Should I just go for a new Camera?

Hello! I have the same dilema!

I use a regular digital camera, for close ups, make sure you turn on 'macro' (little flower symbol - much like from Super Mario games)

I am thinking about buying a Canon (no idea what exact model lol) Digital SLR. They are very expensive, but the photos I have seen that other people have taken, they blow me away! They look amazing!

I find that my photos are FAR less blurry when there is more light. Being outside with natural light is truly the best for me. (I don't like flash either) depends on the look you want to achieve

I think a good camera would be a great investment, it will show your dolls off so much better

~Sarah V

 

Good idea! I find that the people who work in the camera shops etc, are really helpful even take a doll with you, see if you can have a play Also, (this makes me feel better about not having an amazing camera) - the longer you wait, the better the cameras get!
~Sarah V

 

i have a nikon cool pix 4.0 mega pixels and 3x optical zoom, with the flash broken. it is actually my dads crappy old camera i fixed so that i could use, because my old ones screen went out for the second time... the best things that have worked for me are 1 MACRO trust me it is amazing and 2 a tripod. because even though i get some pretty crappy pictures i have got some amazing shots. oh and photoshop, it is the best thing in the world!

 

Actually, your comment about your first shot is a little off. Are you shooting inside mostly? With normal house lights (ceiling, desk, table lamps)? Even WITH my SLR, I can't shoot hand held with a light in my doll's face without getting some blur. It wouldn't be that bad, but I don't have very shaky hands as long as I concentrate. xD

Nothing really seems to be wrong with pictures two and three other than a white balance issue and it being slightly blurry. If getting blurry pictures is the main issue, I'd suggest getting a tripod. I've waited years to get one and have been beating myself ever since I got it. It's a much cheaper investment than a new camera and there's no learning curve.

(This may sounds a little weird and maybe a little condescending, but PLEASE don't take it the wrong way.) Do you know the terms: white balance, ISO, aperture, shutter speed? Do you know what a diffuser is or how it works? If not, I do not suggest a SLR, because it will only cause more problems. But I DO suggest a bridge camera. They generally look something like this. (I am in no way saying that that particular camera is good or bad...just an image reference! xD) They are kinda of like SLRs in the sense that they allow you to take more control of your photographs, but are still categorized as a point and shoot camera. They are cheaper, easier to take care of, and easier to get the hang of.

Overall, I think a tripod would do wonders for your photography and instead of a new camera, I would practice my composition and use of lighting before dropping $300+ on a new camera that you might not get the proper use out of anyway. I hope I was a little helpful and you didn't take anything I said the wrong way. I hate seeing people get equipment that they don't know how to use and end up really upset. D:

 

going off what brittuh said, be prepared to get comphy and learn the DSLR if you get it.

Yes, they take pretty good photos in auto, pointing and shooting.
But you can do that with a higher end P&S that would cost 200$ less.

also many many people use a 50mm portrait lens for doll shooting, so if you want photos just like what you're seeing, then be prepared to buy the lens as well. And that will be at least another 200 for a cheap one.


If you're looking to just take great photos, then I'd definitely suggest looking into high end, even HD point and shoots.

If you're seriously interested in photography are wanting to learn the different customization options you have for your camera then go with a DSLR.

A DSLR is not going to make your photos instantly better.
It will instantly make them look like they're taken a with a DSLR.
It will be up to you to learn your camera, learn your way around photography, and abuse the advantages you have with that DSLR to make them better.
To look professional, you have to act professional too and know your craft.



As far as your own camera. You say you hate flash - then you should probably take your doll outside for photos ^__^
Flash with any camera is generally just bad, especially for doll photos. Unless you're able to turn the intensity down (which actually sometimes turned out amazingly well with my old point and shoot XD I miss that actually)

Even you're too shy to step outside then move by a window and shoot during during morning/early afternoon.

Also pay close attention to where it's focusing. On your backed up flash photo, it's focusing on the books and not on the doll.
This is not a problem that is going to be fixed with a DSLR, if anything... it will make it worse if you want to use auto focus.
you have to be patient and just watch where it's focusing. Doing manual focusing will help, but it will be yet another huge learning curve. and you have to be patient and at times take 100 photos to get the one that will be in focus.

 

Don't worry, I don't like using the flash on my camera either Are you using manual on your P&S or auto?

I looked up your camera and the test photos megapixel.com did weren't very good So my suggestion would be to buy another point and shoot, probably Canon or Nikon. They'll probably cost around $200-250, but they last an extremely long time, even if you drop them a lot (mine is a Canon Digital Ixus 65 and it's embarassing how many scratches and crack it has XD)

Definitely ask the Camera shop people what they'd chose, as they hopefully won't go towards pretty ones.

