Amateur Photographer needs new camera....help?

[andynapril]

I'm looking for some advice. We're planning a trip to Hawaii next year as well as an Alaska cruise. Needless to say these are going to be some awesome photo ops & I need a better camera than the one I have. I'm currently using a Canon Powershot A550. 4X Optical Zoom(not even sure what that means) and 7.1 megapixels. It does have the ability to go up to 16X digital zoom, but why bother - those pics NEVER turn out. Here's the thing: I'm so sick of zooming up on something 100 ft away or so & having it come out blurry. Call me crazy, but I think I should get a clear photo especially with good conditions. Outdoors, sunny, etc. And I would also like to just be able to zoom in on something further away than that, which it seems like I should be able to do with a better camera. My other pet peeve is indoors or dark lighting pics at any sort of distance at all. They never come out good either. Does anyone know of a good camera for me? I don't know anything about all the technical aspects of cameras, but pictures & photo books are my hobby, so I want a camera that will give me nice quality photos. Especially for these two trips next year. Any advice?? :o Thanks!

[zackiedawg]

Price? That's going to be your key. Compromise is the name of the game - you're going to do it no matter what you buy. Quality, features, flexibility, size, weight, price...something's gotta give.

 

You admitted you don't really know the technical side of cameras too well, so a super-advanced camera may not be the way to go. Not that even the highest-end DSLR camera doesn't have an Auto mode...it does...but that's a lot of expense and weight and bulk for someone who will really never come close to using the camera's abilities.

 

Compacts are the right price, but as you've discovered, quite limited in a few key areas. Though some are adding pretty decent optical zooms lately, they still rarely compete IQ-wise with a larger, more dedicated zoom lens.

 

So that leads you towards ultra-zoom cameras. They are a bit larger than compacts, and no longer pocketable, but have massive zoom range optically, and are usually pretty feature-packed. Plus, the price is not bad at all, as they usually run between $250-500. However, low light and indoor will not be optimal for these small-sensored cameras. Not that they can't produce usable results, and quite a bit better than what you've got now, but overall, there will likely be some noise or graininess, and not quite pin-sharp detail, when using higher ISOs for low light photography. Stick them on a tripod, and take a nice slow shutter, and they can take gorgeous shots - but that's for static subjects that aren't moving.

 

Another option if you're willing to spend some money might be the Olympus Pen E-P1 interchangeable lens camera with the 14-45 kit lens, and maybe a purchase of a second lens like the Olympus Zuiko 18-180mm f3.5-6.3. Camera with kit lens is around $800-900, and the extra lens around $450. See...compromise again! That price compared to a $400 superzoom...but the overall image quality will be much better in low light and night (as well as likely most other situations too).

 

If you went the standard DSLR route...you could get a camera body and two-lens kit covering a respectable range for probably $800 or so...it won't reach as far as the ultra-zooms even with two lenses, but it will likely have better overall image quality indoors and in low light (any DSLR will be better than P&S cameras in low light). But they're bigger, heavier, bulkier, often need cleaning of sensors to get rid of dust, and the basic lenses you get for that money aren't very 'fast', meaning they're not optimal for action and low light. Getting the perfect lenses requires a growing kit of lenses, and a lot more money out of pocket...so again, compromise.

 

I'd imagine ultra-zoom cameras would be the best segment to consider for you. You'll get the enormous flexibility of the optical zoom, bringing you from as wide as around 27mm to as long as 600mm or more, all in one hand-sized package. It will do better than your current camera, just from the gains in technology and processing...you can get away with up to ISO800 for low light, whereas your current camera likely would never be taken past ISO400. And the price is reasonable with lots of great features.

 

Some to consider might include: Sony's HX1, Canon's SX20 IS, Fuji's S200 EXR, Nikon's P90, Olympus' SP590 UZ, Panasonic's FZ28 or newer FZ35.

