| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 08:39:58
Ever since I had my camera stolen (along with beautiful pictures of northern Ireland) in Dublin, I've been looking for something new. Definitely I need something soon as I will be out of country at least for a little while next year.
Has anyone been following this? Do we have any amateur photographers (or hell, professional ones?) out there in FB land?
I used to have a Sony DSC-V3 which was a great hybrid of solid/steady camera, nice large display (2.5" was unheard of 2 years ago), large image size (7.3 MP), 640x480 video, ISO 800 (sort of), an in-camera crop feature (which is nice when you're away from a computer for months on end and want to frame your photos a bit), RAW support, and more.
These days, it seems that I either have to buy a dSLR (like the Rebel) and forgo video and LCD preview (the latter I can live without) or else forgo RAW. I think the ability to do video might come in more handy than RAW as I tend to not do much with it, but that may change now that I'm packing heat in the form of a MacBook Pro and can store my stuff on there daily.
I really like the Sony interface (better than Canon's) and their picture quality is only marginally shy of Canon's in the worst case, but I'm looking mostly at a Canon G7.
Anyway, all this rambling and I guess I'm just looking for opines. Do you have a camera? What do you use? Should I go bulky and video-free with the SLR or what?
Hunting through these cameras is a frustrating ordeal, I'll say that much.
 "Now you're officially my woman. Kudos. I can't say I don't envy you." |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| hammerhands |
Posted - 05/02/2007 : 00:04:07
After a short bit of research I'm quite set on a Sony DSC-H9.
15x zoom, ISO 3200 and infrared.
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DSCH9/B |
| Surfer Rosa |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 13:31:52
Ooh nice one - mind me piggy backing this one too? I'm after something much simpler and cheaper - all I want is a decent happy snap type thing that works quickly dammit! My greatest reluctance to buy one so far has been because they take too long to respond and I'm just not patient enough and most of the time, neither are the subjects really.
What I have had my eye on is one of these, particularly after reading just one review. (I've since read others, but I want to believe his more)
http://boingboing.net/2007/04/12/lumix_fx07_cameras_p.html
and for what it's worth, I'll happily go with style over substance. |
| hammerhands |
Posted - 04/25/2007 : 13:20:04
I would like to revisit this as I'm going to purchase a digital camera as a present, point and shoot I think and willing to spend $600-700 ($500-600 US).
The use will be mostly taking photographs of the backyard, birds, deer, fox, geese, flowers, trees (the sun, that was nice).
What did COF buy? The G7 made lots of best of 2006 lists.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-6139374-7.html |
| GypsyDeath |
Posted - 11/15/2006 : 08:05:29
probably not what youa re looking for, but it means i get to boast about my shiny new camera:
Samsung NV10
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_samsung_nv10.php
some good descriptions of its features on the above link. However some of the negative points i have not found to be the case on my camera - perhaps he got a faulty one? agree that the noise factor can be there in certain lights/ISO. but its rare.
"I'm not much like my generation,
Their music only hurts my ears" ~ Kasey Chambers |
| floop |
Posted - 11/15/2006 : 07:30:26
i have a Canon powershot 500 which i've been extremely happy with
at least that's what your mom said |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 11/15/2006 : 06:51:39
Pretty sharp details, I admit, for a 5 MP camera. There's a bit of artifacting from the in-camera sharpening (or appears to be) but nothing detracting.
Very impressive for that little camera.
You see how your skies are all washed out, though (except the one of your son)? That's something that RAW would allow you to fix. And if you took those Panoramas into Picasa, you could straighten them out a little pretty easily.
"Now you're officially my woman. Kudos. I can't say I don't envy you." |
| Thomas |
Posted - 11/15/2006 : 05:22:38
Some pics with my v570 during a recent visit to New Jersey.
2 picture panoramic 
3 picture panoramic 
Jack enjoying his first Jets game. Jets beat Lions 31 to 24.
Fireman Ed (using the digital zoom.)
This is the same jumbo tron that's in my sons picture above. 
