Which camera Nikon or Panasonic - beginner

Am thinking of getting a decent camera (or what I think is a decent camera!) as we get married next year and have our honeymoon booked to Iceland and Norway

And we are off to Skye o n holiday in a fortnight so would like to try out my new camera on stunning scenery and hopefully sea eaglea and whales/dolphins.

I am pretty hopeless at photography and I know an expensive camera doesn't make a good photographer but I do think some of my photos do turn out quite well for a beginner.

I have had a look around and in the main I am looking for a camera that has continuous shooting (though I guess miost DSLRs do) and that is good for wildlife and scenery and of course dog portraits!

I have a limited budget and am looking at Nikon D3100 and Panasonic DMC - G2 and hints tips good features bad features features missing etc very welcomed

I would go for the D3100 - I like the Nikon kit lens a lot. Also, you might get some second hand bargains if you don't mind buying used. Hope the wedding goes well - congrats!

Thanks Azz I prefer the nikon

Stuart (OH) has just suggested I go for something less expensive LOL although he has shown me the Fuji Finepix 550 which although not DSLR does look like it has a lot packed into it.

He has suggested that I start in the middle and if I enjoy/get good at photography then after wedding we could look at DSLR.

But I like Nikon

If you want the quality... it has to be a DSLR

Second hand D40 might be ideal

You can't go wrong with a Nikon Camera, it might be work paying a little extra and going for the Nikon D90 it has a far better sensor and HD Video capability which would come in hand. I recently upgraded my old Nikon Camera. They are workhorses my D200 manged to take 165,000 pictures for me before it died.

Hi Lynne

Don't expect miracles straight away but a DSLR will certainly give you the best results once you've got to grips with it.

Nikon D3100 is a fine camera - as are the other Nikon models people have mentioned.

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding - Iceland / Norway will be great but Skye will be too. Check out 'Brigadoon'.....

http://www.portree-boat-trips.co.uk/...oat-trips.html

......for the Sea Eagles.

Hi Lynne, agree with Phil, about DSLR take some getting used to, and practice, so in the early stage the results can be disappointing, you have to persevere, go for whichever camera brand feels good in your hand x x

Thanks everyone I appreciate your comments and although I am not known for my patience LOL I do enjoy just taking pictures and am prepared to put in time working out what can and can't be done I actually find going places a good way to enjoy days off even if it is just a walk somewhere new.

In the end I was "persuaded" that DSLR is not economical at this point but if I like improving with the Fuji Finepix I have been "persuaded" to buy then we can look at a DSLR after the wedding or at least after the wedding is paid for and we know what budget is available!!

Phil we had a trip on Brigadoon last year amazing to see, this year we are just back from Skye and we went out with Divers eye from Stein - great trip saw 2 sea eagles up vvery close they were just sitting on the cliffs and then flying between the small islands off Waternish point flying over the boat - fantastic and also a pod of 20 or so Risso's dolphin, amazing to see.

Hope to get to grips with a better feel for photography before next year now Will just keep practicing and playing around with settings etc and see what camera and more importanttly I am capable of