jump the gun that i'm frustrated. i have no reason whatsoever to be frustrated with you in the first place kelvin.

i'm having casual chatter with you. that reply is just to mention i gave a hint about it but wasn't clear.

Mmm, but I see more details with dSLR. But I never check out
expensive PnS. So maybe you're right.
About the noise, I'm pixel peepers...

I remember back when not so many people have digital cameras, my friends always like to borrow my compact. and that also the bulky olympus C2-zoom.

i keep getting praises...... oops sorry, i mean the camera. LOL. 2MP but snaps nicely. nowadays it's used by my mother for her business.

*whatever i don't use, my family get them haha*

I guess I should learn more about the basic photography first. Reason I open this thread is because I have a basic photography class in college and my college only have 3 DSLR and there is quite a lot of student in that class. So, lecturer say those who have DSLR can join and those who don't better not to join. So I asked why cant I use my P&S and he say it is very limited but still, he can teach us composition and angle and lightning and whatever right? I mean, I can learn using my P&S right? Why must I learn using a DSLR, why not P&S?

Since you have 3 DSLRs at your college, spend some time to molesttouch, feel, and play around with it. The good thing is you can learn at their expenses. You don't need to fork out money to buy one just to try it out.

Later on, if you are poisoned kaw kawfeel that you need a DSLR, get it.

For time being, make full use of your PnS + the DSLR. Explore the differences and see which one suits you better.

ouhhh. the thing is your P&S has it's limitations la.

DSLR you would get full controls and it helps facilitate your understanding on managing the finer stuff of the camera that's helpful in photography that's not found in P&S.

One thing for compact, if you go for Nikon P5100 or Canon's G7 or G9 then it has near identical buttons as a dslr. Those straight PnS non prosumer just let you shoot and get all of the buttons for calibration out of the way.

dslr is completely different to pns camera. first thing to know is size of the sensor. this will make dslr picture with pns camera different. but the end result matters.

oh yeah speaking of the G7 / G9, AFAIK they're more like compact prosumers.

From what I'm getting, the first reason that TS enquire is because she wants to attend her college's photography class.
If that class insist of dslr for enlistment to that class than TS better get one if she really wants to get into that class.
For budget dslr, TS could get 2nd hand dslr here at lyn's garage sales or other sites like in ftz.

no sir.

all she wants is just to take good pictures.

Really? I apologized for my misinterpretation. My reply was based on this:



I guess I forgot about TS initial intentions.

Are you in One Academy because you're having the same predicament like my sis.

Lecturer told them to use PnS, not DSLR but there's another sem that they need to use DSLR. Why must they make their students buy 2 cameras if the student originally doesnt have any camera. lol

yeah la. buy camera just to take the class.

well, i think it's good if they can provide the camera la. each student take turn to use lor. 5 camera over 10 - 20 students.

Oh well, maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. LOL

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Added on January 14, 2008, 4:11 pm
This doesn't make sense. What's with a DSLR that S3/S5 doesn't have? Unless the lecturer wants to teach RAW post process flow. These are the people conveying wrong messages to students: You can't take a good photograph without a DSLR, so don't even bother to learn.

My turn to reply...





AS cheap as RM200 also can get... The choices are too wide. Stream line it before you wanna ask for opinion.



Understanding photography is not too easy. I myself have difficulty over it. Some basic techniques probably will help like Theory of Thirds...
Being at the right place right time is another one.

Before go further, dig deep down inside, what actually you want... too many choices will just give you heart attack.

Before going any further, see whether you want to carry a brick with you everytime you go out. If not, how about a pack of playing cards or cigarette is OK.
This will make you choose between PnS and dSLR.

Taking nice pictures... you don't really need GOOD cameras to take good pictures. And good pictures doesn't just boil down to sharpness or color or how close your camera can take. It goes back to the photographer.

Here is a sample taken with Olympus miu400, my so called first PnS camera with 4MP only.


