I think I want to buy a camera

I’m looking to spend a part of my tax refund on a new camera, but I don’t know what to get. I have a Samsung pocket-sized point-and-shoot that I like, but the picture quality is somewhat lacking.

Here’s what I think I want:
[ul]
[li]Something that can shoot a subject that is far away and/or moving.[/li][li]A decent depth of field that allows me to bring the subject into sharp focus and blurs the background.[/li][li]Honestly, I don’t even know for sure what all I am wanting. I just want to take better pictures.[/li][/ul]

I figure I have about $500 to spend on a camera body, lens, and needed accessories. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to get?

First - you are looking at used gear. Now that cameras are simply specialized computers, the turnover in technology is the same: bleeding edge is god-awful expensive. Yesterdays bleeding edge is much cheaper.

Have you ever gotten familiar with interchangeable lenses?

This is how you get both portraits and telephoto shots with the same body.

The “subject in sharp focus, fore- and back-grounds blurred” phenomenon is called “bokeh” - and is a function of certain lenses.

The go-to for unlimited potential are the Nikon and Canon high-end DSLR’s.

Minolta tried to crack that market and failed. Sony now uses the same mount system as the old Maxxum line (they bought the rights from Konica-Minolta).

This produces one extreme niche: the Sony A mount (as in Alpha) is the same as the first gen Maxxum/Dynax/Alpha bodies.
As I said, Minolta was gunning for the pro market in 1985 - and they produced some absolutely wonderful glass.
See ebay for Maxxum lenses - there are about a dozen worth a close look.

Be aware that these bodies and lenses are a dead-end market. I do not know if Sony is even going to continue to support the A mount.

But you can get an old Maxxum lens for $100 that will out-perform the new $500 lens.

Also be aware that these lenses were made for film - there is a concept floating around that lenses are somehow specialized for digital photography.
I am sitting here with about 30 pounds of Maxxum lenses and no interest in swapping them, so I have not followed the “film vs digital” lens debate.

If there is a difference, I suspect a few minutes with Photoshop will “fix” just about anything.

And look up:

f stop aka aperture

Shutter speed

“Film” speed (ISO setting on digital)

Bokeh is a function of aperture - and the shutter speed and ISO determine which aperture can be used for any given shot.

Any introductory text on camera operation will cover this.

The little pop-up flash on current bodies are excellent for “fill flash” (short form - when shooting a human face in bright sunlight, use the flash - it gets rid of the shadows caused by eyebrows and nose).

An on-body accessory flash is good - but not until you have at least enough lenses to do 90% of what you’d like.

The old flashes for the Maxxum will not meter correctly on a DSLR - you would need to manually set the flash level. This annoyance makes the old flashes dirt cheap.

And the Maxxum and Sony A bodies use a proprietary flash shoe, just to make it difficult.

And that shoe is a handy way of determining two things:
First, that this “Alpha” body uses the A mount (they also call their E mount bodies “Alpha”).
Secondly - the level of care the body has received. The body comes with covers for both the lens mount and the flash shoe. A careful owner will keep both. A serious owner will have at least the mount cap. Beginners get a body and a lens, connect the two and throw away the caps

If you want a point and shoot for $500 you should probably go for Sony’s RX100 series. There are three versions; the second should fit within that budget and certainly the first will. Just google for reviews. What makes the series great are the big 1 inch sensors and the pictures are remarkable. These are probably the best cameras you can fit in your pocket.

I cast my vote for an older kit of either Nikon or Canon—the most popular names, with lots of good used gear out there and a huge selection of low-end and very-high-end gear available.
If you really think you are going to be serious about photography, you will want to be able to pick up new lenses from time to time.

Your first two bullet points say either “very good zoom lens” or “two prime lenses”

For $500 you ought to be able to get a good used camera with kit lens that will do almost everything you want. Then you can save up for prime lenses.
Note that the zoom lens is always going to be a compromise, not excelling at anything, but taking very good photos nonetheless.

