Digital camera

[oldline1]

I want a digital camera. I know nothing about digital cameras!

With that said...........what are your recommendations for a camera that I can use to take model photos and layout photos. I would also like to be able to take photos inside and outside at various railroad museums too.

 

I was looking at these today and it's very confusing!

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W170

Panasonic TZ5S

Olympus Stylus 1010

Anybody able to offer some ideas? I have a 35MM SLR with several lenses. Would I be better off getting one of the DSLR cameras?

Thanks,

Roger

[Blind Bruce]

A DSLR is probably a better choice. Especially if your current SLR has lenses that would fit. For example, if you already have a Pentax, Canon, or Nikon, There are cameras that would work with those lenses. See Bob Boudreau s web site for good tips. His moniker is railphotog here on this forum. Do a search.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I look for a camera that can take good close-up photos. Kodak makes one (in their easyshare line) that I can't remember the number of. It can take absolute beautiful photos at full zoom from less than a foot away with crystal clarity. I bought one over a year ago but took it back because it wouldn't interface with my computer (Win98 OS) so it was useless to me.

[Randall_Roberts]

"Good close ups" means "macro" photography, particularly if you are going to be shooting N or Z scale. But shooting details in HO may also require a macro mode. Make sure that the camera you choose has a macro mode.

I used my Canon PowerShot SX100 to take the photos in my Nat'l. Train Show Image Gallery.  The Kato GG-1 and the InterMountain AC-12 are N scale.  The GG-1 is out of focus because I forgot to raise the flash, resulting in long exposure time.  Unsteady hands are at fault there, not the camera.

The last images in the gallery, the Feather River Canyon and Jim O'Connell's connector module are all Z scale.

I did use the "sharpen" filter in Gimp to improve them a little. Possibly a little too much for the tastes of some serious photographers.

Best!

[WCfan]

My Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS is nice for rail fanning, and for model railroad photography....it's ok. If you stay on "Smart Scene" some times it won't do Macro, which makes the picture blurry. To Change it manually to Macro you need to go to the "Manual" setting. If you just change the Macro Setting your picture will turn out black. So you need to work on the Shutter setting. The higher the number the longer the exposure.

It's a fairly nice camera and takes good pictures. And you don't necessarily need a lot of photo taking know-how. Just a lot of trial and error. But you can delete all the duds anyway.

EDIT: I would also reccomend picking up a photo editing Software. I would reccomend Adobe Photo Shop Elements 5.0. It can be pricey, or if you watch out and see it's on sale. It's pretty easy to use. You can strighten photos and lighten them ect.

[Phoebe Vet]

I was a professional photographer.

To answer your question I need to know what brand of 35 mm film camera you have.

[lvanhen]

I use a Canon Powershot 540.  It's great for indoor/outdoor photography of all types, and is easy to use but has lots of additional features, including macro.

I'd be happy to recommend this camera to anyone - BTW, I bought it over a year ago, so there are probably newer models - new today outdated tomorrow as all electronics these days!!

My photo in the avatar was taken with this camera by my 12 year old grandson with disabilities!  My

[Driline]

I look for a camera that can take good close-up photos. Kodak makes one (in their easyshare line) that I can't remember the number of. It can take absolute beautiful photos at full zoom from less than a foot away with crystal clarity. I bought one over a year ago but took it back because it wouldn't interface with my computer (Win98 OS) so it was useless to me.

Windows 98? You're kidding?

[Scarpia]

I would ask first, how much do you want to spend. Cameras, like all things, you kind of get what you pay for.

Some of the biggest things to look for, in my opinion, are the optical (not digital zoom), the ISO settings, the megapixals, the media type, and lastly image stabilzation.

Macros are important but if you have enough megapixals, well, you can crop the final shot down pretty impressively.

The camera that finally got me to give up film was the Panasonic Lumix FZ30. Under $500, this camera has a SLR body style (although it is not an SLR), and a fixed length lens. Best part, the lens is made by Leica.

