Looking for a digital camera

[orangecakez]

Recently I've tested out a few digital cameras (sorry I can't remember any model names, but they were all around the $200 range) and I was unsatisfied with all of them (I'm very picky). Mainly because I wanted my pictures to turn out exactly like I viewed them with my own eyes in real life. Maybe it was the lighting, but I've asked around some people and they say it's impossible to match a digital camera picture to the human eye no matter how much money you spend on one. So I'm wondering if this is true, what kind of digital camera can I buy and do with it so that it comes as close to real life as possible?

[Photo-John]

Oh boy. This is a very complicated can of works you're opening up.

The basic answer is that you can't take a picture that matches what you see. There are many, many reasons why this is so. Just a few of them are:

1) Human vision is very different from what a camera does

2) Film and camera sensors are limited compared to the human eye

3) What you "see" isn't actually what's there

We can discuss these points further, if you want. But the truth is, the camera can't capture what you're seeing. Great photographers make photographs that move us. But they almost never come out of the camera great. Some work is required after the picture is taken. And an automatic camera usually just does an ok job of capturing a scene. Experienced photographers will massage the camera controls in order to squeeze as much as possible out of a scene. A good automatic camera does a decent, but quick and dirty job.

If you want photos that replicate what you see, you'll need to make a commitment to learn a lot more about photography and how to make the camera capture what you see. And you'll also find you need to learn about software and how to tweak your photos after you take them. Cameras in the $200 range are very, very good now - compared to a couple of years ago. But they are still pretty limited in terms of their ability to capture a full range of colors and tones accurately. However, if you know what you're doing and you're willing to work, you can learn to get a lot out of any camera.

So that answer was probably much longer, more complicated, and not really what you wanted to read, right? I want you to know as much as possible so that you aren't set up to be disappointed. You've already discovered that cameras don't do quite what you expect. That will be the case even if you spend $500 or $1000. So why don't we take the next step and you give us some more information about your budget and exactly what it is you want to do. Then I can make some more suggestions and hopefully we can get you pointed in the right direction. But remember, if you want pictures that look like what you see, there's going to be a leanring curve. We can help you with that. But you have to be willing.

Hope I'm not scaring you. We'll get you a camera and everything will be fine

[orangecakez]

Thanks for the response, and it was definitely a good read considering the options I've posed from my request.

First off, my budget is around a few hundred dollars, preferably less than $1,000 for the best quality I can get for my goals.

Now my goals are taking pictures of people, both candid and modeling. I'm not a professional, but I do this with my friends and such just to fool around (but not entirely non-serious). When we're standing outside or indoors, The pictures come out weird. The person's skin looks very dark or light than it actually is, the lines of the person's bodily and facial features look "distorted" and not shaped the way the person looks in real life, and the you can't even see the background scenery well because sometimes it looks like it's blinded out or too dark. I also take pictures at public places, mostly during the day (though I do take night photos sometimes as well). I basically want the best to come out of the person, but not so much as accompanying them with the surrounding environment.

[Frog]

What camera are you using and what settings?