Camera recommendations?

[firefly_ris]

I still haven't learned how to shoot in RAW..... I want to, but I haven't yet had the time to figure out what editing software etc I'd need to process shots.....

Adobe Lightroom is the most popular choice, but if I'm only editing a small batch the RAW Editor built into Photoshop suits me just fine.

 

[hsmamato2]

Adobe Lightroom is the most popular choice, but if I'm only editing a small batch the RAW Editor built into Photoshop suits me just fine.

thanks I'll take a look.

 

[manning]

I still haven't learned how to shoot in RAW..... I want to, but I haven't yet had the time to figure out what editing software etc I'd need to process shots.....

Set the camera up to shoot RAW plus jpeg.

The sd cards are so huge you won't max it out.

 

[friedela]

I still haven't learned how to shoot in RAW..... I want to, but I haven't yet had the time to figure out what editing software etc I'd need to process shots.....

You need a plug in called Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom to edit RAW images.
For a basic camera that is better than a phone I'd take a Rebel. They are pretty budget friendly. I shoot with a 6D and love my camera, even though it's a bit of a hassle to cart around I got some incredible shots that I never would have been able to get otherwise (link to my blog is in my signature).

 

[MomToOne]

I suggest looking at a micro four thirds camera. It sort of bridges the gap between a point and shoot, and a DSLR. You get more control than you do with a point and shoot, but they aren't as overwhelming as DSLRs. And they are smaller, although the lens(es) you choose factor in here.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III and Panasonic Lumix G80 / G85 are close to the price range you are looking at, and seem to have good reviews from my quick Google.

I have an earlier Olympus PEN EPL7 that I love. Prior to that I had a Panasonic I also really liked (but it got stolen).

 

[MomToOne]

However, even lower end then the dpreview link posted above our go-to camera is the Canon Powershot SX720. It is replaced with the SX730 and here's the info on Canon's website
https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/powershot-sx730-hs-black

DD17 has an earlier version of this camera. It's great but one of the biggest drawbacks - at least in her eyes - is the inability to get a good bokeh effect (the blurred background) in many situations. You can get it in some, but not a lot.

Now, that may not be of any concern for you (honestly, it's generally not for me) But thought I'd mention it in case that is something important to you. While it is a souped up point-and-shoot, it's still a point and shoot so it has some limitations.

 

[manning]

DD17 has an earlier version of this camera. It's great but one of the biggest drawbacks - at least in her eyes - is the inability to get a good bokeh effect (the blurred background) in many situations. You can get it in some, but not a lot.

Now, that may not be of any concern for you (honestly, it's generally not for me) But thought I'd mention it in case that is something important to you. While it is a souped up point-and-shoot, it's still a point and shoot so it has some limitations.

Set the camera in AV mode. you manually set the aperture size and the camera will pick the right shutter speed

I don't know the aperture range on you camera is so here is an example

let's say the range is f2.8 to f16. there are f/stops in between

f2.8 is the widest opening (IE big enough to drive a care thru)
f/16 is the smallest opening (IE like the hole of a needle)

There is only one point that the picture is absolutely in sharp focus.

Depth of field is the range in front and behind the absolute sharp focus that the picture appears to look sharp.

This will help
https://digital-photography-school.com/understanding-depth-field-beginners/

 

[MomToOne]

Set the camera in AV mode. you manually set the aperture size and the camera will pick the right shutter speed

She and I both did all that. And tried macro mode. And zooming in. And googling like crazy. After a lot of research, I realized that because of the small sensor on the camera, you really can't get the effect unless conditions are just right and the background is really far away (well, relative to your subject). You can get it in some cases, but those situations just weren't really the type of things she wanted to photograph.

Here's a review of the SX520 that calls out the issue. I found others that said the same thing when I was researching it, but this is one I could find again quickly. The sensor size is still the same on the SX720/730: http://cameradecision.com/faq/is-the-Canon-PowerShot-SX520-HS-good-for-Portrait-Photography?

I spent quite a bit of time on this, because DD was bugging for a DSLR at Christmas, and I wasn't convinced she had max'ed out the abilities of her Powershot yet and was ready for something more. But in working on it with her, I realized she had spent a lot of time already trying to get it, and could talk about aperture and a bunch of other topics quite intelligently and it was time for her to upgrade. So she got a Canon T7i for Christmas. She's now the photographer of the family. I'm still more than happy pointing and shooting mostly in auto mode - blurry background or not

 

[manning]

https://fstoppers.com/education/smaller-sensor-size-shallower-your-depth-field-110547

She and I both did all that. And tried macro mode. And zooming in. And googling like crazy. After a lot of research, I realized that because of the small sensor on the camera, you really can't get the effect unless conditions are just right and the background is really far away (well, relative to your subject). You can get it in some cases, but those situations just weren't really the type of things she wanted to photograph.

Here's a review of the SX520 that calls out the issue. I found others that said the same thing when I was researching it, but this is one I could find again quickly. The sensor size is still the same on the SX720/730: http://cameradecision.com/faq/is-the-Canon-PowerShot-SX520-HS-good-for-Portrait-Photography?

I spent quite a bit of time on this, because DD was bugging for a DSLR at Christmas, and I wasn't convinced she had max'ed out the abilities of her Powershot yet and was ready for something more. But in working on it with her, I realized she had spent a lot of time already trying to get it, and could talk about aperture and a bunch of other topics quite intelligently and it was time for her to upgrade. So she got a Canon T7i for Christmas. She's now the photographer of the family. I'm still more than happy pointing and shooting mostly in auto mode - blurry background or not

Wasn't aware of this. This may help


The reason why it seems that full-frame cameras have a shallower depth of field has a lot to do with the focus distance needed in comparison to a crop sensor. The example below shows that in order to get the same frame of view on a crop sensor, you need to increase the distance of the subject. This added distance is what increases the depth of field on the crop sensor.

https://fstoppers.com/education/smaller-sensor-size-shallower-your-depth-field-110547