Hi - my first post in photography so please be gentle with me if you can
First of all I confess to being very much a low end amateur point and shoot photographer at best. I'd love to learn more though, but currently I do not know even the basics of manual settings I am afraid. I do promise however to try however.
OK so the reason for my post is that I would like to improve the image quality of the pictures that I do take. I currently use a Panasonic TZ7, and it takes good pictures as far as I am concerned, but I am told that I will improve image quality with a DSLR or a CSC. So having done me many a google search, and had a bit of a play in Jessops, I am still at a loss really, so here I am
So my requirements, I think are as follows:
1. Something not too bulky - I will be travelling for example to Everest base camp later in the year and don't want something that takes up too much room or weight.
2. Takes good landscape shots (i.e mountains ). I don't on the other hand need close up shots, or portrait ability etc.
3. Will give me an upgrade on image quality on my TZ7 without me having to spend time doing manual focus or adjustments etc., at least until i learn what I am doing.
4. I don't really want the hassle of changing lenses unless I have to.
5. I 'think' I'd like to have full HD movie capability too. I use a 1080p home cinema pj and have a nice shiny iMac and so would like to optimise the quality of that part too. The video footage that I have taken with the TZ7 is underwhelming at best.
Oh and my budget is around £500 or so.
Having gone into Jessops and basically told them the above they pointed me towards the Sony Nex-5. Doing a bit of a trawl around here pits that it seems against the Panny GF2, Samsung NX10 and Olympus Pen.
Can anyone suggest what I should look to go for please? The NEX-5 that I looked at seemed a bit cumbersome almost with the 18-55mm lens on. How good is the 16mm lens on there and if I don't need to zoom at all could I get awat with just it alone for landscape use?
Sorry for all the questions, but I sincerely appreciate any help that anyone can give me....let me know if I've missed out telling you anything else that is relevant too.....
First of all I confess to being very much a low end amateur point and shoot photographer at best. I'd love to learn more though, but currently I do not know even the basics of manual settings I am afraid. I do promise however to try however.
OK so the reason for my post is that I would like to improve the image quality of the pictures that I do take. I currently use a Panasonic TZ7, and it takes good pictures as far as I am concerned, but I am told that I will improve image quality with a DSLR or a CSC. So having done me many a google search, and had a bit of a play in Jessops, I am still at a loss really, so here I am
So my requirements, I think are as follows:
1. Something not too bulky - I will be travelling for example to Everest base camp later in the year and don't want something that takes up too much room or weight.
2. Takes good landscape shots (i.e mountains ). I don't on the other hand need close up shots, or portrait ability etc.
3. Will give me an upgrade on image quality on my TZ7 without me having to spend time doing manual focus or adjustments etc., at least until i learn what I am doing.
4. I don't really want the hassle of changing lenses unless I have to.
5. I 'think' I'd like to have full HD movie capability too. I use a 1080p home cinema pj and have a nice shiny iMac and so would like to optimise the quality of that part too. The video footage that I have taken with the TZ7 is underwhelming at best.
Oh and my budget is around £500 or so.
Having gone into Jessops and basically told them the above they pointed me towards the Sony Nex-5. Doing a bit of a trawl around here pits that it seems against the Panny GF2, Samsung NX10 and Olympus Pen.
Can anyone suggest what I should look to go for please? The NEX-5 that I looked at seemed a bit cumbersome almost with the 18-55mm lens on. How good is the 16mm lens on there and if I don't need to zoom at all could I get awat with just it alone for landscape use?
Sorry for all the questions, but I sincerely appreciate any help that anyone can give me....let me know if I've missed out telling you anything else that is relevant too.....
Last edited: