Digital Cameras...
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I've got one of these[^] and love it. Any of the latest Canon powershots will do what you want.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
I've got one of these[^] and love it. Any of the latest Canon powershots will do what you want.
Wow Chris. You don't use that giant camera anymore? Decided to go down to amateur level again?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link -
Chris Maunder wrote:
I've got one of these[^] and love it. Any of the latest Canon powershots will do what you want.
Wow Chris. You don't use that giant camera anymore? Decided to go down to amateur level again?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com linkMy new canon powershot takes pic nearly as good as my D10, is customisable, has amazing battery life, has image stabilisation, is higher res, weighs about 1/10 of the size and fits in the back pocket of my jersey. That's something a D10 can't do. Plus, when I came off the bike a few weeks ago I wasn't worried about breaking it. A few scratches but the thing is bullet proof.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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1. Shutter delay is usually minimal (less than half a second), it's the autofocus that usually kills you. 2. Before buying or asking for advice you should also indicate if you want slim compact camera or you are willing to live with the size of Panasonic Lumix FZ5 or Canon PowerShot S5 IS. 3. Price range?
JazzJackRabbit wrote:
Shutter delay is usually minimal (less than half a second), it's the autofocus that usually kills you.
or you can use a manual apature. Just remember the higher your F-Stop the longer the shutter is going to need to be open. It'll also affect your focus though... but with people you usually don't need that much detail, so F-5.6 is typically more then suffecient. If i remember correctly (its been about 4 years since i've used a camera) that should be 1/32 shutter speed (in average conditions, and average filmspeed assuming your digital camera allows you to emulate film speed). Please correct me if i'm wrong... i don't remember.
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So... digital cameras are a really important part of daily life for us. We take pictures of things I won't describe with Katie (flushable things) and we use them to take contrast pictures of how much she eats start plate vs. end plate. We also use them to have fun and our 2 year old has no patience. Our last 2 cameras were throwbacks that were given to us by people who were being nice. We are now in a situation where the most recent and only throwback we have left is DEAD and DEAD IS AS DEAD DOES. We've been reading reviews but now I think we have review-confusion. So many reviews and none of them really agree on the details. BUT!!! I know CP has more than a few camera toting nerds who must have some insight into this topic. What digital camera do you recommend? The things we want most: - Battery life. - Minimal shutter delay. Our 2 year old moves really fast. - Ability to record movies. - Good up-close (our camera is our scanner) pictures. What do you recommend, what's a solid camera across the board? Maybe I can contrast your opinions with the reviews and find something that actually does make sense. - Rex
I've had three digis so far. The first, a Polaroid, would better be described as a hemorrhoid. It was obvious from the start that Polaroid has no interest in being a serious contender in the digital arena. Not a big deal, really, since they've never built first rate cameras, they just had the patent on instant developing. The second was a Nikon Coolpix 4500 - a very sweet camera. The unit is light, resolution is excellent. On the flip side, though, the lens is tiny, screw-on lens adapters and filters are expensive and progressively reduce the field of view, the low-light performance sucks, shutter delay almost guarantees that the cute shot you try for will always be missed*, and the autofocus doesn't work worth a damn in anything less than bright lighting. *It does have a rapid sequence mode that allows continuous high speed shooting until the memory runs out, and I've used that for action shots. Usually one or two out of 50 frames will catch a usable view. The current camera is an Olympus E-500, the only DSLR in the lot. It has excellent performance overall, great image quality, a full range of setting options (if you can find them), and a wide assortment of accessories and lenses available. Once you've made the jump to SLR, though, there's no going back. It's almost a perfect WYSIWYG experience. Drawbacks: Color balance in low light is poor, but correctable with WB/EV compensation, and it does offer bracketing. Filters are also available and affordable, if you use third party sources. Lens options are plentiful, but far more expensive than any piece of glass is worth; that's true of all brands, though. Shutter delay is rarely a problem, as it is very fast and responsive. But the autofocus under low-light conditions is also sub-par by my definition. That seems to be a universal problem with digis though. The dynamic range of the sensor technology is getting better, but it still has a long way to go to match the performance of film cameras in the AF function. The battery life varies. I frequently ran out of battery before the memory was full using the Nikon. I have yet to run down the battery during a shoot with the Olympus, and it has 4x the memory of the Nikon. It also recharges in a very short time; I can shoot all morning, transfer the full memory and charge the battery, and be back shooting after lunch. All in all, a very nice camera, and more than adequate quality. The newer versions are even better, but they're expensive and possibly overkill for your use. Still, it's nice
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So... digital cameras are a really important part of daily life for us. We take pictures of things I won't describe with Katie (flushable things) and we use them to take contrast pictures of how much she eats start plate vs. end plate. We also use them to have fun and our 2 year old has no patience. Our last 2 cameras were throwbacks that were given to us by people who were being nice. We are now in a situation where the most recent and only throwback we have left is DEAD and DEAD IS AS DEAD DOES. We've been reading reviews but now I think we have review-confusion. So many reviews and none of them really agree on the details. BUT!!! I know CP has more than a few camera toting nerds who must have some insight into this topic. What digital camera do you recommend? The things we want most: - Battery life. - Minimal shutter delay. Our 2 year old moves really fast. - Ability to record movies. - Good up-close (our camera is our scanner) pictures. What do you recommend, what's a solid camera across the board? Maybe I can contrast your opinions with the reviews and find something that actually does make sense. - Rex
I've found a good all around camera that is poised on the threshold of an slr but isn't is the Canon A640. Any Canon is a good investment though. Personally I went camera hunting big time a few months back and I really couldn't see any reason to buy any other brand based on all the research I did. As with all digital camera shopping, Flickr.com is your friend as you can search by camera brand and model and see thousands of actual pictures take with it. And of course dpreview.com for the technical details.
