Cameras - Bridge

[cpjitservices]

Hi all,

 

My wife is taking up photography as her hobby, although she would like to earn a bit out of it as she goes along,.....

 

Shes been offered A Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ20 - the person wants between £80 - £120 for it. Wifey has borrowed this cam for a few weeks see how she gets on and the stuff shes produced is fantastic!

 

She's wondering what to do, it comes with all the batteries, chargers and the other bits n bobs, I dont know that much about them tbh.

 

Her main problem with the cam is it will only take a max of a 2GB SD Card and I cant see online whether it can be update via firmware to be able to put bigger cards in.

 

 

What would you do ?

[broc]

If she is serious about selling her images she needs something better than a bridge camera. They are fine for snapshots & holidays but I would suggest looking at system cameras such as Digital SLRs or micro 4/3 systems such as Panasonic Lumix G if she wants to really get into photography. The Lumix G cameras are similar in size to bridge cameras but have interchangeable lenses including 'fast' optics. They will produce results which compare favourably to entry/mid-range SLRs. Normally I use a Nikon D300 SLR but have recently bought some Lumix G kit & have been very impressed. The Lumix G3 performance in low light is better than the Nikon.

 

There's a huge amount of advice on Talk Photography™

[carvjo]

The early Lumix DMC-FZ20 could only take SD Cards up to 2Gb - and I don't think a firmware update exists to change that?

 

Check the exact model number as the later FZ-20's could take bigger cards.

 

Panasonic make very capable cameras, and it's not the camera that matters so much, as the creativity of the person pressing the shutter!

[pcstru]

What would you do ?

 

£100 in photography terms is small beer, so I'd go for it. While a bigger, better camera will allow her to take higher resolution, sharper images and give her more options in terms of lenses, a more limited camera won't be the thing that actually stops her from taking good shots.

 

I wouldn't worry about the 2GB limit on the card, just carry more cards (2GB is a lot of 6MP pictures - even shot raw).

[MrMat]

I'm not sure about the FZ20 but I used to have an FZ38 and it was a decent little camera to start with. I ended up selling mine for just over £100 so if you were to look around you might be able to pick one up for a similar price.

 

I will add that of course you can get nice shots with a bridge camera however anyone 'into' photography will soon find themselves outgrowing their bridge camera and wanting to upgrade. They are pretty awful in low light conditions, they aren't great with anything fast moving (sports, moving kids etc), they generally don't have large enough apertures to get decent portraits and they are ergonomically cumbersome and slow etc.

 

Also I've been doing photography for a few years now and I still don't feel as though I'm good enough to sell my images. Don't think photography is a nice easy way to make some money because it's not. Getting good at it takes a whole heap of time and effort. You don't want to end up here www.youarenotaphotographer.com

[Gibbo]

Bridge cameras are a great way to get into photography. Get a good one and it will hold it's price all day long. Look after it and then when it comes to move up to a proper D-SLR you'll get your money back.

 

Sometimes the leap from compact to D-SLR is just a bit too big.

[cpjitservices]

Well she bought the Lumix - £70. So im guessing thats a good price, shes happy with it and shes taking some pretty good photos.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys!!!!!

 

Enjoy your day!