The Thriller Posted May 18, 2008 Author Share Posted May 18, 2008 Hi, im wanting to get a decent camera but im not sure what to get. I have a choice from the following: Olympus "SP560" 8m pixel digital camera £399 Canon "powershot A650" 12.1m pixel digital camera £369 Fuji "finepix S8000" 8.3m pixel digital camera £229.00 Sony "DSCH3B-CEH" 8.1m pixel digital camera £212.00 or Fuji "S9600" Finepix 9m pixel digital fixed lens SLR-shape camera £399.00 Olympus "E410" 10m pixel digital SLR camera £415.00 If anyone could give me any advice on buying any of these camera's then that would be great, if there all pants then plz let me know. Thanks I have a Fugi S9600 and it cost £249 over a year ago from Dixons so check ypur prices!!! Yeah sorry about the prices, they are out of date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 Hi, im ust wondering what the difference is between the SLR cameras and these slim cameras such as the Samsung "NV24" 10.2m pixel digital camera. is it just that the SLR cameras have removable lenses. and is the picture quality the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellemort Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 Have found in my humble opinion that the Nixon D50 does what it says on the box good hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeLeonard Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 As well as the obvious ability to swap lenses, you'll also find that DSLRs have: Zero lag which means that when you click there's no delay in taking the picture. With compacts it's very easy to miss the action due to shutter lag. This is mainly down to processing power and speed of focussing. Another difference is the size of the sensor chip. On a compact camera the sensor is smaller than the size of your little finger nail. On a DSLR however, the sensor is about the size of a postage stamp. This results in far less noise on your images - especially low light images, and generally a far higher quality image with more detail. Depth of field (the ability to blur the background to make the focussed object/person stand out) is far easier to control on a DSLR. IMO the camera manufacturers have been caught up in a mega pixel war because consumers think it's important. In reality however you would be better off with a 5 mega pixel compact with a quality lens than 10 mega pixel model with a junk lens. It's usually the quality of the optics in any camera that dictates the price, not the mega pixel count. However the manufacturers know that if they ploughed all the money into lens quality, consumers would go for rival models with a higher mega pixel count. A 6 mega pixel Nikon D70/D50 DSLR will blow away any 10 mega pixel compact in terms of picture quality. In the wrong hands though, a DSLR can be a disaster. There are so many settings that it doesn't take much to change the white balance, sharpness, ISO, colour profile, focusing/exposure mode, exposure compensation etc etc etc rendering your next 100 images useless. You really need to be an enthusiast or willing to learn to get the most out of a DSLR. I only say this as I know somebody who has a Canon 30D and they really would be better off with an Ixus...... The obvious down side to DSLRs is the weight though. The Carl Zeiss 24 to 70mm lens on my Sony A700 weighs 1Kg without the camera!! The most ideal solution is to have a DSLR for your serious stuff and a decent compact for travel if funds allow. If you choose a compact over a DSLR, make sure you get one with image stabilisation. This will allow you to shoot in far lower light situations without needing to use the flash because the camera optically compensates for camera shake. I purchased a Canon Ixus 65 for travel but swapped it for an Ixux 850is ('is' for Image Stabilisation). Similar cameras spec wise but the image stabilisation made a huge difference. Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 The most ideal solution is to have a DSLR for your serious stuff and a decent compact for travel if funds allow. I just took a D300 DSLR with 18-200, 12-24 and 10.5 fisheye and a Canon G9 compact on a trip. I took 44 photos with the G9 and 2578 with the DSLR. I find it hard to use a compact when you're used to the flexibility of a DSLR. The extra weight can be a pain though, I guess 99% were taken with the 18-200 and the other two lenses were left in the hotel or car As s side note - the GPS attachment that I bought just before I left worked very well and it's fantastic having all of your photos tagged with the latitude, longitude and altitude of where you were when you took the photo. It made adding the location meta data later a very easy job as you could call up the location on Google maps, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 As well as the obvious ability to swap lenses, you'll also find that DSLRs have: Zero lag which means that when you click there's no delay in taking the picture. With compacts it's very easy to miss the action due to shutter lag. This is mainly down to processing power and speed of focussing. Another difference is the size of the sensor chip. On a compact camera the sensor is smaller than the size of your little finger nail. On a DSLR however, the sensor is about the size of a postage stamp. This results in far less noise on your images - especially low light images, and generally a far higher quality image with more detail. Depth of field (the ability to blur the background to make the focussed object/person stand out) is far easier to control on a DSLR. IMO the camera manufacturers have been caught up in a mega pixel war because consumers think it's important. In reality however you would be better off with a 5 mega pixel compact with a quality lens than 10 mega pixel model with a junk lens. It's usually the quality of the optics in any camera that dictates the price, not the mega pixel count. However the manufacturers know that if they ploughed all the money into lens