Another Digital Camera Thread - Point and Shoot

LunarMist

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After a few days or a week there is not much difference in capacity, so the Eneloops are better if you don't shoot frequently. In the 580EX the capacity is less than the conventional 2.7 AH cells as expected. I have not compared results in the 580EX II since there is no easy way to determine when that flash is full charged. I haven't checked the spec sheets to see in there is any difference in internal resistance or impedance between the Eneloops and conventional NiMH cells. Both types are low enough for the vast majority of applications.
 

Howell

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Pradeep

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5 fps, not bad at all. Interesting to see the auto sensor clean functionality, as well as the option to have the mirror locked up for more than one shot. I know for some applications it would be best to have the mirror constantly locked up. One less moving part to fail.

16 to 21 in itself is not really that significant, but the added processing speed is very welcome. Definitely something that can still command $8000, the 1Ds MkII had dropped to around $6500.
 

LunarMist

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Are you at CPF like JTR and others of us, too?

There are several brands of similar cells, some made in China and some OEM versions of the Eneloops.
 

mubs

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Will:

The Eneloops have a lower rating - 2000 mAh as opposed to the 2700 mAh or so you can get now. But according to jtr, and live use proves he is correct, cells > 2000 mAh suffer from high internal resistance, and are unable to sustain high current outputs for long. That explains why my cells, all name brand, ranging from 2300 mAh to 2500 mAh die so quickly when using flash but can go a couple of weeks in the same camera when not using the flash. My camera is known to be miserly in power consumption, but this is true only if the flash is not being used. The Eneloops (and a couple of other high-current, lower capacity models) are able to sustain the high current outputs because they have lower internal resistance. According to jtr, another issue with the higher capacity batteries is a much lower number of recharge cycles (also could explain why mine may be dying or dead).

So it's contrarian login here - use lower capacity batteries to get more use :-D. That was, as they say, a paradigm shift for me. The thing is, he just didn't tell me what to do, he explained why. :salut:
 

e_dawg

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tim, the Sony is decent, but as often the case, there are better choices in that price range. It's a pretty little camera, though, so if she values that (and why wouldn't she, being a girl ;) ), you may want to think twice about getting her a camera that performs better but looks worse.

In any event, I would prefer something like the Canon A570is, or if you can still find the A710is, it might be slightly more $, but worth it for its ability to shoot RAW mode and use the live histogram and zebra modes through a firmware extension, as well as its 6x zoom.

Other options are the Fuji F31fd or 40fd (assuming you can find them on clearance before they run out of stock), maybe even the Canon SD800is (on closeout too), although the SD800 won't be a noticeable step up in image quality except for the wide-angle lens.

On another note, it saddens me to see venerable lens makers like Carl Zeiss whore themselves out to Sony et al. to produce cheapo lenses for the P&S set. On the flip side, I think that if they can produce cheap, relatively good lenses for P&S, why can't they produce better consumer SLR lenses that can compete with Nikon, Canon, Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma?
 

e_dawg

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Another venerable lens maker that is a bit of a sad story is Leica. It's too bad that they are saddled with a noisy sensor in many of their digicams. I suspect their lenses could take some great pics if you pair them up with a decent sensor. Maybe Fuji can do another frankenstein program and use Leica lenses with their own sensors on Panasonic bodies or something.
 

timwhit

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tim, the Sony is decent, but as often the case, there are better choices in that price range. It's a pretty little camera, though, so if she values that (and why wouldn't she, being a girl ;) ), you may want to think twice about getting her a camera that performs better but looks worse.

In any event, I would prefer something like the Canon A570is, or if you can still find the A710is, it might be slightly more $, but worth it for its ability to shoot RAW mode and use the live histogram and zebra modes through a firmware extension, as well as its 6x zoom.

Other options are the Fuji F31fd or 40fd (assuming you can find them on clearance before they run out of stock), maybe even the Canon SD800is (on closeout too), although the SD800 won't be a noticeable step up in image quality except for the wide-angle lens.

On another note, it saddens me to see venerable lens makers like Carl Zeiss whore themselves out to Sony et al. to produce cheapo lenses for the P&S set. On the flip side, I think that if they can produce cheap, relatively good lenses for P&S, why can't they produce better consumer SLR lenses that can compete with Nikon, Canon, Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma?

