Camera

Howdy Robb,

My camera finally gave up working the other day when I went to see Chinese New Year in London and now I think it woukld be a great time to update to a new one. Can you recommend a good camera that would take high quality photos in digital for use at theme parks and good for taking photos of fast moving rides.

All help is appreciated,

Jonathan

I'm not Robb, but I'm fat and from Southern California, so close enough.

I'm going to ask a few questions that will help me help you.

Do you have a spending limit? Do you want just a point and click, or something more professional? Do you want automatic, or are you skilled enough for more manual settings? Just how big do you need your pictures (like do you want to print 4X6's or Posters)? Do you have a company preference (are the type of person to only buy ONLY Sony? Olympus? Cannon? HP? Kodak?) This should help you get started on what you want.

I <3 my Canon S45 (it's at S70 now:crying: )

Hector "I should sell cameras" G.

Hard to beat my Canon Digital Rebel 300D. I got it on eBay, with warrantee for 650 bucks. About 400 off the shelf price. For that kind of deal I couldnt pass it up.

So far Ive taken pictures with Canon, Nikon and Kodak cameras. The Canon cameras blow away everything else for color and sharpness. Even my dads 4mp canon powershot (I think) took some amazing photos and the color was awesome.

Of course my 300D is FAR more advanced and takes 6mp pictures and even though its got a automatic mode, its a camera for those who have some camera background or some schooling. Alot to learn but it pays off later.

Heres a collection I took last year with my dads:

http://www.real-coasters.com/tripreport/MIA/images/mia.html

I didnt have to do hardly any tweaking on any of those photographs. Of course on a crystal clear blue sky day, thats a given. But most cameras dont get the sky color just right, this thing nailed it right on.

I work in Jessops (a camera shop in England) and I pretty much agree with what RCFreak said, without knowing a budget or level, there's not much anyone can suggest. My guide would be:

Expensive

/\

Digital SLRs - Canon or Nikon

Prosumer (professional, fixed lens cameras) Minolta or Canon

High end digital compact - Sony

Lower end digital compact - Olympus, Canon, Fuji

\/

Cheap

And Real, don't you mean the 300D? I've never seen a 30D, 20D maybe, but not a 30. Unless the model numbers are different over here, we don't have Rebels, but EOSs.

Thanks for the quick replys guys. In responce to RCFreak and Martyn:

I don't really want to spend over £200-£250 on it, mainly because i have hardly any money at the mo but I think my parents could help me out. I would realisticlly want to point and click, I don't really want to spend a large amount of time setting the camera up. I don't go to theme parks to ake pictures, lol, taking them is just a bonus. I would like the pictures to be jsut for online use, I don't think I would ever want to print them off. And I'm not picky what company it is made by.

All help would be great,

Jonathan H

p.s.

Nice pictures real!

Thanks guys for helping him out.

I have to be honest, we are more into video than still photos, so our still camera is just a tiny 2 megapixel Sony Cybershot U (but we'll be upgrading to one of the new Cybershots at some point.)

As for video cameras, this is what I'm currently using:

Sony DCR-HC30 and

Sovy TRV-19

Both have a x0.6 wide angle lens.

Hope that helps!

--Robb

I am currently using a:

Shame it broke though, it was a good camera even though it took a while for it to take the photo after pressing the button. I am just looking for a camera that isn't massive that I can just take photos with without it becoming a chore and something that takes to long. The battery life on my camera at the moment is extremly poor, lasting only about 30 mins before turning itself off.

Seeing as you stated your budget in pounds, it makes my life easier, because it seems you are from the UK

This model is discontinued now, to make way for the seven-megapixel efforts from Sony, however it's still a fantastic model, very quick, amazing battery life, Carl Zeiss lens, and still 5 mega pixels.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=5438107358&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=63756

Another one I might suggest would be the Canon IXUS 30

http://www.jessops.com/search/viewproduct.cfm?PRODUCT=CANIXUSD30&BRAND=&CONTINUE=false&FEATS=&FIRSTPRICE=&KEYWORD=&LEVEL=&MODELNUMBER=&NEWQUERY=True&NODE=0&NODE_PATH=0&ORD=ASC&ORDERBY=&QUANTITY=10&RECENT=0&REFINE=&SEARCH_FOR=ixus%2030&SEARCHNODE=0&SEARCHURL=dointellisearch.cfm&SECONDPRICE=&SHOWCASEID=&STARTROW=1&SUBS=&WORD_SEARCH=Y&

Very very compact camera, big screen, 3.2 megapixels and SD card compatible.

So although more expensive than the Sony, its memory cards are cheaper, and you'll get more pictures on the cards as it's only 3.2 megapixels. (Up to A4 print size)

I would probably take the Sony, as the battery life is better, it's got a few more manual features, and the lens quality is excellent. However you'd be buying into memory stick, so if you upgraded later, it'd either have to be a Sony, or you'd have to get rid of your cards. The Canon is only really that much money because of its size.

........

 

Another one I might suggest would be the Canon IXUS 30

 

http://www.jessops.com/search/viewproduct.cfm?PRODUCT=CANIXUSD30&BRAND=&CONTINUE=false&FEATS=&FIRSTPRICE=&KEYWORD=&LEVEL=&MODELNUMBER=&NEWQUERY=True&NODE=0&NODE_PATH=0&ORD=ASC&ORDERBY=&QUANTITY=10&RECENT=0&REFINE=&SEARCH_FOR=ixus%2030&SEARCHNODE=0&SEARCHURL=dointellisearch.cfm&SECONDPRICE=&SHOWCASEID=&STARTROW=1&SUBS=&WORD_SEARCH=Y&

 

Very very compact camera, big screen, 3.2 megapixels and SD card compatible.

