Compact vs. SLR

[rirv]

I want to buy a camera. Having spent a while looking through old family photos I've decided I should start chronicalling my life. It will also be easier when it comes to writing my autobiography. I think it's a shame that printed photos have fallen so far from the norm as having albums of quality photos is far better than a flash drive in the long run.

Anyway, my question is: should I spend £100 ish on a compact and happy snap my way along, or find an extra £200-300 on top to buy an SLR and start taking Photographs with a capital P? I haven't got loads of money to spend so I want to know if it is worth the difference in price and worth spending the money now, or buy a compact and then in a year or two when I have more money buy an SLR?

[b i o n i c]

i say start with a compact (because you can get amazing pics with a good one) and then get an slr later once you've gotten the hang of things

i always recommend CANON because their color sensors are the best and you wont need to do much in photoshop to correct them. nikon is a close second.

my best pic is a CANON A620 point and shoot because it has a 'manual' setting that does a really great job at emulating what you can do with an slr. once you get the hang of it in automatic mode, you can start to experiment with setting f-stops and aperture like you would do with an slr. instead of turning things on the lens, you set these with the menu and its easy enough. this will work you up to being prepared to do it on an slr. plus it has a swivel screen that lets you take photos from odd angles, something you cant do with most cameras or slr's really. there are ones with higher megapixel capabillities, but the all around features of this model are great. see if there's a newer one thats comparable, but last time i looked there wasnt.

if you get an slr, dont bother with anything but canon or nikon, seriously.

[paul jones]

http://35mm-compact.com/images/olympus-om-10.jpg

I used have this years ago.

I used to like putting the rolls of film in.

any fucking spastic takes pictures now or thinks they can.Just look at Myspace.

anyway.uh,yeah listen to what bionic said:)

[Helvete]

Get both, I have both. You need both.

[Whatitis]

Damn, I thought this would be compact (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_car)vs.SLR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SLR_McLaren)