Point and shoot cameras

[ISUFan22]

A quick question. My wife wants something to take better pics but has a small learning curve. With your experience with cameras how fast could she pick up on how to use one of the entry level DSLR cameras?

As other have noted, you can put it in "idiot mode" - auto. Works just like a point and shoot but a lot better results and options.

Over time, and this one is easy, go into P mode. AV mode is what she should target - which is aperture priority. None of these are hard to operate.

Also recommend shooting raw and using a very inexpensive and easy to learn program like Adobe Lightroom as a digital asset management, workflow and editing tool.

 

[tm3308]

Thanks everyone for the advice. One more question. Which type (p&s or DSLR) would be best for kids sporting events, random family events, etc. The more reading I do the more I see that p&s appears to struggle with moving shots.

Assuming your kids are young and a large portion of their sporting events are during daylight hours, a Nikon D40 is pretty good for what you seem need. My mom had one that she used for sports, vacations, etc. and it worked just fine. You can easily get by with kit lenses, which will save you a ton of money (the value of the camera has a lot more to do with the glass you put on it than the camera itself). You would have to get a D40 used, as Nikon doesn't produce it anymore, but you could get a brand-new DSLR body and a pair of kit lenses (one wide and one medium-range telephoto, which is perfect for youth sports) for right around $1,000. If you get something used, you can hack off at least a couple hundred dollars, I would think.

It's definitely an expensive market, but you get what you pay for.

And it's not as hard as people think to learn how to use a DSLR, even if you have too much pride to use the auto mode. Even if you're getting your exposure through trial and error, there are only three settings you need to worry about, and once you learn how to change those settings, it's pretty simple.

 

[ISUFan22]

I strongly recommend starting with a used DSLR. Something line a Canon 40D or in that range. Good enough noise at the higher ISO, large LCD screen, etc.

Your best bet is always to invest more in your glass than the camera body. But many do the opposite. Glass will last longer and is one of the most important parts for image quality and speed (aperature range).