Camera shite - help needed

[Junkman]

Guys,

 

After only 13 years of faithful service, my Nikon Coolpix decided to answer the final summons just because I dropped it on the driveway.

 

I was therefore looking into the purchase of a new camera, but for this old geezer stuck in the 80s, the descriptions read as Chinese as the country they are made in.

Sorry, but if they say it has two tons of hexamuggles, a pullshark, a double hiffhaff with ZKD, DDR and double infiltrated higmeck compensator, this does

 

A. mean nothing to me.

B. I can't be arsed to find out about it, since I want to take pictures, not become a digital camera expert.

 

So I decided to ask my fellow shiters in the know what would be a good kit to replace what I had.

 

- The camera is primarily used for taking pictures.

- It should be ready for action after a reasonable time (the old Coolpix 2k needed 3 seconds from 0-60).

- It should make a picture when I press a button, not 30 seconds later, like the one my wife has does.

- Memory is not an issue, because I take very few pictures.

- I should be able to plug it into my computer to transfer the pictures over without having to enroll a computer sciences class.

- There should be a makro fine enough so I can make detail pictures of model cars.

- The screen should be a bit bigger than it was on my old Coolpix, because my eyesight is dwindling and I lately had to wear glasses to see what I was photographing.

- It would be nice if one can charge it by plugging it into an adapter. Constantly changing the batteries and charging the spare set, like it was necessary with the old Coolpix, is a royal pain in the arse.

- It should also have all the features I forgot to mention.

- I'm not rich.

 

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[406V6]

The Canon S110 and Panasonic LX6 are both really decent responsive compacts. Alternatively the Panasonic GF3 or GF5 (with detachable lenses) give even better quality and can be found quite cheaply as they have both been discontinued. I saw the GF3 for £200 in PC World of all places about 3 weeks ago which is a bargain price.

[Largactil]

Looking at your wish list, most sub £100 compacts will fit the bill, but you'll need a fancy pants digital SLR (or bridge camera) if you want it to make a picture instantly when you press the button.

 

(I've a decent Canon G12 compact, and it still pauses momentarily when you hit the shutter).

 

A lot of modern compact's have done away with most buttons, and operate via a soft key (i.e. touch menu) system. Bit of a pain.

 

If it was my coin, I'd buy a secondhand Canon S90 for around £100 from eBay

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons90

 

Many photographer types carry one around as a back up to an SLR / travel camera - And if you can't be arsed learning all the in's & out's, just stick it in auto and it'll still take decent shots.

[Pillock]

OK, this sounds right up my street.

 

First of all, decide on a size. Discard the £20 jobbies from Tesco and you've got Advanced Compact (the flat rectangular ones that most people have), Compact Systems (like Advanced Compact, but with a lens stuck on the front), Bridge (looks like a professional camera, but the lens isn't removable), and DSLR (like a pro camera, interchangable lenses). Advanced compacts fit in your pocket, none of the others will. Easily.

 

Most cameras will have a fast startup these days but the ones that jump out at me are the Fuji Finepix and Nikons, these generally pride themselves on being quick. The Fuji S4400 for example can go from being turned off to having a picture saved to the card in 1.8 seconds.

 

Forget about memory, almost without exception cameras take an SD card to store things on so you can just buy whatever size you want, and upgrade later. A 4GB memory card costs about a fiver these days and holds hundreds of high quality pictures.

 

Forget somewhat about megapixel figures (the number of dots the picture is made up of).... Some people will always go for a massive number, so a 20MP camera has a picture consisting of 20,000,000 coloured dots. My 6MP DSLR will absolutely wipe the floor with a 20MP cameraphone, and in fact a high-definition TV is only 2MP and everyone reckons they look great. It's all about sensor size, the size of the bit inside the camera that registers light. A little camera has a little one, a massive camera has a massive one.

 

To get the pictures off the camera, either plug one cable in and Windows handles the rest, or pop the memory card out and slide it into your computer - most laptops have the right slot, or you can buy an adaptor. Don't be talked into cameras that connect to your wireless network and transfer stuff, it's not reliable or fast or easy to do and I don't think I've had it working once whilst surrounded by cameras during a training session. All cameras come with a transfer cable.

 

Larger Nikons (Bridge mostly) sometimes like to still use AA batteries which is quite cool, you can buy emergency ones from the newsagents or fill your pockets, you can still get rechargable ones. If you don't like this idea however, then Canons, smaller Nikons, Samsungs all have an adaptor which is cunningly identical to most new mobile phone chargers(Micro USB), so you can easily get a car charger, or spares etc.

