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First of all, never buy any sony cameras, ever.

Just as a piece of advice, not to sound rude, condescending, anything like that. The simple fact is that their cameras, even up to the "professional" level ones - suck.

For the price you pay for them, you're getting something 1 - 2 steps below what you would get with other cameras from something like canon or nikon. Although I don't like the new canon's coming out, they're still better than sony. But that's a whole nother spiel.


As for your focusing issues and dof problems, you're always going to get that with point and shoots, unless youre buying a really nice one like a lecia, lumix g, stuff like that.

There is a manual focus option, as well as depth of field controls on the DSC-H50, I was just looking through the manual. And I know this to be true because I just realized that my friend has this exact camera as well, it took me a while to figure it out on my own but I managed to do it even without the help of a manual.

On the bottom of the LCD, it lists things like the ISO, NR, shutter speed, dof. You need to select that section and then scroll over to like the dof, and you can change it. Same with shutter speed, exposure, etc. It's kind of weird, I remember it taking me like 2 or 3 minutes just trying to figure that out but you can do it.

Sure you can "fake" it. You can blur the background and edit the crap out of a photo in post... But you need to NOT overdo it. When you try to make something look very different it just looks "off" and weird.

Also, you don't need something like a $50,000 hassleblad and $30,000 worth of lenses. There's reasons for more expensive cameras but don't assume having a more expensive camera = better photos.

I have plenty of friends who have $5,000 - $10,000 cameras and I take better photos than them consistently.

It's not about the camera, although there is a huge difference going from a point and shoot to a SLR. That is something, if you're more serious about photography, you SHOULD do.

You want something decent, but honestly almost any slr will do you better than a PNS now I'm not saying to buy a 5d mk2, or a d700 or something, it's like learning to drive a stick shift in a bugatti veyron.

I've been using a canon rebel xt since well, the first day I started doing digital photography and I still use it today if I'm just going out and doing pictures with friends and just messing around. I've dropped it off the roof of my car while driving (LOL), it's been thrown around, slammed into pretty much everything everywhere and it's beat up, scuffed up all over but it still works. And honestly, if you just bought something like a rebel xt and a 50mm 1.8 lens, you're in pretty good shape if you're doing portraits.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-Rebel-XT-Camera/dp/B0007QKMSC/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1278495361&sr=8-9

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1278495378&sr=8-1

Although I wouldn't buy them from amazon, you can get better deals from pretty much anywhere. People sell Rebel XT's on eBay for ridiculously cheap sometimes, just as an example. It's an old slr, but it can give you really good photos, if you know how to use it.

That's what it all boils down to, you can spend ridiculous amounts of money on gear but that doesn't mean you're a good photographer.

Also, don't pick a camera just because of what someone says, or what your friend or relative has.

Best thing you can do, go to a store, like best buy or something... Go to the cameras, find the SLR's and hold them, take some photos, it doesn't matter if you understand everything.

Look through the menus... Just use it for a bit, find which one YOU like (Just avoid sonys smile lol seriously though, avoid them). If you pick a camera and you're fighting it all the time, you won't have fun taking photos. Find something that you're happy with. Personally I hate nikons and I can't use them, but that's just me. I know people that hate canons and can't use them, that's just them.

Don't shoot on automatic. EVER. Don't use scene modes. Use manual, learn to shoot with that from the START. Learn how to use your shutter speeds and f/stops. If you use automatic, it's just a crutch, same with the stupid scene modes. It will only hinder your growth.

Find what you like, learn to use it well, spend $ wisely, buy what you need.

Well, live and learn. I used to always make the mistake of buying something without actually checking it out thoroughly. Nowadays I do everything from looking at tons of videos of what people say on youtube, I try it out if possible, see if someone has it that I can borrow for a bit, etc. Especially if you're making a more substantial purchase... It's always more wise to do a bit of research before you throw down a hunk of cash.

Olympus Pen's are amazing, if I could only have a point and shoot, I would just buy that. lol

Well with iso the only thing that's going to do is allow you to shoot at different shutter speeds and increase or decrease noise. So... If you're, lets say, shooting just a picture of an ipod on a desk... Ya, you're not going to really see any difference if you keep the exposure the same as you change iso's.

