Digital Cameras?
 

I'm hoping to get a new digi camera soon...so after some advice. My little 3mp just cannot do what i want it to...closeups are hopeless to try to get *L*...it wants to focus on the background...damn thing!

** It MUST be able to do close ups...and i mean really really close *L*...as in every wrinkle or little whisker on a pinkie mouse.

** True colours, some cameras mess with the colours and i don't want that at all.

** Action shots to a certain extent (mice really are quick little buggers)

** Software for putting on the puter, and one that doesnt require a pilots licence to work out how to get it from camera to puter.

Prefer 8mp or above....i'm really after detailed pics. Anything else you think i should be looking for

No real suggestions as mine is just 5MP, but I had trouble with trying to focus on closeup shots and learned that to compenate for auto-focusing "methods," change to manual focusing. That seems to allow better control of what you focus on. Might check if your current camera has that capability.

Nah it doesnt DB...it only does auto focus...and its damn frustrating *L*

I have a 3mp Olympus w/ 3x optical zoom & 10x digital zoom, but I've found the best way to get good detail is not to use the zoom so much, & use the hi-res settings, then crop out what ya don't want with the software...& the Camedia software that came with it is pretty simple & intuitive to use...when I need more flexible or comprehensive software I use PhotoSuite III that someone gave us years ago...

I'm finding it's not so much the number of megapixels you have as the optics you're focussing through. Invest in quality brands with good lenses and your pics will be better. Look for coated lenses with bigger diameters and stay with major maunfacturers. Of course more resolution allows for bigger prints without losing quality.

Thanx for ya input all...

I'm looking at a Fuji that i like...it will do macro focus....i think it was 1cm away from the subject and still get really clear pics....*does the Tim Allen thing* LOL

I'll can share the little bit of close-up insight I have.


Prefer 8mp or above....i'm really after detailed pics. Anything else you think i should be looking for
First I'll agree with BigBear about the lens almost to the extreme. My last 2 cams have been good lenses with a digital camera attached. I'm shooting a Sony F-717 and it's capabilities for close-up are better than my abilities. Unless you are shooting commercially, 8mp is the most you need to pay for. My feeling is that the megapixel count has become more of a sales tool than a usable value after they reached 5mp.


** It MUST be able to do close ups...and i mean really really close *L*...as in every wrinkle or little whisker on a pinkie mouse.
Sorry to say that close-up photography is not a point-&-shoot situation. DB is spot on about the manual mode being needed for anything much closer than 30 or 40 cm. When you talk about "every wrinkle or little whisker" you may have to go to tripod mount for steadiness. Depth of field gets involved as an issue when you start getting to the true close-up stage of macro photography. I believe that micro is considered as any photo that shows something larger than the actual scale. You normally will have to add a set of close-up lenses at this point to get >1:1. Macro is considered <1:1 and is the same or smaller size pic than the subject.


** Software for putting on the puter, and one that doesnt require a pilots licence to work out how to get it from camera to puter.
This may be the easiest part of your endeavor. You are right that most of the software programs that come with most cams are a complicated and the slow way to get the pics to your puter. Most all digitals now use a some type of the memory card storage. Today you can use a tiny card reader that plugs into any USB port and lets you transfer them around lake any file. Then you can open it with your photo editing program which is much better than most editors that come with the cams anyway.


** True colours, some cameras mess with the colours and i don't want that at all.
When you talk about "true" color, you may have to get into some of the deeper parts of your editor program. Knowing you want this for your mousies, you will be learning to color calibrate your cam and monitor.


** Action shots to a certain extent (mice really are quick little buggers)
Action shots and close-ups are not mutually complimentary most of the time. Because focal lengths become so critical with close-ups, you may have a much more difficult getting good pics of anything that is not still. My best experience has been to focus at a point I can cause or bait an event to take place and be ready to catch the shot. The closer I want to be, the more important tripod rigidity and focus becomes.





I hope this helps more than it confuses. :)

I have a few examples that I hope helps explain what I was trying to explain. :sad:

First you have to have a worthy subject to warrant the extra effort involved with close-up work. :)

You can see that the same mounted set up gets poor results when an auto focus mode is used. Like you cam, the background was better focused than the important subject with auto focus. Whit manual focus I got a much better image of the important matters.

In comparing these pics, you can see that good focus becomes very critical the closer you want to be. (and I like to be VERY close to my subject :tongue: )

With true macro, sometimes found as setting mode on some cameras, you can get very pleasing results. When I add close-up lenses I am able to do micro work and get as close as I like. :D

Wow, PF, you really know your stuff. I love photography but haven't gotten that much into the technical aspects before now. Do you suggest taking a photography class to beef up knowledge?

My camera locks the focus on macro (the flower setting on most digital instamatics), so I have to move closer or further away to hunt the focus.

Where did i say that close up was going to be point and click?. As with any new 'toy' ya gotta play with the setting til ya find what ya like. At this point anything would do a better job than my old digi camera...it just cannot do any close up work...but still takes a nice normal pic

I've spoken to a few that have Fuji's and they rave about them...and having seen some of the pics they take i must say i quite like them too.

The other one i was looking at was a Canon...it just had a few more bells and whistles is all *L*

Whichever i choose i'm hoping to get a tripod with it:D

I'll be sure to pick the assisstants brain to be sure i get something that will do what i need.

