What kind of Digital Camera do you own?

[Conquest10]

That's right, Cap. Everytime I'm out shooting, the first thing I hear is, "How many megapixels is that?" I just laugh and give them an absurd number like 200. Like in film, I feel the most important thing in a camera is the lens. Besides the lens, accurate color reproduction and sensor size is more important than how many megapixels it can output. 2 megapixels can make wonderful 8x10s. Its just a marketing ploy to allow companies to not spend time to actually improve their product. Just add more megapixels. That solves the problem.

[Conquest10]

Smurf, how many people do you think still use the D1?

[Capmaster]

That's right, Cap. Everytime I'm out shooting, the first thing I hear is, "How many megapixels is that?" I just laugh and give them an absurd number like 200. Like in film, I feel the most important thing in a camera is the lens. Besides the lens, accurate color reproduction and sensor size is more important than how many megapixels it can output. 2 megapixels can make wonderful 8x10s. Its just a marketing ploy to allow companies to not spend time to actually improve their product. Just add more megapixels. That solves the problem.

Yep. Too bad we didn't think of it, huh?

[lordsmurf]

Smurf, how many people do you think still use the D1?

The only people that really trade in D1's for D1X or D2H.
Your D1X crowd needs more image, usually studio situations.
Your D2H crowd has the money (usually company allowances) to upgrade.

For most "lowly" freelancers and others not rolling in dough, we're quite happy with D1 for now. I've spent my money upgrading lenses and lighting and other tertiary equipment. A new body is long, long, long away if I get one. Plus, I can ALWAYS go back to film, E100/E50 slide on an F5, if I need something super-perfect.

[hech54]

Two Canons.
Elph S100 - 2.1MP
PowerShot A200 - 2.0MP

This is a tiny portion of a pic I took with my A200....I was taking a pic of the light hitting flowers and noticed this tiny bee in the picture. The flower was a miniature rose plant....check out the little tiny thorns on the stems too...too cool in my opinion...

[Capmaster]

Cool pic Hech! 8)

[hech54]

I had the ISO set low....or maybe I could have caught the wings better....I didn't even know he was there though....

[Capmaster]

The colors look perfect. Canon's always had their shit in one sock when it comes to color handling.

When I was shopping for a digicam I compared the Canon to a Nikon and a Toshiba which was a higher MP count. The Canon kicked the Toshiba to the curb on image quality because compared to the Canon, the Toshiba looked like it had permanent soft-focus ...nothing was sharp.

The Nikon had color issues ....soooo ..Canon won the shootout. I had made my decision based on actual 8x10 prints I had made from samples from each camera. It wasn't even close And after seeing how the Egypt pics looked ...wow! See my website for examples of the pics

[hech54]

The whole picture is gorgeous...you're right. Canon has their ship together. My first SLR was a Minolta Maxxum.....before that it was all split image focus cameras as I recall.
I had an old Canonette Canon QLIII....blah blah blah that was great.....still is. I had an OLD Canon Sure-Shot even before it was called a Sure-Shot....best damn automatic camera I ever had....until my brother dropped it.
What are brothers for right?...

[SLICK RICK]

The colors look perfect. Canon's always had their shit in one sock when it comes to color handling.

When I was shopping for a digicam I compared the Canon to a Nikon and a Toshiba which was a higher MP count. The Canon kicked the Toshiba to the curb on image quality because compared to the Canon, the Toshiba looked like it had permanent soft-focus ...nothing was sharp.

The Nikon had color issues ....soooo ..Canon won the shootout. I had made my decision based on actual 8x10 prints I had made from samples from each camera. It wasn't even close And after seeing how the Egypt pics looked ...wow! See my website for examples of the pics

The colors, that is something that I have always loved about my D30. I get some really great quality 8x10 prints from that camera.

[jimmalenko]

I've just bought a Canon IXUS i5. Still waiting for it to be delivered though

[tweedledee]

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but a question to Capmaster, who seems very informed about things. Have you seen in CSI MIAMI when they zoom in on a car index plate, and when it pixelates they turn on software that fixes it?
Can they really do that? and what's the software called?

[ViRaL1]

ILM?

[tweedledee]

ILM???
I did a google and got this. Can you be more specific, pleeeeaaase!

[ViRaL1]

I was speaking of Industrial Light & Magic. Basically just special effects. Although there probably are some programs out there that can accurately smooth things out to an intelligible level. No idea how expensive they are.

[racer-x]

It's called Hollywood Special Effects. If you believe it, I've got a nice bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

[Conquest10]

It's called Hollywood Special Effects. If you believe it, I've got a nice bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

Exactly. Garbage in, garbage out.

