Whats a good camra to start with if I want to be a photographer in my future?
Well, I want to start out takeing pics of little things.. My puppies, my family, ect.. I have a small budget to work on(At the moment I have 120$) . I want a compact camra, nothing super duper fancy. And Ill need a memory card. The basics. So what kind of camra would be good to start with?
Check craigslist for a used 35mm film SLR, made by (in order of best to worst, imo) Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Canon, or Minolta. If it isn’t made by one of those companies, it will either be out of your price range, or it will be a piece of junk. Make sure the camera has full manual controls and a NON-ZOOM lens, probably a 50mm lens. You can generally find them for around 75 bucks to around 200 bucks. With these cameras, you have to set all of the controls yourself for each shot, so you will need to learn the basics of aperture, shutter speed, and film speed, how those things combine to make an image, and how differences in each one affect the final output. Yes, you will have to buy film and have it developed, but you can get 3 rolls of Kodak BW400CN, which is a black and white film that can be processed at any one hour photo lab for ten bucks, and each roll costs five to seven bucks to be processed, with a set of prints and a CD with scans of your pictures so you can put them on the internet or send them in emails if you so choose.
If you do this, and you get good at operating a fully manual camera, you will be well on your way to being a great photographer someday. I started with a Pentax K1000 and a 50mm non-zoom lens when I was eight, so it is certainly not too hard for a teenager. Just stay away from cameras that have program and scene modes, and stay away from zoom lenses, because zooms teach new photographers bad habits. You should also make sure that the camera you get has a built in light meter that works properly. There are loads and loads of websites out there that have information for beginning photographers, so you can certainly teach yourself, but if there are classes available at your school or the local arts council or community college, they can be a big help as well.
Good luck!
Check with your local school that teaches photography. They usually have to start with a 35 mm SLR with standard zoom lens. You can find good used Nikon and Canon SLRs on craigslist for under $150, many times as low as $50.
Armed with the instruction manual that comes with such cameras and patience you will be making perfect exposures by the second or third roll of film if you follow what the light meter tells you
References :
digiPro
my first camera was a Sony DSC H5.
it’s not a dslr, so it’s not a ‘pro’ camera…
but the quality is amazing and the photos are always super sharp.
i got mine for $99 on ebay…
and they still sell them on there…
they’re one of the cheapest semi-pro cameras you can get.
References :
personal experience
Check craigslist for a used 35mm film SLR, made by (in order of best to worst, imo) Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Canon, or Minolta. If it isn’t made by one of those companies, it will either be out of your price range, or it will be a piece of junk. Make sure the camera has full manual controls and a NON-ZOOM lens, probably a 50mm lens. You can generally find them for around 75 bucks to around 200 bucks. With these cameras, you have to set all of the controls yourself for each shot, so you will need to learn the basics of aperture, shutter speed, and film speed, how those things combine to make an image, and how differences in each one affect the final output. Yes, you will have to buy film and have it developed, but you can get 3 rolls of Kodak BW400CN, which is a black and white film that can be processed at any one hour photo lab for ten bucks, and each roll costs five to seven bucks to be processed, with a set of prints and a CD with scans of your pictures so you can put them on the internet or send them in emails if you so choose.
If you do this, and you get good at operating a fully manual camera, you will be well on your way to being a great photographer someday. I started with a Pentax K1000 and a 50mm non-zoom lens when I was eight, so it is certainly not too hard for a teenager. Just stay away from cameras that have program and scene modes, and stay away from zoom lenses, because zooms teach new photographers bad habits. You should also make sure that the camera you get has a built in light meter that works properly. There are loads and loads of websites out there that have information for beginning photographers, so you can certainly teach yourself, but if there are classes available at your school or the local arts council or community college, they can be a big help as well.
Good luck!
References :