Hellobee Boards

I LOVE my dSLR. I have the Canon T2i, though there are newer versions. I primarily use my 50mm/f1.8 lens (~$100) for all my pictures and use Lightroom to edit it, though I'm still a newb, so I can't give a ton of advice!

@Bookish: Off-brand lenses are probably cheaper, though it all depends. The Canon brand 50mm/f1.8 lens is ~$100, so still a great deal! I'm not sure you'd be able to find an off-brand lens for much cheaper!

Anything off-brand, you'll need to make sure will fit your camera too. Nikon lenses won't fit Canon cameras, and vice-versa!

@Bookish: If you can swing it financially, there are uses for the kit lens (it is versatile, and it zooms, so it's good for outdoor photography). I bought a Canon Rebel (idk the model, it's 4 years old now) and it came with two lenses - one shorter all-around lens and one telephoto type longer range zoom. At the beginning those two were fine, although for $100 if I had known about it I would have bought the 50mm right away just for the low light.

Since then I've bought a Tamron lens that sort of combines what I liked about the 50mm (low aperture) and what I liked about the kit lens (zoom range), but that was about $500, so I wouldn't recommend investing more $$ in lenses until you get the hang of the camera. Some people love prime lenses (don't zoom) and others want to be able to zoom, so it's good to know what you like before spending more $$ on lenses. No matter what you get you're going to love the difference in pictures from an SLR!

Basically I got a kit like this one, but with fewer accessories: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-75-300mm-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B004VN920G/

This is the Tamron lens I got after I got comfortable with my camera: http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-28-75mm-Aspherical-Canon-Digital/dp/B0000A1G05/

@LovelyPlum: I follow Digital Photography School to get my tips for doing edits and I find them really helpful! Here's one example: http://digital-photography-school.com/basic-photo-editing-in-lightroom

I have an older Nikon D3000 and I love the quality of pics! After that, I couldn't stand the point-and-shoot pics! So it's either DSLR or phone camera these days.

I saw and ad for the new Nikon D3200 with WiFi and I would looove that option!

@LovelyPlum: In non-technical terms, editing for me is to make sure I like the way the photo looks. I shoot in RAW (an uncompressed format) and the photos that come straight out of the camera (SOOC) look really boring and flat. Editing adds a bit of life to the image.

What that means is:

1. I typically fix the white balance (here's an explanation).

2. I also usually bump up the contrast and make sure I like the tones.

3. Straighten or crop as necessary.

4. Rarely -- I will erase blemishes or stray hairs. I usually only do this for images I'm printing. This takes a bit more time so I don't do this often!

If your images look great as you take them, there will be less for you to do on the computer!

@Bookish: no, I use a Canon Rebel t3i and my 50mm f/1.8 lens most of the time when I'm taking portrait photos. I haven't played around with the NEX that much, but I used it a bit and I was very satisfied with what I saw, even as a DSLR user. It's definitely something to check out if you don't want to go full on into DSLR territory.

I can foresee myself stealing the NEX quite a bit after I give it to him.

I just have a quick question-I see recommendations for both the Canon and Nikon, anyone love one over the other?? I am hoping to upgrade for Christmas!!