digital camera advice

[dgack1]

Hi, I was hoping to get some advice from people who are seasoned veterans with digital cameras. This is my problem/question...I have a kodak 4.0meg camera and am not happy with the picture quality ( to long of a delay on action shots, inside shots appear hazzy). So for my upcoming cruise I would like to upgrade. I do not want to sent more than about 600 hundred (cheaper would be better):D Any thoughts....please remember I am basically "camera illiterate"

[yuyi64]

In my opinion nothing beats the picture quality of Canon's line of digital cameras. Even their inexpensive 3mp cameras produce pictures that are superior in color and detail to those from cameras costing hundreds more (from other manufacturers). Since you're willing to spend as much as $600.00, check out the Canon S2 (about $500.00) with 5mp, image stabilization and 12x optical zoom lens.

[tee_wrecks]

First, let's address the problems you've stated. Sadly, shutter delay is a fact of digital life until and unless you are shooting some of the professional SLR cameras. The best advice there is to be aware of it and try to anticipate your shot. A bit difficult for moving subjects but not impossible.

 

The hazy photos from inside could be caused by several things but mostly it's because people seem to think that having a digital camera enables them to forget basic photographic principles. If you have your camera set at ISO 100 and try to photograph indoors chances are the camera will compensate for the low light levels by slowing down the shutter speed. Digital or film, if you can successfully handhold a camera at 1/15th of a second or slower you're a freak of nature. Think your flash will take care of it? Right. Flash units on most modern cameras are good out to about 10 feet MAX. Beyond that distance the light falls off exponentially.

 

The main thing to remember is to not expect your camera to do things it's not capable of. Use good photographic technique and you'll cure 90% of all problems.

[mountainhouse]

Couple of other things...

 

Most digital cameras will pre-focus when you push the shutter release down part way. If you do this before you shoot, it will significantly improve the responsiveness.

 

Good point on the flash. Some cameras have more powerful flashes than others. Sounds like you want something more powerful. Also, hazyness can't be helped if the object is moving, but if the object is stationary, try leaning against something to steady your shot.

 

As far as shopping for cameras, there's great tools at www.dpreview.com

 

One last thing - you should be able to get very nice results from a Kodak 4mp camera. You might consider looking for a class at a local junior college or something. You need to make sure you're using your camera to it's fullest before moving on to another.

 

For example, this whole gallery was shot with a 4mp camera (Nikon 4500):

http://www.pbase.com/mountainhouse/santa_cruz_island

 

 

Good shooting,

[medalian1]

As far as shopping for cameras, there's great tools at www.dpreview.com

 

I second this site, it's great! If picking up a Canon, I don't recommend the new SD line unless your getting the 500 model (5mp I think). The rest of the line just got ok reviews. Otherwise pickup one of the older powershots (Canon S400 is my fav).

[yuyi64]

You can get really good prices on the Canon Powershot A95 (5mp) right now if you don't need more than a 3x optical zoom lens. Most retailers are selling the A95 for less than $300.00 at this time.

[GordyPordy]

Hi guys,

I've just bought a new digital camera.The Panasonic Lumix FZ5. It's a 5 megapixel camera with 12x optical zoom. It also has image stabilizer to counter camera shake.

However as a previous poster state you should get good pictures with a 4 mp camera. The higher pixel count is only a major factor if you plan to enlarge your photos. Perhaps the answer lies in your memory card. What type of memory does your camera use? If SD try upgrading to high speed SD cards. You can get up to 80x faster cards.

Also, make sure your batteries are fully charged.

Hope this helps.

Gordy.