Thanks for the detailed response. I think form factor is by far the most important thing to her. I think I will just drop the idea of exchanging it and not worry about it anymore. I checked out some of the other cameras, but none are as small or sleek as the Sony.
 

e_dawg

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Wow, what a week of announcements from the camera manufacturers. It was worth the wait for Nikon's news. The new D300 looks like an amazing value in the semi-pro class! And the rumours were right: a full-frame Nikon in the D3. ISO up to 25,600?

D300 preview:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082313nikond300.asp

D3 preview:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082312nikond3.asp

3 new super tele VR lenses:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082310nikonsupertelelenses.asp

2 other fast zooms:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082311nikonafs14-24-70lenses.asp

With the 5 new pro-style lenses and the D300 and D3 bodies, Nikon has addressed a lot of the gaps in their lineup and look like they're serious about taking the game to Canon. They still need to catch up in resolution, but it looks like they have addressed almost everything else that needed improvement.
 

e_dawg

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Here's an interesting commentary from Dave Etchells of Imaging Resource fame on the new Nikons:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1187901361.html

Some interesting comments include:

One of the remarks I found most interesting though, I heard offline the night before, when a Nikon exec said that they'd "breathed a huge sigh of relief" when they saw Canon's announcements of this Monday.

Canon's very clearly not a company to be counted out, and I suspect it'll only be a matter of time before the see-saw tips back in Canon's favor, but Nikon execs went so far as to say that they think they have at least two years before their sharpest competitor catches up.

Apart from the D3's high-ISO capabilities, I think one of the most significant developments in the D3 and D300 is their ability to correct for lateral chromatic aberration in-camera.

After the disappointment of the D2H, I have to say I was taking Nikon's claims of low noise at high ISOs with a rather large grain of salt. When I saw the aforementioned prints though, I was literally flabbergasted. The D3 didn't just surpass the 1D Mark III, it far surpassed it. Well, that may be a little strong; the Mark III is a fantastic camera, but the difference between its images and those from the D3 was anything but subtle. As I say, I'll remain a skeptic until we can test a production sample of the D3 ourselves, but if the images shown had any basis in reality (and Nikon would be foolish to have doctored them in any way), it looks like there's a new leader in the high-ISO / low-noise derby, and it's the D3.
 

Chewy509

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Picked up my Fuji F6500fd this morning, and have been playing with it.

Here's a quick snap of one of my puppies Flynn, (6yr old Lab).



(Full Auto, ISO200 as RAW. Resized, cropped and converted to JPEG in GIMP, imported into GIMP using 'ufraw').
 

e_dawg

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Very nice, Chewy. That's the beauty of RAW -- you don't get the in-camera noise reduction blurring the fine details of Flynn's fur.

Perhaps you might try a little more unsharp mask (small radius) to enhance the details and sharpness?
 

e_dawg

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Hey, wanted to ask the photogs here what they think / heard of B&H Photo in NYC. I'm going to the apple for the long weekend and am thinking of going there to purchase a couple prime lenses and filters, and possibly a remote flash (SB-R200). (I'll also be taking the Sigma 10-20 with me should i have some spare time to take a couple pics)

It's just so much cheaper than Canada. I figure there isn't much that could go wrong with primes and filters (well, relative to consumer zooms and bodies), so I don't have to worry that the warranty wouldn't apply in Canada and can buy USA or imported.

I've heard a lot of bad things about a lot of those NYC camera stores, but hoping that B&H is still a reputable place (which is what I've read about them generally).
 

Handruin

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I've never been to their actual store, but B&H online I've ordered thousands of dollars from them over the past couple years without a single problem.
 

Deadwood

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new purchase

This seems to be the right place to share my reasoning for my latest purchase: a Nikon D40. I've had a Fuji F10 for a couple of years now, and I wanted something a lot better, especially for close-quarters, indoor, rapid-response photography (taking pictures of my kids).

Why not the Canon XT or XTi? They cost more. I didn't feel that paying more for more megapixels was worth it, and otherwise the image quality on the D40 is comparable. I am happy with 6 megapixels.

I actually considered buying a used D70, or a new one, body only. A family member offered to loan me some Nikon compatible lenses, a 18-55mm of unknown make and a Quantaray 70-200mm (I think). But, I couldn't convince myself to buy a used digital SLR, and the new ones cost more than a D40. Note that the availability of these lenses does make the D40's lack of built-in focus motor a disadvantage for me. I decided to run with the D40 anyway.

