Somedays you want to be Ansel Adams, other days Andy Warhol.
Some very simple common Nikons in the "L" series still use AA cells. I found a new close-out one for $30. They are much more power-efficient than the old days.
I was doing a Q&A show on Wisconsin Public Radio about typical camera questions. A fellow emailed me, thanked me for the info I had given out and added, "I'm getting the hang of my digital camera and what all the buttons do. It took me awhile, but after all I am 98."
www.sillycatvalley.com Get past the first screen and go to the photography area. You may also find the "Papershoot" camera info surprising. I actually had a gallery display done in Taiwan of Minnesota shots taken with this odd little camera. The site is a bit rough now, but I am working on it!
Having spent some time writing for photo mags, I find that many writers gravitate towards the high end of software, in part because review copies come in for free. When I was reviewing computer stuff on my 90's syndicated radio show, the UPS truck dropped off boxes every day, so the same thing happened to me.
But spending time doing "communications" (PR) work for some non-profits required me to beg for second-hand PCs from a local college and find free or very inexpensive software to get the job done.
I've always been a "less is more" kind of tech guy. I was speaking at a weekend event for 4-H photo instructors and students in the late fall and everyone went out around the Wisconsin Dells with their DSLRs to shoot whatever they wanted and share later. I went out with a 5MP fixed focus Kodak compact and got great shots of the closed-for-the-season Dells attractions.
I edited my photos on a laptop with (free) Irfanview and (free) Photofitre.
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Later, I was asked to comb through hundreds of newspaper photos to submit 20 that would projected on a Jumbotron Screen before a big Papal Mass in Washington, DC. I had one day to do this, cropping, adjusting color, etc. I used (free) Irfanview and (free) Photofitre.
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On a site of mine, one not dedicated to selling my how-to book, I have and article with links to six free, offline image editing software titles for Windows. Those who have a modest bit of hardware and an interest in useful photo editing may like them a lot.
I don't want to push my sites without permission, but I do think this is an important topic for people not flush with money who need a placeto start.
I am surprised that I am seeing the same tired Mac/PC debate here. It's certainly valid to discuss the relative merits of apps for each platform, but this hardware bickering gets nowhere.
Gee, I guess I won't get much for my Sun/Spiratone f/4.5 70-210mm T-mount zoom. With the pistol-grip stop-down trigger, its getting too dangerous to point in public. Especially in concealed-carry states!
Want to get your feet wet 100% free? Please read my article on some genuine, offline, no strings attached editing software. Several I use all the time. There is even a LEGAL older version of Photoshop. No pirated stuff!
http://sillycatvalley.com/6free.htm
I taught an eBay selling class (non-credit) at a local college fof 8 years. The "crying and gnashing of teeth" night was when people went to the advanced search and looked up the same item, showing only the "sold" ones. It's a bitter reality check on how fast things drop in value.
Very good point. If a company comes up with an effective term, "owning" it requires the competition from benefitting from its use.
These terms were often developed in the 70's with film cameras and, for example, Canon bucked the trend with TV (time value) for S (shutter priority), etc. Some thought TV was for shooting images off a TV screen! The Canon A-1 was called, "Hexaphotocybernetic" and they gave out large belt-buckles with that on them.
In the age of digital compacts, some chose to stop putting A S and M on the dial and just put on ASM, requiring you to go to an on-screen menu to do the rest. Each company has a different approach in the wild-west of digital photography. Remember, in the very early days of cameras, no two companies had the same system of apertures. It took a while for the f/stops we know to take hold!
An interesting question when you consider that, eventually, smaller sensors will improve even more and owners of full-frame lenses from their old 35mm gear will become a less relevant group.
It's a lot like asking if an f/1.4 lens is really needed in an age of ISO half-a-million. So much of our attitudes are still based on old concepts and experiencing this developing technology. We needed big apertures years ago because film was slow and finders were dim and it was hard to focus. How far along are we in digital computers with lenses? 15 years? Think about what cameras we had when photography itself was only 15 years old?
Out of curiosity, I bought an "open box" Lyro Illum for about $200. It's my first "computational" camera and there are more to come. Aside from the fact that an exported image is only 4MP, the Lytro folks did a terrible job of showing what else the camera can do! It only shoots at f/2, but multiple simultaneous shots at various focus points allow you to set "virtual" f/stops for varying depth of field without changing exposure.
My point is that a lot of our thinking is still influenced by film while cameras 10 years from now may bear little resemblence to what we have today. The Lytro will be useless when the software stops working on some new version of Windows, but that will be a few years.
All I have left in 35mm lens are a few oddball Russian ones, an East German 85mm Tessar and a "vintage" 1965 Sun Tele 75-200 Zoom with a pistol grip handle and trigger to stop down the lens! Some day I'll find a used full-frame DSLR when nobody cares about them any more.
Flipping mirrors have been used for about 100 years in one form or another. With the exception of DSLRs, ALL digital cameras made in the past 15+ years are mirrorless. With the exception of some real cheapies, ALL digital cameras present a view seen "through the lens" on a screen.
The term is now being used to differentiate "traditional" mirror-prism camera shapes from removable lens cameras that no longer need to conform to the design restrictions that have been around since Exactas were new. Mirrors flip and cause vibration, but they also provide a clear real-time optical view many prefer. Mirrorless reduce vibration and electronic finders get better ever product cycle. Sooner or later mirrorless cameras with removable lens will take over.
A lot depends on how the photos will be displayed and how much you want to carry.
As with the case of writing, there is a movement towards "distraction-free" devices.
What camera will least get between you and the photos you want to take? How much of the camera is devoted to HD video and stereo sound you won't use much?
Even a decent point and shoot can do closeups when set on macro. I saw a very simplified 20 MP Nikon compact camera on clearance for $30! A decent used Canon Powershot with 10-12 MP sensor can do great work. If you are doing portraits, you are only in the 85mm-100mm (equiv) lens range. My Fuji X-10 with 16 MP, optical finder and manually set zoom range suits me well.
There are also a few so-called "bridge cameras" with DSLR like performance from Pentax and Fuji that have decent non-removable lenses. They have electronic viewfinder and screens. The viewfinders are not as good as the latest "Mirrorless" cameras with removable lenses, but they are also not $1,000 for the body only.
Odd to note that with the exception of DSLRs ALL digital cameras in the past 15 years have been mirrorless.
Like many of you, I have been doing a lot of photography as an amateur for years. I've been through the all mechanical SLRs with manual metering days to the AF models and to the switch to digital.
I worked in a number of camera stores, mostly in the 70's, owned a few high end items, liked medium format, etc.
The old Modern Photography published my story on Russian cameras and, in the digital era, more in Shutterbug and their eDigitalPhoto magazine.
I authored a multimedia CD called "How To Buy Your First Digital Camera" and it got bought by Lexar in those heady dot-com days when everybody was trying to explain everything. Most recently, my book "How To Use The Digital Camera You Just Bought" is in a second edition. But the rapid change and demise of compact cameras and many mirror-based DSLRs has too much in flux for a third edition.
Doing more with less has always attracted me, and I have a number of second hand Canon Powershots with 10-12 MP and optical viewfinders. Amazing what you can find for $5-$10.