Do professionals recommend Nikon rather than sony?

I am about to buy a Sony Digital Camera. I am an amateur photographer and looking forward for an advice on whether to buy Sony or buy Nikon?

Nikon Coolpix L5 or Sony DSC W55

Both are 7 megapixel cameras. However I was suggested to take an advice from some professional brains. Anyone who can help?

I don't see alot of professionals out there shooting SONY cameras. They are using either Canon or Nikon. It's really that simple. Nikon has superior glass. Also, Nikon relies on a more standard storage technology whereas Sony tends to try and box their customers into proprietary options.

Given all this, why would anyone want to settle on SONY and pay the premium for that 4 letter word?

Get the Nikon, IMHO.

Ok that sounds right. How good is the Photograph quality of a Nikon camera compared to sony?

Consider this, the user of the camera is an amateur who has no thorough knowledge of cameras or photography?

Since sony has majority functions automated; does the manual settings of Nikon affect the photography which is done by an amateur?

How good quality of a photograph can an amateur photographer shoot using the nikon?

Is it very easy to use or its such that it can be used only by professionals who understand photography and its techniques thoroughly?

I would really appreciate a reply on these few questions.

As with anything, your mileage may vary. And as you grow with the camera, you become more comfortable with it's features, your photography improves.

Most professionals shoot with Nikon or Canons, but they are using high quality DSLRs for the point and soot side of things, I think Sony beats out Nikon.

I don't know, Josh. I'd have to contend with that. I'd match Olympus, for example with Sony anyday. That's not Nikon, mind you, and of course, again, your mileage may vary, but I'd prefer a camera that doesn't rely on proprietary memory cards and format encoding that Sony attempts to force their customers into.

Give me a camera company that makes cameras over an electronics company vying for market share anyday.

Ok I do see your point there and I do basically agree with you. SD cards I agree are nicer than the card you have to use with the Sony models. I was somewhat basing what I said on what I have heard about the 10X Nikon S10 which doesn't stand up to its competition that great except for the large screen. Some of the less zoom ones may beat Sony. Thanx for responding to what I said.

Well, that may well be. It wouldn't be the first time a camera maker missed the mark on a model. ;)

Hmm! I can get some idea about how to choose a camera. In my case, I am not a professional. I have very less idea about photography. You can say I can shoot, but I am a fresher. I have used mostly Sony DSC P200 till now to get following results.

http://www.betterphoto.com/?kcalpesh

Where Sony compells its customers to buy Sony accessories only, does it have an edge over nikon in terms of the "ease of usability"? Ultimately, also the output and the results of photography is what matters.

Well now basing on the fact that you have had a sony model in the past, you may want to go with the new Sony camera you are looking at now. You would be able to understand the terms and features faster and easier if you got another Sony model rather than upgrading to the Nikon. So it may turn out that by your circumstances the Sony may be easier to use because you have had one in the past. I took a look at some of the photos you have, and hey, they look good. Keep it up for sure. The Nikon's menu system is for the most part well set up and easy to work with but if you've had a sony I'd say stay with them. Well at least if you have for the most part been pleased with your other Sony model. Hope this helps, and sorry for the other complications regarding what we have already answered to this question.

In my mind, it doesn't give Sony an edge at all over Nikon. And while I agree with Josh that the learning curve will be easier if you stay with SONY, that certainly doesn't mean you're better off.

And as a photographer, tech reporter, and all around consumer, I don't like it that Sony forces their customers into a proprietary revenue stream. I think it limits choices and costs them more money in the long run. More open source options used, like SD cards for example, allow for much more flexibility and competition regarding pricing and innovation.

Thanks for the replies.

I am sure about two Sony Cameras. DSC W55 & DSC W80. However, I would now only like to check out a few Nikon Cameras.

Can anyone recommend me few of the latest models from NIKON, which would also be a little easy to use. I agree Nikon has a slight edge considering the cost factor, since there are more open options with accessories like SD Cards.

