Home Forums Gear Photography Gonna go camera shopping soon, coupla ?s...

Looking to get my wife a new camera for our anniversary.

Looking for some sort of digital fancy camera. I'm clueless, she's not, but I'd like to make it a surprise. She's taken some photography classes and takes pictures for friends (family photo type stuff for Christmas cards). Right now she has nothing. Her pocket camera met an unfortunate end when me and the oldest son crashed the four wheeler last fall.

If you had around $600-$700 to spend and were in my shoes, what would you get?

I would give Joel a call at Camera Land to see what kind of packages he can put together for the budget.

Take a close look at the newly released Nikon D3200 - package deals with a nice zoom for under $700.

The big question is whether or not the user is willing to change lenses or not to get the shots they want. I often suggest one of the superzooms - a 25 to 35x zoom point and shoot of sorts that does everything pretty well, near and far, as long as the light is ok. I had a neighbor that thought they wanted a DSLR and was ready to pull the trigger off of Craigs List until they fully understood the concept of changing (and carrying) lenses to handle different shots. They went and bought a Canon SX40IS (for about $400) instead and have been tickled to death with it. They don't understand, nor do they care about the concept of matching lens to scenarios and conditions. They just know they can grab one package and go and that they are taking better pictures then they ever have with their pocket point and shoot.

Of course if your wife is beyond even that advanced point and shoot conept, that's a different story. Good luck!

I think the first question you need to ask yourself is does she want a digtal single lens reflex camera (DSLR) where she might start out with a basic zoom lens that is good for most situations, and perhaps buy additional lenses later for the camera?? These are usually not compact cameras.

OR, do you think she pretty much wants one camera she can put on automatic and take her pictures in a small package with no thoughts of adding additional lenses in the future?? Many choices in this catagory. Look at the Canon line. There are many that are like mini-DSLR cameras with a lot of control but lack the ability to add lenses. Something like the G12 is excellent. I believe Canon offers a similar grade camera now with a higher meg pix. But here is the G12: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Canon+-...396.p?id=1218237707721&skuId=1218396

An in between camera might be something like the Sony NEX-5 with the 18-55mm lens.

There are so many choices actually.

Until someone has some real time behind the lens it is really tough to know what they'll want or need. Best bet is to buy a basic camera body and lens (brand doesn't matter; I like Nikon, but Canon is just as good in new equipment) that will allow for expansion.

Don't spend too much right out of the gate. You'll be locked in to the equipment choices you made without any experience to guide whether you really need (or want) what you've bought.

You'll be amazed what you can do with one camera body and one lens, even a fixed focal length lens; zooms are nice but, like variable power riflescopes, they're not the be all and end all manufacturers make them out to be.

She definitely wants changeable lenses. I'm thinking I need to turn the shopping to her.

There are many good cameras with interchangeable lenses, but I would suggest you stay with Nikon or Canon. Nothing wrong with many others, but the "big two" have many more lenses and accessories for them -- and their used market (to buy OR sell) is huge.

There are LOTS of (like new) used lenses available for both, and while I would NOT buy a used camera, used lenses are often great buys! Cameras can wear out, lenses wearing out is something that even a hard-shooting pro has a hard time doing.

Multiple places to buy used Canon lenses

Canon itself buys and sells a lot of used (and inspected) lenses HERE, CANON

Oh, one more thing, Bluedreaux -- use that new camera to take some new pictures of your three "clones" to post! Those little guys of yours make me smile!

John

Good thinking! I have Nikon digitals. Probably the biggest reason why is that I had Nikon 35mm and still have lens from them I can use. All of my equipment is better than I am. Look at all the camreas you can find and let her decide what she wants, even if it's wrong!

Take a look at Canon Rebel T2i.

Let her choose her own camera and lens.

Certainly Nikon and Canon make the favorites as has been the case for a long time with DSLR's.

An alternatie that is creating a lot of interest are the Sony DSLRs. In particular the Alpha 55 model. I bought the Alpha 65 just prior to Christmas (to avoid the Christmas rush on new products) and have been quite pleased with it. It was an upgrade from a more basic model I purchased a couple years ago. There is a sufficiently large selection of Sony lenses available for it and the aftermarket folks like Tamaron are finally making stuff with the Sony lens mount.

I looked at buying the Nikon D90 (or better) in hopes of using a bunch of old manual focus lenses I have. But ultimately, I decided that I could not afford the Nikon model that would predictably accept the old lenses and went with Sony which is the old Minolta brand.

She may already have some preferences on brand at this point and the best advice is to let her choose her own stuff.

Canon has a great collection

I missed that first time I read you OP. If she is not clueless, chances are she probably has the exact camera she wants in-mind, or at least has narrowed it down to a few. Now I'm thinking the best advice is to surprise her by letting her pick out her own rig.

If the camera is for her, let her pick it out. You couldget a gift certificate for a camera shop to surprise her with...
Brand suggestion: if you/she already uses a point & shoot of a certain brand (canon, nikon, pentax or sony) I'd suggest staying in the same family - often the menus are quite similar and there is less of a learning curve.
If you have a kodak or something like that, then get to a camera shop and let her check out a few and decide what she likes.

Thanks again guys. I've decided a shopping trip and Nice lunch somewhere will be the safest option. And luckily, the least headache for me...

JPB, I think the boys have us convinced to film our own family Avengers movie next week. They're working on quite the plot. If we can get it sufficiently edited down for length we might YouTube it so we can share with friends and family. I'll let you know.

Bluedreaux,

Excellent!

John