Point and Shoot, or DSLR for Hawaiian vacation....

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Forget the wide range 18W200 viscosity lens as you'll have soft corners, distortion, chromatic aberration and lens flare issues that can ruin a pic that may have came out better if you just used your phone instead. But if you wanna switch from a wide angle shot and 3 seconds later zoom in on a bird 100 yards away, I guess the 18W200 lens is ok.


I think you're a little too hard on the 18-200mm. It's probably still going to be better than any phone camera even with its known limitations. But I think it's probably beyond his budget as they go for around $650.

Originally Posted By: Al
I went through many many thousands of slides in the last few years, determining which to digitize. Of the one thousand I kept they were all about kids/wife..shot fairly close. If I had to do it over...I would have cut that distance more. You can find a billion pictures of Hawaii/scenery. Your wife will not look like she is 10 years from now.


I usually post my photos on smugmug and I've noticed that the ones with people in it get way more hits than the ones with just scenery in it. So take lots of pictures, but have people in them as mentioned above.

Originally Posted By: HangFire
I find it quite stressful when I push the button on a P&S and it doesn't shoot, and it doesn't... then it does... but the shot is gone, and I have missed the picture I wanted to take.


I thought it was too cold to carry around a dSLR yesterday but I wish I did, I miss how it takes the photo instantly, phone cameras tend to blur if you have a little shake, especially after you hit the button on the phone. A dSLR tends to be more stable as you hold it up to your body instead of holding a phone away.

 

[bunnspecial]

Personally, I find even low-end DSLRs uncomfortably pokey compared to mechanical film SLRs and as well as high end electronic cameras(whether film or digital).

Push the shutter button on a Nikon F5 or a single digit D series and the camera is ready for the next shot before you even realized you've hit the shutter (that includes film advance on the F5). Pick up a Nikon N65 and you'll be piddling around waiting for it to focus for a while. Newer low end SLRs like the D3000 series are a lot better than that regard, but the delay is markedly longer than the high end cameras. They're still faster than a cell phone or P&S, but it's something that can but you if you're shooting action or even if you switch back and forth between different body ranges.

 

[bowlofturtle]

Here is a thought...

Me and my girlfriend are iphone 7+ owners, last few trips we took, we combined our phones with a gopro4 on a selfie stick that extends. It worked out really great for us. The gopro has the wide angle and abilities to take great phones and is weatherproof for the most part. The only thing is battery life per battery is like 2 hours. We bought a pack of 3 batteries off ebay.

We have a canon DSLR as well but never use it.

Pictures came out good, we are not the best photo people but we didn't miss any moments.

 

[JHZR2]

Ive got a very good dslr and some very good glass. Glass is what makes it though. You could look into a cheap body and a good prime 35mm lens, which will do great for everything. Ive traveled the Middle East and Europe with just this (granted I had an 85mm in my bag but it got minimal use), and was pleased.

But I suspect you'll spend more than your target $450 even for just that.

So you're likely best off with the best p&s you can find.

 

[tom slick]

When take taking vacation and quick family shots I prefer a p&s. I have found I get tired of carrying my dslr and really just want a quick shot for a memory. I still use my dslr for artistic photos that I spend time composing.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I suggest something in between... a mirrorless camera such as Sony a6000.

Buy it early enough to give yourself a few weeks of practice before the trip.


I am looking at that model now. How does it compare to say, the Sony RX100 point and shoot?

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
Here is a thought...

Me and my girlfriend are iphone 7+ owners, last few trips we took, we combined our phones with a gopro4 on a selfie stick that extends. It worked out really great for us. The gopro has the wide angle and abilities to take great phones and is weatherproof for the most part. The only thing is battery life per battery is like 2 hours. We bought a pack of 3 batteries off ebay.

We have a canon DSLR as well but never use it.

Pictures came out good, we are not the best photo people but we didn't miss any moments.

