mgstrawn Loc: Atlanta, GA

Another thought . . . . you might check out the new Nikon 1. It has a compact body with the versatility of changing lenses. However, it doesn't have a view finder, which in my opinion, is essential.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

And yes, you should take more classes. Sometimes your local High School might have classes or Comunity College. Buy some books on photography for beginers

DANthephotoMAN

Even a base-level DSLR is better then p&s. Nikon D3100, Rebel XS, yup - that ballpark. Don't waste money on P500 p&s.

nyweb2001

CindyL....another thing to think about.....your instructor told you RAW is essential....at this point in your photography, ask yourself whet's important at this stage....photography or editing ? There's a VERY steep learning curve to photography....there's a very steep learning curve to most editing programs also ! The way I did it is to learn PHOTOGRAPHY first !! I found out that a $700.00 editing program wasn't helping me with bad photography !!! Get photography down FIRST...learn your camera !!! When you see nice shots consistantly coming out of your camera, learn simple editing techniques to improve them !! Can't teach a baby how to walk and drive a car at the same time !!!

Nikon_DonB Loc: Chicago

Lets be blunt...get the D3100 and never look back. Don't waste time on another P&S. If you are even thinking of the D3100, you are ready. I own one,..you will love it. The DSLR is so much more versatile. It comes with a 18-55mm zoom with VR(vibration reduction-eliminates blur caused by camera shake.) If you like, add a "longer" zoom like a 55-300VR(which I also have). You will pull those bird shots in "REAL CLOSE!" These are the only lenses you should ever need for what you want to do and it'll fit in one compact camera bag.
Try Cameta(camera).com for some great package deals, or B&H Camera. Both are reputable dealers on-line. Usualy free shipping and no tax.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Cindy J.
Let’s look at RAW and ISO since you’re other requests have been addressed within the threads below.

RAW is a camera’s default file saving format, it has the highest resolution and maximum color depth the camera is capable of recording. This format is readable with the camera’s digital editing application and is proprietary to the camera manufacturer.

You cannot use most normal image editing software to view and edit RAW images; you need to export the RAW file to .jpg, .tiff, ect. before you can perform any meaningful image editing. Saving an image capture in camera as a RAW file will require more camera processing time and this relates to fewer shots per second for moving objects. RAW files consume much more digital space on your camera memory card and eventually on your computer Hard Drive.

In modern digital cameras the .jpg compression has little image quality degradation on the first save. It used to be true that the camera’s .jpg compression would degrade the image quality because the compression ratio was much too great and opening and saving that image several times would result in severe image degradation; this is no longer true today.

In addition to time wasted in camera processing you must spend time on your computer converting a RAW image to a format your image editing software can load and work with, then perform your image editing on that converted file. It is much faster to save the digital capture in the camera’s .jpg, or .tiff format at the highest image resolution and then load that file into your computer for direct editing.

Now for ISO. ISO (International Standards Organization) is the value assigned to the sensitivity of the light sensitive device. In the days of film photography it was called ASO (American Standards Organization. Today it has been assigned to both film and digital devices, to represent a universal light sensitive value. ISO values range in “Stops” from 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, etc. Note that these steps are double the previous step, and this corresponds to the Shutter Speed Stops, and Aperture Stop values. Each stop will have a corresponding effect on the other values as related to an exposure. If your ISO is 200, your Aperture is /f11, and your shutter speed is 1/250sec. For a correct exposure and you change one value to the next higher level you will affect the overall exposure by one step (increase the ISO from 200 to 400 and your exposure will be one stop over exposed, now if you increase your shutter speed one stop to 1/500sec. You will again have a correctly exposed image.)
Hope this helps a little.

Michael G

catcher T Loc: Detroit

yes! totally agree.

catcher T Loc: Detroit

people on these forums are from all over the place, different beliefs. Not all celebrate Christmas.

nyweb2001

Oh well....Merry Christmas !!! Lol !!!

Pepper Loc: Planet Earth Country USA

To all my Christian brothers and sisters out there, Merry Christmas!!! To all others I hope you have a joy filled holiday season! For those who are not celebrating any holiday I hope you have a great day!

GeneS Loc: Glendale,AZ

If you want to check out (compare) cameras. google nikon p500 v nikon d3100. then look at snapsort. They give the cameras a tie.
The things to remember are ,how much money do you have to spend? I had a P100 and a P500. liked the p100 better because it had better wide angle. You will not have to invest a lot more money into lens, which you will do to get the same range with the D3100. So do you plan to move ahead with photography in the future or just want a camera for now.
The D3100 is a DSLR which means you can change the lens and will wind up putting a considerable amount of money in lens to be able to take pics of flowers and then birds flying, which would need a different lens, and a long telephoto lens can be expensive. look on ebay at the prices of used lens for the d3100 maybe 300mm. The P500 will go out to about 900mm but you have to use a tripod. the built in IS works good to about 400mm with out a tripod.
The big advantage to the d3100 is the lens you buy for it can be used on a better camera down the road ,as long as it is a DSLR nikon camera.
To sum up how much do you want to spend, The p500 is cheaper,but the d3100 is more versatile and more expensive to start.
I'd step up to the Nikon D3100. If you can afford it go for a D7000 or a D5100You'll love them. Go to a camera store and try them out to see how they feel

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

I think the D5100 is probably the best buy for the $ now. It uses the new CMOS back side illuminated sensor from Nikon/Sony. Here's a link to compare with the Canon T3i.

http://www.digitalreview.ca/content/Canon-Rebel-T3i-EOS-600D-Compared-to-Nikon-D5100.shtml

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Yes, a base level DSLR does take better pics, they also cost $250.00 more. This person is just starting out in photography, it might be a better idea to learn all the settings on a "bridge" camera than jump into a DSLR. She has the advantage of a high zoom lens without spending extra money on lenses for a DSLR. Picture quality on a good "bridge" camera (Nikon, Sony, Canon, Panasonic) isn't that much worse than a entry level DSLR. Spending money on any decent camera, wether it's a Point&shoot, bridge or DSLR isn't "wasting money"

Pepper Loc: Planet Earth Country USA

Just what is a "bridge" camera?

Nubia

IMHO, if you don't "plan", and I really mean that, on becoming more than a point and shoot amateur, stick with the P500. But if you intend to really learn a bit(maybe a lot) about Photography, first either take a longer or more advanced course, or pick up a good book on learning photography from your library. After you do either one of those things, which should take more than a few months to digest, you'll know what effort and time you want to invest in Photography and will be able to make your decision better informed.
By your questions, I can tell you have very little knowledge about technical aspects of Photography, (I have been there, believe me), I have also been doing it for years and absolutely love taking photographs and always aiming higher.
You may find you will or not wish to invest in a DSLR camera, and you will be a happier person doing what you like best.
If you become passionate about learning and doing photography, you won't regret buying a more sophisticated and expensive camera.
Hope this will help. Happy Holidays!!