Comparable Nikons to check out include cameras from the "L" series (this would include the L12 and the L5) the S series (including the S500) and the P Series (including the P3 & P4).

I like the P3/P4 for it's 8.1 MP and they come highly rated and have 3x zoom - which is a tad short for my likings.

I have to disagree with "the learning curve" in any Coolpix model camera. The advantage of the coolpix line is that you have the auto mode which allows you to simply point and shoot, and end up with pretty good pictures, almost right out of the box. They then bundle a ton of manual features that you may want to start playing with later (I believe, for example, that the l12 offers manual white balance, which is REALLY nice). My very first digital camera was a coolpix 600 which was a 1.2 megapixel camera. Since then, I have had a 3 megapixel cannon, a 4 megapixel fuji, and a a 3.2 megapixel fuji. I have used friends and family members pro-sumer olympus camera, a few different Kodak cameras, a sony camera an HP camera, and a few other cheaper cameras.

By and far, my favorite camera was my old coolpix 600, despite the fact that it was only a 1.2 megapixel camera. The Nikor lense has an advantage over most other cameras, as its made of glass. The image quality is really that much better. It does an excellent job of picking up different color tones and shades, and produces realistic colors. Prints from the camera will knock your socks off, and to my prosumer eye (not professional, mind you), I think the prints from the Coolpix cameras are well comparable with some of the prints that come from some of the nicer slr film cameras. Just turn off the digital zoom feature.

The newer Kodak cameras produce the second-best quality pictures for a point and shoot camera. They are extreamely easy to use, and throw in a lot of fun features. However, when you go to print out photos, you start to notice unrealistic black levels. The older Kodak cameras are junk, producing some weird colors.

The Sonys I would not recommend to anyone. While Sonys do excellent in low-level lighting, there tends to be noise in the pictures. In better lighting conditions, the Sony tends to over-saturate color. Some people like this, but it seems to be unrealistic photos. The upside of them is that they are fairly easy to use.

The cannon point and shoot cameras probably tie for third place with Olympus. They produce good pictures, excellent color reproduction, and with a steady hand, will give you some amazing pictures in low-level lighting. The reason I am putting these as third place, though, is that they are not as stupid-proof as the Kodaks, and while the image quality is exceptional, is not as good as the Nikons.

I am not at all happy with Fuji point and shoot cameras, particually the A series. These are just cheap cameras, and with the cheap Nikons going for about $120 MSRP, I cannot see a reason to recommend one. Not that they are bad, its just that there are better choices. Most of the Fujis I have seen use the xD memory card, which is quite annoying. These things are so tiny, that I am always misplacing them, and the only thing that uses xD is Fuji and Olympus. Stick with a camera that uses SD or Compact Flash.

The Poloroid that I have now is one that someone gave me, and is absolute junk. While it gets the job done, there are absolutely no advanced features, colors are muted, and even in excellent lighting conditions, pictures tend to blur.

There is not a single other brand I would recommend, every one else seems to be playing the "Me too" game.

Conclusion - get a Nikon. They are cheap enough that in many cases they underprice the competition, for the most part give a better picture quality than the competition of comparable price, and most have both easy and advanced features, so while you can use it straight out of the box, you will have a camera that can grow with you.

Of course, with any camera, I suggest reading reviews, searching for sample pics on the internet, go to the store and physically put your hands on a camera and see if you like it, and, most importantly, knowing what you will be using your camera for.

BTW, a coolpix is what Nikon calls their point and shoot cameras

I am still a little confused about the brand to buy. Getting many a suggestions from people all over. Recently I have also come across another camera which I think I can consider. Canon PowerShot A710 IS. However would like to know a little more about this model.

Can anyone help with this model, as to how good it is....??

