Camera to take professional looking pics of my children (aged 1 and 2)

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  p1 ama on 07/05/2014 - 09:17

  +3

  The quality of the photos you take depends on:

  1) Your skill as a photographer in the art of the shot
  2) Your skill as a photographer in technical details
  3) Your lens
  4) Your camera

  In that order as well.

  So my advice would be to buy any "cheaper" DSLR. Something like the Nikon D3100 would suit your needs perfectly and you get get them, with the kit lens, for just under $300 on eGlobal, from memory.

  You can start off by using just the kit lens, but if you want to start doing more "professional" photography, you're going to have to invest in a portrait lens and a flash. I would recommend an 85mm f/1.8 for portraits and an SB-700 flash.

  The difference between a portrait lens such as the 85mm f/1.8 is that it is a prime lens, so you can't zoom with it, but the benefits it provides is that it's extremely fast, has a wide aperture for blurring out of backgrounds and bringing the subject forward as well as being a tougher and more robust lens compared to the one you get in the box with the camera.

  But at the end of the day, the quality of the photos you take still depends on you, rather than a camera. You can give a $300 DSLR to a good photographer and he will make great shots with it. You can give a $2500 DSLR to a bad photographer and their shots won't look any better.

  So I think you should start with the cheapest DSLR you can find, or one that fits perfectly into your budget, invest in a good lens that will last you forever and from there experiment, read, watch videos and learn how to frame your shots and operate your camera.

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  Geewhizz on 07/05/2014 - 09:48

  Unless you want to spend a lot of time learning to use a DSLR , and spend money buying decent lenses, I think in your situation you'd be far happier with a compact camera. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to work out what settings you should be on, only to have the 'magic moment' that you were wanting to capture to pass, or finding that the lenses you have are not suited, or up to the job.

  The Canon sx50hs takes some very impressive pics, and is within your budget. It has 50X optical zoom, so you'll be able to get your snaps from a distance where they won't necessarily know you're watching them, and stop to pose for a pic. Fuji makes a couple of decent zoom cameras too around 30X optical, capable of putting out some really beautiful pics without a lot of messing around with settings - a friend bought one for her granddaughter recently for around the $200 mark, but of course, now that I'm looking and trying to find it, I can't locate it.

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  jinxsphinx on 07/05/2014 - 10:33

  Hi, one for dslr, one for compact, now one for the "mirrorless" camp! I'd highly recommend this camera Olympus E-PM 2
  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/143132 at an amazing price at the moment with cash back plus this lens Olympus 45mm 1.8
  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/134619 (says expired but price is still only 299)
  which will set you back $528 but this truly is an amazing lens and camera body bundle for pro looking photos straight out of the box.

  It's got touchscreen auto focus so great for catching kids running round. Fairly compact too. And you have the kit lens so you can use that for general use. Go to camera shops and have a hold of all these cameras, see what feels right for you. Good luck!

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  ferguscan on 07/05/2014 - 11:29

  Kids move fast. All the time.

  You want the fastest auto-focus possible.

  As far as I know, that's still a DSLR.

  Entry-level is fine.

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  CrocDundee on 07/05/2014 - 12:46

  Like what the first poster paulsterio said, your quality of Camera is last on the list of what gets your a 'good' shot. Your lens and knowledge/experience of how to use the camera is far more important. You could have a 10K Camera and take terrible shots because of a lack of knowledge/experience. If you are new in the market, just get a really good point and shoot camera, or if you are looking to go professional you'll need to be looking at a little more $$$ to get what you are after. A good quality Lens for a beginner would cost you at least $500. Then they just get crazy in price.

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  retiredfeline on 07/05/2014 - 12:51

  Wouldn't your kids be "professional looking" if they started shopping like OzBargainers, according to Harvey Moron? :)

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  ally ikon on 08/05/2014 - 17:37

  +1

  Thanks everyone so much for your great input. Ended up getting the Olympus from digidirect, nice mothers day pressie for myself:)

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    jinxsphinx on 09/05/2014 - 23:42

    Cool, hope you get heaps of great shots of your kids :)

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  lucas001 on 12/05/2014 - 12:45

  I would say if you don't know much about photography no camera will be good unless you learn at least the basics… I have a facebook page I update with basic Budget tricks for amateur videoographers/photographers if that interests you… www.facebook.com/budgetvideographers