buying a digital camera???

[tangerine-jack]

I was recently upgraded with the latest and greatest in computer technology, most of which I do not understand. My new PC has quite the photo lab built in, so I was thinking of purchasing a digital camera. I know this is not technicaly a railroad related question, but I would like to share photos of my pike and some full sized trains. I need y'alls (no, make that all y'alls) help in finding me a digital camera with at least the following features:

1. Idiot resistant operation
2. Excellent resolution
3. Image stabilizing to minimize blurr.
4. ability to upgrade for the future

I cruised around some camera shops, but that didn't prove to be very helpful, as some cameras had a 4 meg resolution for $149, but some had only a 3 meg for $275. I'm sure there are mitigating factors other than price, but I couldn't figure it out and the sales people kept trying to choke me with techno-bable (what part of "I just want to take a picture" don't you understand?) Naturally, I came to the most intellegent, well bred, helpful, and good looking people I could find to ask for help![:D]


[oX)]

[bman36]

Hey there,
My best advice is to buy yourself a magazine or two and start reading. Learn what all the features are then go tell the salespeople what YOU want. That way later you will know for sure where you are headed with the photography. All the best! Later eh...Brian.

[TurboOne]

Hey TJ I believe at the end of the coffee shop I had some camera recommended camera info it was long so I will try to shorten it. I have shot video for 8 years now, so I am a little biased.

The biggest thing for a person to decide is what do you want to shoot with the camera. If it is wide panoramic scenes of a long train, cheap digital won't work as it has a limited lens in the camera. Same if you want to shoot close ups of your MRR, lens are limited. It doesn't mean that someones camera can't do that, there is always an exception.

Second is mega pixels. The bigger the number the higher image quality. But wait, too big takes up more room. Also if it is over 5 mega pixels the advantage is your large prints look great. But if you are not printing 11 x 17 prints or bigger, my 4 mega pixel will do just as well up to 8 x 10.

If printing large isn't a big deal for you then your features, number 1 and number 4 will usually be found on different cameras. The exception is a Canon Digital Rebel. It will do all your requirements, has an auto setting for idiot proof operation. Also has manual settings if you want to go pro. You can add lens' of any kind to it.

Cost will be $899 if I remember right. Lens add on will cost more than the camera. Pictures are incredible.

The less expensive one, look at the zooms. Most have a 3 times zoom, maybe a digital zoom up to 5 or 6 times. They do not zoom like a standard camera.

You may be totally happy with a 4 mega pixel canon or sony. I use 4 as I don't shoot much pro anymore.

email if you have any other questions.

Most important, HAVE FUN.

Good to chat TJ, we should do more. [:D][:D][:D]

Tim

[Rene Schweitzer]

Jack,

I don't have a digital camera (though it's on my wish list. . .), but you might find this web site helpful: http://www.dcresource.com/ It's a resource page with reviews and information on all types of digital cameras (and it's a non-commercial site, so there are no biases). You can pick and compare different types of cameras for your needs.

Rene

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Jack,
Consumers Reports just recently did a big article on digitals. Being technology challenged (in other words dumb as a box of rocks, too thickheaded to fully understand the technojargon, and totally ignorant about editing pics on the computer) I don't have digital as yet! I just admire and froth at the mouth when I see Marty Cozad's pictures!

[grandpopswalt]

I've had a 3.1 Mpix Kodak camera for about three years and love it. I only shot in auto mode and 95% of my photos are perfectly acceptable.

I don't know much about photography in general and even less about digital photography. But I do know that when I upgrade it will be to an 8 Mpix or greater SLR. Everything I read suggests that at 8Mpix the resolution is equal to 35MM film. Apparently there is a small problem with color saturation in low light conditions, but that can usually be fixed with editing software.

I love the idea of being able to change lenses, set up shots manually and be able to shot as many shots as I want until I get the result I'm looking for. Add to that the ability to crop down considerably without losing resolution. The only drawback is that at this time the cost is very high. If I were just starting out, I'd go for a cheapy 3 or 4 Mpix for $150 and wait until the SLR's come down in price.

Walt

[tangerine-jack]

Thanks for all the responses![:D]
Now for another question:
How easy is it to download from the camera to my PC? Does the camera come with a URL cable like a scanner (which I have), or am I going to have to buy some kind of support equipment.? I don't care much at this time for making my own prints, I'll do that later if need be, I just want to be able to store the images in the hard drive.

I feel kinda dumb for asking such simple questions, but I've always lived by the philosophy that ignorance is simply a lack of knowledge and can be cured, whereas stupidity is knowing that you are ignorant and fail to correct the problem. Thanks for helping me kur my iigorents..[:p]


[oX)]

[Rene Schweitzer]

Jack, though I don't own a digital camera, I have used one. It is easy to upload photos. Newer computers come with the USB ports on the front of the CPU, and you can just stick in the memory cartridge and upload them that way. Otherwise, the camera will come with its own cable and software to upload it on the computer. The software doesn't take long to install and is easy to use too.

[vsmith]

I highly recommend my Nikon Coolpix 3200, 3.2 megapixles, tons of features including low light, zoom, panarama etc. and it fits in a coat pocket . It comes with its own photo software stuff but pics works just as well when imported into Microshaft Photosuite. My camera has a USB cable that plugs into the camera for downloading and at 640x480 I can store almost 60 shots on the built in storage. If I add a memery card, I can take a whole lot of big pics. About $250

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25518

[grandpopswalt]

I’ll put in one more plug for Kodak. Their current 4 Mpix offering is going for about $200. For another $60-$70 you can get their docking station which remains connected to your PC. All you have to do is drop the camera into the dock, push a button and the download is automatic. The dock then also charges the camera’s battery. Nothing could be easier.