Some experts have found issues with digital "noise" with the Lumix, but I haven't seen it enough to make me concerned. The lack of interchangable lenses was a non-issue, as  I got tired of lugging around a big camera bag years ago, and got rid of that equipment. The Lumix has a 12X optical zoom, and the FZ30 was (they don't make it anymore) 8.1 megapixal. The replacement is the FZ50, and that is a 10 megapixal, with the same leica lens. 

It's lowlight capabilities are good, and I've had great success with close in shots. Folks can always find a better camera than this, but not necessarily for the money (they still run around $500, and I've had great success with mine in a variety of situations.

PM me if you like, and I can send you links to examples.

Cheers 

[loathar]

http://lowpricedigital.com/item.asp?item_Id=159418&partner=g123&keyword=fuji_s1000&gclid=CL271M3p1JQCFSemQQodvUSJlg

Does excellent close ups. Full automatic or full manual. (you won't regret it...)

[trainboyH16-44]

I look for a camera that can take good close-up photos. Kodak makes one (in their easyshare line) that I can't remember the number of. It can take absolute beautiful photos at full zoom from less than a foot away with crystal clarity. I bought one over a year ago but took it back because it wouldn't interface with my computer (Win98 OS) so it was useless to me.

Windows 98? You're kidding?

Dude, this is Jeffery-Wimberly we're talking about here, of course he's not!

[NEMMRRC]

Take a look at this buying guide:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm

I have found Ken Rockwell's advice to be very good and practical.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I look for a camera that can take good close-up photos. Kodak makes one (in their easyshare line) that I can't remember the number of. It can take absolute beautiful photos at full zoom from less than a foot away with crystal clarity. I bought one over a year ago but took it back because it wouldn't interface with my computer (Win98 OS) so it was useless to me.

Windows 98? You're kidding?

Dude, this is Jeffery-Wimberly we're talking about here, of course he's not!

I used Windows 98 up until the end of December of last year. Cebridge Communications dropped the recognition protocols for it so I upgraded to XP Pro.

[Railphotog]

Lots of info on cameras and taking model railroad photos in my website, see my signature.

 

 

[shayfan84325]

I have a REAL camera (Nikon manual SLR) for taking REAL photos, and a Nikon digital point and shoot for taking pictures to post here.  I also have a scanner so I can post REAL photos.

The digital camera is a Nikon Coolpix 4600 (3.2 Mp).  With a monopod I can hold it steady enough to take decent images for the forums.  I bought the camera used on eBay for $41.  It works for me.

[loathar]

I look for a camera that can take good close-up photos. Kodak makes one (in their easyshare line) that I can't remember the number of. It can take absolute beautiful photos at full zoom from less than a foot away with crystal clarity. I bought one over a year ago but took it back because it wouldn't interface with my computer (Win98 OS) so it was useless to me.

Windows 98? You're kidding?

Dude, this is Jeffery-Wimberly we're talking about here, of course he's not!

I used Windows 98 up until the end of December of last year. Cebridge Communications dropped the recognition protocols for it so I upgraded to XP Pro.

I hear that "upgrade" is pretty cheap these days...Get your modem figured out?

[gmcrail]

Roger, if you are thinking of a digital SLR (DLSR), I would suggest that you buy one of the same brand as your current film SLR, with one caveat:  Canon changed their lens mounts for the EOS Digital Rebels.  I had an old Canon film SLR with some really cool lenses, and when I got a new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, I was hoping to be able to use the old lenses.  No such luck.  They simply reversed the gender of the lens and camera body.   The new camera is really a good one, though.  Does everything but put out the cat (haven't found the setting for that one yet ).  Also takes very good pictures.

[berlingo]

Hello,

 I think these days for taking photos is better to get digital camera, it's easy for everyone . Those brands in the market you can find, but it's up to your taste and what you need.

If possible to get one with bigger pixel such as 10m. or more than, it's nice to play around like cropping picture if you don't have macro lens . This is an avantage of more pixel to enlarge pictures.