As to your pictures - Indoor lighting is often not enough for photos - try using a bare bulb lamp near the doll, and stick a large piece of paper between the two so the light isn't so harsh

 

eeeeeeeh, people in store are going to want to sell you the camera that they make the most commission on, not necessarily the best people to talk to. So they may have great advice, but be wary and educate yourself with that they tell you before you commit! Take their suggestiosn and then run searches on amazon, cnet, etc to look at owner reviews for the cameras and make your decission from there.


another AMAZING tool is flickr! http://www.flickr.com/cameras/ I love love love love LOVE flickr camera search!
it reads the meta data of the photos, and then reads the camera used out of that data.

Then you can see photos taken with that camera and even run searches within that!
I search my camera for doll photos all the time XD

with DSLRs it a little tougher though before people have different lenses, and lenses can make a HUGE difference in photos.
so I always check the focal length to see what lens it is (this is actually how I shop for lenses too, lol)

 

I find with my point and shoot camera (which I actually really like) that it focuses TERRIBLY under low light if you just press the shutter button in normal mode and go with it. Pictures would come out blurry even smudgy looking. But, then I realized it had a way to auto focus. I don't know if your camera can do this too but I would try it. Just press down on the shutter button half way and let your camera get itself focused on your doll and then press it all the way down to capture the picture. If your camera DOESN'T have this option, I would try messing around with the options and take it out of normal mode and into manual mode. I found my pictures looked overall better when I set the ISO and the white balance myself instead of letting the camera do it automatically.

For reference, I have a 12 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot. XD

As for a DSLR, it depends on how serious you want to be. Personally, though, I would mess around with the settings in your current camera and play with them first before taking the huge leap into DSLRs. Only when I did that with my digital camera did I think I was ready. And even then there is so much left I need to learn.

 

That's true I guess I get good results with shop people because I tell them I know what they're talking about, don't try to push me into buying something wrong for me.

Definitely take everything with a pinch of salt, you don't have to buy immediately, it's a hefty purchase

 

Before you invest in a new camera, I'd suggest spending a little money on a tripod. You can get a perfectly decent one for $30ish and even if you do wind up buying a new camera the tripod will be compatible with it as well.

What appears to be happening is that your camera doesn't cope very well with low light. The blur you see looks like it's from hand shake during a longish exposure. Using a tripod and your camera's auto-timer set to something quick like 2 seconds will allow you to take photos without your hands on the camera, and with the camera therefore perfectly still. You ought to get much sharper photos that way.

And like I said, if that doesn't help or you decide you still want an upgrade, you can still use the tripod.

If you'd like to learn a bit more about photography, my favorite intro book is The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography. It talks about both compact and SLR digital cameras so you can get an idea about both, and it has a really good introduction to stuff like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

I always advise against getting a DSLR unless you're seriously planning on learning a bunch about photography and expanding your skill set. If you're not interested in learning some pretty fine-grained control, and you just want to take pictures, at this point you can do that with one of many excellent compact cameras at less than half the price.

 

I agree with the tripod helping on certain shoots, I love my canon powershot to be honest, I would totally recommend one ^O^

 

*throws sony out there*
My Sony Cybershot was AMAZING! I keep telling myself to give it away to someone who needs a nicer camera, but I keep clinging to it because it's an amazing back up for if I don't want to tote my nikon. .... now that hasn't happened yet XD but I'm waiting on it happening!

I had a Cybershot DSC-W55

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/306/6/6/Temptations_by_Knibitz.png
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/307/0/4/Fragile_by_Knibitz.png
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/340/a/0/Possession_by_Knibitz.png

the model is about 4 years old now, so you could probably find something better.
But sony is not a company to forget about I think they're on their way into making it a 3 ring circus with nikon and canon ^__^

ETA: I'd just like to did... those photos were created doing photos in pitch black using flash They were edited a bit (well, the hands one the color was edited a lot obviously) but my cybershot had the ability to adjust the intensity of the flash, and turning it down gave me amazing results!
It also has the ability to adjust settings... I'm not sure about shutter speed, but I know I could play with f-stops at least and that helped a lot too.

 

I actually could not recommend a Sony Cybershot more. I can get the exact model of mine when I get home but it's easy to use and takes really great pictures. I'm only frustrated with it because I want more precise control over my shots but, for a digital camera upgrade, I would say go for it. It has manual mode so you can learn white balance and ISO and it has stabilation, which I highly recommend. In natural light, it takes pictures like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/malvagitabella/5479878322/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malvagitabella/5479277525/

I was even able to acheive Depth of Field!:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malvagitabella/5479878520/

Inside, it took this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malvagitabella/5522967495/

Now, mind you, on all the pics, I went into photoshop and applied one layer of sharpen. BUT, that was all I did for the natural light pics. The one inside, I also adjusted the color. But it was such an easy fix.

Now, those pics aren't the best, I'm definitely still a beginner, but I have learned a lot from this camera and what I want and don't want and I think it'd make a definitely good starter camera without having to pay a lot. I'm sure you could find my camera or better for a relatively great price. So, yeah!