[pierces]

I'm looking for some advice. We're planning a trip to Hawaii next year as well as an Alaska cruise. Needless to say these are going to be some awesome photo ops & I need a better camera than the one I have. I'm currently using a Canon Powershot A550. 4X Optical Zoom(not even sure what that means) and 7.1 megapixels. It does have the ability to go up to 16X digital zoom, but why bother - those pics NEVER turn out. Here's the thing: I'm so sick of zooming up on something 100 ft away or so & having it come out blurry. Call me crazy, but I think I should get a clear photo especially with good conditions. Outdoors, sunny, etc. And I would also like to just be able to zoom in on something further away than that, which it seems like I should be able to do with a better camera. My other pet peeve is indoors or dark lighting pics at any sort of distance at all. They never come out good either. Does anyone know of a good camera for me? I don't know anything about all the technical aspects of cameras, but pictures & photo books are my hobby, so I want a camera that will give me nice quality photos. Especially for these two trips next year. Any advice?? :o Thanks!

 

Here's an article I wrote that may help.

 

http://www.pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/WhatCamera.htm

 

Take a look and then maybe ask fo specifics. Lots of nice people here willing to help!

 

Dave

[chipmaster]

I'm looking for some advice. We're planning a trip to Hawaii next year as well as an Alaska cruise. Needless to say these are going to be some awesome photo ops & I need a better camera than the one I have. I'm currently using a Canon Powershot A550. 4X Optical Zoom(not even sure what that means) and 7.1 megapixels. It does have the ability to go up to 16X digital zoom, but why bother - those pics NEVER turn out. Here's the thing: I'm so sick of zooming up on something 100 ft away or so & having it come out blurry. Call me crazy, but I think I should get a clear photo especially with good conditions. Outdoors, sunny, etc. And I would also like to just be able to zoom in on something further away than that, which it seems like I should be able to do with a better camera. My other pet peeve is indoors or dark lighting pics at any sort of distance at all. They never come out good either. Does anyone know of a good camera for me? I don't know anything about all the technical aspects of cameras, but pictures & photo books are my hobby, so I want a camera that will give me nice quality photos. Especially for these two trips next year. Any advice?? Thanks!

 

You have been using an older entry level camera. For simply snapshots okay. These kind of cameras have very week flash, poor lowlight performance and the zoom is limited. The digital zoom that got you to 11x is simply cuttig your camera from a 7meg to something like a 1meg camera. Also you have no stabilization so zooming likely has both motion blur from camera and poor resolution.

 

If this doesn't make sense then no matter. Cameras have come a loooong way since then.

 

For a do all smaller superzoom for cruise/scenics you can buy any of the top recommend cameras here and likely see a huge improvement: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q209...oom/page16.asp

 

If you don't mind carrying something bigger just consider the higly recommend cameras here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q109...oup/page16.asp

 

If picturebooks and photos are a hobby you might want to make the leap and consider a DSLR sometime in the future. The first step might be enrolling in a local communinty college photo class. From there even with your point and shoot you can learn the fundamentals of shooting and the limitations and capabilities of your current camera. From there you can decide if investing in a advance camera like a DSLR is in the future

[bakechef]

I'm looking for some advice. We're planning a trip to Hawaii next year as well as an Alaska cruise. Needless to say these are going to be some awesome photo ops & I need a better camera than the one I have. I'm currently using a Canon Powershot A550. 4X Optical Zoom(not even sure what that means) and 7.1 megapixels. It does have the ability to go up to 16X digital zoom, but why bother - those pics NEVER turn out. Here's the thing: I'm so sick of zooming up on something 100 ft away or so & having it come out blurry. Call me crazy, but I think I should get a clear photo especially with good conditions. Outdoors, sunny, etc. And I would also like to just be able to zoom in on something further away than that, which it seems like I should be able to do with a better camera. My other pet peeve is indoors or dark lighting pics at any sort of distance at all. They never come out good either. Does anyone know of a good camera for me? I don't know anything about all the technical aspects of cameras, but pictures & photo books are my hobby, so I want a camera that will give me nice quality photos. Especially for these two trips next year. Any advice?? :o Thanks!

 

First off any camera that you buy, find out in the menu how to TURN OFF DIGITAL ZOOM! Digital zoom only crops your picture and stretches it out making it look washed out, pixelated and blurry!

