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What camera should i get?

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LAN_403

Arcstarter

Tue Apr 20 2010, 05:33PM

Registered Member #1225 Joined: Sat Jan 12 2008, 01:24AM
Location: Beaumont, Texas, USA
Posts: 2253

Hey guys.

My birthday is in about 20 days, and what i think i want is a new camera. If you have seen some of the pictures i have taken, they are not so great. My camera cannot take pictures any closer than a couple feet without the blur being rather bad. Also, there is no exposure time setting, which would be nice to have.

My camera is 6Mp. I am thinking about something around 10-12Mp, if possible. Features i would like is ability to take macro photos that actually show the details. Something like taking a picture of a penny, and it actually showing the details, would be nice. No internal memory is needed, i have a 2Gb SD card. Exposure time setting would be a feature i would use. I do not care too much about the modes, i do not care for the option to capture video, an auto setting and macro setting is all i care for so much, but i am sure they all come with that.

What cameras do you guys suggest? I have a budget of probably 170 dollars, if i get lucky. I am not sure what i can get with this much, i have never gone camera shopping.

EEYORE

Tue Apr 20 2010, 06:05PM

Registered Member #99 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:10PM
Location: florida, usa
Posts: 637

I use a Canon PowerShot Digital Elph. I got mine a few years ago for around $170.00 so I imagine a better one should be out now for around the same price.

Matt

hak8or

Tue Apr 20 2010, 06:24PM

Registered Member #2025 Joined: Fri Mar 13 2009, 05:39PM
Location:
Posts: 16

is the best site you can possibly ask for when you are just starting out with buying a camera.

I have a DMC-TZ3 and I love it, the only part that I do not like is not having the ability to control shutter speed over a few seconds manually.

Sulaiman

Tue Apr 20 2010, 06:32PM

Registered Member #162 Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3140

Probably a camera/photography forum is a better place to look?
First make a better wish list, what do you really want the camera for?
For macro work you will have to consider lighting/flash and lens quality as well as Mpixel.
And for a just a little bit more cash there's always something really great.
Good luck with the hunting.
Once you've bought your camera use it a lot
or before you've filled the SD card a newer better cheaper model will be available.
and 2 GB isn't as huge as you may think.

Arcstarter

Tue Apr 20 2010, 07:03PM

Registered Member #1225 Joined: Sat Jan 12 2008, 01:24AM
Location: Beaumont, Texas, USA
Posts: 2253

hak8or, that looks like it is an awesome camera.

That was taken with one. That is miles better than any picture my camera will take. I do not like these cheap cameras you can get from wal-mart, though mine was 100 dollars.

Sulaiman, i do not really know what i want in a camera. That is why i ask what you guys think. As for what i want the camera for, is sharing pictures on the internet. Go figure

But the pictures i take may be inside, outside, very close up, or many hundred feet away. Just an all purpose camera. But, the better the pictures it takes of sparks... Well, the better. That is one thing i enjoy, because still shots of sparks reveal so much more about the actual structure than you could ever tell in real time.

Thanks alot guys, it has been helpful!

Ken M.

Tue Apr 20 2010, 10:41PM

Registered Member #618 Joined: Sat Mar 31 2007, 04:15AM
Location: Us-Great Lakes
Posts: 628

I recently bought a Olympus Fe-4000 for $119. really the best way i can say for finding the one you would like and would be exactly what you want is "just go out and try some." That and see about the more detailed specs online. A problem with the fe-4000 is i don't think it has exposure settings it almost completely auto settings but at the time I was looking more for a camera that had very good picture stabalization, which was was better then a sony cybershot and some other cameras, a few other down points is that it has a propriatery battery and sd card, but it comes with a micro sd card adapter.

rp181

Tue Apr 20 2010, 11:08PM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

With 10MP, 2GB isnt much. On my camera, each 10MP shot is around 3MB.
I have a kodak V1003. Its OK for macro shots, the resolution makes up for it.

That is a 80 pin .5mm pitch chip.

Killa-X

Tue Apr 20 2010, 11:34PM

Registered Member #1643 Joined: Mon Aug 18 2008, 06:10PM
Location:
Posts: 1039

EEYORE wrote ...

I use a Canon PowerShot Digital Elph. I got mine a few years ago for around $170.00 so I imagine a better one should be out now for around the same price.

Matt

Mines the Canon PowerShot A60IS
I like canon cameras because they have codes out there you can design. I have some that capture any motion (good for lightning strikes) Time lapsing codes, and so forth. I need a new one because in a month the gears started to make loud noises. It's been a year later and it still works...

klugesmith

Tue Apr 20 2010, 11:38PM

Registered Member #2099 Joined: Wed Apr 29 2009, 12:22AM
Location: Los Altos, California
Posts: 1716

With a good macro-capable lens, you don't need that many megapixels. Here's a full resolution image from my clunky 10-year-old "2.1 MP" Coolpix 950. Can focus even closer, to about 0.8x0.6 inch FOV. Max exposure time is 8 seconds, enough to show stars in a night sky picture. I don't know what modern cameras have comparable capability. Recently got a backup CP950 cheap on craigslist.

IntraWinding

Wed Apr 21 2010, 06:15AM

Registered Member #2261 Joined: Mon Aug 03 2009, 01:19AM
Location: London, UK
Posts: 581

I agree with hak8or. dpreview.com

is a really good place for all your camera info. I also got a TZ3 and I like it. I got mine off some chap on eBay in Japan which saved me Â£50.
I think they're up to TZ10 , but don't assume a higher number means better. Some are, some aren't. Unfortunately they also use different model numbers in different parts of the world

I wish it was possible to hack the firmware in these cameras. The hardware's great, but it would be nice to be able to tweak some of the features. For example, it can take 3 exposure bracketed shots, but 9 would be better. And you can't zoom whilst taking video on the TZ3 - fixed in later models I believe. A time lapse shooting feature would be nice too.

Alan

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