Primes are great because they excel at one thing far better than the zoom ever could. For example, a portrait photographer will likely prefer something like an 85mm or 90mm lens (in 35mm equivalent) with a wide aperture to get that beautiful creamy background.

One final note: if you really want to learn about photography, consider a monthly subscription to Lynda.com. They have hundreds of high quality courses on everything from iPhone photography to studio photography with off-camera flash. They also have hundreds of courses on Lightroom and Photoshop for refining the finished product. It’s well worth the investment.

You need to put some numbers around this requirement, since it’s meaningless by itself. What do you want to take pictures of? Some examples would make this much more clear.

I prefer a point-and-shoot camera, because when I turn it off, the lens collapses into the case and I can stuff it in a pocket. A DSLR, on the other hand, is too bulky to do that. But it takes better pictures and you can swap out the lens. So which do you prefer?

And by the way, at my nephew’s graduation, I was able to zoom in on him sitting among his classmates from 150-200 feet away. Is that what you’re looking for? Much further than that, and you’re going to need a tripod to stabilize a zoomed image.

I’d look at a Canon G series. I’ve got an older g10 and it takes phenomenal pictures.

I like Samsung and like you I needed a new camera to replace my old Kodak digital point and shoot 12mp camera.

After a long search I chose the SAMSUNG NX1100 Black 20.3 MP 3.0" 921K LCD Smart Compact Camera System with 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens.

The lens is removable, but on closer inspection and on other reviews on amazon the standard lens supplied does not have what they call OIS. The pictures are not as crisp s I would like to have them.

The camera was $375 plus tax and 2 day shipping came to $444.00

Now I will have to buy another lens which I wanted anyway to get the stabilized pictures the OIS lens comes with on the Samsung 50-200mm F4.0-5.6 ED OIS II for $269.00.

I’ll get it right yet, but one flaw all digital camera’s have is the screen on the back. Mine is fixed and you can’t see a thing in bright sunlight.

Check this one out: Samsung NX3000 Wireless Smart 20.3MP Compact System Camera with 16-50mm OIS Power Zoom Lens and Flash (White) http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-NX3000-Wireless-Compact-16-50mm/dp/B00K88XMHC/ref=pd_cp_p_1

On sale for $404 don’t forget the UV filter and a shoulder bag and a tripod for more stable pictures.

Good luck and maybe consider an Olympus camera body only for $500 on this rebate check and the lens next payday.

That’s what I should’ve done

I love my Canon Rebel t4i. That’s the entry level DSLR. The kit lens it came with is 18-55mm, which is useful for close-ups and photos of people, not that I take many of them. I also bought a 55-250mm zoom for around $200, which is my default lens. I like to take photos of birds, mostly. Nothing earth-shattering, I’m well aware, but a very fun outdoor hobby.

I always shoot in Aperture Priority mode. And I use the fantastic auto focus feature with image stabilization. It’s great. It’s easy to change the auto-focus point, but I usually have it on automatic. I don’t know the first thing about f stops or ISO or blah blah, and I don’t care.

I’m three years into this hobby now, and am just starting to think about a new lens, maybe a prime. The 250mm zoom I have is almost always wound all the way out, but a longer lens is heavier, obviously, and harder to lug about, set up, etc.

I also do very little in the way of post-processing. I feel like it’s almost like cheating. I crop most pics, and will sometimes adjust sharpness or balance. I have a UV filter, which I sometimes put on when I’m out in glary light, light at midday on the bay. I shoot in jpeg, not RAW, because it’s easier, and they save quicker on the card in the camera.

Around here, you can get a used Rebel body for around $200.

Be aware that all the name brands have different lens mounts for their different bodies - and they are NOT interchangeable.

You can’t buy a cheap body and a bunch of lenses for it and then upgrade the body - the lenses will not fit, and I have never heard of anyone saying anything nice about the various attempts at “adapters” to use a lens on a body it doesn’t fit.

If you are tired of point & shoot, this is a chance to get your feet wet in the world of real cameras (take it to the pit, P&S fans).