Professional Camera Prices

Bugatti_Boi

Hey Everyone,

Only recently after spending so many months taking pictures on my camera phone, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good value for money professional camera as photography is where im aiming to go at this moment in the time and I thought it would be best if I had a professional camera too, I do know they have a half price sale on Argos but dont know for sure what would be the best camera to get.

I hope you will be able to help

Cheers

Clowance

digital photo magazine is brilliant for technique and for reviews. Have a look before buying as cameras can cost thousands and actually its the photographer that is more important than the equipment.

denz1968

Set yourself a budget first. research the cameras in your budget via internet and maybe a magazine.

Narrow down to 2 or 3 cameras. Go to Jessops and try them out. Hands on is superb.
Then google the one you decide on and get it at the best price or deal.

I did the above when i bought mine. I was between a canon and a nikon. The Nikon won, because it felt better in my hands. Specs were almost identical.


hope that helps

Bugatti_Boi

I have decided to get the Fujifilm Finepix S4200 bridge camera and was able to find it for a good price and actually got it recommended at my local jessops shop. Can anyone tell me whether you think it would be worth getting

robrooo

It really depends on what sort of photography you want to do.

While it is true that its the skill or vision of the photographer that really counts, truly professional cameras add more "latitude", either in terms of speed, reliability, low light, focussing accuracy, tracking etc etc, which together gives you more opportunities to get the shot you need to. But they will require a high level of investment, and then its often the lens that sets the overall quality of an image. Whether you need all these bells and whistles for the subjects you want to capture only you can answer. I've seen people create brilliant results from a disposable and "professionals" produce mediocrity from £5000+, even £20,000+, cameras.

Personally I would not consider the S4200 a "professional" camera, but I'm sure like most modern digital cameras it will give great results under the right conditions. That's one of the skills that separates "pros" from "amateurs" - knowing the limits of your equipment and how to compensate or capitalise on that. Actually "pro" and "am" are the wrong terms since there is no regulation of photographers so anyone can call themselves a professional (its a meaningless term), and I've seen cluless "pros" and highly skilled "ams" and vice versa.

Anyway I used to have a very early Finepix when digital was in its infancy, and loved it. Its the sort of camera you can take anywhere, whereas I find my pro camera often stays at home. (BTW I'm in the N*kon camp - still got my N*kon film camera from the 80's and far too many later digital ones than I care to admit to).

OK, I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, but just be aware that photography is not an easy way to make money, if that is what you were intending to do. I used to be a semi-pro photographer. I owned a picture library and agency specialising in a niche subject area, occasionally had a few photographers working for me casually, sold a few images at some phenomenal rates, and some at some ridiculously low rates, and even now my images are still in a number of magazines every month (BTW I was not a pap! In case anyone wondered). But I only considered myself to be a semi-pro because I could not make a viable living from it, and so I still kept my "day job". I've met a very large number of professional photographers, and I would say that over 75% have another job. Just like actors. I now do photography for myself, i.e. not to sell, but to explore any artistic notions I have, or to capture the unusual. And proud to be an amateur, in the purest sense of the word, i.e. from the French "lover of". I may give the pro game another go in the future, especially since I've recently drastically reduced my overheads, but not yet. With technology improving every year and yet also reducing in price, there are a lot of people who, just like I did, want to give photography a go. You have to find some way to standout from all the others.

(sorry this turned into such a long post!)


Here is a link showing other cameras that are considered competitors to the S4200:

http://snapsort.com/cameras/Fujifilm-S4200-competitors

(the site lets you do a side-by-side comparison which is useful).

Happylittlecomper

I hate finepix cameras as my last two created quite blurry images, but they're still a good starter camera I suppose. I love the clarity of my Nikon D1300 and I'd recommend it to anyone

myusernamehasgone_2

denz1968 wrote: »

Set yourself a budget first. research the cameras in your budget via internet and maybe a magazine.

Narrow down to 2 or 3 cameras. Go to Jessops and try them out. Hands on is superb.
Then google the one you decide on and get it at the best price or deal.

I did the above when i bought mine. I was between a canon and a nikon. The Nikon won, because it felt better in my hands. Specs were almost identical.


hope that helps

I choose the Canon but went for the old shape as it felt better that,being said this year they have gone back to the old shape as a lot didn't like the other So you do have to hold them and see what suits you

Bugatti_Boi

I went for the fujifilm finepix s4500 in the end and read all reviews and was told it is a good starter camera, good thing is I should recieve it by christmas