Recommendations for a new photographer.

[Altair]

Greetings.

I'm a student from Denmark, interested in a camera for my journeys after finishing my exams this summer. I'm going to Africa to do humanitarian work and I'm going to travel in South America for a couple of months with a friend of mine.

I don't know that much about photography, but I like the nostalgic effect that polaroid cameras give. Since I'm a student and I have no plans of becoming a professional photographer, I don't have unlimited money for this.

Recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[Greg McCary]

I think finding film for the Polaroid would be difficult and also hard to keep up with. If you are going to shoot film I think I would be looking at a good used Canon AE-1. If you are wanting to go digital there are many options.

[n8]

I think the lack of availability of Polaroid would make things difficult for you, but if you wanted to dabble in the nostalgic effect, you could get a holga. I'd suggest that you find a nikon d40 of ebay, or if any camera stores still have them in stock. It's discontinued, so I'm guessing there's a lot of them floating around, but it's also a great, compact dslr. It won't break your bank like a lot of other cameras, and will serve you much better then a point and shoot. I see them going for $200-350 USD right now.

[Frog]

I would recommend finding a quality compact digital. You won't have to worry about film, just keeping your batteries charged. Won't have the nostalgic look unless you get into an editing program but you can always shoot black and white and I think some even have a sepia setting. With a compact point and shoot you won't have to pack much or figure out which lenses you need. I'd look at the Panasonic Lumix LX3