Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot H1
..Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one you
like !

I always tell people to LOOK at the photos that their camera choices
actually make at Digital Imaging
http://www.imaging-resource.com/archive/0208.HTM or search google for 'The
Amazing Comparometer' found at
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE PICTURES YOUR CAMERA CHOICES MAKE AND A/B THEM!!!

How much more strongly can I put that?

Why **** around asking what *we* think when you can see for yourself on YOUR
OWN MONITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Information is what the net is all about.

K Barrett

"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...
Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot
H1
.Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one you
like !

"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...
Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot
H1
.Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one you
like !



I have 3 sonys and they all take GREAT photos

I have a Canon Powershot Pro 1. It was reasonably priced, with 8
megapixels images. The photos I have taken with it have turned our
great. I am still trying to figure out some aspects of using it, such
as how to turn off the flash and have it maintain a high shutter speed
(at least high enough that the image doesn't blur).

I would not be surprised if there are better cameras out there, but
this is a god one that is affordable.

My suggestion would be that you pay more attention to what you like and
less to reviews, except when they refer to reliability. If, e.g., the
reviewer indicates the product needs service every few weeks,. then you
know it is garbage regardless of how good a picture it takes. But if
it is described as reasonably durable, and you like the pictures it
taes, how can you go wrong? And in my experience, if you go into the
smaller photography shops, they are usually quite happy to let you take
a few test photos in store with the digital cameras they have in stock,
and print them out on their photo printer. (One in town here offers
printing of photos take with a digital camera as a service to those who
have such a camera but not a printer.) They see it as a way to compete
with big box stores that are often lacking more in terms of quality of
service than they provide in discounts to prices.

Cheers,

Ted


R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making

My camera is a couple years old now, I have no idea about the current
models. As far as specs go, there are certainly things you can look for.

For taking pictures of small things, you want a camera that focuses on
objects very close to the lens. If you plan on taking pictures of miniature
orchids, make sure your camera can focus within a couple inches. Mine can
focus within 2cm and lets me get pictures of very small flowers.

Check the range of f-stops for the aperature. When you are focusing on
something close the depth-of-field is very important. My digital camera
only goes to f/10 and it's very hard to get all of a flower in focus on
close-ups. My film camera goes to f/32 with the macro lens and it makes a
huge difference.

If you can try the cameras, compare how well the built-in flash works. The
built-in flash on my camera is a nearly useless piece of crap. I'm able to
hook up an external flash to my camera and I use that for most of my
pictures. Another thing to check with flash is the shutter speed when you
are using the flash. On my camera it is 1/60 of a second, which is a little
slow. If I'm not holding the camera very still I get some blurring in the
image. I'd prefer something faster.

Just like with different films, different digital cameras will record colors
a little differently. My camera has trouble with pinks/purples/lavenders,
sometimes what shows up on the camera is quite different from what my eye
sees.

FYI my aging digital camera is a Nikon 4500. I'll probably look at the
Konica Minolta digital SLR cameras next year since I would be able to use
the lenses and ringflash from my film camera with those.

-danny

"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...
Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot
H1
.Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one you
like !

I am also looking for a new digital camera. Thank you so much for
recommending this site - it is wonderful!

Chris

"K Barrett" wrote in message
news
I always tell people to LOOK at the photos that their camera choices
actually make at Digital Imaging
http://www.imaging-resource.com/archive/0208.HTM or search google for 'The
Amazing Comparometer' found at
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE PICTURES YOUR CAMERA CHOICES MAKE AND A/B THEM!!!

How much more strongly can I put that?

Why **** around asking what *we* think when you can see for yourself on
YOUR
OWN MONITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Information is what the net is all about.

K Barrett

Keith, if your only purpose in buying a digital camera is to photograph orchids at reasonably close range, have a look
at the information on the Brisbane Orchid Society site at http://www.users.bigpond.com/gmcorbi...talcamera.html

Macro flash is very important. Many of the better cameras have their flash situated on top of the body. In this
position the lens shields a close (macro) object from full illumination by the flash. Then a ring flash becomes
necessary. I have this problem with my Panasonic FZ20. This camera is marvellous with natural light macro but, with
flash, half the subject is in shadow.

So for macro flash I fall back on my (relatively) cheap little Nikon Coolpix 3300. Its lens takes up little room, so
the flash illuminates the full object even at 5 cm (2") range. But note that the flash on some cameras can't adjust to
close macro range, & washes out the picture.

Having said all that, the FZ20 is excellent in all other respects. Optical zoom of 12 X, with a 35 mm equivalent focal
length of 36 to 420 mm at f 2.8; good image stabiliser for long shots; selectable ISO equivalent from 80 to 400;
selectable aperture or shutter priority, as well as the idiot proof mode I usually set; selectable metering &
autofocus, including spot for both; manual focus option; electronic viewfinder as well as the normal lcd screen (I find
the viewfinder very useful when trying to focus on an orchid 60 feet up a tree!). I've been very happy with it. And,
while a good quality slr will probably out perform it, it's still as good as my old Minolta X700 kit and far cheaper
than an equivalent digital slr kit.

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:25:14 GMT, "keith ;-\)" wrote:

Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot H1
.Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one you
like !

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:25:14 GMT in keith ;-) wrote:
Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot H1
.Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one you
like !

Go visit the digital camera newsgroups.
The main formfactors are
DSLR (If you're likely to consider one, you already know what the
acronym stands for)
ZLR (Zoom Lens Reflex, as memory serves it's the one with a nearly
normal camera lense integreated)
Point N Shoot...

I've been quite happy with a Pentax Optio S4i. It works as well as my
dad's ZLR, and despite being in a little leather pouch labeled "Pentax"
noone thinks I'm carrying a camera.
I'd like to get a good DSLR (Keep looking at the Canon and Pentax ones)
for low light flashless photography, but I can't justify spending the money.


--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil

No need to swear! K Barrett. I don't always trust the test photos on the net
as most have probably been manipulated and probably look totally different
from the original shot!I personally like to see the shot as it was taken
without any colour etc adding.
Thanks all for the input.
I will check the web site out later.
Cheers Keith
"K Barrett" wrote in message
news
I always tell people to LOOK at the photos that their camera choices
actually make at Digital Imaging
http://www.imaging-resource.com/archive/0208.HTM or search google for 'The
Amazing Comparometer' found at
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE PICTURES YOUR CAMERA CHOICES MAKE AND A/B THEM!!!

How much more strongly can I put that?

Why **** around asking what *we* think when you can see for yourself on
YOUR
OWN MONITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Information is what the net is all about.

K Barrett

"keith ;-)" wrote in message
...
Hi All, I am thinking of buying a new dig camera so I am looking for
recommends and advise before I buy one.
Favourites so far, Kodak Z740, Konica Minolta Dimage Z5, Sony Cybershot
H1
.Any response on these cameras or what you have/are happy with would be
appreciated .
Thanks Keith
PS All these makes & specifications make your head spin,you think you
have
found the camera for you then you read a bad review or see another one
you
like !