Digital camera

[Tlouis]

Morning everyone

I'm thinking of buying a digital camera to photograph sculpture/drawings. Would like to keep the cost around $250.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Many thanks, Lou

[jOe~]

Easy. Buy Cannon 5.0 megapixel. jOe~

[pachyderm]

Tlouis,
For a thorough digital camera review site, check out dpreview (http://www.dpreview.com)

As for camera recommendations, I have a FujiFilm Finepix F10 (6 megapixel) which I'm very pleased with - and one of its winning features is its ability to capture (clear) images in very-low light. This was actually the principal reason I got the camera (besides good image quality and fast bootup time) because it's best to photograph sculpture in natural light -- unless you happen to have a professional light kit.. but that's another story.

You can also try a Canon Powershot (the SD series). Most of them are excellent all around, especially their focusing abilities. Both these cameras can be had for about $250, but you'll need to do a lot of shopping around online.

If you get really serious about photography, I'd opt for a D-SLR, like the Canon Digital Rebel for around 700 (plus lens). Or for more features, a Nikon D80 for some 1,300

good luck!

[Merlion]

I also use Fujiflm FinePix. It takes 2.0 MP only which I find more than sufficient, as I never need anything higher than 1 MP. High MPs just jack up the camera price.

The camera is good and user-friendly. But being a bit old by now, I am not happy that the LCD screen at the back is small and not bright. A sufficiently big and bright LCD screen is useful.

[anatomist1]

I have many cameras. I have a Nikon d70 with several lenses, a Nikon flim SLR, a Nikon Coolpix 8400, to name some.

I also have a Fuji V10, which is sort of a novelty version in between the Finepix F10 and F11. I agree that these are good cameras for this purpose. The low-light capabilities will make it easier to take decent looking hand-held snapshots. Plus, they are good cameras overall. However, if you really want a clear picture, you need to use a tripod, in which case the extra sensitivity of the sensor won't matter. The main reason to buy an F11 or V10 is for people pictures and fun no-flash experimentation. In addition to the sensitivity, they also have big screens. The screen on the V10 is so big it's like getting an instant print.

If you are only going to use the camera for web photos, and don't care about the above people/fun issues, I recommend getting an old camera, possibly used. The old Nikon Coolpix 2100 or 3100 is more than adequate for tripod-mounted sculpture documentation. I used to have a 2100 and it was a great camera - even had great macro properties. I gave it to a friend who still uses it for real estate and ebay. The only reason to have more than 2 megapixels is to make prints. You actually only need 1mp for a image too large to display on most monitors, but most 1mp cameras are too old and clunky. So, if you don't care about prints, buy one of these Coolpix cameras for less than $50 on ebay. If you do care about prints, you'll need to do some thinking about exactly how big you want to print and what kind of printer you'll be doing it on before you choose a camera.

Use some of the money you saved to buy this tripod for about $80. It is a great little ballhead for use with a small, light camera:

http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-ss2.html

[Nina Florence]

Hi Tlouis,

I also have a cannon powershot, 3.2 mega pixels, 4x optical zoom (JOe~ has hard core pixel action). The software that came with it is really easy to use. Was a great introduction before I started trying to figure other photography software.
It's always exciting when buying new gadgets :)
Nina

[furby]

i've got a canon a610, its great. 5 megapixel. they're cheap & take great shots. the a620 costs a fair bit more for no apparent reason, so keep an eye on the price/model.

before that i had a canon a410 i think, 4 megapixel. both are great cameras & i only upgraded cos the 610 was just so cheap i couldn't hold back. look around for special deals....

the flip out viewfinder screen is fantastic. you can take a shot with the camera anywhere without having to crouch behind it to see. would never go back to anything without a flip out. also the 610 has mega battery life... the 410 was not bad, but the 610 is amazing on batteries.

[Tlouis]

Hi jOe~, pachyderm, Merlion, Anatomist1, Nina Florence and furby--

Thanks a million for all your help. For a photography dumb-head like me I need all the help I can get.