"Our Love is Rice and Beans and Horses Lard" |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 19:34:50
My first digital camera was a Fuji. I like some of their features but on the same token image quality is not so hot (although I think they've got many others beat in dynamic range) and the menus are so-so. That's how I remember it, anyway, but maybe I'll look at it again. Could be the college profs recommend it just to challenge their students. :)
"Now you're officially my woman. Kudos. I can't say I don't envy you." |
| s_wrenn |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 16:41:41
I've been working in the camera(/OTC medicine) section of a pharmacy for about 3 months now, and the digital SLR i see selling the most here is the Fuji S5900. A lot of college students buy it because it's recommended to them by their teachers. I won't claim to be an expert on this kind of thing, but for it's price, it's a fairly good dslr. If i was to go with a Fuji dslr though, i'd probably try to go with one of their higher end models like the S9600. But they're kind of unwieldy for foreign travel
We stock the G7, and it gets a lot of queries, but no actual sales. That's not saying that it's crap or anything! It's just that i notice people seem to over look it.
|
| mantaraysallright |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 14:21:38
I think RAW is really great, however if your not someone who enjoys spending time in photoshop I wouldn't suggest it. Although RAW doesn't require it, its kinda pointless to have all that information if you don't use it. Personally I'm a Nikon person (I own a D70 SLR) but only because my father is a nikon person (both my film and digital camera were handed down from him). Never the less I love my Nikon F and would have bought a Nikon again in a heartbeat. Very good product and Nikon always has good glass (lenses). http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25218 How important is the video to you? Most digital cameras have very minimal video capture that will eat up your memory. |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 14:06:16
Large prints and also adjusting things post-photo. Especially useful in scenes with a lot of dynamics. Expose certain areas more than others, layer that in, and you have a perfectly exposed shot. Instead of white-washed skies or shadowy grounds.
I don't print many photos, but I think I still prefer the standard sizes anyway. I'm looking forward to the full dpreview of it.
"Now you're officially my woman. Kudos. I can't say I don't envy you." |
| ProverbialCereal |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 12:54:41
Oh and I'd love to upgrade to that G7, except... the RAW thing and no remote does bother me. ha. I usually don't shoot in RAW but the option is nice. And I've done some stop motion projects and a remote is crucial for those. RAW is pretty nice to work with since it is uncompressed; good for printing large prints I assume. |
| ProverbialCereal |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 12:52:33
Hm, you can also shoot in a 3:2 ratio with the G7. I wonder what size the actual LCD is. 4:3 or 3:2. It probably is 4:3 and adds bars on top and bottom if you change modes. I'd prefer a 6x4 ratio for the fact that that is standard size for printing photos. It's a pain shooting in 4:3 and then having to crop off some to fit on 6x4 inch photo paper. If you are only printing a couple photos it isn't too big a deal, but when you are printing about 100 vacation photos at once it sucks to crop them all. |
| Thomas |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 12:06:45
I wanted to get an SLR or at least something that looked like a regular camera. But my wife wanted something small that she could put in her pocketbook. So I got the Kodak V570, listed in the link below side by side with the 2 Canons you listed. The V570 was the easiest to learn. Picked it up didn't feel lost by the controls. Ease of use was the key for my wife. We needed a new one to replace the "old" HP Photosmart c30 my parents gave us in 1999 with the birth of our son.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=kodak_v570%2Ccanon_g5%2Ccanon_g7&show=all
"Our Love is Rice and Beans and Horses Lard" |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 11:15:57
Here's a side-by-side:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_g5%2Ccanon_g7&show=all
Downgrades from the G5 to the G7:
No remote
No RAW support
I have no use for the remote, so as long as you don't use RAW it seems like this is a pretty worthy upgrade. I'm right on the fence of taking on an SLR. I could live without the video (though it comes in handy on occasion), but bulk is a factor when backpacking. Mostly, I want to be able to take really nice photos that are exactly as I'm trying to capture with minimal effort. I feel my old Sony did this. I have a more P&S-oriented ELPH of my mom's right now and it's been frustrating the hell out of me.
"Now you're officially my woman. Kudos. I can't say I don't envy you." |
| ProverbialCereal |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 10:15:54
I've always leaned towards Canon. Since I'm more into video I don't really care about the video on a camera, and it is just as well because the video quality on my Canons aren't so hot. I have a Canon G5 and it is pretty nice. it gives you more manual control than most consumer cameras that aren't SLR. I've bought enough point-and-shoot cameras in my day and I've sworn my next purchase will be an SLR. That G7 looks pretty sweet, and wins over my G5 as far as optical zoom and megapixels and price. Actually probably beats it over everything since it is the newer version in the G-line.
Little cameras are still great for the reason that they aren't as bulky and you can stick them in your pocket. So I'll always have one around. I just really want a camera with a focus/zoom ring. I kind of want to play around with that G7 to see how it is though. |
