Digital Camera's - What do you Suggest????

tubboy

I'm looking to get one. FINALLY. I'm willing to spend if the sucker is worth it, so, with that said, those of you who use your camera's for work, what would you suggest? What brand is working for you and what do you adivse?

sal_manilla

I like Canon and have an S30 although there are new models for less money. I've had mine for a few years.

One thing I like about Canon is the RAW format. It allows you to take maximum quality without taking as much space on your memory card as a TIFF or BMP. THis allows you to manage the larger file faster. When you download simply convert to whatever format you want. I shoot in jpeg when I know it's only for the internet but if I may want a print I'll convert to TIF when I download.

Also most affordable cameras only have a 3x optical zoom.....if you can get more power do it.
The digital zoom gets fuzzy as you get stronger.

My Canon also has an option of using the 800 ISO speed. I bought it thinking this is a great idea for shooting in low light but it actually sux. The higher speed just gives you a poor image. Try to shoot at a slower speed when you can and use a tripod 'er sumpin'.

Most of the name brands are good...even Kodak got some nice write-ups.

Some cameras have a docking station. An extra gadget to park your camera in when your downloading the pix. I think it's a waste of money. Some new 'puters have a media card reader built in. You can also buy a little media gadget that plugs right into your USB port twith your media card in it and you can download that way.....named Zio!

I tend to stay away from Sony since it is the only camera that uses a "Memory Stick". Most other cameras use a more popular format of memory card or flash media....such as "Smart Media" or "Compact Flash". Only Sony uses the "Stick".

There, is that enuff B.S. to confuse you Tubber? Did I help at all? Oh, yeah don't get anything under 4 megapix now. Plenty of bang for the buck these days.

tpe

I hate to admit it but i think sal is right, cannon have the consumer market sewn up atm. If you are going to go for a non SLR then go for cannon or a noname that you can play with first (we got a noname with a zeise lense and it is great, but i think you have to be lucky).

If you dont want to go for the consumer market and you are really serious about photography then you can almost toss a coin between the low end Nikon (D70) and Cannon (10D not eos 300D) DSLRs atm. they are both very good and more or less the same price. You have to watch out though as because you accumulate lenses (they both fit their respective manufacturas 35mm SLR lines) you end up stuck with that make when you want to get a new camera. The minolta (7D) version is a very good camera but a bit too expencive compared to the others, the only things it has that they dont is an antishake that can give you one or two f stops in low light.

tpe

JonMurphy

I use a cannon powershot g5, which is the one just below their base digital SLR. It was fantastic for getting texture references for buildings, as I would have it in full manual, so no 'auto' adjustments mucking up the levels between shots.

Make sure you get good quality pixels out of the camera, and that you can get enough storage.

tubboy

JonMurphy
I like the one you mentioned. Still trying to find hthe pricing. How much did you spend on yours?


http://www.dpreview.com/news/0306/g5/morepics01.jpg

_Shimmer

no matter what camra, digital or analog, i always suggest Pentax. VERY good cost / performance ratio. I use one for my work and hobbywise. Tried out some, most of them turned out shit, because of bad handling, slow CRC or fuckfeatures like digital zoom which worths nothing.

Search for pentax and you will find some cool stuff. If you go for a snapshot cam, buy a Optio digicam. Its small and very smart (check out the lens system!).

Rick Stirling

Whats the problem with Sony and the memory stick?

tubboy

I actually looked at sony. Ther eCyber shot cams are impressive in size, but thats it ya know.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...s-feat_04-DSCM1

malcolm

I have the cannon powershot s110, I have had it for a couple years now, the reason I purchased it was solely on size, at the time it was the smallest camera that had good enough quality for taking texture reference pictures. I never run out of space on the memory card as I have the 128 and the camera allows you to take 1200x1600 pictures with no compression which adds up to about 128 pictures on one card which is way more than I ever shoot in a single session. The huge draw back to this camera and the newer ones of the same name is the batter life is extremely short, it takes custom lithium batteries and you only get half an hour of canstant use if you have the lcd screen turned on, super lame! I bought two batteries so I can get at least a good amount of texture reference without having to go home, also turning the lcd screen off while walking around the city will help you out, almost always I run out of battery power before the memory card is full. The quality is nice but like all digital cameras the blacks are often too dark due to poor lighting and not using a flash. I think the next digicam I get will definately be based on battery life.

sal_manilla

Rick: There's nothing "wrong" with a memory stick. I just think that a format of memory that is more widely used will be more convenient for various situations. That's just me.

tubboy

Whats the General thought behind using the mini CD burning system on camera's these days. Do yall thing memoy cards are more efficiant or is the CD idea better or a waste of time or what?

