Saturday, December 12, 2009

Recommend a small camera, please!

Hi all. I've got a Canon PowerShot A640 and frankly, I'm a little tired of it. It's bulky (annoying to carry around) and the flash, no matter how I adjust it, is much too harsh. Can't use the flash for food shots at all, which makes after-dark photography a challenge. Soooo, I'm looking for something new. Small, hopefully small enough for a pocket. Good for food. Useful flash. Not terribly expensive (would under $150 be too much to hope for?)

Suggest away, please!

This Post was written by Debbie from Words to Eat By

41 comments:

Dawn0fTime said...

I would recommend not using a flash for food photography at all, especially on a point-and-shoot style camera. You're better off using a light box and/or mirrors and reflectors, and setting the shutter speed of the camera slower. A built-in flash will almost always cause harsh shadows and glare, especially at the close range usually used in food photography.

debbie koenig said...

Excellent point, Dawn! I guess I was thinking as much about my frustration w/the flash when photographing non-food stuff, like people. But since this is about food photography, I suppose I need recs for a camera with better slow-speed blur control (or whatever that's called).

The Purple Foodie said...

I never use flash, but make sure to photograph my food in the mornings before noon when the sunlight isn't too hard (living in the tropics with blinding sunlight). I have a A570IS and it gives me amazing results... I love how much control I have over the photogrpah with exposure and all that. I'm guessing our cameras are in a similar league, no?

Dawn0fTime said...

Even a high-end SLR won't always do well at low speed without a tripod. I have some expensive lenses with vibration reduction that are supposed to help, but more often than no I shut it off and use the tripod anyway. I know my food's not going to move out of frame on me! :) I had a great one I used with a point-and-shoot before buying the DSLR. It's cheap and easy to use. It's called the Joby Gorillapod. What's nice is that, even if you don't have a flat surface to stand it on, you can just wrap the legs around the back of a chair or something.

meathenge said...

OoOoo, love the tripods in the kitchen. You can play with your food and concentrate on the shot at hand instead of holding the darned thing still.

Instead of buying a new rig, do some studying and shoot more, take some notes on what you like and don't like. I have a gaggle of cameras handy and most of my shots look alike, because I'm the one taking them.

xo, Biggles

Culinary Cory said...

I don't use a really expensive camera. Here is a post on my approach to photography. It also includes a link to my camera.

http://culinarycory.com/2008/11/18/ask-culinary-cory-food-photos/

debbie koenig said...

Purple Foodie, how do you manage to take every picture before noon? Most of my shots are of dinner, which ain't ready at that hour! Especially now that it's dark before 5, I almost never have food ready to shoot in daylight.

The tripod is a smart idea. I actually own one but (duh) it didn't occur to me to pull it out. I'll try it next time.

I suppose my biggest issue is with color correction. I suck at it. If I could ever stop going long enough to catch my breath, I'd take a Photoshop course.

Laura said...

I agree with all that I never use the flash with food. But I don't use a DSLR...mainly because I can't afford it. I have a Samsung PL60 and I LOVE it! I can set my own preferences, which is a plus for a point and shoot. I would highly recommend it!

I also would 100% suggest a tripod as others have mentioned, it makes life that much easier!

Jeanne @ Cooksister! said...

I have a powershot A720is and I love it - it provides me with nearly as much control over the settings as my DSLR but fits in my bag :) Agree with previous posters - disable the flash for food photography and shoot on a large aperture instead. Although if it's a small size you are after, it is probably not much different in size to what you have.

Sylvia said...

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RS Gold said...

You're much better away developing utilization of the lumination box and/or mirrors and reflectors
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