quality, consumers would go for rival models with a higher mega pixel count. A 6 mega pixel Nikon D70/D50 DSLR will blow away any 10 mega pixel compact in terms of picture quality. In the wrong hands though, a DSLR can be a disaster. There are so many settings that it doesn't take much to change the white balance, sharpness, ISO, colour profile, focusing/exposure mode, exposure compensation etc etc etc rendering your next 100 images useless. You really need to be an enthusiast or willing to learn to get the most out of a DSLR. I only say this as I know somebody who has a Canon 30D and they really would be better off with an Ixus...... The obvious down side to DSLRs is the weight though. The Carl Zeiss 24 to 70mm lens on my Sony A700 weighs 1Kg without the camera!! The most ideal solution is to have a DSLR for your serious stuff and a decent compact for travel if funds allow. If you choose a compact over a DSLR, make sure you get one with image stabilisation. This will allow you to shoot in far lower light situations without needing to use the flash because the camera optically compensates for camera shake. I purchased a Canon Ixus 65 for travel but swapped it for an Ixux 850is ('is' for Image Stabilisation). Similar cameras spec wise but the image stabilisation made a huge difference. Good luck!!! Thanks for that, thats exactly what I wanted to now, Thans. Im gonna buy both then. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 Ive just bought This - Sony "DSLR 200K" 10.2m pixel digital SLR camera 2.7ins clean photo LCD. 18 - 70mm lens. Compact flash type 1/microdrive slot. Memory stick duo/MS Pro Duo and MS-PRO HG with optional adaptor. High sensitivity up to ISO 3200 with high-ISO noise reduction. Continuous shooting at 3fps (JPEG fine mode). High-capacity info Lithium battery (up to 750 shots between charges). Dual anti-dust system protects sensor during lens exchange. Supersteady shot. Image stabilisation. Its a bit too advanced for me but I can learn. I hope its ok. Ive also bought - Olympus "MJU840" 8m pixel digital camera 5x optical zoom. 5.6x digital zoom. 2.7ins LCD. Dual image stabilisation, face detection. 14.8Mb internal memory - XD card slot. ISO 1600. 20 scene modes including movie with sound. Includes: rechargeable Li-on battery and charger, USB/AV cable, strap and software. Silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeLeonard Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Nice one! Good choices. I recently got the Sony A700 and love it The Sony DSLRs are getting good reviews at the moment and are great value. Dredge Google for photography tutorials and you'll be taking great photos in no time. A good starting point would be to get your head round apertures, focal lengths, and their effect on depth of field.... These are the creative tools that separate DSLRs from compacts. If you haven't already got one, you'll have to set your self up with a Flickr (or similar) account so that you can put your images on the www for everyone to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 My old Canon PowerShot died a while back and I was looking for a replacement for it. I quite liked what it did so was happy to go for the A560. I've only used it the once (at the last forum gig) and it was a piece of piss to use. Not done any outside shots with it yet but if I get the chance this weekend, I'll fire off a few shots and post them in here for you. EDIT: Ahh my bad, you said A650 not A560. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 Im off to Cyprus in SEPT so Im hopefully I will be use to it by then, the olympus is for my other half and for me if I ever need to use it. Ive just got to sit around and wait for the postman zzzZZZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 Im off to Cyprus in SEPT so Im hopefully I will be use to it by then, the olympus is for my other half and for me if I ever need to use it. Ive just got to sit around and wait for the postman zzzZZZ Oh I LOVE waiting for parcels to arrive! I like it best when you pay the extra £20 for overnight delivery and wait in all day,sitting by the front door,not eating or drinking or engaging in basic personal hygiene in case you miss the postman......but then it gets to 11.30pm and you realise your new toy isn't coming so you start all that silly sobbing and punching the floor and screaming "why!!??? why me god!!!??? WHY!!???". And then you wait in all the next day,it gets to 5pm and you prepare yourself for more weeping and punching.....but then there's a knock at the door!!! It's Manx Independent Carriers!!!! You open the door and act all calm and say "oh.....a parcel?.....hmmm?.....I wonder what it is?....", like you don't know! And then you go to the kitchen,get a knife and gently cut the box open....they've sent the wrong one. You wanted the 14 inch but they've sent the 10 inch AND this ones ribbed,you wanted 'real feel'. It's going to have to go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 24, 2008 Author Share Posted May 24, 2008 yeah it happens all the time, sometimes I wonder what idiots they have working in these places, its usually the wrong car parts for me. I once got the wrong motorcycle boots 3 times before they sent me the right ones. I dont gently open boxes with a knife, I f**king rip the thing open in excitment and just hope I dont damage the item. Its like xmas when a parcel arrives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeLeonard Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 Well....... Did the cameras arive?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 The arrival date is the 5th, and I also ordered it on friday and since then the postman hasnt been working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thriller Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 They have arrived.. just in time for TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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