Camera Choices...Arrrgh!! HELP?!?

jurichar

jurichar

Member
OOOOOK, I'm trying to buy a camera so i can get into taking these cool pictures that everyone on here takes...primarily macro's. So i went to wal-mart and just bought one (you can take it back if you dont like it), so i could get a base to start from. The camera is a sony cybershot p200 (about $350). It's a nice camera, but when you go to take a macro pic the camera will zoom in nice and close....but it cant focus on the object your zooming in on. Even if it is 6" or so away....This cannot be good!
SOOO, i need serious help. All you pros, suggest to me a camera that is around the same price and will work good for what im trying to acomplish! I would prefer one w/ manual controls so i can play with all the settings and LEARN (as all of us SW junkies love to learn). I should also say that i would really prefer not to get a big bulky camera, it would be nice to get a small travel/pocket friendly camera....but if i have to i suppose i can give a lil ;)
thanks in advance for all your help!!!!!!!!
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
Kodak Dx7590 i think is at 400 right now, i paid 500, and i love it...check out my thread "picture diary," there are tons of pics by that camera, and the last page or two has some really nice shots, in my opinion.
 
dmjordan

dmjordan

Active Member
I have a Fuji finepix 9 megapixel. Shots aren,t to bad. Check out my tank shots in this forum. Camera cost 500.00 - walmart online only though not in store.
 
yimmy

yimmy

Active Member
My dad has a nikon D70...I use it a lot and is perfect, bit pricey though, it has a fast shutterspeed so you can catch all the fish while there moving
 
rcbruce

rcbruce

Member
OKKKKKKKKKK. This is what I do for a living. Manager of a Ritz Camera Center.
Let me get this out of my system first. WAL-MART SUCKS ROCKS!
sigh (better now)
Nikon, definately. Best lens quality on the market, truiest color reproduction, easy to use. You want pocket size, try the Nikon L4. Includes vibration reduction (image stabilazation) $450..........or the Nikon 7600, $250..............both have easy to use scene modes.
The Nikon D50 if you want pure picture quality and the availability of optional attachments. Big camera tho, so it's strictly if you want quality over size. $600
Sony is product specific, even among Sony. They are the only one's that use memory sticks and as such are the most expensive, and they lock you in that way, so if you don't own other Sony products, you might want to stay away.
Kodak.........welllllll.........someone here already said they like theirs and I don't want to offend anyone. Just know Kodak keeps our repair center in business.
Minolta is getting out of the camera business the end of this month.
Canon would be the best second choice to Nikon.
Good luck!
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
if anyone really sells camera's for a living, they would not steer you in the path of a kodak.
research the lens first... then go from there..
olympus and nikon make great lenses.. kodak makes good paper to print a picture on.
 
jurichar

jurichar

Member
Originally Posted by RCBruce
OKKKKKKKKKK. This is what I do for a living. Manager of a Ritz Camera Center.
Let me get this out of my system first. WAL-MART SUCKS ROCKS!
sigh (better now)
Nikon, definately. Best lens quality on the market, truiest color reproduction, easy to use. You want pocket size, try the Nikon L4. Includes vibration reduction (image stabilazation) $450..........or the Nikon 7600, $250..............both have easy to use scene modes.
The Nikon D50 if you want pure picture quality and the availability of optional attachments. Big camera tho, so it's strictly if you want quality over size. $600
Sony is product specific, even among Sony. They are the only one's that use memory sticks and as such are the most expensive, and they lock you in that way, so if you don't own other Sony products, you might want to stay away.
Kodak.........welllllll.........someone here already said they like theirs and I don't want to offend anyone. Just know Kodak keeps our repair center in business.
Minolta is getting out of the camera business the end of this month.
Canon would be the best second choice to Nikon.
Good luck!
perfect!!! I will be researching this further, you are awesome!
I would rather not get a bulky camera, is it possible to get good pic quality with a pocket sized model such as the L4???
Do these camera's you mentioned have manual adjustments....or do i need manual adjustments with these camera???
thanks for all the input, i at least have a place to start now!!
 
jurichar

jurichar

Member
um.... are you sure on the L4 thing?? that camera is only like $150??? it doesnt look that impressive??? did u mean S4?
Thanks!!
 