 

I guess I am thirding the Cybershot. That was my "in-between" camera when I wanted to learn more about photography, but didn't know I was going to be more serious about it. I was able to control everything that I would with a SLR except my lenses. So, you can practice with aperture, ISO, shutter speed, white balance....Also, you'll learn what length lens you would need if you keep in mind how often you zoom in and out. That was maybe over 4 years ago, so if I come across any photos I took with it, I'll post them here.

Along with Sony, Canon, and Nikon, try looking at Olympus, Panasonic, Kodak (?). Good luck!

 

This is my exact model:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cybershot-DSC-W220-Digital-Stabilization/dp/B001O9ARE0

Compared to the one you linked to, it's sadly way behind. The one you linked would be way better and teach you a lot. I'll leave it to the people who know way to more to give specifics on HOW different. As for the Sony NEX, it's a "mirrorless system"/compact DSLR. I found this link to describe the differences between cameras like it and your standard DSLR: http://www.digitalphotographywriter.com/2010/08/mirrorless-cameras-vs-dslr-cameras.html

 

It looks fine, just make sure it has a macro feature - I couldn't find any mention of one in the specifications, but I wasn't looking very hard. Canon PowerShots are great too. Most of the time, it's not what type of camera you have, it's how you use it (although I do agree that HP cameras are not the greatest).

 

Something to keep in mind with Sony: They LOVE their proprietary stuff. Sony cameras don't use SD cards like every other brand on the market; they use Sony's Memory Stick format. Also, unless they've changed things, they use a proprietary connector instead of the standard USB mini-plug most cameras use. So if for some reason you need to get photos off your camera and you didn't bring your equipment with you, you're out of luck. I also find that memory stick costs about 2x as much as SD cards.

That's the only gripe I have with my Sony camera (I have a T100, and it's quite a nice compact). Well, that and its high-ISO performance is awful, but that's common with compacts.

 

Butting my head in >,>
The camera you linked seems a bit much... seems like it'd be nice for pictures of people but 16mp is a bit huge. No anti-motion blur is a boo, but i'm sure someone can offer you more help

I'm 4thing? Sony though, they make some really nice cameras. I don't have many examples but it was my 'first' while entering this hobby (my first we will not speak of, we'll just pretend it's the sony one XD)

 

mega pixels basically boil down to how big of a picture you can get, nowadays everything is large enough to wear it doesn't matter unless you're making prints.

most cameras shoot at least 1000X3000 photos

so if you're just looking for doll photos to post online, then it's nothing to worry about

 

Slightly better than usual. Typical macro focus distances for compacts range from about 2-10cm.

It's kind of a misleading spec though, because what you are really interested in is maximum magnification--how well you can "fill" a photo with the subject. That's determined by a combination of lens properties, and focus distance is only one part of it. You'll have to compare the macro modes of the cameras yourself or find competent reviews that check for it.

For shopping in general, I would just add to carefully read any anti-shake claims. Make sure that it is hardware based, either lens stabilization or sensor shift. If the camera has it, it will brag about it. Software based anti-shake is fake: it just pumps ISO to higher/uglier levels than normal and any camera can do that.

 

Anti-motion blur, from my understanding, is different than image stabilization. Anit-motion blur would be compensate for your subject moving around, where image stabilization is when the photographer's hands aren't steady enough, so the camera compensates. If you're main reason for buying a camera is for your dolls, then anti-motion blur shouldn't matter.

I think you should look for a camera with a manual mode. It'll give you a chance to learn, but if you find that you don't want to pursue photography, you can always just put it in auto and not worry about it.

Edit: I cannot for the life of me figure out if the camera you posted has a manual mode or not. I don't even remember how to look for point and shoot functions. x[

 

I was always very happy with the quality of pictures I got from the Canon Digtal Rebel line of cameras, and they weren't too horribly expensive. They are also easy to use. If you're not sure what kind of camera you'd like, try looking at Digital Photography Review's web page here. They not only review different kinds of cameras (DSLR and Point-and -Shoot), but they also have sample pictures from the cameras, and compare them to pictures from other cameras. They're pretty straight forward; there's a page at the end of each review with pros and cons, so you can see right away what's good and what's not so good. The pros and cons can also give you some idea of what the camera is best for (ie; close-up work, night photography, etc.) They also give you some idea of what you can expect to pay.

Myself, I prefer the digital SLR cameras because of the flexibility you get from being able to change the lenses. But I also have a Panasonic Lumix that I keep in my purse, and get very good pictures from that. It all depends on what you like, and how much you'd like to spend.

 

I believe in many cases manual will be referred to as PASM, at least it is anyway for my 6 year old Kodak Easyshare. So I would look for something with PASM capabilities.

 

That kinda makes sense. In that case, I don't think the camera has a manual function. xp

 

I just looked over the specs again and it actually might. Under Drive system/shutter speeds it mentions auto and manual, and under Optics & Lens/aperture it mentions auto and manual. It's possible Sony just breaks there specs down differently. The best way to know for sure is to go a store and try the camera out in person.