"I don't want more choice. I just want better things!" - Edina Monsoon
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You'd have to check if you can use rechargeable batteries first though. Certain HP cameras in the past used to die when powered by rechargeable batteries for long periods of time. I don't know if this is still the case with new cameras, but better check first than be sorry later.
JazzJackRabbit wrote:
Certain HP cameras in the past used to die when powered by rechargeable batteries for long periods of time.
I've had an HP DX4330 for many years now and it's still going strong with the same battery. It's even been dropped a few times!
"A good athlete is the result of a good and worthy opponent." - David Crow
"To have a respect for ourselves guides our morals; to have deference for others governs our manners." - Laurence Sterne
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stay away from olumpus,their autofocus sucks (checked in 3 different versions) Sony Cybershot series are good cameras too. Look for scenes that most of the camera now a days support, like night mode, indoor, etc, etc.
Prakash. wrote:
Sony Cybershot series are good cameras too.
I agree. I've had my DSC-S75 for six years now and it's a great camera in terms of design, with the controls within easy reach and it isn't missing any features. I can usually live without the RAW format support or an interchangeable lens, since i don't really require either for work or play. It does have an option to save pictures as TIFF instead, which is relatively uncompressed, but it takes a full 20 seconds to write that to memory stick - i wonder if that's determined by BUS speed or the media, since i can probably get a newer memory stick if that helps any. The only drawback is Sony's typical problem, a defective sensor, but i've been lucky that it hasn't failed completely. I may end up replacing the sensor, since the rest of the camera is well built and can last for years more, even if i decide to upgrade. Roswell
"Angelinos -- excuse me. There will be civility today."
Antonio VillaRaigosa
City Mayor, Los Angeles, CA -
I've got one of these[^] and love it. Any of the latest Canon powershots will do what you want.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Agreed, we recently purchased a Canon A710IS and it's a great little camera for taking happy snaps (flushable or otherwise) 7ish megapixel, 6x optical zoom, supports SDHC and takes AA batteries. Very handy indeed!
I have no blog...
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So... digital cameras are a really important part of daily life for us. We take pictures of things I won't describe with Katie (flushable things) and we use them to take contrast pictures of how much she eats start plate vs. end plate. We also use them to have fun and our 2 year old has no patience. Our last 2 cameras were throwbacks that were given to us by people who were being nice. We are now in a situation where the most recent and only throwback we have left is DEAD and DEAD IS AS DEAD DOES. We've been reading reviews but now I think we have review-confusion. So many reviews and none of them really agree on the details. BUT!!! I know CP has more than a few camera toting nerds who must have some insight into this topic. What digital camera do you recommend? The things we want most: - Battery life. - Minimal shutter delay. Our 2 year old moves really fast. - Ability to record movies. - Good up-close (our camera is our scanner) pictures. What do you recommend, what's a solid camera across the board? Maybe I can contrast your opinions with the reviews and find something that actually does make sense. - Rex
I'd have to agree that the camera fit to you is very subjective. For Point and Shoots if you're looking for something with a lot of zoom, I've enjoyed playing with the Canon S5 IS and the Panasonic TZ3. The TZ3 is a nice compact super zoom and the sport mode focuses fairly quickly. Not the most user friendly manual shot mode however. The Canon S5 has the extra benefit of allowing you to add on a shoe mounted flash if your shots are getting more complicated down the road. Focus speed is fairly quick but as mentioned in an early reply you could always switch to a priority mode and manually bring down the fstop. I haven't had a chance to use the equivalent Nikon gear so I can't speak on that subject.
"I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another, until you just wish Flanders was dead." [Homer J Simpson]
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So... digital cameras are a really important part of daily life for us. We take pictures of things I won't describe with Katie (flushable things) and we use them to take contrast pictures of how much she eats start plate vs. end plate. We also use them to have fun and our 2 year old has no patience. Our last 2 cameras were throwbacks that were given to us by people who were being nice. We are now in a situation where the most recent and only throwback we have left is DEAD and DEAD IS AS DEAD DOES. We've been reading reviews but now I think we have review-confusion. So many reviews and none of them really agree on the details. BUT!!! I know CP has more than a few camera toting nerds who must have some insight into this topic. What digital camera do you recommend? The things we want most: - Battery life. - Minimal shutter delay. Our 2 year old moves really fast. - Ability to record movies. - Good up-close (our camera is our scanner) pictures. What do you recommend, what's a solid camera across the board? Maybe I can contrast your opinions with the reviews and find something that actually does make sense. - Rex
Or apply lateral thinking. I find child #1 has thousands of pictures taken of it. But child # 2 tends to have birthday photos only!, if that. So instead of a new camera possibly baby #2 :)
"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman