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If I move on to a dSLR camera, what am I getting myself into?
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Aloha CNET members,
Happy Friday! I'm back in the saddle again after a week and a half of
vacationing in Hawaii. I'll admit I feel like I'm still on island
time, but can you blame me after chillaxing in paradise? The
pace of life is 10 times slower (conservative guessing) than in
San Francisco, you seldom hear a car horn, people are just more friendly
(not that we San Franciscans aren't), and you just can't beat the great
tropical weather. Boy, just typing this out makes me want to head back
now. But reality hits home and life moves on, so let's get cracking on
this week's topic. Steven O. is thinking about taking the plunge and
moving on to a digital SLR camera, but wants to get the big picture
of what to expect from our members before jumping in head first.
Many members, ranging from beginners to seasoned shutterbugs, came
through for you, Steven, and shared their expertise, recommendations,
and true passion on this topic. We are all very fortunate to have you
all here to contribute. While many people talked about the costs of
equipment being a factor, physical size of dSLRs, importance of
lenses, and many other hardware factors of moving to a dSLR camera,
one particular answer by member bofahs stood out. Bofahs suggested
that while good equipment can't hurt, it's composition, framing, use of
light, and many other artistic aspects that make a photographer, not
the metal box. So please keep this in mind--it is not always about how
great the tool is, as the person behind the tool needs to know how
to use it and use it well, before a masterpiece can be produced.
For starters, I picked out a few member answers in the Q&A section,
but by no means stop at those, as all contributions are invaluable. I
hope this information will prove helpful you. And as always, if you
have any additional information to share, I invite you to join in
and tell all. Thank you, everyone!
Cheers!
- Lee
Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com
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Lee Koo
CNET Community manager
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Last week's question
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If I move on to a dSLR camera, what am I getting myself into?
 My wife's friend recently went on a trip to Yellowstone National Park
in Wyoming and she shared her online photo album with us of her trip.
I was just blown away by the beautiful photos she took! Her
landscape photos, closeups of foliage and flowers, geysers, and rock
structures were just incredible--so full of life with such details and
vivid colors that it made me feel like I was physically there. Now I'm
no shutterbug and only have a point-and-shoot camera that is pretty
decent in taking photos, but seeing these photos of hers got me
seriously thinking of moving on to a bit more sophisticated dSLR
camera, which will allow me to take photos like hers. I know it takes
quite a bit of patience, practice, and a learning curve to take great
photos, but to start, I do need the tools first, right? What do you
recommend I start with? I'm green to dSLR, but I want to know what I
am getting myself into in terms of cost--from the camera to
miscellaneous equipment to get me going. Should I invest in something
basic or middle of the road or go all out? What would you recommend
for a newbie like me. Any tips or advice for someone like me who wants
to get into dSLRs will help out greatly on my decision. Thank you.
-- Submitted by:
Steven O.
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| Check out next week's question: |
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Desktop PC buying advice needed for editing home videos
 Dear fellow members, I need advice on a good computer for editing home
video. I've been using my 8-year-old Gateway desktop (512 MB RAM, 160
GB HD, WinXP SP3, 128 MB GeForce4 MX440 video card, Pentium 4 2.66
GHz) with two big external HDs to convert VHS to DV-AVI and it's worked
fine. But when I move to editing it's too slow to handle the big
20-30GB files and all the special effects in my editing program (Adobe
Premiere Elements 4). I need a dedicated computer just for home video
because converting, copying, and burning to disc for archival purposes
takes so much time. Should I try to upgrade the Gateway or look into a
new and hopefully not too expensive new computer? If the latter, what
specs should I be looking at? And is there any way I can use my old
software, which has been satisfactory? Thanks.
-- Submitted by:
Dennis B.
If you have an answer to this question, click here and click the "reply" to submit your advice, suggestions/opinions, or tips.
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 Community quick poll
Weigh in on this week poll topic! |
What type of camera do you use to take most of your pictures?
(Please click on button to vote)
 Film
Digital SLR
Digital point and shoot
Phone camera
Other (Please specify.)
Vote and
discuss it here!
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