Walt

[markperr]

I've been looking at the Nikon Coolpix 8800 8Mp. Has a lot of features like burst mode 2.3 frames per second. 10x optical zoom. Effective lens length goes from 35-350mm. Has optional lense attachments that will add more wide angle, fish eye, and increased telephoto length. I've got a feeler thread out on MLS that I know folks have talked about this camera before. It's coming down to this camera or the Canon digital rebel but so far the Nikon is in the lead.

Mark

[tangerine-jack]

Hey Mark, yeah, that Nikon is pretty sweet! I was holding it in my grubby little hands for the longest time. I also like the Kodak that Grandpopwalt was talking about, the docking station is really cool and the whole package is a reasonable price. What it looks like it's going to come down to is the Cannon A75 or the Mpix Kodak.

Anybody have or had a really bad digicam? Something that I should steer clear of? I noticed that the major brands all check out about even on consumer reports so it's hard to separate them in my mind. Thanks.


[oX)]

[Anonymous]

I used a walmart Concord camera that is a 3.1 megapixels. It costed me only 80- I also used a Lexar Memory stick (64 megabyte) inside the camera to hold about 312 pictures and up to 6 minutes silent video.

The camera had a macro mode meaning you can get close to the HO scale model (9 inches) and a regular mode for 2.5 feet away to infinity. It did not have a zoom. I found the camera limited in having a "Fixed" focus point. I could never exactly nail the picture I am trying to take in close model work.

I use a Sony DCR-TRV 460 model Camcorder which is capable of taking snap shots. The Zoom, 512 megabyte memory stick and ability to take video on both tape and memory stick finally settles the need in any situation day or night. I beefed it up with accessories to the point of almost being able to stay out in the field for 8 hours taking video and pictures free from the 110 volt electricity.

I realize using a camcorder to take digital pictures is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel on overkill but Ive learned I have a taste to make videos of trains running as well as taking still shots.

Digital Cameras are best if you have a USB interface to communicate with a computer with either a Windows XP Pro or MAC OS 9.1 (latest ?) so you can take care of your own pictures forever free from the film developing places.

To answer your question about ease of use..

I hook up the USB to the computer, then connect the smaller end to the camera which will automatically "turn on" and say USB connected in the LCD screen on the back.

On my computer Win XP Pro SP2, the USB marker comes up on the task bar, I double click "My computer" and view availible drives. One of these will show "LEXAR" as the one that is used by the camera. I simply drag the contents of that drive onto the computer hard drive in a folder and I am ready to go.

I had a camera a really small one with a driver on disk. I found that disk to be full of UNECESSARY files and other things not required for camera operation so I decided that a camera with a Lexar memory stick or similar will be able to communicate with the computer without the need for a drivers.

Additionally if you have USB 2.0 on your computer (can be obtained as a PCI card for about 20 bucks that connects to your motherboard) you can move the pictures and video really fast from camera to computer. Firewire will do it even faster but that is not really necessary for home use.

Remember that anything over 3.1 megapixels on up means pictures that are so big that they may be difficult for a dailup user to view on the internet. I use Photobucket and my images so far are all under 250 kb in size. If you see the PRR reefer block that was taken in regular mode and the dock with boxes scene was taken in macro mode. I think the camera was about 7 inches from the dock and about 6 feet from the PRR train.

I hope this helps. If I dont have to worry about money I probably would get the Canon Digital Rebel. I think that camera you can weild like a weapon... aim and fire.

[Anonymous]

I have a Sony Cybershot, three years old, but I'm sure all the above cameras are also great. I am certainly not a pro, and even on cloudy days with my 3.2 megapixels, I get good shots that are sharp when they're taking up the whole computer monitor. Uploading to a computer is not a problem. Kodak's system sounds pretty neat, because I had to buy an accessory with mine to get pics onto the computer's hard drive. It's very easy, though, and fun. (I wi***his forum had an easier way to upload pictures) Anyway, with digital, the photos are basically free unless you make prints, so you can reshoot forever to get lighting right, etc. My digi-cam has really given me much more joy in the train hobby. Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

This is the first digital picture I ever took. It was on the afternoon of July 7, 2003 that I purchased a Sony Cyber-shot model DSC-P72 3.2mp. I believe it cost $325 then, but in the interim since then the price has gone down. I spent the afternoon reading the instructions and meanwhile in the early evening a thunderstorm marched through South Jersey where I live.

It had gotten dark by the time I went outdoors to take my first picture (and I only took one that evening) and this is the result, complete with the mud splashes from the storm. Amazingly, I was even able to upload it to my space on MLS and put image tags on it.

To you guys who have hesitated to go digital: Jump in, the water 's fine.

Regards,
Bill C.
South Jersey

[Anonymous]

I have a very cheap digital camera and its the best thing, photography has been my hobby for about 40 years so I'm not that easy to please.

Why don't you borrow someone elses or talk to peole who have them because there are many diffeerent offerenings and you really need to consider what you are going to do with it first.

I still use my Canon E50 If i wi***o take any serious photos and pay the price for using a conventional camera but the results are outstanding, so what can you do.

Rgds ian