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Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 1847
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:51 am Post Subject: What Camera To Buy?
Seeing as this site is run by photographic experts what better place to ask this question? :D
John & Melody, do you guys have any recommendations within what might be considered the budget or entry-level price range (up to $250, maybe $300 max on current funds for extracurricular items!) for decent digital cameras that will take good images of all things skyward?
I've been checking out prices at Expert Infotech Ltd which is where I've got highly competitive prices on parallel imported PC stuff etc in the past. They have a fair list of digital cameras here - http://www.einfo.co.nz/shop/index.php?cPath=56_62
If it's not too much hassle maybe you could give it a quick glance and see what you come up with so others can see it here too. Would be very much appreciated :wink:
Just looking quickly in the Fuji section, this one looked to be ok to my totally untrained eye budget-wise considering it's 10mp (although looks to be almost completely auto settings) - http://www.einfo.co.nz/shop/product_info.php?products_id=10680
To be honest the one in the first post at $235 is more suited to my budget right now but if something like the second one is really leaps & bounds beyond then I might be able to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it somehow seeing as it's only another $70 :oops:
Joined: 23 Nov 2005
Posts: 1001
Location: Wellington NZ
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:47 pm Post Subject:
My experience is it that it isn't the camera but more the operator..
A really good camera helps but trust me when I say that sometimes a really amazing shot can happen from a camera that yah thought was $hit.
Joined: 05 Nov 2003
Posts: 387
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:12 pm Post Subject:
Quote:
John & Melody, do you guys have any recommendations within what might be considered the budget or entry-level price range (up to $250, maybe $300 max on current funds for extracurricular items!) for decent digital cameras that will take good images of all things skyward?
Crakka, you don't ask for much do you? Frankly, what you are asking for does not exist in a new camera in my opinion. It has to be said though, that I know very little about cameras in this category. Ask me about professional quality DSLRs and it would be another matter.
However, as it happens, we ourselves have lately identified a requirement for a carry-around-at-all-times pocket camera that could produce, at a pinch, image library quality images and also, as you put it, take good images of all things skyward. The last part of the requirement would seem to be the most difficult, implying as it does, the necessity for a long range zoom to zero in on high flying objects and we have not found a camera with such a zoom together with the capability of producing suitable quality. You see, of most importance to us is that such a camera be able to capture raw files. Raw files are not images as such, but is the raw unprocessed data captured directly from the image sensor. When a camera is set to produce JPEGs, much of the information from the sensor is discarded and thus only limited subsequent enhancement of the image is possible. This is important not only for revealing all subtle detail but for also extending dynamic range. Another advantage is that if one does capture something truly extraordinary in the sky, by producing the original raw file it is possible to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the image was not tampered with or added to, as is so easy to do with state-of-the-art software programs like Photoshop CS4.
The camera that does interest us, after much research, is the Canon G10. This is a 14.7 megapixel compact (largish pocket sized) camera and that has astonished some professionals with the quality of its output. See this article for example, http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/kidding.shtml . It has a 5x wide-angle (28mm) optical zoom lens with optical Image stabilizer, which is not perfect for UAPs, however a tele-converter is available that screws into the end of the lens to extend its range. This camera also has a optical viewfinder which I consider to be almost essential, as well as a 3 inch LCD. I note that Expert Infotech have this camera listed at $765.00 including GST ( http://www.einfo.co.nz/shop/product_info.php?products_id=11350 ). Now this is obviously outside of your budget, however having a good idea of your requirements, as I do, I would strongly urge you to save your pennies and purchase such a camera as the G10 rather than something that may prove to be a compromise (a marshmallow test?). Your other option, of course, is to purchase something second-hand, but even then you will be somewhat limited in your options.
The above is just my opinion, of course, so don't feel bad about disregarding it. :D
Apologies for being somewhat tardy with my response to your original post, I had wished to address your question earlier this week but things got somewhat hectic around here - I blame this ridiculous 'season'...
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 1847
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:46 pm Post Subject:
John, thank you VERY much for getting back with that helpful info. I realised as I was typing initially that it was probably a big ask with a very broad range of possible options, all of them probably being a compromise as you say in the price range I was looking at! Therefore I appreciate your reply immensely considering your obvious experience in the field.
You've definitely given me food for thought! I'd thought earlier that maybe if I was to get a "halfway decent" camera then it would be back to the drawing board to sort out the budget & priorities anyway! That G10 does look very nice and your comment about RAW image recording & othger features all make very good sense - indeed the features available on this camera for $765.00 make it look pretty attractive. Hmmmm.....
Thanks again and as for "this ridiculous 'season'..." - tell me about it! I had to almost stop on the way home in post rush hour traffic on a main road because some church was doing a public nativity re-enactment! Nothing against that perse but when it's out at the side of the road with road cones, etc making everyone rubberneck & slowdown it just reminded me YET again how nuts people go at this time of the year!!! :roll:
