Reply to: You utter utter swines!

[SimonMac]

Youtube has some good tips for Canons

Get yourself a remote control, timer, some neutral density filters and a tripod.

Best bit of kit I have is my IR remote control, used it on every Nikon I have owned

[doodab]

Also it depends on what you're photographing

I was quite happy with my fuji slrs except for landscapes where more megapixels should be more noticeable as there is the potential for a lot more detail to be resolved

Well this is true. It also depends how you're viewing them. The thing with detail is that the human perception of it depends on the area under the MTF curve (i.e. contrast at all spatial frequencies) rather than the maximum spatial resolution that's being resolved, and of course to double spatial resolution you need 4x the pixels, and you need to carry that forwards through the whole chain, so if you're ultimately putting an image on a screen or printing smallish picture then having better contrast at lower spatial frequencies is more important than having more pixels.

[Ticktock]

Youtube has some good tips for Canons

Get yourself a remote control, timer, some neutral density filters and a tripod.

Got a wired remote (wireless can only be used from in front), it's got a built in timer, got a tripod, got a few lenses (but shocked at how expensive you can go!), not got filters yet - I got confused by all the different types available. I think I want a polarised filter, if it works like my sunglasses when looking at water, e.g. the sea, cutting out reflection and allowing you to see through the water.

[MicrosoftBob]

Also it depends on what you're photographing

I was quite happy with my fuji slrs except for landscapes where more megapixels should be more noticeable as there is the potential for a lot more detail to be resolved

For portraits I've used a 6 megapixel dslr for years, because quite frankly you don't want high definition shooting at weddings where it could possibly show up inperfections in womens skin and look unflattering. So resolution isn't always a good thing...

For landscapes my old dlsrs could not resolve all that my lenses were capable of, even with a budget modern dslr I can capture more detail, with the tradeoff, I never like Nikon colour balance in camera and have to mess about with white balance whereas with the fuji it looked film like out of the box

[doodab]

That used to be the case and was Fujis excuse for for keeping at 6 megapixels for years, and then everyone else started bringing out DSLRS with more mega pixels and matching their dynamic range

I still love my S2s, S3s and S5s for their film like qualities, but they were a commercial disaster and even Fuji realised they'd lost the war and moved on

Go back ten years and it was more megapixels at the expense of dynamic range, but I think with current technology they have managed to have both

The trade off is still there. Dynamic range has improved massively because of technological advances (gapless microlenses, back illumination sensors, other circuitry getting smaller and so on), but all other things being equal a bigger photosite will always have greater dynamic range. That's ultimately why MF beats FF beats APS-C beats 4/3rds. Of course it also means bigger, heavier, more expensive lenses.

DR is where most of the IQ improvements have come from in newer cameras. Past a certain point that was reached a few years ago there just isn't scope for increased sensor resolution to improve image quality because of lens quality and diffraction limiting. The biggest advances for me have been in high ISO performance, which with IS lenses means you can take hand held photos that were completely impossible 10 years ago. It's that rather than extra megapixels which persuaded me to upgrade last time.

[Churchill]

They can be treated you know.

Oi BigRed! Eek's got a cure for your genital warts!

On a more serious note, I've the years we've spent a small fortune on cameras and still end up reverting to our iPhones.

[eek]

Warts and all!

They can be treated you know.

[Churchill]

Your selfies must be awesome!

Warts and all!

[russell]

Shutter speed, depth of field, differential focussing, proper viewfinder, reducing camera shake

Your selfies must be awesome!

[BigRed]

The cameras on most decent smartphones are pretty good, why do you want to carry a camera around also?

Shutter speed, depth of field, differential focussing, proper viewfinder, reducing camera shake

[BigRed]

Ask any serious tog and they will say the glass makes the most differences of any component

I'd say the photographer makes the most difference

[Paddy]

I recently got a Canon 60D - my first "proper" camera since an old (probably from the '70s) SLR I used when I was a kid.
The main reason I wanted one was after trying to zoom and crop some old pictures taken with compact cameras and phone cameras and seeing the amount of noise and pixellation when zooming in just a small amount.

That and having more control over depth of field, exposure time, etc.
I think I am going to have to find a good book / take a short course to remind me of how to use all of the functionality though.

Youtube has some good tips for Canons

Get yourself a remote control, timer, some neutral density filters and a tripod.

[Ticktock]

The cameras on most decent smartphones are pretty good, why do you want to carry a camera around also?

I recently got a Canon 60D - my first "proper" camera since an old (probably from the '70s) SLR I used when I was a kid.
The main reason I wanted one was after trying to zoom and crop some old pictures taken with compact cameras and phone cameras and seeing the amount of noise and pixellation when zooming in just a small amount.

That and having more control over depth of field, exposure time, etc.
I think I am going to have to find a good book / take a short course to remind me of how to use all of the functionality though.

[russell]

The cameras on most decent smartphones are pretty good, why do you want to carry a camera around also?

[doodab]

I've yet to see any DSLR system where the standard 50mm f1.8 isn't better than the kit lens they supply with the DSLR (Although arguably on non full frame a 35mm would make more sense because of the crop factor) and would not cost any more and provide a better learning experience for a begineer

I still use a 50mm as a portrait lens, they're always sharp with good bokeh, and just as important very lightweight and make you look like an amateur....which is useful sometimes

Yeah, I have an 85/1.8 for the same reason. I got rid of the rest of my short primes after I bought the 17-40L though. I just didn't use them.