 

Can't think of a camera that doesn't have Macro. Some have Super-Macro, like my old Olympus. The Canon IXUS compact I have here doesn't though.

 

 

If you really can't decide, get your backside down to Currys and we have all the cameras charged and ready to use. Usually

I'd suggest trying out all the important bits yourself - see how fast they turn on, try the menu out to see how complex it is, see how close you can focus on stuff. I quite like my little Canon IXUS but I'd be the first to admit the menu system is awful, luckily it has a big "Auto" button on the top to rescue the situation. On the plus side, it can take bursts of 10 photos, it has a slow-motion mode, and the battery lasts ages.

 

Personally, I have both a DSLR to take to shows and when I go out for the sole reason of taking photos, and then a pocket one which I just tend to carry round for the chance I might find it useful.

[fotorabia]

All good advice as above...certainly the Panasonic cos the video capability is kickass and used professionally...im sticking with my Canon G10 [its got a macro lense].. .eventually ill get an Canon EOS..as u can get a bracket to fit the old 80s FD lenses....me old Mum has a G10..so does my sister...and flogged the idea to a couple of mates as well..and yes they are a wee bit slow...but just hold yer breath and play dead and youl get a steady shot...

[willswitchengage]

When I was in the market for a new camera a couple of years ago, it was a toss up between the aforementioned Canon G10 and this, the Panasonic DMC-LX3:

 

 

I bought it second hand - on ebay they'll probably be £100-150. Made in Japan, Leica lens etc. It also has done fantastically well in reviews, and I think looks pretty good.

 

Basically bought on the premise that it's the best camera that will still slide into my pocket and "point n shoot", I would thoroughly recommend it. Only downsides are the lack of a panorama feature and its limited zoom range (although long optical zooms on compact cameras generally lead to very poor image quality - they just don't let enough light in).

 

Play it safe and get something like that or the G10. Remember to buy second hand, like you would with a car, and if you buy cheap, you buy twice.

[retrogeezer]

Only heard good stuff about those Panasonics.

 

Can I throw in something from the Fuji refurb shop. Possibly theF660 EXR at £79.95 (was £180 when released in Jan 2012)

Fuji refurbs are usually as new, often just shop returns as a new model has replaced it. They have a full 12 month warranty exactly the same as a 'new' one and there are codes for 10% off readily available (just ask if you need one)

 

*edit* This seems to be a bit of a bargain as it has £10 off already and a code will get it delivered to your door for less than £6o. Slightly older model but still more than adequate. The extra 10% off code is P832A4V3T8MES

 

http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/finepix-f300 ... ished.html

 

 

There are cheaper compacts on there, just have a look:

 

http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/finepix-f660 ... ished.html

 

Reviews:

 

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/ ... xr_review/

 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePi ... escription

[Junkman]

Thank you so much guys!

 

These are exactly the kind of answers I was hoping for.

[Rod/b]

Hang on, why hasn't anyone recommended getting an old Polaroid and a flatbed scanner?

[STUNO]

junkman, get one like my no.2 camera

compare it with your requirements

 

!. It only takes pictures, no other features.

2. always ready instantly

3. Push button picture done

4. It holds 8 pictures, so perfect for taking very few pictures

5. Does not require wires, but does need the use of a scanner

6. Does not need macro thingys, just hold it close to the subject

7. Screen is not required as you should have looked through the patent viewfinder while pushing the black button

8. Batteries not required, ever

9. It has no features, so forgotten means the whole camera is forgotten

10.I stole it off my sister 40 years ago so cheap as chips

 

brand Kodak..model Brownie box

The only problem is that it takes days to see the results, if you can find someone who can perform magic in a dark room

 

 

 

Maybe that is why I use a Fuji finepix all the time!

[Junkman]

junkman, get one like my no.2 camera

compare it with your requirements

 

!. It only takes pictures, no other features.

2. always ready instantly

3. Push button picture done

4. It holds 8 pictures, so perfect for taking very few pictures

5. Does not require wires, but does need the use of a scanner

6. Does not need macro thingys, just hold it close to the subject

7. Screen is not required as you should have looked through the patent viewfinder while pushing the black button

8. Batteries not required, ever

9. It has no features, so forgotten means the whole camera is forgotten

10.I stole it off my sister 40 years ago so cheap as chips

 

brand Kodak..model Brownie box

 

The only problem is that it takes days to see the results,

 

I have an XD7 for that kind of photography. Nicked it from my ex-father-in-law about 25 years ago. Does this count?