You got it. One other smart thing about what you did..is that picture is instantly preserved in icloud.
On our first vacation we took a drive through the Smoky Mountains. I had my Minolta SRT (101) SLR. I fraimed all the pictures with her (poses) with great background. At the end of that run through the mountains..I found that when I loaded the film the tab didn't catch and I shot 30+ blanks.

So yea..consider the phone with icloud (or equal)

 

[Shannow]

Al,
you're not the only one who went on a holiday with a (two week, 36 frame) budget...taking the photo, taking the film and developing and printing was a couple weeks after the event.

Lost a whole holiday (36 frames) the same way.

Now have thousands of digital shots of stuff that really should be culled...and you are 1005 right, it should be the people that are kept (my case Gary Allan, XS650, mori, tempest are the guys that I've met)

 

[alarmguy]

I suspect, based on your OP, that you arent really much into photography so you may want to pass on an SLR.

If you chose an SLR or think in the future you may get into it a little bit more, hands down choose the Nikon 3400 SLR.

If your looking for an "all in one" SLR TYPE camera with a fixed non removable lens, any of the more expensive Canons in this page will make you happy, as they have built in super zoom lens and certainly will very much impress you. They can be a lot of fun if you dont want to bother with extra lens and carrying stuff around.
Without a long/super zoom, you may as well just use your Iphone.

Click for Canon all in one long zoom cameras

 

[Cujet]

Panasonic GX85 is a great choice. Very compact, fast, clear, and interchangeable lenses.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1...micro_four.html

 

[greenjp]

A few thoughts:
- Concur with alarmguy that it doesn't sound like you are looking to get "into" photography.

- Any camera can be a "point and shoot" if you set it on the auto mode.

- I suspect what people mean when they say point and shoot is a camera that does not allow for changing lenses. There is a lot of variety among this type of camera, from small inexpensive ones with short zooms up to large sensor types with big lenses and extensive control features.

- Phone cameras are generally lousy in two respects - low light/indoor performance and zoom. So if you're thinking about a dedicated camera you should probably decide if one or both of these are what you're hoping to improve upon. Other stuff like shutter lag, stabilization, etc can come into play too.

- Improving low light/indoor requires a larger sensor and a wide aperture lens. A small camera with a long zoom isn't going to have either. Cameras like the Sony RX100 and Panasonic LX100 or LX10 have the larger sensor and a wide aperture lens, with about a 3x zoom.

- A big "bridge" style camera like a Sony RX10 or Panasonic FZ1000 will have a larger sensor, long ~10x+ zoom, and relatively wide lens.

- These are pretty serious and fairly expensive cameras so you might want to consider buying used. For instance Adorama has used RX10 and FZ1000 in "excellent" condition for $480-500 at the moment. A "new" LX100 (it was released a few years ago) is $650.

- IMO SLR is something of an archaic design and the new mirrorless types are better for most folks. SLRs will of course take great pictures and have extensive lens collections available but if you're looking at buying your first "real" camera you shouldn't assume that this begins and ends with an SLR.

FWIW I have a Panasonic GX7 (and had the G3 mentioned by another ecotourist before that) which is a mirrorless interchangeable lens type. The Sony A5000/6000 cameras are similar. I have several lenses but the vast majority of my shooting is done with a 20mm f1.7 (indoor/low light) or 14-140 f3.5 zoom (outdoor/walking around).

jeff

 

[Alfred_B]

Stay with the cell phones. They take good enough pictures and yet they are vastly more convenient than a dedicated camera, especially a DSLR where you will not only need to carry a big camera and a large lense but also a bag full of lenses for different situations if you want to fully utilize the device capabilities.
.
My DSLR hasn't seen much action since the smartphone cameras started taking acceptable pictures. It was probably the realization that no one cares about my photography and I care about them as triggers for memories and not as works of lousy art.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
Stay with the cell phones. They take good enough pictures and yet they are vastly more convenient than a dedicated camera, especially a DSLR where you will not only need to carry a big camera and a large lense but also a bag full of lenses for different situations if you want to fully utilize the device capabilities.
.
My DSLR hasn't seen much action since the smartphone cameras started taking acceptable pictures. It was probably the realization that no one cares about my photography and I care about them as triggers for memories and not as works of lousy art.


