# looking for a new camera



## piperknitsRN (Nov 29, 2011)

I need a better camera for bunny pictures. I know nothing about cameras except for "point and shoot", mind you, but the shutter frame takes too long on this camera and I never get the shots I quite want. Plus, lighting in my house is the pits, and it's dark out early now because it's winter here in the US, so natural light is rare. I'd like to get something not too pricey, but something that would capture my bunnies better than the camera I have currently.

Bunny-wise, I have a Holland lop with a very dark chocolate face (with just a little blaze across her forehead) and a NZW, whose eyes glow in the flash...:rollseyes. I need a camera that can capture their expressions and antics better.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


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## OneTwoThree (Nov 29, 2011)

Is there a M mode on your camera?

ETA, just looked it up and there is. Learn how to use the manual mode, or at least Shutter speed priority. I have a $$ camera and the only way it can shoot indoors now is at an ISO of like, 3200, which are ok but not ideal. So a new camera isn't going to help your case unless you are also going to buy a off camera flash and learn how to use that, or a studio lighting set which I assume isn't what you want. 
Actually, I just remembered, I do have a 35mm lens 1.8 that can handle low light fairly well, my ISO is at a more reasonable 800ish-1600ish. You can also set up a pen outside and shoot outside, I've done that a couple times because is is dark pretty much all day here.


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## piperknitsRN (Nov 29, 2011)

As in manual? I'm not sure. Very possible. But to be honest the camera takes lousy pictures in any other mode except auto ;-(


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## OneTwoThree (Nov 29, 2011)

Edited my above post 

The camera takes lousy photos in other modes because you're not telling it what to do  Learning what to do will get you much further than buying a fancier camera which will do the same thing in auto


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## piperknitsRN (Nov 29, 2011)

Ugh... You mean I'm a a actually going to have to learn something about cameras? I'm not very techie that way. Sigh. I just need to hire a professional. (as if.) I'm going to have to loOk the manual up online since I've long since lost it.


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## OneTwoThree (Nov 29, 2011)

LOL. 
here-http://usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/digital_cameras/powershot_a_series/powershot_a540#BrochuresAndManuals

Try shooting in TV, thats your shutter speed priority. It looks like your camera will bump the ISO for you, and the aperature will open up all the way, so all you have to do is set the shutter speed. Trial and error works, spin dials and toggle stuff until you see the numbers change, it'll probably have to be about 40, but 125 is ideal. The higher the better for bunnies


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## piperknitsRN (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks! I'll try some different things with my camera...


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## MikeScone (Nov 29, 2011)

*piperknitsRN wrote: *


> I need a better camera for bunny pictures. I know nothing about cameras except for "point and shoot", mind you, but the shutter frame takes too long on this camera and I never get the shots I quite want. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


 You might want to look at one of the starter DSLRs - I'm most familiar with Nikon, but I'm sure Canon has an equivalent model. 

The Nikon D3100 is their starter SLR, and the D3000 was the earlier version. You can get a new D3100 with the "kit" 18-55mm lens for $599 ($499 as a factory refurb), and Adorama has the D3000 refurb with the same kit lens for $399. While you might find websites with cheaper prices, some of them are scams. Stick with one of the reputable dealers like Adorama, Amazon, Cameta, Berger Brothers, etc.

Any of the starter DSLRs will have the full-auto PhD modes ("Push here, Dummy"), but as you get better and more comfortable they also have the Program, Shutter and Aperture priority modes that more advanced shooters will want. 

If you think you'll be doing a lot of low-light photography, you might want to invest in something like a 35mm f1.8 - but you don't need to do that right away. The D3100 gives very good results up to ISO3200, which is pretty fast, and you can go up to ISO12,800, although you can expect some noise in the pictures at that high ISO. 

The nice thing about getting a starter SLR from either of the major manufacturers is that once you're in their system, you can grow with better lenses or bodies and they'll all work in a familiar way. Any lens you buy for the D3000/3100 will work with any of the better Nikon DSLRs. The reverse is not true, though, which is a drawback in the lower-line Nikon DSLRs, but if you are starting from scratch it isn't an issue - you just buy lenses which have the built-in focus motors, and they'll work with any Nikon DSLR from the D3000 right up to the $8,000 D3s. 

And if none of the numbers attached to that discussion meant anything to you except the ones with dollar signs, check out some of the threads here in the Camera Corner: 

What are those numbers on lenses? About focal lengths, with lots of examples
Spring's here - so is depth of field - about f-stops and such stuff
Photographing Rabbits with Red Eyes - about that, but also flash vs natural light, color balance, and other useful stuff. 
Name your camera - you'll see a number of D3000 owners on this thread
Got a new lens, have some questions - about using a 50mm lens on the D3000 
Fixed length lenses - about fixed (non-zoom) lenses and flash 
I DID IT! - from and to a D5000 user, but the cameras are pretty similar
Dreaming about a new camera - discussing various cameras, including the D3000 
Showing off some spring pix - care of Sasha, the D3000
Nikon D5000 - starts with the D5000, but also discusses the D3000
Nikon D3000 or Canon EOS1000D?
Nikon D7000 - my comments on the Nikon I own


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## piperknitsRN (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks MikeScone!


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## piperknitsRN (Dec 1, 2011)

I looked at cameras at Best Buy today and liked the feel of the Nikon D3100. Any thoughts or comments about this particular camera?


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## piperknitsRN (Dec 1, 2011)

Is B&H a good and reliable company to buy from?