[Suzieb]

What tee_wrecks and mountainhouse said are good points about the pre-shoting. If you notice your shutter button has two detents, the first one focuses and sets the exposure, the second one fires the shutter. the time taken is mostly in the first detent. So to get around this is to pre-set the camera. Do a best guess and focus on something that is close to the distance you are shooting and hold the shutter button, and when you you are ready to shoot your picture you push the button further. I was at a racetrack three weeks ago using my fuji s5000 (slow shutter) and got some great shots of cars at 190 mph with the background blurred and the cars in the view are in sharp view. That is one way to work around the slow shutter. Nice thing about digital cameras is you can try many ways of doing things and if it does not work out you just delete what you did. As for the flash shots try the same thing but remeber the camera sets up to approx 1/60 sec and the flash on most cameras are very weak so if the subject moves and or you move the camera you stand a good chance of blurring the shot. As with your camera is should be able to do all that you want, just play around with it or like some said try taking a class, you will be surpised what you can do with a camera

 

Good Luck and enjoy

[dgack1]

Thanks for the input...I have taken a photography class in the past, I just have been making a painful transition from film to digital. Good news though, after reading...reading..more reading, from some of the the websites ya'll suggested, I noticed many complaints about the same model I have been using. So I took the camera to a local shop..turns out..it is the camera!! I felt sooo much better, I went home and washed off the "I must be an idiot" sign off my forehead. Because of the cost to fix my camera, I have decided to upgrade to a Canon S2 IS. To ensure that we become the best of friends (me/camera) I will be taking a new camera course. Thanks again for your thoughts.

[yuyi64]

Nice choice!

[waterrats]

Yes. agree about the canon s series. I have a S200 and have recently upgraded to the S410. The nice thing about the upgrade is the memory is the same as well as the battery so now I have a spare.

 

Stick with Nikon or Canon. Both get great reviews.

[zackiedawg]

Stick with Nikon or Canon. Both get great reviews.

 

Actually, two of the highest-rated digital cameras ever made have been the Olympus C8080 and the Sony DSC-F717.

 

I won't argue that Nikon and Canon produce excellent products (I have two Canons myself), but there are some very good choices out there in the digital camera market right now, and many other manufacturers are competitive enough to merit a look - Sony, Olympus, Fuji, Pentax, Panasonic, and Kodak all have some great models which receive very strong reviews.

 

Nikon and Canon have an edge over the other manufacturers when it comes to DSLR cameras - since those are camera bodies which take interchangeable lenses, of which those two are the strongest and best-selling manufacturers.

 

But because the quality of point-and-shoot and prosumer digital cameras has as much to do with the software, electronics, and processing as with the lens, some electronics manufacturers have a technological edge over some of the traditional camera manufacturers. Which is why you'll find some very good cameras from electronics firms like Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung.

 

Don't forget that the photo sensor and processing chips in most cameras today, including Nikon, are Sony sensors...and these companies have been smart in hiring lens makers to design and build the one aspect of their cameras that they may not be as good at yet (Panasonic uses Leica lenses, Sony uses Carl Zeiss lenses, Kodak uses Schneider-Kruznach lenses).

 

Anyway...DGACK1 - fine choice on the S2 IS. You should find the newer cameras much quicker and with significantly less shutter lag, and very good Canon optics, will improve your photos. Better noise control and processing, higher megapixels for cropping room, image-stabilization, and that nice long flexible zoom range should give you wonderful control.

 

Be aware of a little bit of purple-fringing on some long-zoom shots when shooting high contrast subjects...it is inevitable on long-zoom cameras, and the Canon does indeed suffer from it. But a little caution when shooting high contrast scenes to reduce the EV a notch, or recompose without as much contrast in the scene, should prevent the problem most of the time.

 

Enjoy!

[lukegr]

With a 4.0MP camera, the shots shouldn't be too blurry. All digital cameras have different lighting settings, which may at first seem like some "do nothing" settings, but if used correctly, you can make the most professional looking shots. Try fiddling around with lighting settings (almost all camera default "auto" lighting setting).

 

However, it may just be poor quality. I recommend http://www.newegg.com, they have great deals on just about every computer-related electronic.

 

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=12 is the direct link to the digital camera section.

 

Hope this helps.

[Wennfred]

I've just bought a new digital camera.The Panasonic Lumix FZ5.

 

My friend has the FZ20 it too is an awesome camera, takes fast pictures too, like to check out the FZ5.

 

I've always been a Canon man myself, first with my Canon Sureshot A20 which is an all around camera, Awesome pictures at 2.1 Megapix, Canon has one of the best Software in the market.

 

I now own the Canon S1IS, Great camera too. Now they have an S2IS, Currently looking at the Canon Rebel XT rated very high on dpreview.com

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_eos350d.asp