Camera advice

[madog]

Hello everyone. I am going to buy a camera for my fiance and would like some advice on what to get because I know next to nothing about cameras.

To help with giving me said advice this is what I can tell you at this point; She would like to get into photography as well as photograph our son's sporting events (wrestling, football).

She would like the camera to have a feature that I think is called "selective color". Selective color allows the user to pick one piece of the photo to be in color while the rest remains black and white.

And of course I would like to combine our hobbies!

My budget is $800, I can go up a little for the right situation.

Thanks in advance.

 

[LaZeRz]

Well, instead of searching for a camera with selective colour, why don't you just buy a regular DSLR and edit the colour in photoshop? Selective colour is just a firmware feature on your cam so it can be replicated on photo editing software in a breeze.

These are some photoshop examples: 20 Stunning Photos Using Selective Color Technique

IIRC the nikon d5100 has it: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D5100-D...IWKG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322726614&sr=8-1

and the Canon g10 which is much cheaper Amazon.com: Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom: Camera & Photo

But, if you decide to do it in photoshop, you can spend around $800 and get a great DSLR along with a f1.4 lens which will help fast moving photos e.g sport ALOT.

(the f. denotes the aperature speed. Lower value = more light captured = lower exposure is needed which = clearer pics

EDIT: IMO this would be a perfect combination: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-T3-Digi...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322727020&sr=1-2

and

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Standar...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322727109&sr=1-1

-Canon rebel T3 plus a f1.4 canon lens would let you get some awesome pics where there is low light or fast moving subjects.

I would tell you to buy the canon f1.8 lens which is only 100 dollars but many people have had their lens just fall apart after 5 months.

That combo would cost you 800 dollars, and since you want to capture things like wrestling matches a f1.4 lens is a must!

 

[madog]

She was also looking at this camera Sony Alpha SLT-A35. Is there a lens like the f1.4 you suggested to buy for this camera? The Canon EOS Rebel T3 has only 12.2 mp and thats what the camera she is getting rid of has. If we deside to go with photo shop, which photo shop does all these thing for less money?

 

[RA_pierce]

Try to find a camera capable of at least 5fps. This will help you capture some great action shots. More is better, of course, but for $800 you will be limited.

Also, skip the kit lenses. Get the camera body and a nice medium telephoto lens (85-200mm should be good for sports). You want a fast lens with a max aperture of at least f/2.8.

The glass you get is more important than the camera IMO, so try to get the best lens you can afford. If you go with some of the popular options for the camera (Sony, Nikon, Canon, etc.) all their "consumer" DSLRs are pretty much comparable.