Hey friends. we have this beautiful little girl in our lives now and she changes every day, i swear. now, i feel an overwhelming need to document all of the little changes. the shape of her chubby cheeks. the rolls in her thighs. the way she sleeps with her arms sticking straight up like you hold your arms if you're getting arrested or scanned at the airport. enter the problem. the problem is our digital camera is crap. now that is me over-reacting, but i am frustrated. every picture i've taken of her lately is blurry b/c the camera can't take close up pictures. but she is little and her details are little, so i MUST get close! Now, i have an SLR camera, but it is from the dark ages of pre-digital photography. now that digital is "it" i find it atrocious to actually develop film and have pictures printed, you know? how did we justify spending so much money on pictures before? so this is a 2 part question that i need everyone's help with. the first part is: what kind of camera do you use? and i only want you to tell me about your camera if you LOVE it, because we've got to get this right on the first try, right? We are shopping. We probably can't afford a new digital SLR (although I confess I covet them). i can't decide to get a bigger digital camera that is a step up from a small point and shoot but a step down from the full-on SLR, or whether to stick with the compact point and shoot and somewhere down the road go for the SLR.
Secondly, do any of you still take film pictures and mail your film somewhere to get it developed where they will scan your negatives so that you can then have digital images from your film camera? Then you can chose what to have printed and not get the whole roll printed if it's not awesome? If such a thing exists (i'm sure it does, i just don't know who/where) i would like to try this, that way i can capture some of these little bitty baby details that i am just itching to photograph with what i have.
Thanks in advance for all the help i trust you are all going to offer (we've got to decide QUICK because whatever we buy has to be ordered ASAP so matt's mom can bring it with her when she comes at the beginning of Feb!!).
(and can anyone tell me why blotter won't let me attach pictures to my post lately? i was going to show you all of my frustratingly blurry pictures!)
Just saw your comment on my blog...I have a Nikon D40. It is on the low end of DSLR's, and I love it, thought it has some limitations with with lenses that have the autofocus function built in. If you want to have more options with lenses in the future it would be worth spending a bit more on the camera body upfront, I wish I had. I got a really nice lens for Christmas but it cost an arm and a leg b/c of this. I would say hands down go with Nikon.
ReplyDeleteKel, I know the SLR's are more expensive, but seriously I think it's worth it to cough up the extra cash and get a DSLR. I have a Canon Rebel XTi and I absolutely love it. It takes amazing photos & the option(s) of adding more lenses, flashes, etc later on are just great. Everyone (seriously, EVERYONE) that I know who buys a point-and-shoot camera are disappointed in one way or another by their camera. The "slowness" of the camera...Basically they miss out on capturing their kiddos cuteness because the camera is just SLOW. They can't recover quick enough to get shot after shot. With a DSLR I can literally take shots in rapid succession and not miss anything. They are so worth it.
ReplyDeleteEven if you can get your hands on a Canon Rebel XT (the earlier version) it would be worth it & probably cheaper. They take great pics as well. I know of at least 2 moms that have them and absolutely love them & the picture quality. Sometimes you can even find these used and in good condition still.
Sorry, I hope this doesn't discourage you. I think you wil be MUCH happier with a DSLR for the long-term, though. Ok, off my soap box I will go!!!
Bob & I just got a DSLR and asked Nate S. to recommend one for us. We got the Canon Rebel T1i. We haven't had time to learn to use the manual settings yet, but the auto settings are giving us amazing pictures. Jessica tried it out and has taken some really great shots. I would highly recommend it. You add different lenses later, but it comes with a really great one to get started. You might ask Nate about it. We had 2 point and shoot cameras, a Sony and a Pentax, neither of which would take very good pictures on a consistent basis. Go with the DSLR!
ReplyDeletekellie, i'm wishing we'd gotten an SLR. Actually, we're contemplating getting one even with incredibly limited finances. I'd bite the bullet and get one and squeeze your budget elsewhere.
ReplyDeletekt and i have sony's dsc-h9. i'm pretty impressed with shots we've both gotten. it's pretty stinkin' fast for a point and shoot and has lots of manual settings. i think it would work beautifully for your situation and will save you a lot of guacamole!
ReplyDeletewait, blee, i think you guys have SLR's not point and shoot's right?
ReplyDeleteKellie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else. You just have to bite the bullet and get the SLR/DSLR whatever you pick. Babies grow into very active toddlers and the pictures with point and shoot cameras only get blurrier! :) I also agree with Sandie, Nate S is the guy to ask. He helped us pick out our Canon XSI and we love it. The only draw back, and it's a super small one, is you loose your abilility to capture video like you can with a point and shoot. So I guess hold onto your point and shoot for the brief video moments. Happy snapping!
We are saving (your brother is desperate ;) for a DSLR. I am able to get some decent shots with our point and shoot occasionally but I have to try REALLY hard. I'm with everybody else...just go for it. As far as capturing little videos, I have seen several people with Flip cameras lately and they are really cool. It has a USB that pops out and you can plug it straight in and pull the video off. They are pretty affordable too. Maybe that can be next on your wish list ;)
ReplyDelete