I actually just bought the Nikon Coolpix L12 last weekend. Stupidly-simple to use, most of the features are automatic, and works right out of the box. A small annoyance is that you did have to install the bundled software to get Windows to even detect when you hook up the camera. I am amazed at this camera, pictures are very good quality, crisp even in low lighting (with image stabalization, which in very low lighting will up the iso mode, so you may get some graniness on the screen, but the resulting output to the computer is actually quite good. The quality of video if you change it to higher quality in the menu (default is 320x240 at 15fps, you can set it to 640x480 30 fps) is amazing, although will eat your memory card alive.
All in all, this is an excellent camera. My only annoyance with the thing is that it does not have a view finder, you must use the lcd. However, this is okay with me as its quite bright, even in direct sunlight, and has an amazingly good battery life.

You may want to try uninstalling the software. I had the same reaction to the lousy Kodak Easyshare software, so I uninstalled it, but the drivers stayed and the camera was still recognized by the PC.

I have recently checked out Canon Powershot A570is as well as Canon Powershot A710is. I liked both these cameras. Wondering now, about only few aspects.

Canon Powershot A570is - 4x Optical Zoom
Canon Powershot A710is - 6x Optical Zoom
How does this affect my photography? Does 710 hold any major advantage over here?


Canon Powershot A570is - Macro Focus Range - 30cm
Canon Powershot A710is - Macro Focus Range - 1cm
Macro Focus helps to shoot objects from very very close. Does 710 holds any major advantage over here?


Canon Powershot A570is
Minimum Aperture Wide - f2.8

Canon Powershot A710is
Minimum Aperture Wide - f2.6
I have no idea what is Minimum Aperture Wide? Can anyone suggest?



Video fps -
Canon Powershot A570is - 60fps
Canon Powershot A710is - 30fps

60fps is a major improvement for video shooting?



Tele Zoom (mm)
Canon Powershot A570is - 140mm
Canon Powershot A710is - 210mm

Major difference, but what is Tele zoom and which of the above is better?



ISO ratings

Canon Powershot A570is - auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Canon Powershot A710is - auto


Can anyone advice on the above comparision?

Sounds like the 710 is by far better than the 570. Yes, the 6x optical is a MAJOR plus in my opinion. I normally turn off the digital zoom on my cameras. The higher the optical zoom, the more you can zoom in on an object before you start loosing detail.

That is an amazing macro. the 30cm vs the 1cm I believe would be the focal length. I would assume this is saying that you can focus on something as close as 30cm away from the camera (that is 2 and a half feet, which kinda defeats the purpose of having a macro lense in my opinion). Now focusing at 1cm is amazing. The quesiton is, do you want to take close-up pictures of flowers and bugs?

I am not sure what this telezoom is.

on the iso settings, are you sure you do not have the two reversed? With all the features you have listed on the 710 over the 570, it really surprises me that the 710 does not have a manual mode. Most modern digital cameras that are of any quality have both manual and automatic iso settings. The question also goes, does the camera do the iso settings in optics, or digitally? Many digital cameras now days do the higher iso modes in digital mode, which amplifies the light. The plus is, you can take pictures without a flash in low-light settings, the bad thing is is that you tend to get a lot of noise in the picture. This should depend on how you want to use your camera. Taking pictures in night clubs and at parties, the noise really is not THAT bad on most cameras I have played with, and are great for memories, but if you want to take photos professionally, probably not the best thing

How important is the face detection feature? The only real advantage 570 has over 710IS is the face detection feature...Is the quality of a photograph taken by a camera with face detection better than that of a camera like say 710 which doesn't have face detection??

Thanks Will. However I forgot to mention one important thing.

Canon Powershot A570is, uses a DIGIC III processor, which enables the improved face detection and advanced noise reduction technologies. By applying new algorithms, faces can be detected at a greater distance. DIGIC III also allows for a high ISO speed, up to 1600.

How big is this as an advantage over the Canon Powershot A710is which has 6x optical zoom.

