nid advice on new digi cam!

[savvyguy]

hmm..i nid a cam with the following capabilities.. and plss tell me the model and price if u noe of any which have the

following specs.. thx..

- Min 2 M.P. effective
- Good shutter speeds ( able to capture 'waterfall' static )
- *strong enuf* flash ( gd fotography under low-light conditions )
- Min 3X optical zoom
- Preferably not Point-And-Shoot ( Able to control ISO,Shutter speeds)
- Movie+Sound at 640X480 res. with framerate faster than 15 ( is there? / if not nvm )
- Sleek and Compact Design
- Good Battery Life ( Not that impt though )
- Using CF / SD / MMC card slots

[VJ]

Hello,

Welcome to MURC!

Over on this website:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

you can select your the features you'd like, and look in the current crop of cameras.

There are interesting reviews for various models of cameras on:

http://www.dpreview.com

http://steves-digicams.com

http://www.imaging-resource.com

(none of these sites is affiliated with us)

I personally like dpreview.

- Good shutter speeds ( able to capture 'waterfall' static )

For this you need longer shutter speeds, most digital cameras will exhibit some noise at longer speeds. But also, most digital cameras have built in noise reduction to correct this.

- Preferably not Point-And-Shoot ( Able to control ISO,Shutter speeds)

A lot of point and shoots do allow to set shutter speed, aperture, iso, ... Point and shoot is a term often used for smaller cameras (i.e. not digital reflex cameras). Most cameras allow for 4 modes: fully automatic (often called P), fully manual (M), shutter priority (S or Tv: you select the shutterspeed, the camera determines the aperture) and aperture priority (A or Av: you select the aperture, the camera determines the shutter speed).

- Good Battery Life ( Not that impt though )

Best battery life is generally obtained from lithium batteries, but they are more expensive. If the camera uses regular rechargable batteries, be sure to opt for high power NiMH (you can buy several sets for the price of a lithium battery)

- Using CF / SD / MMC card slots

CF are the cheapsest per MB. If you go for the latter storage, be sure the camera supports both SD and MMC (one is slightly thicker than the other, if the camera only supports the thin cards, it might be more difficult to find storage cards).

Best of luck,


Jörg

[az]

By Waterfall statics, doesn't he mean he wants to "freeze" the waterfall, thus needing very short shutter speeds?

AZ

[Fat Tone]

VJ - apart from AZ giving his 2p's worth , how about making this thread sticky -sort of an FAQ thread?

[VJ]

Oops, yes, he could well have meant he wants very short shutter speeds... I thought he wanted to capture the artificial looking waterfalls (effect you get when using long shutterspeeds, just try it on a fountain or something).
(Fat Tone: Well, I have to give az something to comment on... )

The idea of a sticky FAQ is very good, I'll start writing on one (I prefer a specially made post for this purpose than simply making a 'regular' post sticky)...


Jörg

[savvyguy]

Originally posted by VJ
Oops, yes, he could well have meant he wants very short shutter speeds... I thought he wanted to capture the artificial looking waterfalls (effect you get when using long shutterspeeds, just try it on a fountain or something).
(Fat Tone: Well, I have to give az something to comment on... )

The idea of a sticky FAQ is very good, I'll start writing on one (I prefer a specially made post for this purpose than simply making a 'regular' post sticky)...


Jörg

yup yup.. he was right.. i wanted static waterfalls.. which simply translates into good shutter speeds..
yes.. i do know abt the diff types of storage.. i do noe tad CF is cheap.. in fact i was having a IXUS V3 last time.. but lost it.. the main prob wif it is just that it isn't "universal" enuf.. meaning tad it isn't like SD cards.. which can be used on many devices.. ( laptops,handphones,palmtops etc).. so it would be great if i could use the card for multi-purposes..
hmm..and abt lithium batteries.. they're seriously expensive..which burns a hole in my pocket.. so most probably i would be going for AA batteries.. but it wouldn't matter if there's a camera which meets my specifications..
and also, i've read quite a no. of reviews at Dpreview..there are a lot of them.. but i still couldn't decide on a model which would possess all the capabilities which i want on my forthcoming cam.. so far i feel that the Sony DSC-V1 is close to my target.. and the Nikon Coolpix 3200 is oso quite a steal..but it seems to be lacking a "wow factor" in my opinion.. do u have any specific models to recommend me? tad would be great.. for i've gone thru' quite a no. of reviews.. but yet i still can't find the most suitable cam for myself.. hope i can get sum help here? =D

[VJ]

Well, I personally use a Nikon D100, and haven't had any experience with smaller cameras...