Why not the Pentax K100D? The price was really tempting. It cost $80 less than the Nikon D40. However, multiple reviewers said that it did not deal well with incandescent lighting when set to auto white balance mode. This was a deal breaker for me. I wanted a camera that my wife could easily use, without having to set it up. This is another vote against the Canon as well, as many report the Nikon D40 to be a better point-and-shoot camera than the Canons.

After a few days of use, the D40 has satisfied all the criteria I set out for it. It does great as a point-and-shoot indoors in close quarters, and it allows me to do somewhat more advanced photography. I'm even looking forward to trying out the Quantaray zoom lens, even though the D40 may not do light metering with it, in addition to not auto focusing. I'd even be happy with a non-automatic 50mm prime lens :)
 

Handruin

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Since this is the P&S thread, I think this photographer is great proof that fantastic photos can be taken without an (d)SLR. They were taken with the canon A620; I'm impressed. I realize several of them have post processing done, but I still think they are well done.
 

e_dawg

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Hey deadwood,

Welcome to the club! You'll love your D40. I just used mine on a trip to NYC and got some nice pics from the US Open. Even without the built-in screw drive AF motor, you will have access to a ton of great lenses (which is the whole point of getting a dSLR vs a P&S). I also much prefer the fast and quiet SWM and HSM lens mounted AF motors that are required for use with the D40 anyways.

The 18-55 kit lens that comes with the D40 is actually a very good lens and can compete with much more expensive lenses when stopped down a bit. I wouldn't bother replacing it with a "better" medium zoom like the 18-70 or 18-135.

If you're looking to upgrade or add to your lens collection in the future, the Nikon 55-200/VR is a fantastic value on the telephoto side, and the Sigma 10-20 is probably your best option on the wideangle side. Once you try a superwide like the 10-20, you'll be hooked.

If you must have a single lens travel solution, the Nikon 18-200/VR is your best choice.

If you are looking at primes, the Nikon 35/2 and 50/1.8 are great options, although manual focus on the D40. The Sigma 30/1.4 has HSM for AF on the D40. If you want awesome telephoto and macro quality, the Sigma 150/2.8 HSM is a great choice as well.
 

e_dawg

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I think the supply-demand imbalance on the 18-200/VR has settled down now, so you should be able to find them in the US or at least order one and expect to get it in a reasonable timeframe.

If you're willing to pay a bit more and risk not having an official USA warranty, you should have no problem finding the 18-200/VR online at Canada sites like:

http://www.mcbaincamera.com

http://www.vistek.ca

Also, Sigma just started shipping the 18-200/OS, which is their competitor to Nikon's 18-200/VR. Unfortunately, initial reviews show that it is not quite as good as Nikon's version, but still decent. At the very least, this will divert some of the demand away from the Nikon lens and allow them to catch up with demand. Ideally, competition will bring down the price of the Nikon 18-200/VR as well.
 

Striker

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Hello, been a lurker for some time and now I have a request for some advice.

My aunt and uncle are looking for a P&S camera for taking pictures of their son while playing sports.

Does anyone have any advice? They have told my mom that the shutter speed is too slow on their current camera for the fast action.

I'm not real knowledgeable on cameras but I'm the family go to for tech purchases.

I'm guessing the focus is too slow on their current camera and that's what they are complaining about.

Any advice is appreciated.
 

Striker

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I just found out that they are willing to spend up to $800 which will put them in the DSLR range. I'll try and get more info but I'm not talking to them directly. My Mom and Dad are basically the middlemen relaying info to me.
 

P5-133XL

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For sports, a spectator isn't close to the action, so a good size zoom is very useful.

Next criteria, typically the camera is hand-held with a long focal length lens which makes the ability to have a fast ISO (good noise reducing sensor, or film) combined with an image stability lens. A lot of money can be saved if the specific sport is outdoors, in the sun, where there's lots of light. Indoors, you just can't get away with skimping.

P&S's are unlikely to work well. They typically lack in zoom; High ISO capability; and the noise in the sensor. A DSLR with a builtin magnification factor will help with the lens cost: A 200mm lens x1.6 is effectively a 320mm lens. unfortunately, The price for an IS lens is probably out of your budget but is definitely worth it if you can afford it.
 