What makes a difference is when you're dealing with moving things. So... What you can do.. If you're REALLY lazy, haha. Is find a video or something thats moving on your computer, could be a video game or something or just a video of cars or whatever on youtube. You can take pictures of that at different shutter speeds however, it's not a great way to do it, but... It's the lazy way.

But if you're just out and about, you can take photos of passing cars or even people walking/running. With faster shutter speeds they're going to basically be still, with slower speeds, like 1/10th, 1/20th of a second things will start to blur.

And depending on your lens or zoom, it might drastically change that.

For instance... If you're using a telephoto and shooting at like 300mm, without IS/VC/VR.. The shutter speeds you need to be shooting at to get a sharp image are going to be at a minimum of 1/300. Any slower and because of the length of the lens, you're going to be getting a blurry image.

But ya, shutter speeds definitely have more to do with things in motion, so if you're just shooting something that's still... You probably won't notice anything.

As for the lens, it's 50mm, so its not exactly a wide angle, but its not a telephoto. What's good about the lens is the aperture of 1.8, so it's a pretty large aperture. Which lets in more light, letting you shoot at faster shutter speeds in lower light but also gives you much nicer dof. The lower the number, the blurrier the backgrounds for instance. If you're shooting at f/16 you're going to have a lot of stuff, even if its far away - in focus.

But more importantly, it's a great lens and its cheap cheap cheap!!!!!! lol when I dropped my camera off the roof of my car a year or two ago I had that lens on it and it was in the middle of the road in a million pieces (Ok, not really... More like 5 or 6), but it didn't bother me that much cause' it was only $80... and I picked up a new one right after. Plus I still managed to make use of my broken lens haha!

eek I'm being paid?!?!?!?!

*runs out to the mailbox to look for checks*

Not today I guess sad

Let me start by saying:
I LOVE MY SONY!!!

2nd: If you want to take professional looking photos, the single most important thing you can do is learn composition and try to convey emotions with your photos.
Most basically, all an SLR does is add to the control you have over creating an image in so far as playing with shutter speeds and depth of field

Cilayin, Kokihi,

I need to disagree with both of you. While Sonys don't do video, they hold their own very well in photo quality and tech specs against both Canon and Nikon.

Canon and Nikon have yet to design an anti shake body for one thing.

If you really want to be fair about it, check the specifications on them here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp

Thanks Pheonix! I was contemplating settling for an older model, but you're right: I don't want to be yearning for some other camera again immediately after I buy one.

Kokihi - I will definitely check out that site when I gather the funds.

Thanks for all your tips and suggestions you three. You've really helped me out.

Uh just a little tid bit of advice, you might want to do some research and check what you're saying before posting stuff like that!!! smile

First of all, canon and nikon don't have "anti-shake" bodies, as you put it. I believe you're talking about IS, the only big companies that do that are pentax, minolta, etc. Canon and nikon do NOT have IS on their bodies. Only IS lenses.

The specifications mean nothing, btw.

Sony's got a LOT of problems with their cameras and the simple fact that sony isn't really a camera company, meaning that not all of their resources are going to cameras and stuff like that and they'll never be as good or better than companies like canon or nikon in terms of quality, price, and features.

And I'm not saying they're BAD cameras (Specifically talking about SLRs, their video cameras are good), it's just for a camera you pay for.. You're not getting your moneys worth especially in the long run. You can get stuff from many other companies that are much better than what sony has to offer for the same price.

And you can't just go by a cameras specs. There's a lot more to it than that. I've had cameras that, on paper, should've been complete, utter crap. But they shot better than $1200 cameras. Specs on a camera almost never mean anything.

For instance..

Do you know what MP are really for and what it means? Most people are like "OMG it has 24mp, I NEED TO BUY IT" but most people never even make full use out of that. I'll probably just make a quick thread on that actually......

And yes, an slr is just a camera that gives you more control and options and yada yada. But in terms of cost, effectiveness and other things like that sony's just never hold up against other companies, and they just never will. Once again, not that they're bad cameras, they're just not worth buying when there's better cameras for the same price and will be better in the long run.

I <3 Pinhole cameras! heart

Gettin a little heated here guys, keep in mind we are speaking of personal preference. Please agree to disagree on this one.