What camera do you use and what do you like about it?

I use a Minolta X-500 35mm film camera with an assortment of mainly Tamron lenses. I only changed last year to the X-500 from my X-300 that I've had since 1983. It's lightweight and easy to use while still giving full access to all manual functions.

I'm looking to change in the future to a DSLR and wondered what features of your camera you especially liked.

Thanks,

Ian

I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 - a compact digital camera that offers many of the benefits of a true DSLR. As this is my first proper camera I have found that I enjoy the level of control I have when taking photographs. I can add on adaptors to exchange lenses such as telephoto or macro etc.. Good sized grip which makes camera easy to handle and all features are convenient and easily accessable.

There's a 12x ultra-zoom lens, equivalent to a focal length of 35-420mm, housed in a stylish and well-made body. The DMC-FZ50's Leica-branded lens doesn't just offer a massive focal range - it's also fast too, with a maximum aperture of 2.8 at wide-angle and 3.7 at full telephoto. As with all Panasonic cameras, the company's MEGA O.I.S optical image stabilisation system is present to help ensure shake-free photos.

The DMC-FZ50 improves on its predecessor, the popular DMC-FZ30, by offering a 10 megapixel sensor, Venus III processing engine, and ISO 800 and 1600 speeds at full image resolution. The Panasonic DMC-FZ50 also has a High Sensitivity mode with a fastest ISO speed of ISO 3200, High Angle mode that brightens the LCD when held overhead, and a faster 1-point auto-focus system. The DMC-FZ50 has a 104 megapixel, 1/1.8 inch CCD that delivers 10.1 effective megapixels. There are three aspect ratios on offer (4:3, 3:2, 16:9) with a range of image sizes (4:3 Aspect Ratio: 3648 x 2736 pixels, 3264 x 2448 pixels, 2560 x 1920 pixels, 2048 x 1536 pixels,1600 x 1200 pixels 3:2 Aspect Ratio:3600 x 2400 pixels, 3248 x 2160 pixels, 2560 x 1712 pixels, 2048 x 1360 pixels 16:9 Aspect Ratio:3584 x 2016 pixels, 3072 x 1728 pixels, 1920 x 1080 pixels). Images can be recorded as either Fine or Standard quality JPEGs, or in the RAW file format.

The camera's 12x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit optical zoom lens is equivalent to a 35-420mm lens on a 35mm format camera. There is also a 4x digital zoom should you feel the need to use it. MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) is available with 2 different modes. It offers Auto and Program exposure modes plus 17 different scene modes (Portrait, Soft Skin, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Panning, Food, Party, Candle, Fireworks, Snow, Starry Sky, Baby1, Baby2, Snow and High sensitivity). More advanced shutter priority, aperture priority and manual exposure modes are also available. The maximum aperture is f2.8 (wide) – f3.7 (tele), and the shutter speed range is 60 secs. – 1/2000th sec.

There are 5 ISO speeds ranging from 100 to 1600, an Auto option and a new High Sensitivity Mode that allows ISO 3200 at a reduced image resolution. There are 6 different White Balance presets to choose from (Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Flash, White Set), plus an Auto setting and White Balance Adjustment (150K step, -1500K - +1500K). The camera offers exposure compensation in ± 1 in 1/3 EV steps and auto-bracketing is available. It has a normal shooting mode, Self-timer (2 secs. or 10 secs.) and 2 different Continuous modes - High (2 fps) or Low (1 fps), with a maximum of 5 images in Standard JPEG Mode and 3 images in Fine JPEG Mode for both modes.

There are 4 different colour effects available (Cool, Warm, Black and White and Sepia) and Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness and Noise Reduction can all be set to one of three levels.

The Macro setting allows you to focus on subjects that are as close as 5cms at the wide-angle lens setting. The camera offers 5 auto-focus systems - 1-point, 1-point high speed, 3-point high speed, 9-point and Spot - and you can choose from Normal, Manual or Macro focus. The exposure metering system is Intelligent Multiple, Center Weighted or Spot.

There is an AF assist lamp to help achieve focus in low-light situations. The built-in flash offers 4 different modes (Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced On/Off) and there is a Hot Shoe for external flash-guns.

An image and more technical specifications can be found here - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz50/

Thanks Jackal

I haven't had my new camera long enough to go into a lot of detail about it's features.

I have an Olympus SP550-uz. It's compact digital camera rather than a DSLR, but has many of the features you'd get on an SLR. It has an 18x optical zoom and macro and super macro modes. You can choose to shoot in a fully Auto mode, or choose from a selection of scene presets, but you can also choose to have Aperture priority, shutter speed priority or manual exposure setting. You can Auto focus in several modes too, or do that manually.

I love being able to control my depth of field (how much is in focus) and being able to zoom right in on things.

I also particularly like how the controls of the camera just fall under my fingers. It seems to be the perfect size and layout for me, which is a little surprising as I have small hands even for a lady. I took it out in the garden to "play" last weekend and some of the better results are in my gallery.

Jackal, your run down of your cameras features is brilliant - thanks for going into so much detail.

We just got a Fuji Finepix S700. Great camera for cheap. Less than $300 at Dell. I used to know what to look for in a camera in my teens. I will have to relearn everything to get anything more technical than that or else all the features and reasons to buy a better camera would go unused.

Six months ago I bought the Nikon D40 which is the intro level for Nikon DSLR cameras. It is 6 megapixels and has small footprint in your hand. There are a lot of settings you can change to set up the camera to shoot the way you like.

It is a great introduction to DSLR shooting. You can pick these up for around $500 as a kit with a lens included.

After these 6 months I've been completely hooked back into photography, (I started with a brownie box camera and used to have my own darkroom for processing). This past week I bought the newly released Nikon D300, all the glass I have will interchange between the two cameras. This will make the D40 the backup and go to camera for anything I have to shoot way over my head on a tripod, and the D300 which has a much bigger footprint in the hand will be the work horse.

I'm still working my way through the manual and finally attached a lens today and did a few test shots. (I've been very busy this week).

I wouldn't recommend going straight to a high end camera like this, but I would recommend the D40 as one very sweet camera to own and shoot.

Thanks for your replies.

Dave, you have been very restrained to have only just attached a lens to your new D300. Thanks for your recommendation; I did look at the D80 and D200 a few weeks ago and will try to make my mind up for my best long term option when I've saved my pennies (and pounds). The D300 sounds great, but definitely out of my league. I used to develop and print b&w when I lived at my parents', but haven't for about 20 years.

Ian

I have a Fujifilm Finepix 5600. It is an SLR-like camera. Let's me use auto features and learn the more manual features.

I've had it two years now and LOVE it. I'm still working on learning more about aperature, speed, dof, etc but can at my own pace and still grab photos I love in the mean time.

About a week ago, my willpower failed and I have now got myself a Nikon D80 with the 18-70 kit lens. I'm very happy with it so far, and am getting out taking photos again, so that's good. As I found when I tried it out earlier, it fits my hand very well and is easy to use. I'm looking forward to experimenting in the future.

I was given a new camera - Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ50 - and I am really looking forward to the better weather to get started with it. It is the big daddy of the one I have, but it can do so much more for me.