Striker

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I'm assuming since it's not professional sports he'll be able to get somewhat close to the action but I get your point. I was thinking maybe a Pentax K100D so he could get the IS in the camera body but I'm not at all familiar with Pentax lens lineup.
I myself have a Nikon D40 with the 18-200VR which I love but it's out of their price range.
I'm pretty sure the sports are all outdoors during daylight hours.
Thanks for the tips, I'm off to try and do some research on Pentax lenses.
 

e_dawg

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I think a Nikon D40 with the 55-200/VR would be the best option for a budget sports photography kit under $800. Until recently, Nikon was the only mfr to offer a cheap VR tele zoom and a very good Auto ISO feature (somewhat unique to Nikon and great for preventing blur by temporarily upping the ISO as necessary, as you know from your own D40). I think both features would be valuable for your relatives.

VR is nice to have on a long lens in general, but it isn't that helpful with sports photography, where you need 1/200 sec shutter speed at the very least. It would be helpful for taking shots of people when they're on the sidelines or lining up on the field, though.

The Pentax K100D has in-camera CCD-shift image stabilization, which is cheaper than in-lens optical IS, but is said to be less effective. Also, its Auto ISO feature, in-camera processing and JPEG file output quality is not as good as the D40.
 

e_dawg

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My aunt and uncle are looking for a P&S camera for taking pictures of their son while playing sports.

Does anyone have any advice? They have told my mom that the shutter speed is too slow on their current camera for the fast action.

[...]

I'm guessing the focus is too slow on their current camera and that's what they are complaining about.

That's probably the biggest thing right there -- the long shutter lag mainly caused by AF that cannot achieve focus lock. As a category, P&S cameras are useless for sports photography. I would skip directly to a dSLR, do not pass go, do not collect $200. If nothing else, make sure that one message gets relayed to your aunt & uncle: no P&S allowed.

I used my D40 exclusively with my 70-300/VR at the US Open last month in NY, and regardless of the 3-point AF, I rarely found that the D40's AF was holding me back. A handful of times I missed the shot because I could not get focus lock, but I nailed most of the shots I wanted and used pre-focus and recomposed for the most critical ones. Tip: play around with the AE/AF lock with shutter button so that you nail the exposure as well as the focus. Sometimes you might want to fix the exposure before recomposing, sometimes you might want AF-lock only and let the camera meter exposure at shutter release.

I must have got a dozen shots of players serving exactly at the moment when their rackets hit the ball. We're talking split-second (1/500 sec) timing here. Single-shot motor drive, single-shot non-servo AF mode, center AF point only. Don't need no stinkin' 51-point servo tracking AF and 10 fps motor drive here ;)

BTW, I tried out the 3 fps continuous drive on the D40, and let's just say that it is counterproductive at best. Instead of being slightly off on my timing as I am with single-shot, one of the shots is significantly off, and the other two aren't even in the ballpark. The ball's on the other side of the court by the time the 3rd shot fires. So, I guess what I'm saying is that unless you have 10 fps, don't bother.
 

Striker

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Lots of great information.
All of your points make sense to me and I was leaning that direction but couldn't really find anything to still fit under their budget.
I didn't realize the D40 was available with the 55-200/VR lense instead of the 18-55. I'll have to look out for that.

Thanks
 

e_dawg

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If your retailer is not selling the D40 + 55-200/VR as a kit, you can purchase the D40 (body only) separately and purchase the 55-200/VR separately as well. However, the 18-55 kit lens is quite useful as well for minimal incremental $, so if it's possible to stretch the budget a bit, might as well get that as well or look at the D40 + 18-55 + 55-200 kit (I KNOW that combo exists in stores, it just depends which store).
 

Striker

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Thanks,
I don't really have a retailer. I got my D40 and 18-200/vr at Best Buy when I was working there at a discount.
I've been looking at B&H but haven't really had the time to look close.
 

paugie

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I use a good P/S, an olympus 240UZ.

But there have been times it must have screaming out its protestations against the heavy pressure on its shutter button, when for some reason it won't click. Usually when I'm trying to take pictures of my grandson.

Oh, I am waiting for my 2nd daughter to earn enough money to splurge on her first dslr no matter how fundamental.
 
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