[DonJuan]

I'm leaving for a round-the-world trip shortly and I'll be gone for a few months. I am very technologically savvy but I'm not into photography as I've never had the need to be until now. Basically, I have the option of borrowing a family member's Canon EOS 350D or purchasing a camera for myself, and, only being willing to spend about £100 that would be a good quality compact camera rather than an SLR like the 350D.
At the moment I am leaning towards just getting my own compact point-and-shoot as I need to buy my own camera at some point and I'm not too keen on having the learn all the specifics about digital photography in order to get the best out of the DSLR.
So basically, I would like to know if using the 7 year old 350D would result in significantly better pictures than a current £100-ish compact camera, seeing as with both I will just be pointing and shooting and barely playing around with the settings.
Thanks for the help, sorry I'm such a novice ha.

[Sammydemon]

(Original post by DonJuan)
I'm leaving for a round-the-world trip shortly and I'll be gone for a few months. I am very technologically savvy but I'm not into photography as I've never had the need to be until now. Basically, I have the option of borrowing a family member's Canon EOS 350D or purchasing a camera for myself, and, only being willing to spend about £100 that would be a good quality compact camera rather than an SLR like the 350D.
At the moment I am leaning towards just getting my own compact point-and-shoot as I need to buy my own camera at some point and I'm not too keen on having the learn all the specifics about digital photography in order to get the best out of the DSLR.
So basically, I would like to know if using the 7 year old 350D would result in significantly better pictures than a current £100-ish compact camera, seeing as with both I will just be pointing and shooting and barely playing around with the settings.
Thanks for the help, sorry I'm such a novice ha.

It sounds like you would do better with the compact camera. It's also a lot smaller and will attract less attention - both very important considerations when travelling. I would still suggest brushing up on photographic technique if you want some decent pictures to look back on for your whole life.

[DonJuan]

(Original post by Sammydemon)
It sounds like you would do better with the compact camera. It's also a lot smaller and will attract less attention - both very important considerations when travelling. I would still suggest brushing up on photographic technique if you want some decent pictures to look back on for your whole life.

Thanks for the advice, that's a good point about it attracting less attention. Where would be a good place to start just to learn a bit about basic photography in order to improve the pictures I'll take? Are there any websites you recommend?

[Sammydemon]

(Original post by DonJuan)
Thanks for the advice, that's a good point about it attracting less attention. Where would be a good place to start just to learn a bit about basic photography in order to improve the pictures I'll take? Are there any websites you recommend?

Essentially you just want a grasp of the basic rules. There are endless books and websites out there that teach photography. This top 10 list covers most of the basics:

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/...osition-rules/

If you are really interested though, get a decent book which you could even take with you on your travels. Something like this perhaps:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basics-Photo...1275627&sr=1-2

But most of all, practice, practice, practice You may end up finding that you really enjoy photography (it's a hobby that goes hand in hand with travel) and want to get your own DSLR in the future!

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by DonJuan)
So basically, I would like to know if using the 7 year old 350D would result in significantly better pictures than a current £100-ish compact camera, seeing as with both I will just be pointing and shooting and barely playing around with the settings.

Used properly, the 350D would probably result in better pictures ... but if you intend to use it as a compact, I'd say get a nice compact instead. DSLR manufacturers haven't put their research into developing the auto features of their cameras, which has led to DSLR auto and JPEG processing being inferior to that of compacts. Even if you did intend to mess around with settings, it would be unwise to start with DSLRs just before leaving - it takes learning and practice to get the best out of them, and a lot of people find their photos actually get worse when they first start with a DSLR.

Get a nice compact, and enjoy taking photos of your trip rather than worrying about whether you have the right settings or not.

[evening sunrise]

(Original post by TheSownRose)
Get a nice compact, and enjoy taking photos of your trip rather than worrying about whether you have the right settings or not.

This. Plus all the other advice about attracting attention etc is spot on.