Digital Camera

garyi's spell chequer may find some homophones hrd to swallow and so mite spit out the wrong spielings from time too time :MILD:

 

Lumicron is a low quality brand which tends to be sold by supermarkets and discount warehouses. I'd also be wary of a seller who can't decide whether to call it 'Lumicron' or 'Lumicrom' and who thinks 'Canon' is spelled 'Cannon'.

 

Muppetry

 

Canon 300D if you can find one cheap enough - but probably closer (or more) to £300+. Worth it by all accounts - pro SLR with interchangeable lens etc. Ignore latest highstreet super-tiny gimmicks and go for sought after and tried and tested quality. Well, I say all that, it's what I want to buy (as I can't afford 350D or better). I've seen a lot of 5mp cameras which look cool (big clear LCD screens, slim, stylish exteriors) that give very very very ordinary pictures. Apertures/shutter speeds=piece of cake with a bit of practice, and it's free to learn once you have the camera with digital....!!

 

Greg thanks for your extreme help in this matter it sounds very much like the sort of **** that comes from a vinyl user to a CD user. If you cannot offer anything useful then fine, but you need to come up with something significant to counter my argument because right now we are not talking ultimate picture quality, over to you.

As for Tenson Vs Tension

This is a deep question and is basically bashing into religious territory, if you are a bible basher no doubt you believe you descend from a geezer with a beard on a cloud. If you do not believe this then you are not tenson and infact are trying to big yourself up on a hifi forum, you choose.

I would suggest anyone looking for the latest digital camera is not truely a religious type lol.

 

Lol! Definitely no.2! I am in fact from the group of beings known as 'Principalities'. (Well hey, if Mr.Cat is a cat, why can't I be a supernatural being?!) Digital cameras don't steal your soul because they are digital, isn't that obvious?

 

Tenson,

Are you able to get down to your local camera emporium? If so, go have a play with a few different types of cameras - even those a bit out of your price range. Get a feel for how the different cameras operate, how they fit in your hands, how accessible the controls are, how clear the viewfinder is etc.

Just put the specs aside for a while and try to work out what you feel comfortable using. This is somewhat important as no matter how much technical goodness any particular camera may have, it will be all for naught if you are uncomfortable using it or can't clearly see what you are trying to shoot.

Some of the point and shoot cameras are pretty good and will get ou going and help you learn about composition etc.

Regards,

Stuart.

 

Thats what i use, a very good cam for the price, but the supplied kit lens is not up to much.
Its no where near a pro quality tho, plastic body, <10mp, 3 frames a second etc, if you want pro your looking around £1000 second hand.
The 300D can be had for around 350, if you hunt hard enough.

 

Slightly off the point I was countering, you commented "Messing with a trad camera is not going to teach him anything he cannot learn on a digital". I think that's a boldly dismissive statement.

I'm not saying Tenson would be better off buying analogue gear that isnt the point I was making, but anyone genuinely interested in photography ought to aim for more than one camera and to use both formats IMO.

Just as CD didnt kill vinyl, digital hasnt and wont kill "analogue" photography. My simple point is there is a great deal to learn and enjoy in the craft of using traditional cameras and film and the slightly higher cost and considerably greater faffing around is not really the biggest deal in the world IMO.

Eg. the amazing results of the Lomo LC-A cant be replicated in digital format as far as I know and is a camera I would recommend to anyone as part of their armory. Equally I dont plan to buy any more analogue SLR bodies, so I'm no luddite.

 

Fuji have just brought out the Z2 - tiny little beast (90x55x18mm and 130 grams) with very quick start up and shot times plus it goes up to 1600ASA equivalent which would be very handy for low light situations. Comet are listing it at £200 and seem to be the cheapest (Jessops are quoting £250). It's not widely available yet thought so some dealers may start doing it for less.

For a pop in your pocket point and shoot I'd suggest it will take a lot of beating.

http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/digital/cameras/z2/index.php

Alternatively the Ixus 55 is a nice little camera.

Matt.

 

I would argue at the very minimum it needs a view finder.

 

I'm not impressed by the quality of pictures from most of the Fuji cameras. The S9500 is good but a bit expensive. The point and shoot Fuji's seem to have quite a bit of noise on them.

I like the Canon Ixus 400 though. Is the 55 a newer model? The Fuji F10 looks good too and so does the Olympus SP-350. I think the Olympus is nicer because it has about twice the resolution even though they are not quite as soft as the IXUS.

As the Olympus is the cheapest of them, I'l get that when I have the money. Seems like it can be got on eBay from America for about £150 inc postage. It also had RAW image output which is good as I like to edit. A real viewfinder too. Looks good to me!

 

A lot of the smaller cameras are no longer offering them. To be honest, given that a number of small digicams that do have viewfinders only show about 85% of the actual frame then you might question their usefulness anyway.

I can't remember the last time I used the viewfinder on my A70 but then the battery life is so good I never feel the need to conserve power by switching off the display.

You might even say that a back up battery is more useful than an optical viewfinder if power is running low.

I guess the one situation where an optical viewfinder would be useful would be if the sunlight makes viwing the display impossible.

Matt.

 

Tenson - I'd also check out Pixmania as they have some pretty tasty offers. For example - what about a the Pentax Optio 50 at £100!!

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/88466/art/pentax/optio-50.html

Matt.

 

If he could goto 300 quid he is into a whole new ball park.

Couldn't you sell something Tension?

BTW I notice that couple of year old cameras, even mine the Olympus E10 can be had on the bay for around £200 now.

I would seriously consider this. It may be 4m when little cameras have 8m, but its a whole different camera, with true SLR I have gotten some stunning shots off it which are simply not available on smaller cameras.

One thing to consider, depending very much on what you are trying to put in a magazine, if what you are shooting is small or will require the occasional close up, Macro on point and shoot can be appauling.

Anyway have a look at eBay for couple of year old cameras, for 200 quid you are into prosumer stuff.

 

Not a bad option particularly if you can reclaim the VAT

 

I was assuming Tenson was after something pocket sized.

If he is after a bigger beastie then I'd suggest the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 - 5mp, 12 x optical Leica lens, image stabiliser - wouldn't be a bad bet - especially as Pixmania list it at £232 including VAT.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/87347/art/panasonic/lumix-dmc-fz5-black.html?itag=3895

There's an in depth review here if you are interested.

Matt.

 

Apple shop are selling an Olympus E-1 DSLR for just under £100 right now. It appears to be a misprice. Go to the Education section - you need to be a student or teacher or tutor etc. It is unlikely to be honoured (should be £700) but I got an order confirmation at about 8 this morning & it is paid for & due to ship tomorrow - according to their T&C that means it's binding.....( I dream on!).
It's still on the site, but has been on the forums most of the day so they have probably 'sold' several thousand....but maybe still worth a punt?

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore

education section on the right.

 

Store won't even load right now, might be fixing it snigger.

The main site has it for £600 which is not a bad price.

 

Na its gone now, damn!

Imagine if you get that you jammy git!