[lordsmurf]

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but a question to Capmaster, who seems very informed about things. Have you seen in CSI MIAMI when they zoom in on a car index plate, and when it pixelates they turn on software that fixes it?
Can they really do that? and what's the software called?

Fiction v2.0

[housepig]

you just make sure when you use the Sharpen filter, you say "enhance - enhance - enhance" in your really serious voice...

for me, I had a HP 120 which blew goats on anything other than brightly-sunlit pics, replaced it with a Nikon Coolpix 2100 and love it. enough resolution for what I need, great screen, good controls, and crazy long battery life.

[ZAPPER]

I lied, the camera that I use is actually company property. An old Sony Mavica 250 CD. It only has a lowly 2mp and 3x optical. The Pros and Cons? Well for me I really like the fact that it saves on a CD vs/ any stick or card, No special readers or high dollar cards to buy, I can keep the disk or RW over it (well it is still a disk and I have issues with that but still kind of cool) I thought that I would like printing photos on my printer but being from the old school of film and real photo paper I am not happy at all with regular printer output. After a few years of figuring that digital cams were just for e-mailing photos I took some of my favorites to Walgreens (a drugstore chain) and had some prints made. Holy shit! I thought that these were some of the best photos that I had ever taken. They were in focus (did I mention that all of my old SLRs were manual focus lenses) Sharp, great color and contrast and I was just blown away! Now I am shooting everything (no high dollar film to worriy about) just pick out the shots that I like and for 25 cents a print (4X6) I am most happy.
Now for the Cons. I haven't done any blow ups but even when I was shooting film I hardly ever made blow ups or cropped so tight that it would make any differnce, but I do fear that at 2 mp I won't get good quality. My biggest complaint is the shutter lag. Or the time it takes from pressing the button to the time it captures the image. I know that part of it is the auto focus and I can pre focus, but damb it is hard to catch the kids in action. I wish it was faster. I wish that it had better wide angle and longer optics all in one.
I am looking for the perfect camera. It would be something like this. Point and shoot simple and fast on the focus and recycle. Have a lens that went from in 35mm terms say 16mm wide to about 300mm long (in the glass). Actually another peeve is even though I love the options of a SLR type, I am getting tired of having to carry around the bag and the "baby". I am looking for a great pocket camera. I have Babied my SLRs for over 20 years, changed lenses, played with film and flashes and what have you and I love the control if not the results. But I don't have all the time and energy to devote to the hobby that I once did. All I want now is to be able to whip it out of my shirt pocket aim it in the general direction of the kids or the construction accident that is about to happen and shoot. Then on the PC I can crop, blur or whatever for effect. I have looked at the Optio 555? and kind of like it, but I do really need a wide angle to take photos inside of the spaces that I build. I haven't looked too lately to see what new stuff is out there. If anyone out there knows of a good point and shoot that goes W I D E, L O N G and fast let me know!

[lordsmurf]

Shutter lag is a huge problem.
Even Canon SLR's have it (exception 10D and that other pro one). Nikon SLR's don't have it on any of theirs.

I just assume go back to film before screwing around with shutter lag. I want my image and I want it NOW.

[holistic]

Another vote for Canon IMHO my 'oldie - but a goodie' G1 takes better pictures than todays 'e cheapo' 4+ MP POS.

[ZAPPER]

Shutter lag is a huge problem.
Even Canon SLR's have it (exception 10D and that other pro one). Nikon SLR's don't have it on any of theirs.

I just assume go back to film before screwing around with shutter lag. I want my image and I want it NOW.

Yep I have heard or read that Nikon is the fastest. And if I were to buy another "Baby" I would love a big bad Nikon full bodied bitch with a couple of lenses.
If I were to do a controled shoot I don't mind lugging out the old Minolta and my assortment of cheap lenses and flashes, but nowadays it is like having to crank your car by hand. (I must be getting soft)

I am like you I want it NOW I am even willing to give up a little focus or DOF (9 times out of 10 I miss anyways)

Truthfully the shutterlag is my biggest concern or I would have bought the Pentax 555. The sales man at the photo shop said the 555 was the fastest of the pocket cameras before I hinted that it was the one that I came to see. I haven't done any research to disprove his claim yet. And I am thinking that it did fair in the wide angle area also. I think I was comparing it to the Coolpix which was nice, but not really a pocket cam, more like a mini SLR.

I think that my wide for my film cam is 18 or 19mm. I got it for indoor shots of the spaces that I build and I still ain't quite happy with it. (Who would have thought it was so hard to take a good shot of a 60' X 20' wall from 10' away) Oh well.... the search for the perfect camera, lens, flash, film combonation goes on.

[Conquest10]

It only has a lowly 2mp and 3x optical.