I'm going to check out all these cameras today, first on the internet and then in local stores.

This has got be be one of the best sites on the web.

Everyone have a sculpture rich day. Lou :)

[jOe~]

As Nina said (JOe~ has hard core pixel action) . Its not that I'm into hardcore pixel action, you don't need that much, but it is within your price parameters and when you get the latest cameras they will have more pixels and many more features and capablities you can grow into.

jOe~

[artlovelife]

i just bought a canon powershot 6.0 mp and it is great for digital images of sculpture and drawings. it's a little more than you wanted to spend, ($325?) but definitely worth it. good luck.

[Tlouis]

Hi artlovelife

Thanks for the recommendation. A couple weeks back, furby suggested getting a Canon Power shot A610, 5MP,which is what I bought on the internet for $210. I love this little camera. And the really great thing about it is the flip-out viewfinder. The only downside is the memory card that comes with the camera. It's only 15MB, 12 photos. Yesterday I bought a 512MB card, 40 photos, listed at $49 for $15, from a discounter on the internet.

Lou

[Merlion]

I finally decide to get a new camera. My 3-1/2 year old Fujifilm camera has a small screen and not bright, which makes it inconvenient.

I just bought an Olympus FE-170. It has a large 2.5" screen, and brighter. It comes with image stabilisation setting which will come in handy as we sculptors do not use flash when taking shots. It can take 6.0 MPixel which anyway is way beyond what we need. It is slightly smaller than my old camera, and lighter, 4,4 oz without batteries instead of 7.1 oz.

I paid Sing$ 289 (or US$ 185) for it with a 512 MB memory card. (I notice the US$ has dropped a lot relative to other currencies since 6 months ago.)

I have not come to connecting this new camera with my computer. I loaded the computer software that came with the Fujifilm camera, and have been using it. Now with a different brand of camera, Olympus has its own computer software of course.

What I have not resolved is whether I can just use the old Fujifilm software, or do I have to load in and use the new Olympus software.

[furby]

Way cool, Lou, glad to have swayed somebody with an opinion of mine :)
Love my canon, its better than me at taking photos.. i get the kudos when i take a good shot but for sure its more the camera, its just so competent.
i'm about to get a couple of 1gig cards for it so i can do more filming video with it, cos its brilliant at that as well, and 1 gig cards are dirt cheap now...
and hey there's YouTube to put my welding videos on....

cheerio :)

p.s. i get about 200 shots on a 512 at best quality.. but its still not enough some days

[pachyderm]

Merlion,
I for one always use my camera like a removable drive - just dragging and dropping the images back and forth. However, camera software makes this easier and more convenient (I'm a purist so I don't use it :) ) You may be able to use your older software but it may not recognize your camera since most camera software is, well, specifically tailored. If you can manually set the import device to your Olympus then you should be all set. Just make sure you don't have any important images on your memory card if you try it for the first time -- I've read of horror stories in regards to iTunes and Ipods and "new" computers.

[Julianna]

What I have not resolved is whether I can just use the old Fujifilm software, or do I have to load in and use the new Olympus software.

It's probably safest to remove the old Fujifilm software and load the Olympus software. If you have a memory card reader for your computer, you could also change the camera settings so that all the photos are saved onto it instead of the camera itself, and move the card from your camera to the computer when you want to transfer them--- no software required!

[Landseer]

My Dimage Z10 came with software but I never used it, the software did not need to be installed to use the camera or transfer photos since I have several image editing programs.

I think the card I have in it is 2 gigs and it wasn't expensive at all, I replaced the original tiny card right off.

[Merlion]

Thanks Pachyderm, Julianna and Landseer for your comments.

I didn't respond earlier as I was a bit busy and didn't get to know more of the image loading part of the new camera. If I need to take and send/post photos, I just rely on my trusty old camera.

Today I loaded my new camera's software, took a bit of time to try to use it, and this dummy me still cannot manage. Sigh! I have to put this aside for the time being.

New digital toys take time and effort to break in.