Daz

I have the Pentax Optio which I love. It's so tiny and unobtrusive I can take it anywhere.
Only down side that Ive really found is that nightime shots can have a grainy quality. Other than that picture quality is great. Takes movies too which is impressive for something its size.

ElysiumGX

I have a Canon G3 with a 1GB memory card. The image quality is great, but the camera isn't made for professional photographers. It's more of a snapshot camera suitable to beginner photography students. It's a high quality digital, but setting options, zooming, setting shutter speed and aperture requires a lot of button pushing. The manual focus is the worst feature, but the automatic focus works pretty well. In Program and Auto mode, most settings are made automatically. The images are large, and with ISO on 50, very clear.

Just for laughs...all my photos on this page were taken with my G3.
http://www.elysiumvisions.com/home/photos.html

The G3 is cool. But, I'm really wanting to expand my talents as a photographer, so one day I'd like to have the Canon Digital Rebel. Everyone who's had that camera, loves it. Depends on how much you wanna spend.

A friend of mine is avoiding Canon because he heard a rumor about bad mechanics in the lenses burning out. Mine makes a weird sound when focusing, but hasn't broke in the 1.5 years I've had it.

JonMurphy

[ QUOTE ]
JonMurphy
I like the one you mentioned. Still trying to find hthe pricing. How much did you spend on yours?

[/ QUOTE ]
Difficult to say, as I bought mine in Akihibara in Tokyo last year. I think it came out at £350.

Frankie

I have a Sony DSC-P100, I found it for 180 quid at dixons(if your not in the uk thats not much use). I think its really good, it takes 5mega pixels pictures and 640x480 video at 30fps, its great if you want to keep something on you all the time and record yourself doing stupid things.

TomDunne

[ QUOTE ]
Cannon (10D not eos 300D)

[/ QUOTE ]

I have the EOS and it rocks. With the 10D, you pay several hundred more for a metal frame and a handful of features no casual camera user would miss.

KDR_11k

Do any of these take CF? My PDA uses CF and I have a 1GB CF card lying around so that would be useful.

Thermidor

The Nikon D-70 is a nice cam, but pretty pricey,

i think in the end weather digi , or standard camera, its always the quality of the lens thats gona make the biggest difference , and i think nikon make good lenses.

Most Cameras seem to be able to get good clear pics in good lighting conditions , but take a pic indoors , or on a dul day , and they all fall apart. so the image sensor quality is really important too ..

tpe

@verm

Over hear at least the 10D just took a nosedive in price after christmas, so the difference isnt that great, agreed that its not much different other than the speed between shots and the metal frame, but after handling them for me the frame makes the difference if you are going to hand out that kind of cash i think its better to get something that feels like you can drop it without it disintergrating. Unfortunatly for me tho i am stuck with minolta that is about 30% dearer as i am not prepared to sell my lenses , if i were i would probably go for the nikon as my better half has some lenses and there are more of them on the second hand market. The 300 realy is a great camera tho, and nothing wrong with the image quality so if its possible to save a buck or two i would have no problems recomending it to anyone. Just the flexibility of going to a proper DSLR is worth every penny.

tpe

Ryno

Canon S45. Manual controls if you need them, but very easy to use, and default settings are excellent. I do some martial arts (Filipino stickfighting), and was a bit worried that it wouldn't be able to capture the quick motion of the sticks. But I just flipped it to sports mode, and everything was crystal clear, with little motion blur. The color accuracy is outstanding, and low light levels aren't a problem. I'm very happy with it.

tubboy

I've narrowed the selection to the following:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...duct&cmp=++

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...mp;type=product

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...02-DSCP150%2fLJ

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHO...s-feat_04-DSCM1