Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Another camera post...

I know a while back there was a discussion about buying a new camera, but since it's been quite a number of months and new models have come out, I was wondering if anyone had bought something recently that they liked, didn't like, found useful etc. I'm in the process of getting a new camera.

I'm looking for a pocket size (i.e. one that will fit into a moderately sized handbag) model with good macro settings. A sizable screen and fairly easy to navigate function buttons are other aspects I am looking for in a camera.

I'm dissappointed in my Canon A70. It doesn't do very well with macro shots (i.e. my food shots are always from quite a distance). And it's too bulky to carry around and too conspicuous in a restaurant.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

The post was written by Rose from The Hungry Rose

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't give you too much advice, but I found the camera with almost every feature I want - manual focus, more f stops, pocketability and wifi- The nikon P1.

The only thing I don't like about it (besides the fact I can't afford it at the moment) is Nikon has eliminated the Coolpix feature of a screw-on adaptor for additional lenses. They're probably trying to move more serious "pro-sumers" up to their SLR models with a full line of lenses.

Alanna Kellogg said...

I bought two digital cameras in two months last spring (the first was a dud for my purposes though did do wonderful macros) and really like the Nikon Coolpix as well. I DO take it everywhere in a purse/pocket and find its user interface intuitive. I have a Nikon SLR that collects dust: a wonderful camera but long unused.

Shauna said...

I ADORE my Nikon Coolpix 4100. It has everything you're talking about. And the macro lens? Well, I live by it. Take a look at the photos on my blog to see. A friend of mine saw my website over my shoulder as I was looking at it the other day, and he (the photography buff) said, "YOu know, your camera is just amazing. The depth of field is astonishing." I have to say I agree.

They're always updating, so who knows if the 4100 is still in existence. But something like it would be great. And it's really not expensive.

Ed said...

I've just been researching this issue and made the big jump. I was frustrated by the results from my little Pentax Optio and could never navigate the menus. I just bought the Ricoh GR Digital. It has a massive screen and importantly the controls are very intuative and easy to use. Basically you are getting the quality of SLR in a compact body. It has a fixed lens (no zoom) but I don't think that matters for this work. It shoots at 8.1 megapixels which is more than adequate meaning you can use the digital (as opposed to optical) zoom. It is much slimmer than cameras with an optical zoom. The macro seems pretty good. The self timer is easy to use. It also has easy to navigate manual settings. It's quite battery hungry, with the rechargable battery meant to last 300 shots so its probably worth buying a spare. It will also take two AAA which are meant to last 30 shots but I found lasted a bit less. I've only had it for one day and am very happy. It's pricy though.
At a similar price is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 which comes with a 4x optical zoom. It has a Leica lens (which was tempting), a food setting and the speed/aperture can be adjusted by buttons on the lens. It has a few extra features over the Ricoh but I did find navigating the Panasonic confusing just like the Cannon that I also tried. In my mind if you can't navigate the controls properly with the saleman helping then you never will use them. I have posted a pic of a steak sandwich taken with it - one of my first ten shots.

Anonymous said...

A food setting!!!??!!!

Wow, have we changed an industry?

Rose said...

Paul: I looked at the features on the NIKON website. It looks pretty neat especially with that WiFi. $550 is REALLY pushing my limits.

ak: What model is your camera?

shauna: I think this model may be bigger than I'd prefer. How do you carry it around? In your handbag?

Ed: I have never heard of this line before (i'm a bit ignorant in photo equipment). The camera sounds intriguing and your recent photos (that steak looks delish) are reall good. But what's the size of it? Online it looks bigger, but website photos are decieving.

Thanks for the feeback everyone. I really appreciate it!

Liz said...

Mine's a Fuju Finepix f420. The macro mode is excellent, and it's what I use most for blogging. It's very tiny as well, which is great for being subtle when rudely photographing in restaurants...

Because it's small, the flash is near the lens, which I don't really like; pics with the flash look *really* flashy. The lens can also, on some occasions, cast a shadow in pictures taken with the flash, which is hugely irritating.

It uses AAA batteries (because it's so small), so you don't get quite as many flash photos to one set of batteries as you might. I'm very fond of it, though.

Alanna Kellogg said...

Rose: It's the Nikon Coolpix S1, was about $400 last spring, 5mp, not incl the flash card. It comes with a 'cradle' (like the first Palms) that is used for charging, uploading to the laptop. I've run out of battery only once, at a family wedding where I realized later that I left the camera on ALL THE TIME to catch snaps and so it was continuously auto-focusing. But even then, the battery made it to the first dance ... I scanned the book once and have since then used only the camera conrols. There's probably more that it can do -- have been meaning to look at the book again!

SaltShaker said...

I use an Olympus C-3020, but it's probably a little bigger than you want. It would certainly fit in a handbag, but it would take up a fair amount of room in there. I specifically wanted something that felt a little more like a traditional camera - I've been using an SLR for so many years that I found myself uncomfortable when I tried using a pocketsized camera.

Squeezeweasel - you have no idea how much you just helped me with your off-hand comment about the lense casting a shadow because of the flash placement. I've been getting these annoying lower left corner shadows on my macro setting and driving myself nuts trying to figure out what was going on!

Ed said...

Rose,
The size is not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. About 55mmx105mm and 25mm thick and 30mm at it's thickest. So while it can't compare in size to an Ixus or Optio it's a great size and pretty slim. The pics are great. I can't believe what I'm shooting and I haven't even started with manual adjustments or varying lighting conditions. Ricoh is a European brand. Pre digital a lot of pro photographers would carry around a film version one of these for snaps because of the convenience over a SLR. I'm really chuffed with it although in high sun seeing the screen can be a problem. however, it has a flash shoe on top like old-fashioned cameras and a view finder can be added to it. Check out all pics post burger if you want to see the quality.

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