Confused about photography...

spoony77

spoony77

spoony77

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Joined
10 Aug 2005
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385
Hi people
I have just returned from holiday and am very dissapointed with the shots from my old panasonic tz10 point and shoot which when I bought it was considered an excellent camera...
Now this may be because I'm rubbish at photography or it maybe that my mobile phone produces very good shots (LG G2)
So after some research as to what to purchase next, as I want some better shots of my kids growing up, I have found a Nikon D3300 for £300 and a Sony RX100 second hand for a similar price or just upgrade my mobile phone?
Youtube videos seem to be inferring that modern phones have cameras so good that a camera is no longer needed?
I had a play with the Nikon in Currys and although it is bigger than I would like, if it will give me much better shots I will live with it...
Any advice appreciated
 
What is your idea of better?

Because if you are just looking for clarity, pixel count then any modern mobile phone/compact/DSLR would suffice.

If you show us some samples of shots then perhaps we could tell you what you can improve and whether that is within the capabilities of the camera for those improvements.
 
Read some basic guides and learn about aperture, shutter speed, focussing and composition. Move on to basic editing in free software like gimp2. If you think buying an expensive camera will automatically give you better photographs, you will be disappointed unless you understand some basics.
 
Despite having taken the odd reasonable photo with my S6 I've yet to purchase a phone that will allow me to take a photo better than my XT1 or Sony RX100 and even replace them?
Perhaps a few examples of said bad photos from TZ10 would help by way of illustrating your problem? Saying that, even a SonyRX100 set to automatic (IE+) will give you better photos than the Panasonic and the LG and even better photos if you learned to use it.
 
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Thanks for the replies chaps, I think my problem must be with my lack of photography skills as some of the shots I see from iphones and the like look amazing....
 
spoony77 said:
Hi people
I have just returned from holiday and am very dissapointed with the shots from my old panasonic tz10 point and shoot which when I bought it was considered an excellent camera...
Now this may be because I'm rubbish at photography or it maybe that my mobile phone produces very good shots (LG G2)
So after some research as to what to purchase next, as I want some better shots of my kids growing up, I have found a Nikon D3300 for £300 and a Sony RX100 second hand for a similar price or just upgrade my mobile phone?
Youtube videos seem to be inferring that modern phones have cameras so good that a camera is no longer needed?
I had a play with the Nikon in Currys and although it is bigger than I would like, if it will give me much better shots I will live with it...
Any advice appreciated
Click to expand...

While I am guessing that your photography knowledge could use some brushing up, it's fair to note that the Panasonic TZ10 is almost 7 years old and technology has moved on in that time... the RX100 Mk I being a prime example, even though that is also now around 4 years old.

Don't buy any DSLR unless you know you will realistically want to carry it around with you... because compared to an RX100 even though it has better image quality it will feel like a brick and have more of a learning curve.

If you have no patience for learning how to use a camera properly then just buy the best compact you can afford that will give you the best performance in Auto mode.
 
spoony77 said:
Thanks for the replies chaps, I think my problem must be with my lack of photography skills as some of the shots I see from iphones and the like look amazing....
Click to expand...

This comes comes from the drive to want to improve your skills, and getting inspiration from the work of others.

If you're not out there regularly practising what you want to become better at, then you will continue to be disappointed with the results you currently get.

Drive comes from inspiration, so join a few groups on 500px/Flickr or Instagram, and start browsing and getting inspired by the awesome work out there. You'll then have the drive to want to capture the kind of images you want :)
 
Sometimes even the big cameras aren't up to it either. I did a wedding a week ago, shooting with my trusty D700 and it's amazing, color, dof etc but I was trying to take photos in a room that was dim with massive letters spelling LOVE with light bulbs inside.

Tried different exposures, settings, took several to try HDR etc when I got home and walked away with a dozen photos.

Thought what the hell and took out my S7, first shot, bang. Exactly what I had pictured I wanted with a single photo with HDR built in.

I've been shooting for 7+ years now, and in general photos from a DSLR will be superior in every way, but when it comes to the ease and processing of some images a phone is more than capable.

We don't have a single point and shoot in the house now. D700 is used for work or days out with the family specifically for photos, otherwise it's 2 x S7's and they are great :)

Photography, i'd say to start with is about 80% reading, 20% camera work, then it will start to switch over time. I read a lot when I first started, and I hadn't even purchased a camera then. Sometimes I go a couple of months without picking it up and it's like starting from scratch. You have to keep at it and I'm never 100% happy with all of my photos.
 
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Lol.

I don't think I'm ever 100% happy with any of my photos.

No shame in using a phone camera.
Phone software is miles ahead of dslr.

I can generally take better shots than a phone but I have to spend much more time editing.
Often a phone shot is good enough.

The mmai advantage of dslr is low light fast movement and long range.
If your just taking normal photos phones are hard to beat.
 
Not sure if you are trolling and what you may mean by "normal" photo? Try getting depth of field, quality and bokeh on a mobile phone? Absolutely no comparison at all. If phones were that good I wouldn't have to carry a SonyRX100 around with me as a replacement for when not using a DSLR.
 
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Just a quick update to this thread....picked up a used fuji x70 and read a few guides on correct usage and aperture settings and WOW .....blown away at the quality.
Am a happy snapper now :)
 
I'm still wondering what was so bad about the TZ10 photos though.

Up until recently I was using a TZ8 (essentially the same camera) and was quite happy with the results up until my daughter dropped it in the sand last year and the lens packed in.

One thing they suffered from was dirt on the sensor sucked in by the lens actuation, let it get out of hand and the pictures will be bad, but there are youtube videos on how to clean it.

I've replaced it with a Sony WX350, which is tiny but with a big zoom, I'm happy with that too although it does seem to be more 'jpeggy' than the Pana was.
 
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