Choosing a camera (landscape/macro)

[j_smith6]

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>A friend of my dad asked me to help her choosing a camera. The problem is I stopped tracking photography market about a year ago and I'm not very up to date with all the new dSLRs and advanced compact cameras.</p>

<p>All I know right now is that there are quite a lot new cameras (also from sony) and I need your help to choose the right one.</p>

<p>The person who wants to buy a camera is going to use it for landscapes and macro. She wants to make 20*30cm (about A4) size prints. The thing is she hasn't decided yet how much she wants to spend on equipment but she wants either advanced compact or amateur dSLR (to keep the costs low).</p>

<p>I'm a little bit worried about macro&landscapes combination. In that case if she bought SLR she would need two lenses (or converters which would work nice with landscape lens). By "landscape lens" I mean something wide (at least about 28mm on full frame).</p>

<p>I'm totally lost... last time I was helping someone choose camera was when EOS 400D was a really new camera and 450D wasn't available in stores yet.</p>

<p>Any help will be GREATLY appreciated ;) I really want her to buy the right equipment.</p>

[phule]

<p>Not much has actually changed, overall. Costs have gotten a little lower for bodies and companies are issuing a lot of entry-level bodies. </p>

<p>There really is no wrong choice here. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, all offer equally good camera systems for new photographers. I would make sure that your friend spend time holding various cameras before making a decision. </p>

<p>As for DSLR vs advanced compact, well that's a decision only she can make. Cameras like the LX3 or the G10 are really quite good and offer a compelling set of features for a small body but have their limitations.</p>

[bill_tuthill]

What Rob says is generally true, however for macro, Pentax, Olympus, and Canon are the only ones that put depth-of-field preview into their low-end DLSR models. I wouldn't want to do macro without it, or some alternate solution such as DOF bracketing. That said, I think the Canon SX10 or Panasonic FZ28 P&S superzooms would be good choices, avoiding the DSLR commitment. You and your friend did not mention a low-light requirement, which is where P&S models fail.

[jcuknz]

<p>A lot depends on what you mean by 'macro' .. a much abused term. If she really wants to do 'true macro' then she needs a DSLR with extension tubes, for cheapness, or 'macro' lens, if she can afford it. But if she simply wants to take subjects down to a subject size of 38mm across*, or even 19mm** across filling the sensor then the 'Pro-sumer' camera coupled with a close-up lens will suit her the way it has suited me for several years. To take 'tight framied' shots I use the long zoom to get the narrow angle of view from somewhat further away with the close-up lens to overcome the long zoom/lens inability to focus as close as a shorter focal length lens. Typically the 35mm across subject from about a foot away from the subject ... useful if it is a 'nasty' and might try to bite you, or if you have sensibilities about going close to say a spider or slug etc..</p>

<p>I have the DSLR, extension tubes and also bellows and frankly though bought for taking big close-ups and macro it never gets used becuase it is so much easier to work with my x12 zoom pro-sumer and CU lens, normally the 2 dioptre 500mm. It likely would be different if I had invested in a 'macro' lens for the DSLR, but I havn't as yet.<br>

* two dioptre CU lens with a 12x zoom [430mm Angle of View] or ** four dioptre CU lens</p>

[j_smith6]

<p>Thank you all very much.</p>

<p>She decided that she's going to buy an amateur dSLR.</p>

<p>I'm probably going to propose something from canon/olympus (she has used olympus camera before and really liked it).</p>