 

Optical zoom is the zoom of your actual lens, zooming in with optical zoom will not degrade your picture. So if you really want good zoom, buy one with high optical zoom and completely ignore the digital zoom!

[cruisetobeaches]

I primarily use a DSLR and while not a "pro", I do have many years of experience in photography. that said, I have a friend who is not real tech-savy that just purchased a Panasonic Lumix. He let me play with it (I think more to show him how to use it ) for a while and I was impressed with the optical zoom that is built in and the overall quality of the pictures I took. At full zoom (don't remember the optical XX) it did quite well outdoors in sunlight. Indoors, without flash, it was hard to hold it still using ambient light at ISO 200. It does have other settings, of course. Skip the digital zoom as others have mentioned and you have discovered. The Lumix isn't really a "pocket camera" unless you have really big pockets.

 

Just my observation of a pretty decent camera that is well suited to this "newbie" with only a couple hours of using it.

[andynapril]

Thanks for all the tips everyone! Yes, you are making sense. :D I don't necessarily need it to be a pocket camera, and I would probably cap my spending limit on $400. Maybe that will narrow it down, but I've learned so much already! I'm going to go to some of those links & check them out.

 

What's a DSLR? :o

[RogerCalgary]

Here's the thing: I'm so sick of zooming up on something 100 ft away or so & having it come out blurry. Call me crazy, but I think I should get a clear photo especially with good conditions.

Spend your money on a decent tripod. It'll change everything.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Roger

[chipmaster]

Thanks for all the tips everyone! Yes, you are making sense. :D I don't necessarily need it to be a pocket camera, and I would probably cap my spending limit on $400. Maybe that will narrow it down, but I've learned so much already! I'm going to go to some of those links & check them out.

 

What's a DSLR? :o

 

DSLR = Digital Single Lens Reflex. This refers to the larger class of enthusiast/pro cameras that have interchanable lenses and use a mirror to bounce the actual image thru a prism/reflector for you to see. This is different then all the P&S who either have a seperate viewfinder or use the image from the sensor projected on a LCD screen. You can read more about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera

 

The key thing with them is they are bigger, focus faster, have better low light performance, allow different fix and variable focal lengths and aperture. In otherwards aren't limited to a certain zoom range, almost anything is possible if you are willing to pay and carry it :D You can expect the price for them to start at around 400 bucks and change and go to thousands 7999 to be exact at the moment :eek:

[snowbird1]

First off any camera that you buy, find out in the menu how to TURN OFF DIGITAL ZOOM! Digital zoom only crops your picture and stretches it out making it look washed out, pixelated and blurry!

 

Boy that is for sure, I have never heard anything good about Digital zoom and always turn it off.

[bakechef]

Boy that is for sure, I have never heard anything good about Digital zoom and always turn it off.

 

Here is what I tell people, if you use digital zoom, than you are stuck with a crappy picture, but if you use optical zoom, you can always crop the picture later (which is all that digital zoom is doing anyway) and if you don't like the way it looks cropped you can undo it, unlike with digital zoom.:)

[andynapril]

Here's an article I wrote that may help.

 

http://www.pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/WhatCamera.htm

 

Take a look and then maybe ask fo specifics. Lots of nice people here willing to help!

 

Dave

 

Your article was so interesting & education. I really learned alot. Thanks so much! :)

[andynapril]

Here is what I tell people, if you use digital zoom, than you are stuck with a crappy picture, but if you use optical zoom, you can always crop the picture later (which is all that digital zoom is doing anyway) and if you don't like the way it looks cropped you can undo it, unlike with digital zoom.:)

 

That makes so much sense. I am SO going to do that from now one. I'm so glad I started this thread. It's been helpful already.

 

I read somewhere that I should have my camera set to the best resolution possible. From what I had previously thought, it didn't matter all that much, since I probably would never print anything larger than an 8x10. My question is if I do set it to the highest resolution possible will that make for a better quality/clarity photo all around or does that only have to do with the quality when I print it. Does my question make sense??

