Camera: Point & Shoot or DSLR?
I am a graphic design student on a tight budget. I want something that will last long, and is a name I can trust. My basic qualifications are:
Rechargeable Battery
Shoots Video (decent youtube quality)
Under $100usd
Now that last part is not practice for a DSLR..
My question to you guys is in my profession is it practical to get a DSLR now? Get the Point & shoot then later the DSLR?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
There's something called the 2 camera strategy. The perfect camera is owning an SLR and a Point and Shoot. If you are planning on getting both anyways you may want to look into getting the P&S now and the SLR later. Who knows, by the time you get the SLR there may be a new technology out or the same things now for a better price.
here are going to be some determining factors...
1. P&S cameras are basically just for fun until you get into the $250 and up range. THEN you will start getting decent quality.
2. SLRs have the BEST quality for photos and give you the most possibilities. However they are well over your price range. SLRs with video will start with the Nikon D5000 and the Canon T1i. Both around 800 and up. Also the video they film wont have follow focus, so you have to manually focus to keep up with moving subjects.
if you have 550, then you might want to go for a used DSLR. But you won't get the features of newer cameras. Know the differences between a point and shoot and a DSLR. A DsLR camera will give the user a lot of control, but if you intend on using Automatic Mode a lot, go for a point and shoot. if you are going to use Auto Mode mostly but want to try manual modes and learn, maybe a DSLR-like camera like the Canon S5 IS, Panasonic Fz18, or other similar camera is a good bet. You could also ask about entry level DSLR and see what the pros would say, but it might be over your 550 budget.
Depends what you want the camera for... If just for fun memories while at school, coupled with your 'tight budget' then get the compact point & shoot camera. But you'll be limited in choices even for that at under $100. See if you can get the Canon PowerShot A1000 IS for less than list price.
You can't get a DSLR for under $500-600 by the time you pay for the body w/ kit lens, case, extra battery, couple of memory cards. USB memory card reader (and that's leaving off the inexpensive tripod). I'm assuming you already have the computer you'd need to offload your pics to & will use free editing S/W on the Web. Photoshop & its offshoots for post-processing & retouching are also very expensive.
If you are going to use a good camera as part of your design work. Then think of it like an expensive textbook - something that's needed for what you're going to do. Get a part-time job and buy the entry-level DSLR (a Canon XS or a Nikon D40).
I recommend Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8K 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
the cheapest D-SLR will cost at least $800, so I don't know if you should get one, maybe you're better off getting a point and shoot.
Go for point and shoot first and then try for DSLR.
Its my personal opinion.
You can check point and shoot cameras collection here.
http://techfreak.byteicon.com/category/digicams/