Here is a sample taken with Sony DSC-F828, my first Prosumer camera with 8MP.


And here is a sample taken with Olympus E500, a dSLR camera with 8MP.


So... nothing different. He! He!

PROs for PnS
Light
Small
Easy to use
Cheap

PROs for dSLR
Better control
Better ISO Noise Reduction
Can have different lenses for different for different occasion


And Many more...

yeah, i m looking forward to buy T200 as PnS camera oso, can';t just bring D80 to gathering evytime./...tested T200 macro mode, very impressive , Ocm distance n very clear....

or else will get 795sw if i decided to get my PnS wet n scratch.

DSLR image is technically cleaner due to large image sensor, not because of noise reduction. PnS image sensor and DSLR image sensor is like moon vs earth.

Except the legendary Fuji F31fd

F31d relied on noise reduction

The problem in deciding all started when DSLRs became so cheap that some of them are even cheaper than most prosumers. Take my situation for instance. I'm buying a new camera soon to replace my old compact. The headache all started when I had to choose between an FZ-18 or a D40. For only RM200 extra, I know I can get something that produces far better results compared to something a little bit cheaper. What I didn't really like about the D40 is that being an SLR, it's pretty heavy and cant do as much as a prosumer, but compensates with pure power. Plus, I'm not really sure if my interest will remain long enough to justify purchasing one.

It's a really huge problem having to decide which one is better value for your money. I have to admit, RM1,700 isn't exactly peanuts, so I wouldn't want to buy a prosumer only to be dissatisfied and regret that I didn't sell out that 200 bananas more in the 1st place.

Although D40 is merely RM200 more expensive than FZ-18, but it doesn't give you the same amount of focal length. If you want a similar amount of focal length, you will need additional lens, which could add up to the cost. The cheapest shall be 70-300mm (Sigma or Tamron) - RM600+, and you will have to manual focus. You will need lens with SSM which is more expensive. At the end of the calculation, it's no longer RM200 extra, but maybe RM1200. Besides, D40 will not gives you the anti-shake that comes free with FZ-18. You want anti-shake, you need to buy VR lens, and that's expensive too. At the end of the calculation, it's no longer RM1200 extra, maybe RM2200.

Now the RM200 difference is no longer valid, isn't it?

It's not that difficult to decide after all.

precisely kelvin.

that's the problem when people compare apple to orange. RM 200 difference but do consider what features you're getting.

a D40 with kit lens is great but it's limited. you can't macro / tele without changing lens.

now, the best bang for buck is Sony A200, not Nikon D40 same 2000RM but also got anti-shake in body. That's why just need 600RM+ for longer focal length. With Tamron/Sigma 70-300 u also get macro ability. And i have to say, it's A WAY BETTER than Fz-18 consider IQ, noise control etc.
Yep, it's now 800RM different, but....
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everything are hard to decide

this is out of nowhere, but just my 2 cents.

Photography in a sense is to get creative, so as long that ur P&S camera's have manual controls, it would give u very good pictures as u liked it, but at the same time understanding the limits of ur P&S camera and use it accordingly. Such as during low light photography, u either bring a tripod or live with the noise, but don't let those stop u from taking unexpectedly wonderful photos. Prosumer like canon S & G series, and panasonic FZ series and sony H series will do the job.

The thing about DSLR is that u can get even more creative (due to wide ranges of lenses and flash, but alot $$$ to pay) , and very good image "quality" compare to P&S. And that's really important when u are really serious about ur photos, because sometimes you wouldn't want to regret losing even a bit of quality when u are shooting a "good picture".

I use a prosumer P&S and one of my close fren uses a DSLR. We are jealous of each other at different times because
P&S= better opportunity cos i always bring it around cos its quite small whereas my fren is lazy to bring his DSLR at times.
DSLR= shallow depth of field, wider dynamic range ( both quite essential in most circumstances) and superb image quality.

So in the end it comes down to wat camera suits ur style.
sorry for such a long essay... pls correct me if i am wrg...