Ha ha ha..."no one cares about my photography". I can concur. I was into photography for a while, even before the digital age. And the truth is...nobody does really care about our photos other than mostly other photo geeks. While we should take and enjoy photography to please ourselves, the fact is...it is enjoyable when others think we have a talent. I used to post many photos on Facebook and other sites. My family and/or few friends might take the time to be polite and say they liked them. But mostly....nobody cared nor understood how difficult some shots were to capture. Selfies are more popular along with stupid faces...snap shots of "look, I have a drink in my hand"......pouty lips.....and of course, the heavily augmented photos where nothing more that digital effects like HDR drew oooh's and ahhhhh's.

Nope....nobody does care.

 

[road_rascal]

When we went to Hawaii over Thanksgiving I brought along a Canon Powershot Elph180 (small pocket camera) and a Fujifilm Finepix HS-50EXR (DSLR like point and shoot) and a couple of GoPros for scuba diving. Both the Canon and Fujifilm take great photos and can record HD video. I don't have the room for a full DSLR setup as I like to travel light.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: Al
I don't claim to be an expert. But after starting with SLR's 50 years ago and taking lots of pictures in that time: Don't waste much time on scenery. Take pictures of your wife and let the background be clear or blury..whatever. Don't spend bucks or worry about zoom. Its not necessary.

I went through many many thousands of slides in the last few years, determining which to digitize. Of the one thousand I kept they were all about kids/wife..shot fairly close. If I had to do it over...I would have cut that distance more. You can find a billion pictures of Hawaii/scenery. Your wife will not look like she is 10 years from now.

Get a decent P&S as EdwardC,Shannow, andrewg and PimTac suggested.


+++++ This!!!

My suggestion would be to use your iPhone or get iPhone7_Plus. I carried Sony mirrorless A6000 but iP7+ was quite close in terms of getting the shots.

It is important to make sure you are taking pictures of the family in different scenery rather than the photos of the scenery. I have completely useless videos of Disney and Universal shows. I wish I had more video of the kids watching the show and should have grabbed their expressions rather than recording the shows. Don't be like me!

 

[dlundblad]

I didn't read the whole thread, but you may want to consider a waterproof camera.

 

[edhackett]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
I didn't read the whole thread, but you may want to consider a waterproof camera.


This is what I chose for a travel camera for the times I didn't want to carry anything larger. I've been very pleased with the results.

Take it snorkeling, toss it in the sand, sit on it, or drop it. No problem.

http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/tg-5.html

Ed

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: edhackett
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
I didn't read the whole thread, but you may want to consider a waterproof camera.


This is what I chose for a travel camera for the times I didn't want to carry anything larger. I've been very pleased with the results.

Take it snorkeling, toss it in the sand, sit on it, or drop it. No problem.

http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/tg-5.html

Ed


We have one of those as well. Battery life isnt the best but its a great camera.

 

[gregk24]

I ended up getting a Sony A6000 mirrorless tonight. Looks like a good compromise between awesome photos and smaller size. We will be sure to take plenty of pictures of ourselves, but will also enjoy snapping pics of the scenery.

 

[alarmguy]

Good luck with the camera, the Sony A6000 is a fine compact camera for sure, however when you gave a budget of no more then $450 and not sure about carrying around lens etc, that camera wasnt in the ball park. Yup, I of all people know things change. *L*

The A6000 as you have it, will take great photos but you are limited by the lens unless you spend another $350.00 for a telephoto.

The cameras I mentioned got the whole job done for the budget you outlined and with the least hassle.
Great choice though, its just your angle of view/zoom isnt going to be drastically different then with your iphone but again, the pictures from the Sony will shine.