Cameras

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Mon May 03, 2004 9:11 pm

Does anyone have any recommendations as far as cameras go? I'm trying to find something to take with me to Mexico. I'm not sure I want to go digital because I'm afraid of running out of memory, but then I don't have to deal with getting them developed. However, I would like somethin affordable. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Post by **Vincent** » Mon May 03, 2004 11:07 pm

I personally am a big fan of the Canon Digital ELPH series of digital cameras.

Who · Post by **Who** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:41 am

Richasi wrote:I have a Kodak DX4330, which is a 3.1 mega-pixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom. I *love* the camera. It's my second digital.

I have one of those the Richasi has. It is a very good camera and you dont have to worry about running out of memory. Go buy yourself a 256/512 meg card and there you have 300-500 high quality pics. I think WalMart sells a 5.0 mega-pixel one now. Not sure of the price.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Tue May 04, 2004 9:18 am

My parents also have the same digital camera as Richasi and Who. It is a great camera, and I have found that you do not need more than 3 MegaPixels if you just want 4x6 prints. If you want 5x7, go with 4 MPx, and 8x10 go with 5 Mpx for high quality printing. People say more pixels the better, but really, if you never make prints larger than 4 x 6, why spend the extra money?

Anyway, I have my own camera question to put out into the void. I have a basic digital camera (not quite as good as Richasi or Who) but it works. I also have a 35 mm SLR camera from the 1950s and 60s that is rather bulky and definitely not light, although I would choose it over any camera you can buy now. While I will be bringing my SLR to camp for designated photo time, I want a pocket-sized one to throw in my flight suit pocket and take with me all the time for the spur of the moment photos. Would you recommend disposable cameras or does anyone know of a good compact 35mm camera I could buy. (My APS camera just died on me, and I would prefer to stay away from APS if I could.)

Richasi · Post by **Richasi** » Tue May 04, 2004 9:33 am

The camera I have comes with a 16mb on board memory, good for about I dunno 10 pictures or so? But the cards you can get will allow a lot more. The one I have is only 256 MB, but it'll hold 203 to 206 pictures.

I usually end up just shooting everything so I take along my laptop to put the pictures on at the end of the day. Though, getting a 512 MB card will probably keep you from doing that. I may do this myself when I go to Japan this Autumn (get another card that is).

Richasi

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Tue May 04, 2004 4:01 pm

My only hesitation with digital is that I will be gone for 7 weeks and am not sure how much computer access I'll have. I would really hate to run out of memory because considering the area of Mexico I will be in I doubt it will be easy let alone cheap to find more.

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Tue May 04, 2004 5:57 pm

You could always get something that uses CompactFlash and get a 1 gig card...

stargazer0105 · Post by **stargazer0105** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:31 pm

Huh? I am digital camera challenged. I know nothing. English please

.

Post by **Vincent** » Tue May 04, 2004 8:53 pm

He's saying that if you had, for example, a 2 mega-pixel camera, a 1GB CompactFlash card would store approx. 1600 photos.

Basically, enough to last you for a really long time...

meg · Post by **meg** » Wed May 05, 2004 8:15 am

lol, vincent to the rescue!

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Wed May 05, 2004 9:55 pm

Yeah... although I recommend at least a 3 megapixel camera... mine's 3.1, I think. But yeah, 1 gig = 1 gigabyte... and most photos are under one megabyte, and in an ideal world 1 gig = 1000 meg, although it's actually less, but still, that's a heck of a lot of photos. Just make sure it accepts 1 gig cards before you buy it.

Drumrollz · Post by **Drumrollz** » Fri May 07, 2004 3:16 pm

Vincent wrote:I personally am a big fan of the Canon Digital ELPH series of digital cameras.

I second that. This line is amazing.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 1:15 pm

I don't know if anyone in here is an expert with SLR cameras, but if you are, then maybe you can help! Even if you do not reply before say, tomorrow, any time will do. I am always looking for help with my SLR.

For those of you asking 'what is an SLR', they're those manual cameras where your viewfinder, instead of looking through its own little window, actually looks through the lens itself. These cameras are often characterised by having interchangeable lenses, manual focus, manual aperature and shutter speeds, as well as often being large and very heavy.

I am going to a wedding this weekend and I wanted to try out some of my new camera equipment I got for Christmas.

1. I have a roll of black and white film. I do not know if it is true black and white film or that colour-processed stuff that looks black and white, but whatever. It's just for experimentation. Any suggestions on how to capture pictures in BW as opposed to colour? (Besides contrast, that's a given; more intricate things like aperature, speed, etc.)

2. I have this monster zoom lens. At 200 mm (with an optional doubler making it 400 mm) this thing is huge and it weighs a 'ton'. (My camera alone feels like lead, yet alone with the lens!) Anyway, what are typical settings for such a lens? I hear 1/250 shutter speeds thrown around, but what about aperature? Think of a moderately sunny day, slightly overcast; f/5 perhaps?

