<<edit>> I use a Sony Cybershot DSC-W30, and i'm wondering if this is a decent camera for taking pictures for editing and posting on this site. Or, is it just a decent camera for people to take favorite pictures with of friends, concerts, etc...

hmmmm ... the "magic" exists (or not) in YOU .. not the mechanism in your hand

Sony DSC-W30 ... (for the curious)

Like me, i use a D50...ha, do my pictures look any better than...errr, well u get the idea. So in other words, it's the user, not the equipment that matters most.

hmmmmm

lol, thanks. That's all I needed to know :)

Funny how everyone is saying that it doesn't matter what camera you have and yet the vast majority of the really good photos around here have been taken with really expensive pro and semi pro equipment...

I think the rigth answer is a little more complex than just "the equipment doesn't matter". With skill, knowledge and experience you can make great photography with literally any camera in existence, but given the same level of skill, knowledge and experience, better equipment will enable you to make better photos. On the other hand, if you have little skill, knowledge and experience, your photography will most likely be pure crap most of the time, no matter how good your camera is...

yes ... true ... the message was really meant to imply .. "dance with the one that brung ya"

ok, now even I am confused .. try this one

the ability of the photographer to "see" is more important than the optics of the widget which he wields ....

or how about...i'd rather have a babe ruth on my team weilding a little league bat, than a little leaguer weilding a babe ruth bat....

^ that was a good one ^
:D

Sometimes it depends on the user, not the camera.

A person can be given a professional camera and still take really bad photos.

whereas a good camera can take a normal family camera and still take amazing photos.

Ok yes the camera does help, but it all depends on the talent too.

Thnx guys

editing your question out from over the answers is .. bad form ... regardless of your opinion of those answers

I'm sure you'll see the logic of this someday

haha, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way to edit it out, I was trying to delete the post, because I was happy with the answers I got. It was a stupid way of trying ;)

the only people that can delete a post are =piner + *caedes

while there may come a time when deleting one of your threads is appropriate\neccessary .... a situation like this isn't really one of them ....

just let it rot in the sun like so much roadkill ... it's nature's way

If you're anything like me and you had a nice big fancy camera with loads of nice lenses then chances are it would be still at home when you saw the shot. Get it in the can first.

ouch! now that's a painful piece of advice...

Hahaha