Welcome to Motorhomefacts, we are a thriving motorhome community (Largest in Europe). Why Not JOIN NOW and get instant access to more of the website. It costs nothing to join and only takes a few minutes. We have 200,000 different people visiting our site monthly and this amount of motorhomers in one place guarantees a fast response to any questions you may have. We also have unique facilities not found elsewhere such as our Online Logbook, stopover tracker, Motorhome directory with Ebay type feedback and the largest repository of motorhome campsites reviews found anywhere
Good afternoon all you happy 'snappers'.
Was just wondering if someone could help me with my choices.
I have been contemplating treating myself to a decent camera for a while now but have extremely limited knowledge on the subject. I think its probably all the wonderfull photo,s that have been posted on this forum that set me pondering in the 1st place!
Anyway to cut a long story short, I have recently found myself in a position where I have the the oportunity of a free Nikon Coolpix 500 or if I part with about £100 can upgrade to a Nikon D3100 with 18-55 lens and 4GB card.
I see the P500 has a massive 36X zoom lens making it equivalent to a 22.5- 810mm (sounds great) whereas the D3100 only comes with the standard 18-55 set up but is quite a bit more expensive. I therefore assume there must be other benefits with the latter that are not immediately obvious to a complete novice.
Was wondering if someone could give a little advice, albeit in fairly simple terms that hopefully a total novice would understand.
Have to point out that these are my only choices in this great opportunity.
Thanks
Yes it seems like a compact with a large zoom lens is good value BUT:-
The D3100 SLR lens is much larger diameter giving better quality optics, a larger maximum aperture which lets through more light giving better shots in low light conditions.
Other advantages of SLR's are usually better and faster autofocusing, larger ISO sensitivity range and an optical viewfinder giving a better view of your subject.
The downsides of course are increased size and weight
Trevor
______________________________________________________________ Not all who wander are lost.
Thanks Trevor.
Hadn't realised that the Coolpix is what you would class a 'compact'. Have only seen a picture of both cameras so far and thought it looked very much like a SLR in size and weight. I had wondered if the lens was interchangeable tho!
On that thought, can you get other makes of lenses to fit Nikon if I decided to go with the D3100? I think I read somewhere that their own lenses are very expensive and other types won't fit!?
Obviosly more research needs to be done!
Decisions, decisions!!
Go for a DSLR if you can, OK, 800mm zoom sounds great, but unless you are seriously into sports or wildlife photography it's not required. And at that sort of magnification you will be disappointed with the results and may have problems keeping it steady.
The full SLR will also have manual controls if you want them. Intercangeable lenses should be available, Sigma make good ones.
Thanks Peter.
Had originally been thinking of treating myself to a 2nd hand Canon EOS450 that I know you can get for around £300/£350, then this opportunity recently arose and perhaps I would be silly to pass it up even though I know little about Nikon.
Would anyone care to comment as to whether a Nikon D3100 would be as good a purchase as the Canon? Would it be as user friendly for a novice? I know the Canon has a lot of 'auto' modes that can be overriden if or when you know how.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
France
