OT: What digital cameras do you guys use ..

[The Natural Philosopher]

A completely cheapo Mikon coolpix 775, that is utterly distinct from the camera I use to do arty shots and high quality images.

The only gizmo the coolpix has that I suse is the zoom, which allows better close up focus at max zoom.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I've got about 5 grand of Nikon SLR kit, of which only 3 lenses and one body are in fact 'first owned' - you SHOULD consider second hand definitely...

[T i m]

Hmmm .. ok ... ;-)

That gave me an idea though .. Dad's had (has) some decent stuff (I remember when I was young he sold his 'Baby Rolle' and with the money bought a small cabin cruiser (new) ;-)

I wonder if I could get a s/u digital body to go with his lenses (or has it all moved on mount wise now)?

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

And I'm sure you deserved it (£500+ though .. ouch) ;-)

Well the S5600 'looks' like a dSLR ..

'Months' .. cripes! I think the SLR lookalikes give up on size and therefore have plenty of room for some decent batteries. This litte Fuji F420 is as big as a pack of cards (well shorter but slightly thicker) with 5Mp, zoom, large screen etc etc so summat's gotta give (battery life).

Maybe I'll have another look in my local camera shop ?

Makes sense. And a similar Q&A session I often have with friends / family when they ask me about specs for PC's.

Understood Warwick (if we went new atm the S5600 has a lag of .35s ??)

The S5600 looks like a slightly scaled down SLR so might be more suitable for a 'girl' (for a while anyway). Also we would both hate to think of having 500 quids worth of camera dropped or stolen (or £200 for that matter but that's more livablewith) ;-(

I'll check out s/h dSLR's though ..

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Not yet.

Thought I'd try here 2nd Chris ..

*I'm* not into gambling.

Well being the nice helpful tolerant guy you are you normally cross post your informative reply to all the other groups anyway?

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. Not got a digital camera then Chris (or would that be too relevant) ;-)

[T i m]

Like this Sony DSC-F707 then? At first it looked like a bit of a gimmick but watching my daughter 'test' the camera and she was making use of that feature quite a bit.

With you there John ..

Ah ..

Hmm, ok. From a basic 'user / photography' point of view all the Fuji's we have had so far have produced a very acceptable picture. Not to say they *were* ok though, just looked ok to me / us ;-)

Hmmm. Ok, for use with her BTEC course I should imagine she will be taking pictures of her 'project' indoors. However I expect she will also be using it outdoors and for general and probably totally unpredictable locations!

I guess that if there was anything that required a really complex (photographically) shot the college would have the camera to cope?

As mentioned here previously, Dad has the remains of a pretty professional studio setup (he dropped out of photography when it went digital) but could there be some useable lenses (probably Canon or Nikon knowing Dad) that I could borrow for a digital body? I guess unless I'm lucky enough to find a good compatible dSLR body for less than £200 it could all end up above my budget again?

All the best ..

T i m

[Andrew Gabriel]

Stear clear of HP unless you are buying something cheap which you don't expect a long life from. Their only support is replacement in first year, and "get lost" after that. Whilst that may be just about OK for something cheap and throwaway, it's not a suitable attitude for anything more expensive.

[Chris Bacon]

So that's a "whoosh!", then.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Possibly. I hacve held back from 'going digital' because the cost of a compatible body for my old Nikon manual lenses is about 700 squids S/H, and what I would get would be a brick like object that weighs about 6 times as much as my titanium bodied FE2's..

Easer to take film and get the negs digitised..

[Stuart Noble]

Looks like I got mine just in time then. I suspect being red instead of silver had something to do with it being on special offer. The same camera in blue fetched double that second hand on EBay! I also have a Coolpix 995, which is undeniably a better camera but somehow never gets used any more. Guess I'm just not a serious photographer when it comes down to it.

[John Rumm]

The other difficulty is even though you can in some cases keep the existing lenses, they end up all being different (i.e. longer) effective focal lengths because the image area of the CMOS sensor is smaller than that of 35mm film.

