Hey all,
I had a couple of basic questions on digital photography, and out of all the available forums on Videohelp, this subforum seemed most appropriate. Mods, please feel free to move this post to a better forum as you see fit.
Basically the situation is this - I'm in the market for a point-and-shoot digital camera. As of this time, I have never purchased or used one (other than being asked to take pictures of friends using their cameras).
I have two basic questions.
1. Is there a particular brand (Canon, Fuji, Kodak) that I should be looking at? I'm not thinking of top-of-the-line picture quality, uber-advanced features, or video capability. I have a couple of preferences, though, namely ability to shoot pics with fixed image sizes of 1280x720, 1920x1080, or greater. As you may have guessed, I'm interested in displaying the pictures I take on a 1080p (plasma) TV screen. The other preferred feature is that the camera has a SDHC slot (not micro SDHC) for memory expansion. I have about 6 SDHC cards ranging in size from 4GB to 32GB. My preferred price range is $100 to $200.
2. Is there a good freeware digital image editor that the Videohelp forum members recommend? Can any freeware tools show a preview image, then have a crop mode where the user can specify a "crop window dimension" -- like 1920x1080 -- and be able to drag the crop window within the preview image to select only the 1920x1080 pixels of interest within a larger image?
I hope I am making sense with this query. I look forward to any recommendations and feedback from the community. Thank you very much in advance.
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If you're new to these cameras, then go buy a cheap (<$50) 6 to 10 MPixel camera and just play with it. Once you gain photography skills, you will be able to answer these questions on your own.
Also, a lot of cameras have a limit of GB for SD cards (at least mine does), so buy yourself some 512MB cards. These will give you a lot of photo storage - think of them as "film" canisters.ICBM target coordinates:
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Have a look at 'paint.net' or 'GIMP'
Both are free and support plug-ins made by various 3rd parties, some also support a few PhotoShop plug-ins
If you can stretch to it, go for a DSLR. I have the Fuji S1730 and thought it was good, but after using it for about 12 months have now noticed its failures so am now looking for a DSLR to replace it
But the idea of buying a cheap digital camera is a good idea to get you used to what can do what and just play with it. But avoid digital zoom, its not worth the effort, go for optical zoom where you can. Also remember that most if not all 'budget' camera use JPG to save the image so you lose some quality straight away through compression, which is why DSLR use RAW image format which is what the camera 'sees' but gives huge file sizes as nothing is removed from the image
6MP is plenty, that will easily print A4 images. With digital cameras the sensor is very important. Higher MP overloads the sensor that takes the image, DSLR sensors are much bigger so can handle increased MP better
So a 12MP x18 zoom might sound great and is for 'normal' shots but try taking pictures at very high MP and high zoom levels and you'll see the quality drop. Thats why camera phones take acceptable images but not great. A tiny sensor and tiny lens
Oh and lens brand quality does make a difference, regardless to what people might say -
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I suggest these two, given the available want list:
Sony: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00328HR76/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thdifa-20&link...SIN=B00328HR76
Canon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZSHNG8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thdifa-20&link...SIN=B003ZSHNG8
Those both have nice long zooms (10x+), and are just under $200 shipped.
Note: Amazon is suggested as the place to buy, for the best overall shipped price, and is a reliable store. Don't make the mistake of buying at some cheap no-name New York store -- those are scams, you'll get screwed. I've pretty much used Amazon exclusively for a few years, to buy all my gear.
The Sony uses Sony memory cards, not SD. (Honestly, SD cards are the crappiest memory storage around. NEVER use a no-name brand! You WILL lose your photos. Only use Lexar, SanDisk, Transcend, or Kingston.) Your old SD cards may be too slow for modern cameras anyway -- you want a Class6 or better card.
Brands like Kodak, Fuji, etc are the copiers, not the trend setters. Sony and Canon lead the industry for point-and-shoots. Panasonic and Nikon come next. Everybody else licks coattails and eats dust.
I use this SLR: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SQKVD0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thdifa-20&link...SIN=B002SQKVD0
And this P&S: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O9ARDG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thdifa-20&link...SIN=B001O9ARDGLast edited by lordsmurf; 1st Aug 2011 at 15:59.
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I vote for this one: Sony: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00328HR76
Great camera for the money and takes very good high def vids too. For camera mode the burst mode is superior to most cameras and the panorama mode is very good. Also has a good manual mode if you want to tweak your shots.
And it will fit in your shirt pocket. -
I recommend this Canon: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SX130IS-Stabilized-3-0-Inch/dp/B003ZSHNG8/ref=sr...237135&sr=8-10
I have it and it takes great photos, it also uses SD cards and has a 3" screen. As for free photo editing software I recommend Google Picasa, it's easy to use and you can share your photos online. It has a nice 16:9 crop feature too.
BTW: some cameras have a 16:9 mode so no cropping is necessary.Last edited by MOVIEGEEK; 1st Aug 2011 at 17:32.
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Great feedback everybody, thanks.
Concentrating my research on the Canon and Sony products that are endorsed in the earlier replies.
Leaning towards the Sony one because....
1. It's HD video capability is 1080i, versus the Canon's 720p,
2. It appears to accept SDHC memory cards,
3. It is at its lowest price ever on Amazon, according to camelcamelcamel. Slightly cheaper than the Canon (as of today).
Question to the Sony advocates...
One of the Amazon reviews on the Sony camera states that the rechargeable battery must be removed from the camera before it can be charged, and also that the camera does not include an AC charger (these were listed as "cons" by the reviewer). How then does one charge the battery? -
Actually that Sony camera has a AC charger that you plug into the wall then use the included cable to charge the battery in the camera. (You leave the battery in the camera to charge it with that cable) I happened to have a external charger that I received with another Sony camera model so I use that. You could probably buy a charger if you need to charge extra batteries for standby use. The camera also seems to charge the battery whenever you plug it in to a USB powered port but I have not be able to verify that.
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Thanks. I have downloaded the user guide and am reviewing it now. Looks like it can take SDHC up to 32GB, but the manual doesn't say anything about what Class is required. I presume that I will need Class 10 to record 1080i video without losing frames. But for just taking still images, would Class 4 or Class 6 be good enough?
Thanks again everybody. -
In my experience Class 6 is enough. The problem is some cameras are picky, I have a Kodak camera that doesn't like Class 6 but my Canon does. The brand of SD card seems to also make a difference, my Kodak likes Sandisk but not Transcend.
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I am using a class 4 and it seems to work OK. However, it is a Sony card. It will record AVCHD and the high burst mode with no problems.
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The following Slickdeal discussion thread went front page this morning. Link:
Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera (Black) $199 or $149 w/ KSO Amazon
I don't have a Kindle, so the KSO (Kindle Special Offer) does not apply to me, but I do have about $30 in Amazon credit. So my new question to everyone is this: is this camera worth $169 shipped?
Thank you in advance. -
No.
It's not better than the Canon and Sony I posted about one page back.
It has a tiny little 5x zoom.
That's a pretty little pocket cam for the girly girl who wants shots with friends, and stows it in her purse.
It's for "pictures" more than basic photography.Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
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