[bakechef]

That makes so much sense. I am SO going to do that from now one. I'm so glad I started this thread. It's been helpful already.

 

I read somewhere that I should have my camera set to the best resolution possible. From what I had previously thought, it didn't matter all that much, since I probably would never print anything larger than an 8x10. My question is if I do set it to the highest resolution possible will that make for a better quality/clarity photo all around or does that only have to do with the quality when I print it. Does my question make sense??

 

You are absolutely correct, you should always set the camera at the highest resolution, for example, if you bought a camera with 10 megapixels and set it to low, you now have a 1 megapixel camera, why would anyone pay for all of those megapixels and never use them?:eek:

 

Setting to the highest resolution will be most noticeable in prints, but it can be noticeable on screen, if you want to crop a picture and you have reduced the resolution it will likely look terrible, but if you have all of those pixels (high resolution) than you can often crop and enlarge and still maintain good quality. Wouldn't it make you sick if you got that perfect shot only to find out that it was shot at low resolution and looked terrible printed and couldn't be enlarged?:mad:

 

So my advise is to use all of the megapixels that you paid for, especially since memory cards are so cheap right now!:)

[andynapril]

I appreciate all the advice. One more question. Ideally, what sort of Optical Zoom should I be looking for for the type of photos I would like to take. As I said, Hawaii & Alaska vacation photos. 10X?

[picsboy]

Sounds like at a minimum, you should be looking at 10x optical zoom. Sony (and maybe other brands) have some cameras with optical zooms up to 20x.

 

If you're going above, say, 15x optical zoom, you'll have to be sure that you hold the camera REALLY REALLY steady, even with the built-in image stabilizer on the camera.

 

Make sure to make a trip to Best Buy to give yourself a hands-on look at the cameras.

[stevefrankel]

As someone who cruises a lot and specializes in photos taken at sea of both cruises destinations and yacht races, I'd suggest that mega-range compacts are probably NOT the best way to go. To get great shipboard shots, the most important factor is to have an optical viewfinder since trying to compose a picture on the rear LCD in bright sunlight on the water is an exercise in frustration. Thus this requirement knocks out most of the maga-range compacts and suggests that digital SLRs and other cameras where you compose in a viewfinder that looks through the lens is a much better way to go. However, the mega-range SLR lenses such as the 28-275mm Tamron are HEAVY when attached to standard SLRs. To help offset that problem, because the "chip" that holds the pixels is much larger than on a "through the lens camera" than on most compact cameras, you can enlarge the shots further without losing quality -- thus you can make an high-quality 8x10 from only a portion of a photograph, rather than having to use the whole image for good quality. This in turn means that you can get away with a smaller telephoto such as a 70-200 mm that is lighter, of higher quality, and less expensive.

 

Thus a better choice is a light digital SLR both with 3 lenses: a general purpose telephoto such as a 18-70, a longer range telephoto such as a 70-200, and a wide apature fixed length lens such as a f1.4 or f1.7 50mm lens. The latter will take care of indoor shots on the ship at night without having to ruin them with a pop-up flash, an interior cathedral or palace shots during the day, and can be fitted in a large cargo pocket in places where to don't want to advertise the fact you're carrying an expensive camera.

 

My favorite outfit, that I'm about to take on a Regent cruise from Singapore to Bali to Perth to Sydney, is the "micro 4/3 format" Panasonic G1 equipped their 14-45, 45-200, and (hopefully if it is released in the next 3 weeks) f1.7 20 mm lens. Since in the micro 4/3 format, actual focal length is double what's listed, this outfit gives me the equivilent of 28-400mm with anti-shake lenses, without the weight of the lens/body combo ever exceeding 2 pounds, plus the indoor, hide-away and night capabilities provided by the 40mm equivilent f1.7 lens. This to me repesents the best outfit available today for taking top-quality photos on cruises.

[ed_k_tx]

Here's an article I wrote that may help.

 

http://www.pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/WhatCamera.htm

 

Take a look and then maybe ask fo specifics. Lots of nice people here willing to help!

 

Dave

 

Thanks for posting Dave, I really enjoyed reading and learning.