So although more expensive than the Sony, its memory cards are cheaper, and you'll get more pictures on the cards as it's only 3.2 megapixels. (Up to A4 print size)

 

 

I would probably take the Sony, as the battery life is better, it's got a few more manual features, and the lens quality is excellent. However you'd be buying into memory stick, so if you upgraded later, it'd either have to be a Sony, or you'd have to get rid of your cards. The Canon is only really that much money because of its size.

I have the Canon Ixus 40 & highly recommend it. Only major difference is that 40 is 4 megapixels. Fits well in your jean pocket.

Got it just after Christmas - all I need to do now is take it to a park !! :?

Yeah, and considering he had an HP, I assume he may have some SD cards left from it, so that may be the better purchase.

They looks like nice cameras. Is 3.2 megapixels good? Any major difference compared to 4 mega pixels? And yer, I do have a sd card. A 64mb one that I havn't filled up on one trip yet.

^A 3.2 megapixel good if you aren't going to be printing pictures bigger than 4x6. Robb I can't believe that you have a 2 megapixel because the pictures on TPR look better than a 2 megapixel camera.

The amount of pixels doesn't determine the quality, that's the job of the lens, for nearly 2 years I'd been using a 2 mega pixel Fuji, the pictures were fantastic quality, they just wouldn't print big. I also had a digital video thing that recorded onto SD cards and that would take 4 megapixel stills, but they we awful quality.

Once you go above something like 1 megapixel, there's not a great deal of difference in quality of photos, you can just crop a lot closer with more pixels, and that crop will retain quality.

Well, the more pixels you have per inch, the sharper the picture (yes, unless your lens sucks) and the larger the image will print.

DPI and Lens are pretty much the ruler of the Digital world. One without the other will do ok, maybe good at best. But after I got my Canond 300D, I dont think Id ever use anything else. Throwing on the 300mm Lens (which is about 550 after the Focal length multiplier) and taking rapid fire shots...MMMMmmm

Cant wait for this coaster season, I may need another 1gb card!

The EOS 300D is a great camera. It's an entry level digital SLR, so there are a lot of functions that it doesn't have. The new Canon EOS 350D will be coming out in March which was just announced at PMA. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/0...non_eos350d.asp It has a lot of features from the 20D, but there are still some missing. Although I'm not sure that most people will use those extra features.

For point and shoot and prosumer cameras, Canon has the best to offer. I would strongly suggest a Powershot A95, which is about $400 (US currency) I have an A80 (Which was replaced by the A95) and it is a great camera. Remember that that megapixels don't determine the quality of the picture which is a very common misconception. People automatically thing "Oh this one has more megapixels so it must be better" and that's not true. If you're going to make big prints of your photos, then you'll want a camera with more megapixels. If you are just going to use them for the web and don't need big resolution, then 3.2 megapixels will be just fine.

Sorry for ranting on so long, it's just that I'm really into photography. (Should have my Canon EOS 20D by April)

EDIT: If you want a site to compare cameras, go to http://www.dpreview.com Probably the best site to compare and review cameras.

But what is a good camcorder for night time recording...

Im in the market to purchase a good camcorder. Something small so I can get on-ride (legally) and something so that when im on a dark ride I can get good quality video footage.

I have narrowed it down to 2

Sony DCR-DVD 301

And

JVC GZ-200US

Any suggestions on a good camcorder?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/0...non_eos350d.asp

That page doesnt exist.

And true, the 300D is the entry level, but I havent even started to utilize all of the functions it has on it. Only a really avid, near professional person needs any more than the 300D offers. Plus I got mine for a fraction of the price they normally sell them at so Im very happy. No more scanning negatives!

I just upgraded my aging (but reliable) Canon Powershot A20 (2.1m) for a lovely new shiny small lovely Olympus C70 Zoom (C7000 in the US) - which is a 7.1M 5x optical zoom jobby and smaller than the slightly brick-like Powershot.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted from the camera - and it was a pretty big picture (7 meg!) but very important was the optical zoom and the physical size of it - going anything more than 5x zoom, then the camera body got more "SLR-shaped" and less "pocketable"...and that was the clincher, it fits in my pocket and takes top pictures.

Only been experimenting with it so far, but it does take a top picture and its got a bag full of options on board - very happy with it.

£330 off the TCR (which will mean something if you are in London) - internet prices about the same.

Dave.

^^ This link should work.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/05021704canon_eos350d.asp

Man, now I want one of those! Grrr...

Well we bought a Kodak with the SD card, it does do Movies with sound, but haven't really played with this to much.

Maybe I'll try it when we hit our first park this year, I'm buying a 1gig sd card as soon as I can

here's a pic, we are pretty happy with it, we bought it in Aug of 2003

I have yet to test out my digi-cam I bought last summer at a theme park. It does movies with sounds up to 11 minutes depending on quality. I'm happy with it and it takes some good clips (I video clipped a friend's band a few weeks ago with it) and some excellent pix.

Okay since this is now the 'show of your camera' thread...

This is my evil Sony Cybershot DSC-P52

Saying that, its not actually done anything wrong yet...