You say that like its a bad thing. As I said before, 2 megapixels is pretty good. 3x optical? Is that all? That's another thing I don't get. The second thing people always ask is: "What is that, 5x or 10x zoom?" Does it matter? Unless all you shoot are football games or shy wildlife or something else (you know) what is the point of that long of a zoom? I'm pissed off that 20mm is the widest I can go right now (which is less on a digital).

[ZAPPER]

Conquest.
When I said it was only 2mp and 3x zoom I was really kind of hinting at the age of the camera. I have to say that looking at a store bought print (4x6 from the drug store wait an hour) it is a damb good print. I was linking lower mp with older technology. It always seems like these things grow in leaps and bounds and that nobody would even make a 2mp camera now. ( Yea I was being a little synical, everybody wants bigger, better, newer) This cam is maybe 3 years old or more(I don't really know) But when it was bought, knowing my boss, it was in the top of its class and wasn't cheap (hell I don't think that you can find them real cheap now for that matter) Like I said the professional prints are first class all the way. Hell I never had an auto-focus before, just to have more than 5% of my shots in focus is reason to celebrate at my house! I also don't do the blow ups (At least not since my high school photo class when it was your grade or a show) It would be nice to do some, but really, who wants to hang a bunch of big photos all over their house?

As for the optical zoom. I have to agree with you again. Not something that you need for every shot, but it is nice to have and if you are going to have it you might as well get all you can! A long lens lets you "get to places that you can't normally. And I like to use it like an old portrait lens, you can get close to a face without being in the subjects face. And for candid portraits it is almost a must have feature.

As for the wide...I think that it is time to go back to a studio camera with bellows! As wide as I would like is fish eyed! But I hate fisheyes!

Like I said I want it all and I want it now (I want it cheap too, but thats just asking for too much)

[Conquest10]

I remember when I first used a digicam. It was three years ago. An Olympus something (it wasn't mine). It took wonderful pictures and it was only 2 megapixels. When my niece was born, I used it to get some great shots of her. I'm still very happy with those pictures.
I'm not sure if they still make them at that low of a pixel count but I'm going to buy one soon. They're pretty cheap.

And I like to use it like an old portrait lens, you can get close to a face without being in the subjects face. And for candid portraits it is almost a must have feature.

For portraits I can see where a long lens comes in handy, but for candids?

[ZAPPER]

I remember when I first used a digicam. It was three years ago. An Olympus something (it wasn't mine). It took wonderful pictures and it was only 2 megapixels. When my niece was born, I used it to get some great shots of her. I'm still very happy with those pictures.
I'm not sure if they still make them at that low of a pixel count but I'm going to buy one soon. They're pretty cheap.

And I like to use it like an old portrait lens, you can get close to a face without being in the subjects face. And for candid portraits it is almost a must have feature.

For portraits I can see where a long lens comes in handy, but for candids?

Yeh. You know candids, when you are hiding in the dumpster in the alley shooting thru the partially open blinds, thru the slightly open bathroom door and off the mirror and into the shower stall at the womens dorm.

Actually, while that sounds like fun, by candid I mean when ever a camera is introduced into the area, people start to act different. With a long lens you can be far enough away not to be as noticed. Like my kids on the jungle gym. If I would go up to them to take a shot they would either strike a pose or turn away. But if sit on the park bench (This isn't what it sounds like) I can zoom in on them and catch them in their natural enviroment without them knowing. (Hmmm... My kids, your right, this does fall under wildlife photography)

Anyhow the moral of my little story about MPs and optical zoom is get all you can afford and I don't think you will be sorry (Who wants to have to carry all that extra cash around anyhow?)

A good camera doesn't make a good photographer (But it can't hurt)

While you are taking photos don't forget to enjoy the veiw while you are there.

(Yea yea...I know that they are misquoated but get the idea)

[sacajaweeda]

My first digi cam was a Polaroid PDC-640. Still have it here somewhere, actually. I bought it in a pawn shop back in 1998 or 1999 for 50 bucks, practically brand new with the box when Walmart was selling them for 250 bucks. It's probably a 60 dollar loss-leader nowadays, if anybody even still sells them.

[Conquest10]

I know what candids are. I was just refering to the use of long lenses for candids. Sure, people act differently when a camera is introduced. But you have to practice one of the main things asociated with photography: patience. Hang around for a while. Don't try to get the sneaky shot and run off. You'd be surprised how fast people start ignoring the camera. Then its just pure gold. Like the old saying goes: "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."

I tried using a long lens once with my niece. Didn't work at all. She loves hanging around me. Even more so if she sees I got somethng in my hand. The only lens I can use with her is the 20mm.

[Capmaster]

Another irritation of mine when I see ads for digicams is the interchangeability of optical zoom and digital zoom :P

The digital zoom is meaningless and is only cropping and resizing done in the camera's firmware. But they always multiply the two together