Ed

[stevefrankel]

"Here's an article I wrote that may help.

http://www.pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/WhatCamera.htm

Take a look and then maybe ask fo specifics. Lots of nice people here willing to help!"

-----------

That's a terrific article and a lot more detailed and even-handed than my posting. On the other hand, anyone who cruses once or twice a year at probably $3,000-$15,000 per cruise, and who likes photography, ought to be willing to drop $500-$2000 on a camera outfit that will last them through at least a half-dozen cruises and serve them well between cruises too!

[rjm1cc]

You should try and not go past the 4x optical. After that you cut down the quality of the picture.

[Guzmania]

Hi, everyone, Luis here.

 

We decided to spring for a waterproof camera for our upcoming RCCL cruises. We love to snorkel, and the little one-time-use film "wet" cameras were just getting on our nerves...

 

I had been looking at the Olympus 1030SW for a while, and picked it up for pennies on the dollar when a local camera shop closed its doors. It's really my wife's camera, but she absolutely loves it. 10.1 MP for awesome definition, very little delay when you snap the pic (less than 0.5 seconds). Shock-proof from 6 feet, and water proof to 33 feet (10M).

 

The best thing about it is that it's the same size as a regular digital camera. She carries it with her everywhere. It's become her regular camera.

 

As far as the zoom is concerned, she doesn't use it very much. If she wants to zoom in on a subject, she does it on the computer in the editing software. At only half resolution, she took a long shot of a car accident (no one was hurt, thank goodness) form 100 yards away, and was still able to zoom in to see the emotions on the faces of the people standing around. Unbelievable!

 

It takes awesome underwater pics too, but we made sure to buy a floating strap...

 

By the way, Andy, where did you get the cute avatar? we love to snorkel, and that would be great for us.

 

Luis

[donaldsc]

As someone who cruises a lot and specializes in photos taken at sea of both cruises destinations and yacht races, I'd suggest that mega-range compacts are probably NOT the best way to go. To get great shipboard shots, the most important factor is to have an optical viewfinder since trying to compose a picture on the rear LCD in bright sunlight on the water is an exercise in frustration. Thus this requirement knocks out most of the maga-range compacts and suggests that digital SLRs and other cameras where you compose in a viewfinder that looks through the lens is a much better way to go. However, the mega-range SLR lenses such as the 28-275mm Tamron are HEAVY when attached to standard SLRs. To help offset that problem, because the "chip" that holds the pixels is much larger than on a "through the lens camera" than on most compact cameras, you can enlarge the shots further without losing quality -- thus you can make an high-quality 8x10 from only a portion of a photograph, rather than having to use the whole image for good quality. This in turn means that you can get away with a smaller telephoto such as a 70-200 mm that is lighter, of higher quality, and less expensive.

 

Thus a better choice is a light digital SLR both with 3 lenses: a general purpose telephoto such as a 18-70, a longer range telephoto such as a 70-200, and a wide apature fixed length lens such as a f1.4 or f1.7 50mm lens. The latter will take care of indoor shots on the ship at night without having to ruin them with a pop-up flash, an interior cathedral or palace shots during the day, and can be fitted in a large cargo pocket in places where to don't want to advertise the fact you're carrying an expensive camera.

 

My favorite outfit, that I'm about to take on a Regent cruise from Singapore to Bali to Perth to Sydney, is the "micro 4/3 format" Panasonic G1 equipped their 14-45, 45-200, and (hopefully if it is released in the next 3 weeks) f1.7 20 mm lens. Since in the micro 4/3 format, actual focal length is double what's listed, this outfit gives me the equivilent of 28-400mm with anti-shake lenses, without the weight of the lens/body combo ever exceeding 2 pounds, plus the indoor, hide-away and night capabilities provided by the 40mm equivilent f1.7 lens. This to me repesents the best outfit available today for taking top-quality photos on cruises.

 

The OP has admitted that he has no technical photo experience and basically just wants to get good snapshots. He also says that he has a $400 budget. So you recommend a dSLR 3 lens combo. Even assuming that he will be able to use many of the features of your proposed outfit, where do you think that he will be able to get it for $400.

