There are two kinds of photography class. One teaches you how to use your camera, so at a minimum you need a camera that lets you set f-stop and shutter speed. The other is more about how to aim the camera; in other words it’s more about composition, lighting, and other factors but not necessarily about the workings of the camera.
The first college-level photography class I took was at what is now called the College for Creative Studies in Detroit (in 1980). For each class previously, the required camera was an ultra-basic $5 camera with a plastic bubble lens and three f-stops (or was it three shutter speeds?). Regardless, the idea was that it’s not the equipment that makes the picture, it’s the photographer. Unfortunately in 1980 the cameras were no longer available. I saw one the other day in a trendy store, probably an exact reproduction of those old things, but it was something like $60.
It’s true, the equipment doesn’t make the photograph, or art. But better equipment will enable you to take faster pictures, or in lower light, or without a tripod, or with a focal length you choose, etc.
However, if you’re taking something that calls itself a photography “class,” you owe it to yourself to at least learn about f-stops and shutter speeds, even if they don’t cover it in the class. I highly recommend getting a camera that has controls for these, preferrably on the outside of the camera without having to go through menus, but this may up the price.
Whether you want to deal with film is another story. It is swiftly on its way out except as a fine art medium, so enjoy it if you want to play with chemicals and darkrooms, but I don’t miss it at all. Photoshop (or similar) requires requires a lot less equipment, a dedicated room, etc., and is a lot cheaper. Plus I got allergic reactions to the b&w print chemistry. If you want to learn photography to make money with it someday, you definitely want to be digital.
For manual controls, I’d get one of these, the Canon G7 or G9. I might just get one of those myself if my little camera dies soon.
What you don’t need:
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12 megapixels – That’s excessive. 4-6 is plenty, unless you want to make poster prints. 8 is enough for almost everybody, which allows you to make poster prints with cropping. Remember, they’re just cramming more and more pixels onto an image-capture chip (CCD or CMOS) that isn’t getting any bigger, which meahs the pixels keep getting smaller, which generally means they need more light to do a good job.
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Digital zoom – Just ignore it. All it does is zoom in on a smaller number of pixels, giving you a lower-quality picture. You could do the same with Photoshop (or similar software), and probably with better quality.
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Internal memory – Again just ignore it, and don’t pay extra. 64 MB is probably about 40 pictures or less at the camera’s fine setting, which is all you should ever use. Memory cards are cheap and you’ll need at least one anyway.
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ISO settings over 800 – Pictures taken at ISO 800 on point-and-shoot digitals usually look pretty bad. 200 or higher on my Casio. 800 and higher is usually a joke so don’t worry about it. Most of your pictures will be taken at the lowest ISO settings anyway.
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“LCD viewfinder” – This is their way of saying “no optical viewfinder.” Most of the smaller cameras today don’t have optical viewfinders. That is, you have to use the LCD to see where you’re pointing. Problem is, in bright sun you often can’t. See that is. It’s also a problem in very dark settings, where the LCD may be way too bright, and annoying to people around you as well as hard to use. Try to find a camera with an optical viewfinder. One way to tell if it’s there is by looking for the little window on the front of the camera, but there are also little windows for light sensors & things so be careful.
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“TV docking station (not included)” – Sounds like you may need an additional accessory to download video in HD. I’d read up on that.
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The Kodak brand name – Kodak makes top-end professional image sensors and camera backs, and low-end consumer cameras. They generally don’t cover the area in between. Companies like Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Sony and the other major camera companies are much better in this space.
Stuff you should want:
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Good optics – A good picture starts with a good lens. Read up on your chosen camera at review sites like Steves-digicams.com to see how they compare with other lenses. You don’t have to read the whole review, I usually just skip to the “Conclusion” until I’ve narrowed to a handful of models.
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Good image sensor – Little cameras have tiny image sensors. Though they can do a very good job, some do it much better than others. Again check the reviews. Bigger cameras generally have bigger sensors, which relates to the question about big lenses (see below).
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Quick speeds – As Maestro8 mentioned above, make sure your camera isn’t sluggish. John Childs and I used to own the same Casio camera. It was a great model, but was very slow with startup and shot-to-shot. Frustrating on the trail! We both have faster ones now. I use my “little camera” for trail rides and otherwise when I don’t want to lug the big one plus lenses, flash, etc. I need to be able to whip it out and catch a picture quickly. It starts up pretty fast, but is still a little sluggish between shots. Burst mode (like a motor drive) is only something you’ll need if you shoot sports or other moving objects. You can definitely live without it.
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More than enough card and battery to last you – The plus side of AA batteries is you can always buy new ones if you have to. But you’ll save lots of money if you buy two or more sets of rechargeables and take the charger on trips with you. Lithium AAs also last a really long time. That said, both of my current cameras use proprietary lithium batteries. My Casio’s tiny battery will go all day just fine. But I never go anywhere without the second battery (which I ordered separately) and the charger. The same applies to memory cards. At today’s prices, anything less than 1GB is a joke. I recommend always having an extra card with you as well. You never know when you’re going to need it!
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Software that doesn’t suck – Assume that whatever comes with the camera will suck, because almost all of it does. The camera (and printer!) companies are not in the software business, and it shows. Use Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements, or something made to work with digital images, and what you learn will be transferable to any camera or digital image you need to work on. I use Photoshop, and a product called Iview MediaPro (now Microsoft Expression Media) to keep track of my 50,000 or so photos. I might be switching to Adobe Lightroom in the future.
There are two different answers to that:
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Guys who “look” pro because they carry around cameras with huge lenses, generally in the form of long lenses. Usually they are carrying much more telephoto than they can use much of the time, because they bought it. They don’t necessarily know how to use their cameras but the could afford to buy it. Their equivalent has $4000 mountain bikes on the trails but no riding skills. Pity them. They probably work all the time so they don’t have a chance to practice photography or riding.
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Actual pros. As mentioned above, you need big glass to let in lots of light. Where their lens can zoom to 300mm at f-2.8, your point-and-shoot probably starts around f-4 at its widest focal length and then goes to f-5.6 when you zoom in. You just can’t shoot in a gym without a flash or three times as much light, while they can still stop the action.
That’s not just the $2000+ lens, it’s also their image sensor. The “Pro” level digital SLRs cost a lot more because they have “full frame” image sensors. That means the sensor is the same size as the frame of an old piece of 35mm film. That’s about 10 times the area in a small camera’s image sensor. They are much more light sensitive. My Canon 20D has a sensor about 2/3 the size of a full-frame one. It’s better, but someday I’ll have the big one, and the f-2.8 lens so I can shoot unicycle Freestyle in the gym without a flash!
Sorry, that was long. I should teach photogrphy (or at least camera-buying) classes. Hope that was useful. If you really want to learn photography, get a camera with manual controls and learn how to use them. And have fun! And BTW, if making videos is your real priority, get a video camera. There’s no comparison.