[John Rumm]

Ah, sort of, but more so:

lense bit rotates about 340 degrees, so you can even twiddle it round to take your own photo (and the camera is smart enough to invert the image on the LCD when it detects the rotation point where the lense is in effect upside down)

At a glance so did FiLs. You only really noticed it when you had a scene with subtle shading and some dark areas, and you wanted to print A3 or bigger. It then became quite objectionable unless you spent some time on it in photoshop first. By way of example, see the shot here:

look at the section I have extracted from the bottom centre of the frame here:

can see the chromatic noise that covers the image. This tends to add a grain and a unwanted texture to bits of the image that should not be as visible. As I say, at normal print sizes and onscreen you don't really see it. But if you are enlarging, probably even just to A4, but certainly A3 you see it.

Something that allows a little "control" beyond simple point and shoot may be advantageous then. Things like exposure lock can also be handy.

If you go for a camera that has a bit of control then the only capability that you really lose is the ability to change lense. Some (notably the Nikons and the Fujis) do accept modifier lenses that fit on the front of the built in one. These can extend the flexability a bit.

Not sure about interoperability of the older lenses. You may find that they work, but you lose some capabilities. Sounds like a good question to ask over on the AP forum:

sure about the budget either... last time I looked at Canon dSLR bodies, even the old models were still commanding a serious price. 8-(

[Paul]

I have a Fuji S3500 and its great battery life is excellent with some high capacity Nimh (I use 7dayshop own brand. I got it about 6 months ago refurbished from

for £80 now that's a bargain with 6 months warranty.

Paul

[T i m]

Hmm ..

Less you want the results there and then etc .. (something the younger folk take for granted). Having said that my daughter bought a disposable camera the other day (even though she has 35mm and digital compacts) and waited the week to have them developed. I don't suppose they will ever get looked at much nor scanned / emailed like her digital ones do?

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

And he's happy with it as far as you know John?

That was pretty well the setup I took when we went to the Zoo a while back. Except the spare rechargeables seemed to have been cr*p (in spite of coming off the auto charger that morning) and the souvenir shop AAA's didn't even wake it up? ;-(

I hindsight that seems like a plan ..

Hmm, and not *that* expensive for an object of desire ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Camcorder stylee ..

Camcorder stylee again then. Just bought a basic Canon MiniDV cam for my nephew (his paper round money) and that did same .. and was widescreen! ;-)

Wow, thanks for that John, I was about to say 'it looks fine to me' .. ;-)

So that's not the same as shutter or aperture priority then?

Ah, ok. But I guess at the risk of some other weird 'effects' that may not present themselves when using 'real' de mountable lenses?

Though that would be the case. Even if Dad was to let us make use of what was probably a few grands worth of top brand lenses that's no good if I can afford a digital body to go with .. ;-(

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Well there is serious and 'serious' Stuart.

Like I can imagine my daughter using any camera for 'fun' but taking the time to compose the shot at the same time.

Unlike everyone she gives her camera to to take a picture of her! (apparently) ;-)

"Dad, how difficult is it for them to take a simple picture without cutting my head or feet off .. or focusing on the dustbins .... " ;-(

Now my Dad wouldn't get his camera out unless he actually had a subject to work on (be it portrait work or objects for advertising).

I don't even have a plan .. just enjoy digital photography as a tool .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Hi Paul and thanks for that (I'll check it out). My mate got his one grand replacement (Canon summat) for the Sony DSC-F707 from them.

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

You talking HP as in printers here Andrew (I guess you are). Sfunny, I'd never have though of even looking at them for a camera (similar with Casio .. keyboards / calculators etc but no cameras .. but they probably make some gooduns)?

Not nice / good eh. ;-(

That's one issue *I* didn't have with Fuji and why the local camera shop likes them .. unlike some of the more traditional brands (you mention them re repair and his eyes roll)!

All the best ..

T i m

[Stephen Dawson]

That's why I changed my Sony DSC-P50 to a Fuji S620 Pro. Both fantastic camera, but the fuji is quicker.