tom_wren

Thanks for feedback guys. So DSLR seems out of question unless I can find a cheap used one. What about point and shoot? What cameras do you recommend for conditions mentioned above?

PS I've heard about bracketing on digicams and would love to find a camera with this feature. Also, I'm used to working with RAW, so that'd be great, but its not essential.

Thanks in advance for reading all this and responding

 

I am: Tom, 31, on Long Island

My Background: No shooting experience, currently working as photo

retoucher for 3 pro photographers in NY

Wanted: DSLR or point and shoot

Desired Specs: 5-10MP, 2-13 opt zoom

Desired Price:$100-300 (Is this unrealistic for a DSLR?)

 

Note: What follows is my understanding of what I need and how things

work with cameras. Since I have no experience, I presume I am far

off from the truth and hope you will correct my errors. :)

 

So I want to photograph people in my house/studio with no pro

equipmt/lights/backdrops. I'll be using table lamps and spotlights

from Home Depot and solid colored sheets as a backdrop. In addition

to standard portraits, I'm looking to possibly get some portrait

shots of mouths, eyes, hands, etc. This will require being pretty

close or zooming in alot.

 

I heard that its not good to stand closer than 5 feet from the

subject as distortion will occur in the nose and cheek contours. So

I figure I need a high zoom lens. When I tried display models at

the store I was reminded that a camera at 8x optical zoom displays

the subject at pretty much the same distance as the naked eye sees

it. But I want to be able to zoom at least 2x more than what I see

in front of me. Does this mean I need a 16x optical lens (if there

is one)?

 

Since this seems unlikely, I am leaning towards getting a hi res

camera with normal zoom (3x). If the res is high enough 8-12MP,

maybe I can afford to crop to the desired size. i.e. if the image

is a full body shot thats 8Mb in size and I only wanted the eyes

which are, say, 1/16th of the whole pic, then I end up with a 500Kb

cropped image of the eyes. Thats not great since I want to be able

to blow up my pics to up to 16x24.

 

I also heard that some cameras have a higher wide zoom than the

standard (38?) and therefore I presume they will show the subject

closer. Is this true? Which cameras?

 

Please help by:

-correcting errors

-recommending cameras for indoor portraits

-suggesting a resolution to my zoom/size dilemma