rcbruce

rcbruce

Member
yes cain, I do really sell cameras for a living, not to mention I have a degree from the New York Institute of Photography and do stock nature and wildlife photography for 15 years now.
As I said, I wasn't trying to offend the person that likes his Kodak, but wasn't recommending it. Trying to be politically correct here.
jurichar, to begin with, Nikon doesn't make a $150 retail level camera, unless your looking at the internet, which I also don't advise as you could be getting a gray market camera (no USA warranty) or a refurbished camera, and you have no recorse in most cases if something goes wrong. Not to mention putting people like me out of work.
The Nikon S4 is the one with a 10 times optical zoom. Larger body size than you are looking for.
Yes you can get good pictures with pocket cameras. You don't need manual settings to do it. You may have to play with settings such as the white balance to get the colors you want. Look for the letters VR on the camera, which means vibration reduction.
 
mystic7

mystic7

Member
Also keep in mind that if you opt not to get a DSLR (which allows you to change lenses) make sure the camera you buy has a little daisy like flower looking icon. That means you can take macros with it.
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
I have a Canon A95, Love it! Small, macro, 14 settings (auto,man), Can change lenses for more optic zoom, nice flexable led screen and runs on AA batts. For the size and price point can't ask for much more unless you go SLR body.
JMO
Tim
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
haha, burn him!!! he's a witch, a witch!!! ........just playin..no problem bruce, we all have our opinions, i've had this camera for quite some time and never had a problem yet. so its just my opinion too
***)
 
oceanbreez

oceanbreez

Member
Originally Posted by RCBruce
OKKKKKKKKKK. This is what I do for a living. Manager of a Ritz Camera Center.
Let me get this out of my system first. WAL-MART SUCKS ROCKS!
sigh (better now)
Nikon, definately. Best lens quality on the market, truiest color reproduction, easy to use. You want pocket size, try the Nikon L4. Includes vibration reduction (image stabilazation) $450..........or the Nikon 7600, $250..............both have easy to use scene modes.
The Nikon D50 if you want pure picture quality and the availability of optional attachments. Big camera tho, so it's strictly if you want quality over size. $600
Sony is product specific, even among Sony. They are the only one's that use memory sticks and as such are the most expensive, and they lock you in that way, so if you don't own other Sony products, you might want to stay away.
Kodak.........welllllll.........someone here already said they like theirs and I don't want to offend anyone. Just know Kodak keeps our repair center in business.
Minolta is getting out of the camera business the end of this month.
Canon would be the best second choice to Nikon.
Good luck!

Yep I like Nikon for sure they are the best. I'm kind of a Nikon snob I guess.
What lighting would be good for taking pictures of a 75 gallon that is near
the window? I'm a photographer but I have trouble with digital as I'm still
a film shooter. I notice my blue tang is more aqua than royal blue in the
pics. I'm just learning digital. I have a D70 and quite a few lenses.
Nice to meet ya
 
jurichar

jurichar

Member
--.
Take a look....i think crutchfield is a pretty reliable source??? is this the right camera?
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GzdfIL1....asp?i=054CPL4
OK....i guess the successor to the a95 is the A620. as i read a little bit further this camera seems to be pretty awesome...the feature i like the most is the ability to add telephoto lens which would allow me to take better macros from a pocket sized camera! It can be had for ~300.
-- does nikon make a compact that has lens addition capabilities that would be comparable (price and quality) to this canon????
 
yimmy

yimmy

Active Member
I think the D70 is awesome...fast and great pics, kind of big. I used to have the olympus 50 50 but it was so SLOW!. Thats why me and my dad put our mula together for the D70. Awesome and a toddler could use it...or you can put it on manual and a pro would be satisfied
 
jurichar

jurichar

Member
went and looked at some camera's today. I wasnt very impressed with the a620, but the SD450 i thought was awesome. The a620 took a good picture, but completely lost the ability to focus when zooming. The sd450 could hold focus pretty much through full zoom.
Any thoughts on the sd450?
 
rcbruce

rcbruce

Member
BTW, forgot to answer your question, and no, nikon believes as I do. You can't make an slr out of a point and shoot camera. People come to me all the time with those things and ask why their pics look so bad. I take the adapt-a-lenes off and tell them, "problem solved"
 
jay&beck

jay&beck

New Member
I use the Canon Rebel at home and when working at the FD we carry the Nikon D70 on the Engine. My preference is the Canon over the Nikon, both have their pros and cons. It mainly comes down to how much you want to spend.
 
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