Anyway, I do not know how many of you out there use such 'prehistoric' technology; a camera that doesn't use batteries. Yes, they exist! I find the whole film photography topic extremely fascinating. I have had my (1960's) SLR camera for just over a year now and I have only scratched the surface on what I can get this camera to do. (I need to learn how to compose better pictures first... yikes... that will take a few years!)

So, I guess that's all for now. Thanks in advance for any advice anyone gives me.

PS - I have already been advised how to get a picture of Pathfinder lit up at night. I hope I will get a good photo while I am there!

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 5:15 pm

Hmm, well, in response to question number 2, does your camera have a light meter? It might be on the inside of the camera, looking like a little plus and minus sign with a little moving thingy that moves when the camera is in operation. Anyways, if it has one of those, choose whether you want to prioritize the shutter speed or the aperture (do you understand that stuff? If you do, cool, if not, lemme know), then choose your setting on whichever priority you set, then adjust the other one until the light meter bar thingy is in the middle. That's all I really know. What is the brand on the film?

ethlar04 · Post by **ethlar04** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:10 pm

I apologize for the rather long post

Im going to play a little catchup here so please bear with me:

I just finally made good on my threats and have purchesed a digital camera, i bought the Canon Powershot A75 and a 256mb CF (Compact Flash) card to go with it. The whole deal cost about $360 and i also bought rechargable batteries for it. The camera came recomended by my boss who is a professional photographer. Its a really nice 3.2 megapixle camera for the money and can do just about everything my SLR can do. Which leads me into my next thing...

I absolutely love my SLR camera, i have a Canon EOS A2E, its about 5 years old but is a really nice camera, it is one of those SLRs with a fully automatic setting. With regard to shooting the wedding, are you using Tri-X, TMAX, or some other type of B+W film? I generally shoot b+w with tri-x its more expensive to pay a lab to develop but is easier if i can get the darkroom time. TMAX is supposed to be able to be developed in color chemicals. Anyway

I was once told that if you go for a lower F-stop and a higher shutter speed, you end up with more of the picture in a crisper focus, that sort of thing can look really cool in b+w cause of the increased contrast.

Shooting in the above stated maner is probably also a good idea for using the zoom. You definately want to go for a higher shutter speed because at the zooms that lens is capable of, the slightest motion, even that of you pushing the shutter could blur your images. I know you probably know this but i have to say it, for shooting a wedding the 200-400mm lens is probably not a good idea.

Finally on shooting the wedding from the standpoint of the professional photography buisness. Some photographers are really annoying and will not allow other people to take pictures during their portrait sessions, and they have some justification, though they really have no right to make you stop taking pictures, please do not do anything that will annoy the photographer. The other part of this is if the photographer is using photo-slaves on their flash equipment, you taking a flash picture will also set them off, and this gets annoying while trying to do a portrait shoot.

Other than that, have fun fiddle with the settings, I sometimes carry a little notebook with me when i am shooting because i fiddle with different exposures, sometimes taking the same picture 3 or more times with different settings and writing the frame and settings in a book for later reference, ive found that can help. Sorry for the long post, i hope some of this helps.

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 2:00 am

ethlar... have you opened your digicam yet? I know how to get it cheaper... I won't say how much cheaper if you've already opened everything... but that is EXACTLY what I have, a75 with 256 card.

As for shutter speeds and apertur and whatnot... the lower the f-number-thing (like 4.5 and whatnot is what I'm calling low), the shallower the depth of field... just keep that in mind. It always seems to confuse me.

ethlar04 · Post by **ethlar04** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:28 am

Yes i have opened the camera, i am also mailing the $20 rebate on the CF card today. Where and what is the cheaper price just out of curiosity?

CastAway · Post by **CastAway** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 10:26 pm

Well, the standard price on the a75 (or at least what it cost at Best Buy) was $250, and I saw an ad for a 256 meg card for only $40... but that's an insane deal on the 256 card, anyway. I paid $60 at Costco for mine.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:43 am

Thanks for all the good advice. I had a good time at the wedding, albeit a 10-hour drive away!

The photo opportunities were far and few between. The wedding only lasted about 15 minutes, and in that time my view was often blocked by the justice of the peace or other standing attendees. The lighting was rather dim, so I was forced to use a large aperature with a slower (1/60s) shutter speed. I got a few shots with a 100 mm lens, so we will see what they look like when I get home.

I have worked with my SLR for just over a year, so I have come to understand the different aperatures and shutter settings and how they affect the depth of field. I also have a light meter in my camera, but since my camera is so old, and the light meter is not matrix or spot set, I try not to use it very much. (Besides, it does not have an auto shut-off, which means when I forget to turn it off, which is all too often, my battery dies. Thank goodness everything else works without the battery.)

The wedding photographer was my uncle, so he let me take as many pictures as I wanted from wherever I wanted at the ceremonies. However, the wedding party went off-site (about 27 kilometres, or 30 minutes away) to a waterfall for the remainder of their photographs.

Needless to say, if anything turns out spectacular, I'll be sure to post them.

And as a side note, I think I'll be getting wed somewhere without my relatives.