I have the face detection feature on mine. It SEEMS to give a better focus on the face when used, but this may be because it gives off a series of flashes before it takes the picture on mine when I use the face detection feature. I actually think what the face detection feature does is instead of focusing in on the central point of intrest, it will focus in on the face. I rarely use this, as most cameras, you center your subject, press partly down on the shutter to focus, then frame your picture. As such, the face detection feature sounds like a toy to me.

As far noise reduction in the processor, this is digital noise reduction then, in which case it may be reducing noise by running a "soften" or a "blur" filter on the image. I would play with the camera some in low lighting at the store and see what happens

Ok.

So this means I can already count the 6x Optical zoom or Canon Powershot A710is a better advantage than the Face detection of Canon Powershot A570is. Also the the Macro Focus Range is better in the Canon powershot A710is.

However, you also described the Auto ISO mode for Canon Powershot A710is to be a slight drawback?

Auto ISO is not a bad thing. My point is that I like having both Auto and Manual. Most will never use the manual, but if you want a came3ra that will grow with you as you become a better photographer, you may eventually want manual features.

I played with the face detection thing on mine at the lake today. It makes so much more sense in direct sunlight, especially if you try taking picture after picture after picture. In this case, on mine, you line up a face, or even two (some you can have up to 8 points of focus), then I can snap, move, snap, move, snap zoom in, snap, and so forth, and not have to refocus as the camera is following the face and doing it for you. That is cool, I thought I would have to resetup the face feature for each pic, but that's not the case. Now, I do not know if that is how it is on all cameras, but that is how it is on the nikon coolpix l12. I imagine this feature varies from one company to another.

I just really like the 6x optical zoom, i have not seen a consumer level camera with that high of a zoom level. I LIKE using my zoom, however, with the l12, it takes such high resolution pictues, i can zoom in on my computer and crop, and still have pretty freakin high quality pictures.

Its really up to you.

Thanks once again Will. :) I have zeroed in on Canon A710is after long hours of Research. :| Have learnt a lot about digital cameras. The knowledge before the research was '0'.

However, theres one important aspect I need to know before buying. What exactly is a gray-market Camera? How reliable could the product be? Why such huge price difference between the gray market product and the product that the authorized dealers sell?

Can anyone realy help?

Gray market usually means the camera was made in China and purchased and shipped over here from a company. As such, the warranty is in force in China, not the United States. So if something goes wrong with it, you'll have to ship it over there for repair.

Product that authorized dealers sell offer in country warranties and local repair options.

In addition, the menus and manuals may not even be in your language!

More information can be found here.

That is very informative. Thanks James.

I have ultimately bought a Canon Powershot A10is from an authorised dealer. A koOL Camera. No problems as of yet. One task seems to be over for me.

I am now looking to buy one more Camera with a slightly higher configuration, considering the optical zoom or Megapixels.

Have checked the following two:

Canon Powershot S3 IS
6.00 Mpixel
12x Optical Zoom
Macro Focus Range: 0cm
(Seems strange to me, does this mean there is no macro function at all? or that you can almost touch the object while shooting?)
Maximum Video Resoultion: 640x480

Canon PowerShot G7
10.00 Mpixel
6x Optical Zoom
Macro Focus Range: 1cm
Maximum Video Resoultion: 1024x768
Digic III Processor with Face detection feature.

I personally feel, G7 has a definite edge over S3 because of being 10Mpixel camera with Face detection and almost similar macro focus range as S3 and a higher video resolution. Is the 12x Optical Zoom more preferrable?? Any user having knowledge about these to cameras?

I like the higher zoom, and the 0cm does mean that you can touch the object and still focus. What it sounds like is that the s3 is a more professional camera, but an older model, whereas the g7 is a newer camera but more consumer based.

The question is on video resolution is not just the resolution, but how many frames you can shoot a second. The Nikon at 640x480 at 30fps looks amazing, and it has sound, and I can continue to record until the memory card runs out (this is something important to me. Can you continue to record, or are limited to like 20 and 30 second clips). Also, when you buy your camera, don't skimp on memory card. I got a 60x SD card for my camera, so it writes really fast to the memory card, which means I can take a shot every two or three seconds. My old memory card I would have to wait about 10-15 seconds between shots.