 

 

if you can find someone who can perform magic in a dark room

 

I'm not into kinky stuff.

 

 

Maybe that is why I use a Fuji finepix all the time!

 

Considering the available tinkered with ones retrogeezer suggested, this is being considered.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I can vouch for the Fuji refurb store. Impossibly cheap camera and aside from the box it came in, you'd never know it wasn't brand new. Also, every finepix camera I've had has been wonderful.

 

Hang on, why hasn't anyone recommended getting an old Polaroid and a flatbed scanner?

How about this?

[Junkman]

How about this?

 

Errr...

 

This looks exactly like the kind of newfangled shiny shit from China I try to keep out of my life.

Those mobile phones are a despicable nuisance I will forever boycott. The world was a much nicer place before they were introduced.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

It's made in Germany by (brilliant) Polaroid loving nutjobs! Every home should have one.

[Micrashed]

I was in the same boat last year - I already have a DSLR but wanted something to update my Sony P52 Cybershit to slip into my pocket - I ended up buying this from Sony off their website as a factory refurb

It are fucking ace for a compact.

Some of the things I have photographed:

BMW R1200GS Launch at Dalhousie Castle by Micrashed, on Flickr

Bus Station - Preston by Micrashed, on Flickr

 

Red Phone Boxes - Blackpool by Micrashed, on Flickr

 

Sun over the Preston Pyramids by Micrashed, on Flickr

[barefoot]

Can I ask a camera related SFQ...

 

I've got a Canon DSLR & a Lumix compact.

Both are good, but the Lumix doesn't take a picture the instant you press the button whereas the DSLR does.

I've seen this mentioned above but I didn't know this when I bought it.

 

Why does this happen?

[Spiny Norman]

It's down to the processing speed of the 'computer' bit in the camera, mainly. A DSLR is a far more powerful device than a compact.

Phones are worse, sometimes I think my phone has a little man in it with a paintbrush and easel, the time it takes to record the shot.

[Micrashed]

How about this?

 

Errr...

 

This looks exactly like the kind of newfangled shiny shit from China I try to keep out of my life.

Those mobile phones are a despicable nuisance I will forever boycott. The world was a much nicer place before they were introduced.

I have something similar but a fraction of the size made by Kodak,

I bluetooth my pictures to it, it prints out credit card sized pictures in about a minute.

 

If Im honest I cant actually remember the last time I used it. Its one of those gimmiky things that you buy, use and then forget.

[Pillock]

On a DSLR, when you look through the viewfinder the picture is bounced off a couple of prisms, so you're looking out of the lens at what the picture will be. When you press the button you get that nice CLICK which is the mirror moving up so the light instead goes onto the sensor which is directly behind the lens, through the shutter which opens and closes. This whole action is mechanical (well, these days actuated by solenoids I'd imagine, but it's still a mechanical movement) so it happens right away. That's why the viewfinder goes black when you take a photo, it can't send light to the sensor and viewfinder at the same time. It's also usually constantly measuring light levels so it's not got to faff when you hit the button.

 

On a compact camera, you're meant to look at the screen all the time. When you press the button it's just a signal to the camera to start taking a photo. But the camera is currently busy doing fancy stuff with the screen, basically the camera version of twatting around not paying attention. It'll then measure the light, focus and take a picture. Some are faster than others, but some are awful.

 

The processor normally gets involved after the actual picture has been taken, turning the sensor data into a JPEG. The faster this is, the faster the camera can get ready to take the next shot. My old DSLR can take a burst of 6 pictures in 2 seconds, then it has to stop to catch up. Some new compacts (Canon I know for sure) can take 60 pictures in about 5 seconds before slowing to about 3 pictures per second.

[406V6]

...the Lumix doesn't take a picture the instant you press the button whereas the DSLR does.

Why does this happen?

Generally speaking, provided the camera is switched on the delay is due to the time taken to focus. The DSLR probably focuses quicker but also the better cameras will focus when you press the shutter button part way. Then all it has to do when you press it the button all the way is open the shutter - which is quick.

 

The cameras I recommended earlier will focus when you press the button part way and then release the shutter when you press harder. Normally very quick with minimal delay.