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Holiday gift help thread

Bang

By Bang
in The Tailgate

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Bang

Bang

Posted
Posted

Hey all,
i started to make a thread to ask for some advice (to follow) and figured, why not make a thread where we can ask others for some info / suggestions, etc. when it comes to gifts this year.

So Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays to everyone.

 

Camera

 

So, i am thinking about a camera for my 18 yr old son.  I don't want to go nuts on it, he's never had one before, so I 'm looking for as much 'point and shoot" as possible..  and I don't want to spend a ton, figure 200 as a ceiling.

I start looking at cameras, and they can be QUITE expensive, and reaalize very soon that i'm way out of my depth, I have no idea.

i do know that he would likely use it for sports,, he goes to a lot of HS football and basketball games and he's been covering them for a local news website. 

 

I know there's a lot of photographers,, PCS, where art ye?

 

Thanks in advance!

~Bang

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Kosher Ham

Kosher Ham

Posted
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Start here.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-reviews/tough-and-rugged-point-and-shoot-cameras

 

Looking to buy one for my BIL.

We still have not decided, but leaning towards the Nikon AW120 It is a little above your range though.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-COOLPIX-Waterproof-Digital-Camera/dp/B00IA9LR9Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416175993&sr=8-3&keywords=coolpix+aw120

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Elessar78

Elessar78

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Are you against buying him a refurbished one? Can save some money that way. BH photo has a good stock of reliable, refurbished cameras. 

 

I'm old school, in that I learned photography with a fully manual SLR and printed photos in the dark room. Main suggestion would be to get a model where he can control the aperture, shutterspeed, and ISO. Advanced features, IMO, just get in the way of actually learning the craft of photography. 

 

Something like this model: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1079828-REF/nikon_26464b_coolpix_p530_digital_camera.html

 

For sports, you'll need a "fast" zoom lens, because this will be in less than optimal lighting conditions capturing movement. The lens will probably cost more than the body. 

 

Also consider the new mirrorless cameras, again with full manual control. They came out last year or two and they didn't really catch on, because there's a perception that they're point and shoot because they're skinnier than DSLRs. But since we've gone digital there's less/no need for the single lens reflex system that's been popular for decades. 

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/910126-REG/nikon_27619_1_s1_mirrorless_digital.html

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PCS

PCS

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I'll make this kind of short for now,but Ellessar pretty much covered a lot of it Bang. 

 

Here's a good starting point as well. 

 

http://www.cnet.com/topics/cameras/best-digital-cameras/budget/ 

 

Great way to learn about photography is with one of those little fellas right there,(be aware too that many a pro photographer as a little point shoot somewhere in pocket with them a lot of the time :) ).  Inexpensive,(relatively speaking of course),but nice way to start off and can be a good way to hedge one's bet in case the interest goes no further.   :)

 

Keep your eye out on the sales coming up. They can include a few "kits" where you can actually save money because they include a few extras like an extra memory chip,bag,or some things like that.  

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Stugein

Stugein

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I want to get a smartphone for my teenager.  I'm on AT&T so I want to get an unlocked GSM phone that supports 4g LTE.  Doesn't need to be amazing, just a budget android smart phone (he's had a basic texting phone since he was 10 so he'll be thrilled with anything really).  Trying to keep it under $200.  Any suggestions on budget smartphones that fit the bill?

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Springfield

Springfield

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I want to get a smartphone for my teenager. I'm on AT&T so I want to get an unlocked GSM phone that supports 4g LTE. Doesn't need to be amazing, just a budget android smart phone (he's had a basic texting phone since he was 10 so he'll be thrilled with anything really). Trying to keep it under $200. Any suggestions on budget smartphones that fit the bill?

https://m.att.com/shopmobile/cellphones/iphone/iphone-5c/_jcr_content.html?referrer=https%253A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

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Springfield

Springfield

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Looks like you have to extend/update your contract to get that.

And it's an iPhone, completely not what you wanted. Just making jokes. I don't know enough about androids to really steer you in the right direction.

I do know that the Galaxy S5 is on sale at various stores on Black Friday for pretty much nothing.

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  • 2 weeks later...
SoulSkin

SoulSkin

Posted
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Looks like a good camera here for the price. Nearly 400 bucks off list. Cheapest price I saw besides this was $399.00. This is for $299.00 for another 14 hours or so.

