what kind of camera should I buy?

[ratito921]

what camera would you recommend for someone who might want to turn semi-pro and what lenses are a must have?

how much is too much to pay for a lens? I don't want to get in over my head.

What do you guys think about the nikon d5000 and the d3100? I was looking at the d90 because that's what a few people told me to check out but honestly I guess I don't understand the difference. I have lots of research to do

help!!! I want a new camera

[ratito921]

[vfgarza]

My recommendation for someone just getting started.

1. Camera Brand – The current market for cameras is led by two major players (Canon, Nikon) then you have the other brands like Sony, Pentax, Olympus and Sigma. All are great brands that manufacture great cameras. It can be confusing at first what camera to pick. Most of them make cameras with the same features like HD video. Try to pick a brand based on what your friends are using. The reason I say that is that you could set up a local support network. Also, you can borrow their lenses. I shoot with Sony and I love my camera. My brother has a Nikon D90 and loves it, I have a cosine that shoots with Canon and she loves it. Moral of the story is that whatever you pick you will love. It’s not about the brand it’s about the love of photography.
2. Lenses – My suggestion is to spend your money on good lenses for a couple of reasons. First, you are going to want to show the best picture quality to your subjects. Quality optics (lenses) makes the biggest impact to the image quality. There is a video out on youtube where someone takes a Canon Rebel camera with an L-Lens (Pro Quality) compared to a Canon Pro Camera with a cheap lens. The entry level Rebel with a Pro Lens won every time for image quality. The second reason is that you keep your lenses much longer than you keep a camera so why not start with good quality from the start. A “must have” lens for portraits is a 50mm f1.4 which will run about $250.00. Chances are that your camera will come with a kit lens. These lenses are good to start but you will want to start saving you pennies to replace it with something better. Good lenses are sometimes more expensive than the camera body but are well worth it if you wish to make photography your profession.
3. Resources – Learn as much as you can about the basics of photography. Today’s cameras make it very easy to set them on automatic and just click away. You would be surprised how many people are advertising themselves as portrait photographers and totally rely on the camera to make all the important decisions. You should learn the concept of exposure and composition. Photography meetups are a great learning tool. You can also find plenty of photography books at the library.

Hope this helps you.

[ratito921]

thank you so much!!!! The lenses are what I'm confused about at the moment. Someone said to find a 35mm and someone else told me a 50mm is a must have. So I'm going to start saving now for a 50mm. I really want to make great memories and learning manual is my big goal. *fingers crossed* that I do well and I'm not wasting my time.

[vfgarza]

50mm lenses are fairly affordable and generate very high quality images. You will become a better photographer if you use a fixed lens like the a 50mm.