I wish I DID know something worthwhile. :banghead:
I haven't taken any courses lately but you just 'beefed' up things in my pants. :D



:rofl:


Actually I do if you can find one available for the right price in your area. I recommend doing it only after you have been through some reading material though. I am a novice that use to expose a lot of film and was fortunate enough to have a friend that made a living at it (and NOT taking wedding pics :hair: ) and willing to shared some serious insights while not selling cameras. ;)

Starting with the manual that came with your cam is a good beginning but ONLY to find how to get it back to the default mode. They only print up what is necessary to present their product and sell it. Read through the whole thing that will tell you where all the gears and clutch is at. They will tell you about a BUNCH of things that have little meaning or information on how and when to use one to compensate for something else. You only want to learn the nomenclature and location of all the knobs and handles and almost what NOT to touch the first day. Then, through the miracle of digital photography, take a LOT of pics in the auto mode. Look at about 25 at a time and you'll want to delete at least 15-20 of them. Take 25 more and sort them again. After a few times you'll find consistent issues that you'll want to focus on. (no pun intended ;) )

THEN ............ You want to maybe read the shortest 'how-to' book on general photography you can get your hands on. You now are familiar with your tool (camera) and you only are looking for the general principles and factors involved with everything outside the camera (subject) and getting it's image inside the camera. :sad:

As you sort your next batch of pics, you will be able to start making a connection with what it is that made a pic good or not so good and how your camera can change it.

THIS is when I would recommend taking a course and getting your $$ worth. Most aspects of the presentations then will have meaning and you will be able to confirm and connect what you have learned so far and ask specific and meaningful questions. Otherwise you are dumped on with an overwhelming amount of disconnected and meaningless information and facts.

Most school systems and/or community centers have basic photography courses and finding one of 4-8 classes for less than 1/2 yard. I think it can be $50 well spent if you truly have the interest in taking picture for display.

Just my thoughts. :shrug:

i have a fuji and although i like the camera i would not rave about it, i tends to take a lot of out of focus shots on auto focus without me hsving any acachol at all, i have canon at work that cost less than mine and takes excellent pics. i do suggest you get greter than 5 mp and the higher th optical zoom the better as this actually takes the lens in and out whereas the digital zoom only blows up the pixels and you can end up with blocky pics

On top of the camera and photo taking techniques ... good photo processing software should also be considered. All cameras that do self focusing or light metering make some assumptions on what they're doing. Good photo processing software (like Photoshop) help you to compensate with some of those compromises. There are good magazines (like PC Photo) that usually feature articles in almost every issue on how to bring out the best in your pictures when the camera hasn't achieved what you want it to. Takes some study and experimentation, but I've already gained lots of ideas for photo processing (I have Photoshop Elements ... a somewhat less robust version of Photoshop). Worth the effort.

Here's just a couple of recent photos where I used the manual focusing to help zero in on the subject ...

(except the first dragonfly and the deer picture which I just thought was cute :) )

... and one more.

Cameras on the technological horizon are being touted as almost foolproof, taking a series of slightly differently focussed and light-conditioned pictures. This allows you to choose the best, then discard the others. Thank god for gigabyte chips.

The fuji is the one i'll be getting, i must say i've had a wee play with them both in the store and prefer the Fuji myself...most i've spoken to seem to prefer it over the canon also. Auto focus tends to make blurry shots...thats why i'm after manual focus. i think its a 6 or 7mp camera (cant recall exactly) and has 10x optical zoom :)

I've got Photoshop..but damn ya need a pilots licence to drive the damn thing!...so unloaded it *L*...One day i'll reload and try again.

I use Photosuite, its user friendly and will do the photo adjustments i require easily. (though the darn thing has been taken over by Roxio and now no longer does any updates) So will be after new photo software sometime i'm sure.

I love the digital medium for just this reason...you can take shitloads of pics easily then just pick through to find the best to keep.

I do that with my basic digi cam even now...

OrliFanatic,

These cameras will do it all automatically.

BTW, my new Olympus piece of shit is not focussing well, as I have to hold the button down until I get a clean crisp shot, then fire. Some shots it just won't make.

Yeah they do...but i want the option of manual focus....so i can play with all the options *L*

db, is pic 4 hops by any chance? pic 5 looks an awful lot like poke sallet, considered something of a delicacy by some here in the south, but to me just a menace of a weed, especially when the birds eat the ripe purple berries, then crap on my car & anything else that gets in the way...

Go with the fuji if you are happy with it, i did shop quite a lot before i decided on my fiji, i have had some really go pics come from it but i have also had a lotof bad ones, this may not be a camera error rather my fat finger or i cant stand still, fuji also have a good online photo pint as part ofthe package
and i use the kodak software you can download from the kodak website because its simple

Would'nt it be easier to just flea dip the mice?

Why would i flea dip them?

I want to take pictures of them *L*...detailed pictures

Not absolutely sure. It was just growing along the trail and I thought it was an interesting plant to look at. :shrug: You could very well be right. Looked up a picture on the internet and there is a resemblence.

Not interested in Sony at all.

I'm pretty sure i'll be getting a Fuji :)

Well i bought the Fuji FinePix S5700.....now i just gotta learn how to drive it *LOL*

Pics to come i'm sure ;) :D

Congrats on that ~ hope you have a lot of fun with it!! :D

Looking forward to the pics, too!

DM

My brother has a finepix and swears at, sorry by it.