I've been using Olympus C-5050z and my latest one is also E-510 with kit lens 14-42mm you can take with close up image, wide angle and a little bit of tele zoom 

This is an idea for you, i'm not a pro one but technology helps a lot....

 

This is how you get closer to subject from original with out macro lens.

You can find any brands , they produce a better quality these days. 

[RRTrainman]

I pick up the Kodak EasyShare C713 digital from Wal-Mart and it takes pictures that rival my big Pentex DSLR with all my lens pack in one little box.  Knowing this now I would never have bought my DSLR.

This one was done by my Pentex DSLR.

My signature photo below was done by my Kodak digital.

Save yourself some money and buy a camera that easy to use and with your extra money, buy a loco or something.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I hear that "upgrade" is pretty cheap these days...Get your modem figured out?

No problem with the modem. XP wouldn't recognize the network adapter on my old mainboard and kept assigning the wrong drivers. I got a new mainboard and all is well.

Now, as far as cropped photos go, this one originally showed the loco as a small part of the overall scene. I cropped the photo to show just the loco and resized it. Not one of my best but it serves to show what cropping can do.

[Scarpia]

Here is a shot from my Lumix FZ30 this morning, hand held with bad lighting

This was reduced to 600pixals, long axis, for the web from full size. 

 

Now here is a simple crop of a detail area from the same picture, cropped while the picture was full size. Note that this is not even the focal point, or the center of the picture on purpose

It was pointed out to me that part of what I said in my other post made no sense. THe lumix is a 12x optical zoom, but has a fixed overall physical length, meaning the optics are all internal. The lens does not "grow" in physical length as you extend the zoom, which reduces image shake, especially as the  camera gets older.

Hope this helps. 

[Phoebe Vet]

I have a REAL camera (Nikon manual SLR) for taking REAL photos, and a Nikon digital point and shoot for taking pictures to post here.  I also have a scanner so I can post REAL photos.

The digital camera is a Nikon Coolpix 4600 (3.2 Mp).  With a monopod I can hold it steady enough to take decent images for the forums.  I bought the camera used on eBay for $41.  It works for me.

Film is as dead as Beta and 8 track.

3 Megapixel is enough to make an 8x10 inch print or most web or on screen uses.  3 to 5 megapixel cameras are cheaper than dirt, but be careful, cheap cameras often have substandard lenses.

The higher the megapixel count, the more severely you can crop and the larger you can make prints, but there well be no observable improvement in small prints from the uncropped file. Your eye can only resolve a little over 200 pixels per inch.  I have made a 20x30 inch print from a 6 megapixel image that was as good as an 8x10 from the same image.

Digital zoom is just in camera cropping and interpolation...not a good idea.

Optical zoom is a zoom lens.  The quality of the lens determines the quality of the zoomed image.  That quality is easily checked in the store.  To check the quality of the zoomed or cropped image, photograph something small in the image, like a newspaper and zoom in on it.

Using the screen on the back of the camera for a viewfinder will severely shorten the battery life.

I have several Canon EOS series cameras, both film and digital.  Before I retired from my photography business, I bought new sets of cameras about every 18 moths in a quest to keep up with rapidly advancing technology.  However, I have not bought a camera in 3 years, and no longer keep track of what is "newer and better".

I have been very pleased with Canon, and most of the pros that I know have changed from Nikon, which used to be the epitome of 35mm, to Canon.  A couple have gone to Olympus.

8 to 12 megapixel SLRs are even replacing medium format Hasselblads and Mamiyas in some applications such as wedding and event photography.

Now if you want "nothing but the best", for about $50,000 you can get a Hasselblad 6x6cm with a 39 megapixel back that wirelessly connects to your laptop.  

[BlueHillsCPR]

I recently bought a Nikon D60 DSLR with a Nikon 18-55 VR lens and added 55-200 VR zoom lens.

I am blown away by the quality of the images and the relative ease of use.  I am not a pro by any stretch of the imagination so I plan on taking classes to learn more about the camera and taking good pictures.

