[Sparky]

Alright, so my cousin has been into photography for a few years now, but was just using some inexpensive digital camera for her pictures, then touching them up a bit in photoshop to smooth them all out. Now she's at the point where she's hoping to make a career out of photography and taking more advanced photography classes in college so she can get to a professional level.

So, the other night she was telling me that her professor suggested that she should go out and buy a new camera so she could get sharper, clearer, and overall better photos. I'm sure he just meant something just a little better than what she had (a Nikon Coolpix 2000), but her being the foolish rich girl she is, she convinced her parents to help her buy a new, high end camera. This is the one she had her eye on, but I know that there's got to be a cheaper alternative. I'd hate to see my aunt and uncle waste any more money on her than they already do.

So, any comments? Should she just go with that camera or what?

[czechrboard tassia]

tell her to go manual. it's more work, but i think the quality is better.

[Kamik]

if she wants to get serious about it she's gonna need a digital SLR. if she wants a camera in that range tell her to get a Nikon D50(or maybe the rebel XT, it's pretty small, good for girls hands ), they can be had for around $600 or so with the kit lense. if she needs that kind of range though lense-wise then that'll add to the cost of the DSLR. i'd still vote for the DSLR route though, i know i don't regret going that way.

[mistawiskas]

If she's going pro, the finepix or a canon digital rebel is the way to go. If more casual photog is what she's going to be doing a nice step up would be the canon S2.

[couturedharlot]

if she wants to go big, go big or go home. canon mark II. any of the versions are amazing. run over a grand though. if she wants to go film, stick with like a canon rebel k. it's reliable and really good. i have it and i love it. i'm planning on getting the mark II next.

[superman]

you can tell her to buy my canon eos 10d with lenses, sd card and everything you need

[superman]

anyways if this crazy rich girl wants something nice tell her to get a Canon EOS 30D, 1D Mark II, 1D Mark II N, or 1Ds Mark II.

[mattdev]

How much can she spend? SLR is pretty much the only way to go if you want to start taking it seriously.

For the price of the Fuji, she could probably get a used 10D with a decent lens (50mm 1.8 comes to mind. Poor build quality, but amazingly sharp photos + very low price [like $70])

[Sparky]

I'll probably talk to her online tonight and show her what other options she has for a camera. Thanks a lot for the help guys.

[Mr. Ali]

to properly assess what she needs i will need a picture of your cousin and her age.

[saint seiya]

haha