Best camera for a beginner?

[Jess & Stewart]

Since I'm now depressed about having no good pictures of Stew & none to submit for the calendar, I'm thinking of getting an actual camera to take pictures with.

Suggestions on a good/great camera that isn't too expensive for a beginner?

I now have a fenced in yard at my dad's with lots of foliage, flowers & an old rusty barn to take pictures of Stew, so I want to take advantage of it!! If the photos loaded, you see there's potential there!!

[DJ & Chance]

Jess,

With a decent point & shoot or newer iPhone, you can get wonderful images. I recommend starting there to see if you catch the "photography bug" before going on to new, more expensive equipment.

The photography group has some wonderful tutorials for beginners--I learned much of what I know from watching these and taking thousands of photos to see what worked and what didn't!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I started with a Canon T3i and still love that camera so much. I never read manuals and I found it to be very user friendly. A good, inexpensive first lens to get is the 50 mm 1.8 and you should be good to go for quite some time. If you are really interested in learning technique, Camilla did online classes for several of us in the Photography classes. Those classes have helped so many, and I think you can find them earmarked here by F in the tutorials. Good luck. Stewart deserves to get a chance to be on the calendar :)

[Kaitee and Orwell]

I second this notion. My father has a higher end EOS model that I use sometimes (haven't done so with Orwell yet. I hope to start soon), but I'm sure the cheaper ones are also good starters. 

[Richard Crowe]

A good choice for a beginner could be a "Bridge" camera.  These types of cameras have been given that name because they bridge the gap between point and shoot cameras and DSLR cameras, in price and weight.  

An example of a bridge camera is the Canon SX 50 HS.  My son-in-law purchased a SX 50 HS for his trip to Africa and brought back some pretty nice photos (especially considering his photo experience which is basically nil).

 

The camera has an enormous zoom range and has good macro capability.  It has most of the controls available on DSLR cameras:  you have automatic, programmed, aperture and shutter speed priority, etc. etc.  You also have a burst capability for moving doodles and sports.

 

The SX 50 HS also has the capability of capturing images as RAW files which is arguably the first step to take in order to get the best quality images. Post processing benefits from RAW imagery. 

The Canon supplies a basic and easy to use editing program with each camera.

The SX 50 HS has a built-in flash but also has a hotshoe and can use any of the EX model hotshoe flashes.  In actuality, however, most full size hotshoe flashes are too large and do not balance well on this camera.  I replaced my tiny 270EX flash with the 270EXii which has slave capability.  I gave my original 270EX to my son-in-law and, when combined with a Joe Demb Photojournalist FlipIt, it provides some decent lighting since the tilt capability of the 270EX allows you to bounce the flash.

Canon has introduced the SX 60 HS as a replacement for the SX 50 HS.  On paper, the new camera has a lot to offer but, I haven't even seen one so I cannot comment on that model.  Right now the SX 50 HS runs about $400 while the SX 60 HS costs about $600. An advantage to the SX cameras is that they come with a lens and you don't have to purchase additional lenses.  The SX 50 HS provides equivalent 35mm focal length of about 28mm to 1,200mm which is an enormous range. The range of the SX 60 HS is even wider...

You do pay a price for this zoom range  because the lens stops down to f/6.5 at the maximum focal length.  Although the SX 50 HS has a very good image stabilization system, photographers often cannot hand hold the lens at full zoom. The good thing is that the camera is so light in weight that you don't need a heavy weight and expensive tripod or monopod.

The SX range of cameras have both a LCD viewfinder which articulates and an eye level electronic viewfinder (EVF).  While I prefer through the lens viewfinders to EVF, the EVF is superior to the LCD alone in many ways - especially when shooting in bright sun...

There are a lot of comments regarding shooting with smart phones but, he could not have captured any of the above three images with a smart phone.  He shot these at the maximum focal length of the SX 50 HS.  A smart phone has nothing even close to that focal length...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It takes beautiful pictures, Richard.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Your SIL did a great job!  I know several people who have purchased this camera because they are tired of lugging around heavier cameras and lenses.  I have the SX40, but recently went to a mirrorless.  Thanks for sharing these photos.  I have a friend that is planning to go to the Serengeti in Jan-Feb 2015 and I can't wait to see his photos. 

[Camilla and Darwin]

Wow - there is a lot of great advice in here. I definitely agree with the advice that learning to use what you have is a great option, and that upgrading won't automatically make your pictures awesome. Luckily you joined the photography group, and there are so many wonderful people here who love to help! If you are looking to go with something simple, the Nikon Coolpix and the Canon Powershot point and shoots are great, and both Nikon and Canon have great entry level DSLR's if you are wanting to go with something more advanced. I used my 2 Canon Rebels (the T2i and T3i) until February of this year, and they served me perfectly - great cameras!