Recommend a digital camera for me? - 1
I want a camera with:
-18-15mm lens, but with a good up close focus for flowers, etc
-Wi-Fi connectibility would be nice
-editing features on the camera
-small, portable
-under 500$
-interchangable lens
-i like nikon or sony cameras perferrably, although canons are okay too
-quick autofocus
Just to give some background info, I love the Nikon D5100, but i'm not sure if the 700$ price is worth it:/ I also like the Nikon D3100 and the Sony Alpha A57 but those two not as much.
I would advice you to have semi-proffesional camera of any good manufacturer company… I'm not sure about prices but suggest the following camers: - Sony Cyber Shot DSC-HX200V WITH 18.1 m.pixel, 30x Optical Zoom…
- Nikon Coolpix P510 with16 m.pixel, 42x Optical Zoom…
Any dSLR will be worth it if you know exactly how to use them. They are all basically the same. The lower the price tag, the more crippled the camera is. Those bottom of the barrel models are great for people who know exactly what they're doing but don't have the money to buy a better camera. You should be able to get the same picture with any dSLR. The pricier one makes it easier.
The D5100 will be well worth it if you dedicate time and effort to learn photography. DSLR's start at around $500. The cheapest is this but not for long.
You are severely limiting yourself with the $500 price tag if you are looking at a DSLR. In truth, there's not really a lot of difference between a D3100 and D5100 as they are both entry level DSLRs. The D5100 has a few more "features", but in the hands of a good photographer, you will absolutely see no difference between them.
However, these have 18-55mm lenses. I think you may have meant to say 18-105mm, which is going to cost a bit more.
If you don't want to spend as much money, but interchangeable lenses is a priority, look for a Mirrorless camera, such as M4/3 cameras made from Olympus or Panasonic, or even a Nikon J1 with a 2 lens kit (10-30 and 30-110mm lenses).
Otherwise it is compact cameras. Do not buy a bridge camera, as they all have poor lenses. If you want to stay Nikon, go with a P7700 or P330. Both of these have DSLR like controls, and 40% larger sensors than other compact cameras (including bridge cameras), manual exposure controls, RAW file capability, and many more features not normally found in a compact camera.
I also noticed you would like quick autofocus. Generally DSLRs have the fastest focusing, followed by Mirrorless, and finally Compacts. However, in the lower cost entry level DSLR market, they have the slowest autofocus of all DSLRs, and sometimes they are no better than some compacts. This includes both the D3xxx and D5xxx DSLRs. Their autofocus times are slower than the more advanced DSLRs, and even the Nikon P330 can do as well (around 0.25sec).
And amazingly enough, the Nikon 1 cameras can focus faster (0.1sec) than even the entry level DSLRs.
When I look over your list, I do see a few things that are conflicting; such as interchangeable lens, small and portable, quick focus, etc., You will not likely find any one camera having all of these attributes although the Nikon 1 comes the closest. From your list, arrange it so the most important things to you are at the top.