I get a lot of new photography students asking questions about purchasing their next “upgrade” camera. Usually it’s a debate between price and camera quality. I find that most people want to advance from their beginner level cameras and often move on to something with a higher megapixel count and more manual control.
Well for those of you who are at this stage, I have done a little groundwork for you and searched for what I think is one of your best options for a mid range priced camera with a lot of great features.
I have both searched for user reviews online and have gone into some big chains (best buy, future shop etc) to scout out what I think a good camera would be for both beginner and advanced photographers.
I found the “Canon PowerShot SX100 IS” to be a really good overall deal. In Canada it is currently selling for about $350 and in the US it’s about $299 (But like always, prices vary). It’s a good deal for what you get and it provides loads of great features. Let me give you the basic run down of some of the more important elements.
Aperture Range
f/2.8 - f/4.3
Digital Sensor Size
8.3MP
Digital Zoom
4X
Exposure Compensation
+/- 2EV In 1/3 Steps
Flash Range
1.6' - 9.8' (W), 1.6' - 6.6' (T)
Focus Range
0.39" – Infinity
Included Digital Media
16MB
ISO Rating
Auto/80/100/200/400/800/1600
LCD Monitor Size
"2.5"
Movie Mode
Yes
Optical Zoom
10X
Shutter Speed
15 - 1/2500 Seconds
Best of all it has some great features that most film cameras have that I love so much. For example, as you’re learning how to take pictures it’s good to practice with shutter speed and aperture control independently of each other. This camera offers both aperture and shutter speed “priority”. This means you can manually control your shutter speed while the camera automatically adjusts for the property aperture control or you can play around with depth of field by manually controlling your aperture while the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed to ensure you get the proper exposure.
However, for advanced users, you can set it to complete “manual” allowing you great creative freedom to control both the shutter speed and aperture control.
Overall the "Canon PowerShot SX100 IS" is a great $300'ish camera deal giving both the beginner and advanced photographer great value for their money.