 

Sony NEX-5TL

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B00ENZRP38?tag=tbprod-20#customerReviews

 

Any opinions? Looking for something better than my little Canon Powershot something something 500. What I really want is something that will take very good pictures of countertops, furniture and various other projects I work on for a portfoio, and to post on a website for potential customers. Indoor and outdoor stuff. Outdoor stuff is things like outdoor kitchens, firepits, benches, etc. It's a wide range of environments with different degrees of lighting.

 

I don't anticipate what I'll be taking pictures of moving rapidly. That would be bad.

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Elessar78

Elessar78

Posted
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Looks like a good camera here for the price. Nearly 400 bucks off list. Cheapest price I saw besides this was $399.00. This is for $299.00 for another 14 hours or so.

 

Sony NEX-5TL

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B00ENZRP38?tag=tbprod-20#customerReviews

 

Any opinions? Looking for something better than my little Canon Powershot something something 500. What I really want is something that will take very good pictures of countertops, furniture and various other projects I work on for a portfoio, and to post on a website for potential customers. Indoor and outdoor stuff. Outdoor stuff is things like outdoor kitchens, firepits, benches, etc. It's a wide range of environments with different degrees of lighting.

 

I don't anticipate what I'll be taking pictures of moving rapidly. That would be bad.

 

My honest answer is that the Canon Powershot, I have one too, is probably good enough for the things you describe. Megapixels, doesn't make for a better photograph, it just determines how big you can blow it up. For example, you can get a 30"x20" print, high quality, from a 16 megapixel but you can get away with less. For work, I've blown up to billboard size with much lower resolution photos. 

 

Good photographs for most users mean: in focus/not blurry, good color, good lighting, and good composition. 

 

Focus: most modern point and shoot cameras do a pretty good job with auto focus. User can even fine tune which part of the picture is should be in focus if it's not the center. There are also many settings to help you capture better images. 

 

Color: the camera just captures what is there. 

 

Lighting: beginners are limited to camera flash (which is rarely flattering) and available light. No camera price point will change these factors. 

 

Composition: this is up to the photographer, again no camera can change this. 

 

I have shot some photography professionally and took several years of it in college but I mostly art direct professional photographers now. IMO, if you want a new camera go for it. If you want a new camera to take better pictures—save your money. Buy some photography books or take some classes instead. Or buy a copy of photoshop or some less expensive version and learn how to make your images nicer. Buy a $20 tripod. All these will help you take better images than buying a new camera. Buy some portable lighting (and learn how to use it) could be as little as $50-$100. 

 

Maybe, you could buy a "faster" lens since it seems you shoot indoors (indoor lighting is notoriously poor) a lot or a wide-angle lens to help you get more of the room in the picture.

 

Check out this photo shoot done with an iphone—it's not about the camera and capturing device. 

 

https://fstoppers.com/editorial/iphone-fashion-shoot-lee-morris-6173

 

How to take better photos with a point and shoot

http://www.lightstalking.com/can-you-really-get-great-shots-with-a-point-and-shoot/

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SoulSkin

SoulSkin

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My honest answer is that the Canon Powershot, I have one too, is probably good enough for the things you describe....

 

Wow. Thank you tremendously for that info, and saving me from an expensive impulse buy. I'm going to try some of your tips, specifically reading up a little more about photography in general and trying some sort of portable lighting. The lighting is a big part of what I have the most issues with inside. I have an older version of Photoshop and some other editing software too. That should keep me busy enough for now to at least get some good ideas on how to make everything look at least a little bit better, and take it from there. Very kind of you to post all of that.

 

Thanks to you too Springfield. Those seem like couple of good things to keep in mind for the future.

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Elessar78

Elessar78

Posted
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Wow. Thank you tremendously for that info, and saving me from an expensive impulse buy. I'm going to try some of your tips, specifically reading up a little more about photography in general and trying some sort of portable lighting. The lighting is a big part of what I have the most issues with inside. I have an older version of Photoshop and some other editing software too. That should keep me busy enough for now to at least get some good ideas on how to make everything look at least a little bit better, and take it from there. Very kind of you to post all of that.

 

Thanks to you too Springfield. Those seem like couple of good things to keep in mind for the future.

No prob. Glad to help. PM me if you ever have other more specific questions. 

 

Another good resource on how to photograph, say, countertops is Pinterest.

 

http://www.pinterest.com/kitchenideas/countertops/

 

There's a lot of quick and dirty and simple tricks: just google "how to take better indoor photos" for example. 

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