I agree film is dead.  I like digital.  I only print the photos I like, don't waste film and processing on bad photos, and I don't have to buy the film or pay to have it developed.  I can have my pictures printed without leaving my computer.  Nothing to drop off and just stop and pick them up when they are ready.  Saving my pictures is easy.  No photo albums or boxes of slides.  Just burn to CD/DVD.

[Phoebe Vet]

That is an excellent camera.

Please do not interpret my previous post as in any way denigrating Nikon.

[HobbyDr]

It doesn't have interchangable lenses, but I just love my Fuji FinePix S700. Feels like my old Olympus 35mm in my hand, great grip. It has a 10x optical zoom, but the real reason I bought it was for it's macro mode--- it will focus down to 1cm. Fuji has a newer (improved?) model, but I don't like the layout of the controls as much, so if you can find one of the S700s new, it should be a bargain price.

Don

[BlueHillsCPR]

That is an excellent camera.

Please do not interpret my previous post as in any way denigrating Nikon.

No worries!

Very pleased with the camera.  I was considering either a Nikon or a Canon, I ended up with the Nikon. Initially I just bought the kit with the standard lens.  Within a week I was back at the store to buy the zoom lens.

Now I just need to bring my skills up to match the abilities of the camera.

I visited Bob's photography page and found a lot of good tips there. 

[loathar]

It doesn't have interchangable lenses, but I just love my Fuji FinePix S700. Feels like my old Olympus 35mm in my hand, great grip. It has a 10x optical zoom, but the real reason I bought it was for it's macro mode--- it will focus down to 1cm. Fuji has a newer (improved?) model, but I don't like the layout of the controls as much, so if you can find one of the S700s new, it should be a bargain price.

Don

I get to borrow an S700 once in a while. Great camera. I've seen them down to $145! The new one your talking about is the S1000 I mentioned earlier in this thread. The nice thing about the 1000 is it has full manual option along with the all the bells and whistles. I can't wait to get one! The super macro function is AWESOME!

[oldline1]

WOW!!! Lots of great info here to my question.

Bob.......thanks for the link to your website. I found it very helpful and informative. Great modeling too! I really like those Canadian stubby Alcos.

I think I may have narrowed my selection down to either a Canon Power Shot SD770IS or a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5. They are reasonably priced and seem to be able to do what I will want and need. Does anyone have experience with either of these two cameras?

Thanks,

Roger

[stebbycentral]

Now, as far as cropped photos go, this one originally showed the loco as a small part of the overall scene. I cropped the photo to show just the loco and resized it. Not one of my best but it serves to show what cropping can do.

The point to emphasize in the discussion about cropping however is that you need a good pixel density to start with.  Someone mentioned 10 mp as a standard.  I am using a Kodak CX7300 that only specs out to 3.2 mp.  I also use Microsoft Digital Image Suite to process a lot of the photos I post, and I haven't had that much luck with cropping function.  The enlargements tend to be a little fuzzy and out of focus.  "Croppy", in other words. 

I am looking to upgrade, so I find threads like this quite interesting.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Now, as far as cropped photos go, this one originally showed the loco as a small part of the overall scene. I cropped the photo to show just the loco and resized it. Not one of my best but it serves to show what cropping can do.

The point to emphasize in the discussion about cropping however is that you need a good pixel density to start with.  Someone mentioned 10 mp as a standard.  I am using a Kodak CX7300 that only specs out to 3.2 mp.  I also use Microsoft Digital Image Suite to process a lot of the photos I post, and I haven't had that much luck with cropping function.  The enlargements tend to be a little fuzzy and out of focus.  "Croppy", in other words. 

I am looking to upgrade, so I find threads like this quite interesting.

The photo I used in my cropping example was taken with a 3.0 megapixel Olympus D550Z.

This is a crop from the previously cropped photo.

It's not so much the equipment but what you do with what you have. A news photographer who could take great photos with a cheap 35mm camera taught me that.