Going digital

[jethrien]

So I think I'm ready to finally be dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. It's time to give in and get a digital camera.

I know nothing about digital cameras.

So right now, I have a Canon Rebel that I love. I don't use nearly all the features that I feel like I should, but I love that it's both got idiot-buttons so I can hand it off to someone else, but also lets me play all I want with zooming and focal lengths and stuff. Part of the reason I got a good camera in the first place was a series of pictures where the light levels were all wrong or the auto-focus picked the wrong object and what I actually wanted a picture of was blurry. I also really like that I can blow up pictures from film to have something larger to hang on the wall that is still sharp. (Although I don't do this all that often, either.)

What I don't like about the camera - the usual flaws of film. You can't see it until you process it, you have to print every picture, you can't send a million copies to all your friends for free. Also, I love the quality you get from a bulky, "real" camera, but I'm getting tired of trying to lug such a bulky camera around. I feel like if I had a smaller camera, maybe I'd use it more because I'd take it to parties or horseback riding or whatever.

So, things I would like to be able to do:
- have some control over focus beyond simply zooming in or out
- take pictures of a high enough quality that I could have prints made that were at least 8 1/2 x 11in.
What might be nice, but might contradict points A and B:
- having something small enough to actually fit in a purse or deep coat pocket

I don't actually know pretty much anything about digital photography right now, although I'm willing to learn. I don't know who are good companies, or what kind of specs I should look for.

Help me, Intarwebs! (By which I mean, people who read my LJ and like giving advice.)

Comments

[dushai.livejournal.com]

http://www.dpreview.com/ (Digital Photography Review) is a great website for reviews of specific models. Their reviews are pretty comprehensive and they post actual photos under different conditions and comment on the strengths and weaknesses. When you're down to choosing between a few models, look them up on DPReview.