 

Answer his question or don't waste his time with useless answers. Can I assume that if this was a car board instead of a cruise board and he asked for a recommendation for a family car at a $25,000 price point, you would recommend a Porsche crossover?

 

DON

[donaldsc]

Spend your money on a decent tripod. It'll change everything.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Roger

 

He is highly unlikely to carry around and use a tripod although technically, your answer is correct. If anything and I would not even suggest this as an answer to this specific question, a monopod would be the better choice as there is a chance that it would actually be used. Tripods are great but they are useless if left in the room.

 

DON

[stevefrankel]

The OP has admitted that he has no technical photo experience and basically just wants to get good snapshots. He also says that he has a $400 budget. So you recommend a dSLR 3 lens combo. Even assuming that he will be able to use many of the features of your proposed outfit, where do you think that he will be able to get it for $400.

DON

 

As a matter of fact, I bought the Panasonic Lumix G1 with the 14-45mm lens (equal to 28-90mm) for $439 on Amazon a few months ago. The other lenses are just icing on the cake. Also, it's not a DSLR, it's a "direct view" model that offers through-the-lens viewing on one of the best LCD screens yet mounted on a digital camera, or via the built-in optical viewer that Panasonic lifted from their professional line of video cameras. The Lumix G1 has ALL the convenience factors newbies have come to rely on, except shirt-pocket size, and because its sensor is much larger than ANY of the compact digitals, it offers superior resolution and low-light capabilities.

 

You're right, I should have mentioned that $400 only bought the basic camera and lens (and you had to buy the blue body to get that price--the other colors were about $200 more), but even that "stripped down Porche" beats anything else around that's anywhere close to that price. It is lighter, more compact and has better viewing systems than DSLRs 2-3 times the price, and it outperforms ALL of the compact digitals including the Canon G10 and G11, and even the Leica at double its price I paid. Then, I should have said, if you want the extended ranges that some of the compacts offer, go for the 45-200mm lens that adds $350 to your total cost.

 

PS Today, probably due to strong demand, Amazon's price for the Panasonic Lumix G1 is $639.95, but rest assured that by New Year's -- and maybe a lot sooner than that -- you'll again be able to pick up this camera again for about $400 with the 14-45mm lens, or for about $750 with both lenses which is what I paid. And whether you take advantage of these prices, or the introductory prices that will be charged for even newer "micro 4/3" system cameras such as the G1, GRAB ONE OF THEM because they are truly the best cameras available for cruising today.

 

PPS I think the waterproof and shockproof Olympus is a great choice as a "back up" or "spouse's camera" under all circumstances, and it's probably a very good first choice IF you never want to make prints larger than 8x10". However, if you have dreams of decorating your house with 11x14" or "13x19" masterpieces you take on future cruises, then the G1 or its kin are better ways to go.

[Guzmania]

PPS I think the waterproof and shockproof Olympus is a great choice as a "back up" or "spouse's camera" under all circumstances, and it's probably a very good first choice IF you never want to make prints larger than 8x10". However, if you have dreams of decorating your house with 11x14" or "13x19" masterpieces you take on future cruises, then the G1 or its kin are better ways to go.

 

 

Hi, Luis here again.

 

FYI, the Olympus waterproof camera we have is 10.2 MP. When we cruised to Key West, we had an Olympus 8 MP camera, and took some really neat pics of some great murals on the buildings. When we got home, Julia took the flash card to an office supply store and had them printed out on very large format Kodak paper. We had them framed, and rotate them out on our family room wall. They're 24"X36", and have absolutely no graining. Remember, that was with 8 MP!

 

I'm not saying that those expensive DSLR cameras aren't worth the high price, but if you think this camera is a "spouse's" or "second" camera, think again. It's well UNDER $400, and I would put its photo quality up against most of the features of those pricey rigs. And, you can drop it into your pocket, it doesn't require its own piece of luggage! That makes it much less intrusive into a port visit, and we take it right into the water with us, no expensive case required. Try THAT with your DSLR!

 

Luis