What camera for a photography course

[MarmaLaid]

Interested in photography and looking at some courses at our local college. Can anyone recommend a camera to learn with? I might try and buy 2nd hand if possible

Hi MarmaLaid,

Ask yourself a few questions:
Do I know what type/genre of photos I want to take? eg action shots, night shots, landscape, street?
Do I want a camera that slips into a large pocket/small bag, or am I prepared to carry something bigger around?
Am I interested in using more than one lens, or do I want an all-in-one camera?
Will I need to use flash for the sort of photos I want to take?
Do I want to be able to use filters (eg polarising or neutral density)?

Do the course descriptions give you any guidance. eg 'a point and shoot will be fine for this' or 'you need a to get the most out of this course'?

And last, but not least, what's my budget for this?

You shouldn't have any problem finding a suitable second-hand camera, whatever type/model you go for.

Thank you retired. Do you have a camera? If so what one and why?
Thank you for your points, very helpful

Find out what camera the college uses (canon or Nikon) and go with that- it makes it easier to borrow lenses. I’m a canon girl but know plenty of people who prefer Nikon. The 600D and up (or down tbh) are good wee cameras.

Ps if you’re doing a college course you should be able to borrow one and see how you get on with it. If you like it buy one similar - your tutor will probably be able to advise. That’s how I ended up with w canon and I love it.

Are you looking for film or digital? I always found a simple film camera was best for learners but essentially what you need to learn photography is a camera that allows to to manipulate

1. Shutter speed
2. Aperture
3. Film speed/dsi

Shutter speed controls how long your exposure (opening of the shutter) is.
Aperture controls how big the hole in the lenses is (this will effect whether you are focused on something close to you or far away).
Film speed controls how quickly the image is captured and the quality of the image (a low speed will create better depth/smooth image but will require a relatively still subject to avoid blur while faster speeds will produce trainer images but can capture objects in motion).

If you camera doesn’t have settings for any of these you won’t be able to learn how to use a camera properly. I would recommend going to your local second hand camera shop and asking for a basic slr/dslr and asking them to walk you through each function.

I have a Canon DSLR. I went on an introduction to digital photography course. I love mine now. I bought a cheaper camera but I find it too limited! I mainly use mine for portraits.

But as pp say, it really depends on what you want to photograph!

Hi Marmalaid

I was a Canon girl for a long time, but a couple of years ago I switched to Fuji mirrorless. (The XT-2)

I still sometimes miss my Canon 5D3 and lenses, but my ageing back was complaining bitterly about the weight I was lugging around. I'm very happy with the Fuji.

@Letsgetreadytorumba gives good advice :)

On my uni photography course, we used nikon d90. Its a good little all rounder, swap lenses, add lightings (on camera and hook up to studio lights) change shutter/iso/speed. Price is good now too. I purchased a d200 was cheaper as a discontinued model. Its served me well

Its so confusing isn’t it? I’m looking for a compact, mirrorless or bridge camera for dd (rather than a more expensive dslr or a budget point and shoot). I think I’m going to go for the Nikon B500 Coolpix. I ‘think’ this will just about help her get off auto settings (eg adjust aperture and something else I can’t remember) but without being able to swap lenses? But not sure.