Maggie’s Camra help.

[Bryan W M]

My girl is looking for a camra.
Right now all she has is the camera on her iPhone X.
She wants a hobby camra for scrapbooking and that's easy to carry.
I know nothing about cameras so I don't know what is sales person BS and what is truly good.
I know we have a lot of photography knowledge on here.
Budget is around $400

 

[kl3309]

Canon EOS M100 (https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/...s/mirrorless/eos-m100-ef-m-15-45mm-is-stm-kit) for $400 with a kit lens, been on the market for a while so lots of reviews on the net. It's got a flip-up LCD so your daughter can still do selfies.

 

[phlegethon]

Honestly I’m not sure there is much point these days in cheap cameras. The cameras in cell phones have gotten so good that you really have to spend quite a bit to get a noticeable increase in quality over something like an iPhone XS or the android equivalent.

That being said, the Nikon D3500 would give you a DSLR with more lens options and a large, modern sensor. I highly recommend this over the Canon equivalent since Canon hasn’t really kept up with sensor technology and so low light performance will be substantially better with the Nikon.

 

[Slash0311]

Adorama.com

I bought my last camera from them. Its a Nikon D5500. Granted, its a little above what you're considering but has a lot of great features.

I also have a Canon 2Ti. It was my first DSL. Both have good features and good Auto settings to learn on. I bought the Canon for my first trip to Hawaii.

Lens are the big advantage. You can get a decent 2 lens kit. Don't let all of the numbers overwhelm you. Telephoto lens get very expensive. The advantage is pictures of far away things looking closer.

Adorama is where I bought mine. They have lots of cameras and good prices and have used trade ins at times.

Books gave me little help but getting one in my hands and messing around really helped. Adorama also has videos and tutorials that really help too.

If you want, PM me an email and I can send a few examples for each of those cameras. Im far from a pro or even half assed amature but I can try and answer questions.

 

[12Bravo]

+1 on the Nikon D3500. You can typically find a kit consisting of the camera body & 2 zoom lenses for around $500. I have one and am quite pleased with the image quality. The controls are pretty intuitive so you can get up & running pretty quickly.

 

[Rthur]

For scrapbooking ect check out the Nikon A900.
Decent optical zoom to retain resolution and decent sensor for the package size.
Well within your budget.

R

 

[DavidK]

Get the iphone 10 along with software to allow manual control.

Awesome video and photography

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned that "Cameraland NY" is a contributing vendor here on the 'Hide. To go further with that, I purchased a camera outfit with extra lenses (from them) for My Lady some years ago. The knowledge and service was both speedy and concise. I highly recommend you talking with them and hearing options from that venue as well.

There are a lot of things one can do with a 'camera phone' nowadays, that was unimaginable a decade ago. Compare that with all which was inconceivable 30 years ago, and we're light-years ahead of ourselves.

And then add in all the different 'add-on lenses' for your camera phones and whatnot trinkets that are out there,,, it's incredible.

My point is, the options are huge, and the venues to learn are varied as well. The 'Hide supporter that I'd mentioned above are NOT pushy in any way, at all. But cameras ARE their lives, so you might want to approach them too.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

It would be our pleasure to assist you. Please give us a call, 516-217-1000, and speak with Joel or Jeff. We've got you covered, no worries

 

[87stang]

It would be our pleasure to assist you. Please give us a call, 516-217-1000, and speak with Joel or Jeff. We've got you covered, no worries

Ha! I was just fixing to recommend this!
Give Doug a call. Tell him what your looking for and budget and he’ll shoot you straight. He won’t upsell or give you any BS.

 

[Tucker301]

+1 for @gr8fuldoug and Camera Land. Great people!

 

[wh20crazy]

I use a Nikon d5100. I have a few lenses and like it. That won't fit your budget though. A few years ago I bought my wife a Nikon point and shoot. I don't remember the model and she lost it. It was impressive. It was within your budget. Look at those and pick something with a high optical zoom, digital zoom is worthless.