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## MikeScone (Dec 1, 2011)

*piperknitsRN wrote: *


> I looked at cameras at Best Buy today and liked the feel of the Nikon D3100. Any thoughts or comments about this particular camera?


It's a good choice as a first move from the point-and-shoot world. I think you'd like it.

The D3100 is Nikon's starter SLR. It's got the full-Auto and PhD modes a beginner will want, but will also let you use the Program, Shutter and Aperture priority modes that a more advanced photographer will expect (as well as full manual). Any lens you buy for the D3100 can be used on any more advanced Nikon DSLR, so you won't find yourself obsoleted if you decide to get a more capable camera down the road. 

Ken Rockwell has a review of the D3100 on his website, explaining the features and pro's and con's. He says, "The Nikon D3100 is a very competent and ultra-lightweight DSLR. It is small and light, but doesn't feel dinky. It feels like the precision product it is. ... I'd get a D3100 instead of other bigger, heavier and more expensive cameras unless you have a very clear, stated reason that the D3100 won't work for you.... The D3100 becomes my first recommendation for a low-cost, high-performance DSLR"

As a starter DLSR, the D3100 lacks some features the more expensive models have, but you have to ask yourself if you need them at this point (remembering that you can always trade up later on). I have the D7000, which is Nikon's most capable consumer DSLR at this point (just below the professional D700/D3s models), so I'm speaking from that point of view. 
The biggest drawback for me is the limitation on what lenses can be used - but that is mostly because I already have a large collection of lenses. To explain, Nikon lenses come in three basic flavors - those with built-in focus motors (AF-S), those which need a focus motor in the body (AF), and manual lenses which don't autofocus and lack a chip in the lens to feed back information to the camera. 
The D3100 has no focus motor, so it can only autofocus with lenses having internal focus motors, and its exposure meter needs the feedback from the chip in the lens, so it works with autofocus lenses of either type but not manual lenses. 
In contrast, the D90 can meter and autofocus with any autofocus lens, but still needs the chip feedback. 
The D7000 or D300 (and up) models can meter with all three types of lenses and autofocus with either type of AF lens. 
This is a bigger concern if you already had lenses which are incompatible with the D3100, but not being able to use some autofocus lenses might limit your choices to some extent. You can see that in the thread I referenced above about the 55mm f1.8 lens one of our forum members bought for her D5000. 

The autofocus system on more expensive Nikons is better - 39 points in the D7000, or 51 in the D300s, vs. 11 points in the D3100 - and faster and more accurate. Enough to get in your way? Probably not. 
The LCD on the back is smaller than on the D7000 and up systems (320x240 instead of 640x480). Nice, but not a Big Deal.
The D3100 lacks an LCD on top of the camera to read out the camera settings, so you need to use the big LCD on the back, with some (minor) detriment to battery life. I like the camera-top LCD, which appears on the D90 and up models, because it's very convenient to be able to glance down and see how the camera is set - but that does also result in a bigger body. The D7000 weighs about twice as much as the D3100. 
The D3100 doesn't have a number of dedicated buttons which the larger bodies have - most of the functions are still there, but you need to work through menus. This will get in your way more down the road when you start relying on the more advanced functions, but you're probably going to want the better camera by then, anyway. 
The more expensive bodies can shoot at higher ISO's (in lower light, in other words), and would probably provide cleaner images at high ISO settings, but this is a matter of fairly subtle differences compared with older cameras. 
The D3100 can shoot at 3 frames per second in "continuous" mode, while the D7000 is more than twice as fast. But how often do you want to take more than three frames a second? I seldom use the capability. Nice to have when I want it, though. 
On the "nice to have" front, the D3100 has one memory card, while the D7000 (and up) have two, allowing for in-camera backups.
There are other things, but those are the most important in my book. 

The one thing you will notice right away is picture quality. Any DSLR will take noticeably better pictures than a point-and-shoot for one simple reason - DSLRs use image sensors which are _much_ larger than point-and-shoot sensors. In this context, bigger is better every time (in terms of physical size, not megapixels). The small sensors used in point-and-shoots (and cell phones) may have the same number (or more) megapixels than the D3100, but when you cram those megapixels into a tiny chip you simply cannot get as sharp a picture because (a) the pixels tend to smear into each other; and (b) there's a physical limit set by the characteristics of light which limits the size of the smallest spot you can represent - and that limit is several times larger than the tiny pixels in the small sensors.


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## MikeScone (Dec 1, 2011)

*piperknitsRN wrote: *


> Is B&H a good and reliable company to buy from?


I haven't used them, but I've heard of them. They are a "real" camera store, and have been around quite a while. 

If you're thinking of mail ordering, I'd compare with Adorama, Berger Brothers and Amazon.com. I've bought cameras and lenses from all three of them and can recommend them highly.


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## piperknitsRN (Dec 1, 2011)

Wow, thanks Mike! That's totally helpful information for a newbie like myself!


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## Nancy McClelland (Dec 1, 2011)

We have a couple of advanced models from Sony that take fantastic pics but really aren't beginners cameras. We usually use amazon when doing a comparison. Also we do go hit best buy and a few others to see them in the flesh.


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## piperknitsRN (Dec 2, 2011)

I splurged and bought a D3100. While it's a little intimidating for a newbie, it's nice to have the auto features as training wheels before I get to anything more advanced. I still think I'm the lousiest picture taker on the planet, though...


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