Remember to configure the camera when you get it. Most cameras, for some odd reason, are not set out of the package to take pictures at the maximum resolution.

Keep in mind that a 10 megapixel picture with little or no compression is going to be about 3-5 meg, depending on the camera. Would suggest picking up a memory card no smaller than 2 gig if you really like to take pictures.

Truthfully, If I had to pick between the two, while the 12x optical zoom is really tempting, I would go for the g7. the 6x is still better than what I got on my camera. Also, now that I am mostly photographing people, I like to get closer to them rather than use a zoom. If you do not have a steady hand, than probably anything over 8x is going to blur unless you have image stabalization or a tripod or an incredibly steady hand.

So yeah, go with the G7 is my opinion.

Once again, check the resolution on both your pictures and your video mode when you get it out of the box. Oh, and at 1024x768, your video is going to be HUGE! 640x480 should be good enough for most people, expecially if exporting to a tv or the web (hdtv you may want to go higher). At 640x480, a one and a half minute clip for me is around 60 meg.

I think, 6x zoom would be fine for me, if I am getting it with, a Digic III processor with face detection in a 10 megapixels camera. Canon does not classify G7 as "IS". I hope this doesn't mean, it has no Image Stabilization function. Since G7 is a newer model and with advancements like face detection, I think it should have the image stabilization function too.

And yeah, Video resolution doesn't really matter. A 640X480 video at 30fps is good enough, which G7 has.

Yet there is something that you mentioned above. Its the Speed of Memory Card, you said you had to wait for 10-15 seconds before taking the next shot. Are the memory cards categorized according the the speed? or they come with standard function? If there are different types of memory cards available then can you please list the best one?

The G7 has Image Stabilization. It's mentioned quite clearly in the specs.

Yes I saw that later. However I came across one more model from Canon.

Canon Powershot S5 IS.
8 Mpixel Camera,
12x Zoom
Digic III Processor with Face detection feature.

However I checked the sample images but found it a lesser better than the G7. But where people rave about 6x Zoom, 12x Optical zoom must be...... WOW.....

I know that SD cards come in different speeds. The higher the speed, the faster the card. For example, here is a link to a 40x card:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4817470

And a 60x:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5257157

(note the first one is a 2 gig and the second a 4 gig)

And here is a 2 gig at 150x:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4689958?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

The 150x is the fastest of all of these. And 20 bucks for a 2 gig at 150x is a killer price, I may pick up one of these. I paid $18 for my 60x at Fry's two weeks ago, I would gladly pay the extra 2 bucks for a 150x.

I am still fairly new to the whole speed thing, so I am not sure if that means that the 150x is 2 1/2 times faster than the 50x or not, but I would assume that is what it means.

I came across one more model from Canon.

Canon Powershot S5 IS.
8 Mpixel Camera,
12x Zoom
Digic III Processor with Face detection feature.

However I checked the sample images but found it a lesser better than the G7. But where people rave about 6x Zoom, 12x Optical zoom must be...... WOW.....

You think that's something, you should check out the Olympus SP-550UZ it has an 18x zoom! I am currently testing it and have so far been quite pleased with the results. 7.1 MP, image stabilization (which is a must as the zoom focal range increases) and some great scene based program features including a 15fps burst mode. This is great for sports photography.

It also has in camera editing features such as cropping, sepia and black/white alerations, nite modes, super macro mode for REALLY close up shots, panoramic guides for shooting multiple shots to stitch into a panarama, even a mode for shooting documents.

I'm really enjoying it. If I had to complain, however, I have found the menu structure wanting and difficult to use on the fly. But other than that, it's a top notch camera.

Is this a 18x zoom on a consumer-end point-and-shoot camera? That is a higher optical zoom than many SLR cameras

Yes, it is. More prosumer, high end point and shoot, but you bet.