But friends of mine are very pleased with Canon (A70, G2, Ixus), Minolta (A1) and Sony (DSC-V1).
Downside to the Sony is the InfoLithium battery: while it performs relatively well, it is also exensive. Also, it uses memorystick, so those can only be used in Sony equipment.
I still feel the first step is to check the buyersguide on dpreview (first link I posted, but leave the price blank): it will give you an idea of the types of cameras that match your criteria.

Be aware that many other devices (cell phones, ...) use MiniSD (this is not the same as SD).

Jörg

[savvyguy]

Originally posted by VJ
Well, I personally use a Nikon D100, and haven't had any experience with smaller cameras...

But friends of mine are very pleased with Canon (A70, G2, Ixus), Minolta (A1) and Sony (DSC-V1).
Downside to the Sony is the InfoLithium battery: while it performs relatively well, it is also exensive. Also, it uses memorystick, so those can only be used in Sony equipment.
I still feel the first step is to check the buyersguide on dpreview (first link I posted, but leave the price blank): it will give you an idea of the types of cameras that match your criteria.

Be aware that many other devices (cell phones, ...) use MiniSD (this is not the same as SD).

Jörg

hmm..i noe abt the batt problem.. and i heard its capacity isn't that high isn't it? doesn't seem to last long..
i currently own a Tungsten T3 and a nokia 6600.. which i would be able to use on my palm.. and its definitely not mini sd, so dun nid to worry =)
and ya.. i checked out the "buyer's guide" as u've stated.. well.. still to no avail.. results are ard the same.. couldn't find any 1 which can satisfy my conditions.. except for the ones i've oreadi noted down..

[savvyguy]

Originally posted by VJ
Well, I personally use a Nikon D100, and haven't had any experience with smaller cameras...

But friends of mine are very pleased with Canon (A70, G2, Ixus), Minolta (A1) and Sony (DSC-V1).
Downside to the Sony is the InfoLithium battery: while it performs relatively well, it is also exensive. Also, it uses memorystick, so those can only be used in Sony equipment.
I still feel the first step is to check the buyersguide on dpreview (first link I posted, but leave the price blank): it will give you an idea of the types of cameras that match your criteria.

Be aware that many other devices (cell phones, ...) use MiniSD (this is not the same as SD).

Jörg

hmm..i noe abt the batt problem.. and i heard its capacity isn't that high isn't it? doesn't seem to last long..
i currently own a Tungsten T3 .. which i would be able to use on my palm.. and its definitely not mini sd, so dun nid to worry =)
and ya.. i checked out the "buyer's guide" as u've stated.. well.. still to no avail.. results are ard the same.. couldn't find any 1 which can satisfy my conditions.. except for the ones i've oreadi noted down..
ermm yah.. i checked out steve's.. the site was great! i read more reviews.. and saw the DSC-W1.. which was quite similar to the V1.. though its a "watered-down" version i guess..there's 1 thing i wanna ask.. would de quality of the picture be increased if memory stick PRO was employed instead of the normal type?

[VJ]

Originally posted by savvyguy
hmm..i noe abt the batt problem.. and i heard its capacity isn't that high isn't it? doesn't seem to last long..

No battery problems here... (the D100 is a digital reflex) I can take approx. 300-500 pictures on a single charge.

would de quality of the picture be increased if memory stick PRO was employed instead of the normal type? [/B]

No!
The picture is digital (0 and 1). And as is you medium, so the only difference you might see is speedwise (e.g. one card writing/reading faster than the other) and capacity.


Jörg

[savvyguy]

Originally posted by VJ
No battery problems here... (the D100 is a digital reflex) I can take approx. 300-500 pictures on a single charge.


No!
The picture is digital (0 and 1). And as is you medium, so the only difference you might see is speedwise (e.g. one card writing/reading faster than the other) and capacity.


Jörg

ohh..haha.. cos i saw on the website that movies would only be recorded at a speed of 30fps if the Pro stick was used.. and its a function i can't do without.. cos i wanna play ard with videos too.. yet taking gd stills at the same time..hmm.. another thing.. is the memory stick pro backward-compatible ? ( meaning tad the Pro stick can go into the normal memory stick slot on my TV )

[az]

This is because the Pro stick's writing is faster. The ordinary MS can't keep up with the amount of data those movies produce.

MS Pro is not backwards-compatible AFAIK, but the old MS is forwards-compatible, you can use it in MS Pro devices (but the slower speed means you can't record movies at 30 FPS, for instance).

AZ

[savvyguy]

Originally posted by az
This is because the Pro stick's writing is faster. The ordinary MS can't keep up with the amount of data those movies produce.

MS Pro is not backwards-compatible AFAIK, but the old MS is forwards-compatible, you can use it in MS Pro devices (but the slower speed means you can't record movies at 30 FPS, for instance).

AZ

hmm.. yup.. i understand.. anyway.. wads the price difference?? izzit large?

[az]

Don't know, look at your favourite photo/computer retailer

AZ