PHOTOGS: What camera do you use to take your pictures?

[HahvadYaad]

Some of you have wonderful, magazine caliber photographs from your vacations and I'm wondering what camera, lens and type of flash you are using, esp. when taking photos [B]at dusk or at night[/B] and if you're using colored filters (if so, which ones) to capture the sky and sunsets toward the evenings.

Also, are you using digicams or old school? Also what speed film if not digital?

[dexter]

We have taken photos with our Nikon N-50, but for the past two years I have used an Olympus 5050 digital. It works much better for posting on the internet and for collecting in my photo files on my pc.

[cruznliz]

We also are Olympus Digital fans. We currently have an Olympus 3020 and love it. Also just purchased a Fujifilm FinePix A205 digital camera for under $100 [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img] for me to carry around in my purse. It's a little more point & shoot "friendly" than some of the fancier digitals but still has 3X optical zoom. I love our cruise slideshows and also the freedom to pick and choose which pictures to print and share. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Grand Princess Transatlantic - August 27, 2004
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;8;27;21;00;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]

[GloriaF]

We are also Olympus Digital fans, although our camera is a few years old and probably obsolete, it still takes good vacation photos.

DH used to lug a 35mm and all the filters, but I think the little digital is just as good.

Gloria

Grand Princess, Eastern, April 2001
Grand Princess, Western,April 2002
Regal to Hawaii, April 5-20, 2004

[jerryr]

I have purchased several digital camera's and I prefer the Olympus cameras. Spend $400-500 and get a good one.

You can see examples of our Olympus images at:
[url="http://members2.clubphoto.com/jerry198964/guest-1.phtml"]http://members2.clubphoto.com/jerry198964/guest-1.phtml[/url]

Images prior to 1999 are scanned images, anything after that is with one of our many different Olympus camera's, with the later images being done with newer versions from Olympus.

Jerry

Grand Princess 11/04; Coral Princess 11/03; Nordic Empress 3/03; Royal Princess 7/02; Inspiration 11/01; Ocean Princess 3/01; Galaxy 11/99; Destiny 11/97; Sensation 2/97

[CaptData]

I'm Sony. I use a cam corder and digital. Digital is DSC-P8. I also have a Kodack that I loan out.

Hopfully a Hawiian Cruise

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=4169e1&cdt=2006;12;5;11;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img] Until we sail away on the ocean blue



Navigator of the Seas Western Crib 08/03
Dawn Princess - Eastern Carb 01/03
Dawn Princess Panamal Canal 11/02

[LarryF]

Nice Pics Jerryr. I have an olympus D510 that has done me well for the past few years. I am now looking at buying an olympus C740, C750 or c765. I cannot decide which I want more, 5 megapixels with 3 X optical zoom or 4 megapixals with 10 x optical zoom. I cannot seem to find a 5 meg camera with a 10 x optical zoom in my price range $400 - $500. I also cannot decide whether to buy online, at a store or wait until our cruise in June and buy it at Brouchands or the Royal Caribbean store in St. Thomas. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;6;5;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

Larry

[jerryr]

LarryF

I wouldn't worry to much about going past 3X. When you go beyond that it makes it really hard to take a good picture without a tripod. You have to have really good light to use something beyond 3X with a digital camera.

If you go to 4 or 5 megapixels on the camera and shoot at 3x then you have a lot of latitude, after-the-fact, to really zoom-in on your subject with proper cropping.

Jerry

[sarasotasteve]

When you are in the market to buy a digital camera go to pricegrabber.com I got this clue from a Cruise critic member back in Dec. and bought a Sony PSC 72 and love it.sb

Grand Princess Sept 2001
Grand Princess Sept 2002
Grand Princess Oct 2003
Star Princess Oct 2004

[Casey12]

I have a Kodak dx6440 and love it. It is 4 MP and 4 optical. Have no problems with the optical zoom being above 3x. I probably won't recommend going up to 10x.

[spongerob]

I have an Olympus C-750. The 10X optical zoom more than makes up the 4 MP resolution. Like film cameras, spending extra money on optics will reward you with better pictures. I agree with the comment that a tripod is a handy thing to have in all but the brightest light conditions.

Just completed:
Caribbean Princess Apr 3/04
Golden Princess Apr 10/04
Coming up:
Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04

[LarryF]

Thanks for the info jerry and spongerob. It all gets overwellming sometimes!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;6;5;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

Larry

[MVPinBoynton]

I have a Canon S45. It is a 4 meg cameral, but I normally just use the 1600 X 1200 which only uses 2 meg. Works great for printing normal size pics and for the web is more than adequate and you can put over 400 pics on a 256 card. I had an Olympus 3000 and loved it, but I really like the Canon better.

Mike


See our reviews and pictures at [url="http://www.thepreismans.com/"]Mike and Carol's Website[/url]

Costa Classica 3/94
Celebrity Mercury 4/98
Carnival Destiny 4/99
Crown Princess 7/01
Norwegian Star 11/01
Grand Princess 12/01
Sun Princess 3/02
Celebrity Constellation 11/02
Brilliance of the Seas 6/03
Navigator of the Seas 11/03
Jewel of the Seas 06/04
Tahitian Princess 02/05

[Jemnibabe]

I am another extremly happy Olympus user. Purchased an Olympus C740 10x right before our Panama Canal cruise in Jan. and got some unbelievable shots, especially nice close-ups of monkeys, sloths, etc. in Costa Rica. Using the digital was way better than any other form of camera as far as posting pictures and emailing. You just can't go wrong with a digital. Judy

[tomcarson]

We have 2 Kodaks and 1 HP. My HP makes for a great paper weight. I love the easy menus with the Kodaks. It is the easiest camera to operate.

[bob&karen]

Can't argue with any of the choices named above. I personally use a Canon Powershot S400 as I find it a good, positive tradeoff of nice picture quality combined with a TINY footprint that makes it convenient to keep in my pocket at all times. (Just ask Spongerob, two of us on our recent Golden cruise had little Canons and we drove everybody crazy with our constant picture taking).

You can see some of the output in the Golden Princess pix at the link below. I've boosted the contrast and reduced the resolution for web viewing, but you can still get a good sense of the general quality. I've found that 4 megs gives you enough resolution that you can do alot of cropping and still get a decent print.

Bob

[img]http://www.animationlibrary.com/Animation11/Geography_and_History/Islands/Ship_at_island.gif[/img]
"These moments we’re left with - may you always remember
These moments are shared, by few
And those harbor lights, lord they’re coming into view
We’ll bid our farewells much too soon
So drink it up, this one’s for you -
Honey, it’s been a lovely cruise."
-- James W. Buffett

Carnival Triumph, April '02
Carnival Sensation, January '04
Golden Princess, April '04

Carnival Sensation, Golden Princess / Caribbean Princess pix at: [url="http://community.webshots.com/user/mageesworld"]Cool Cruisin' Pix[/url]

e-mail: [email]bobandkarenny@yahoo.com[/email]

[LarryF]

That is so funny! Thanks for the pics and good laugh!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;6;5;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

Larry

[starsjohn]

I use a Fujifilm s2 pro which I mount my older Nikon lenses too. I also use a Canon G5 camera as a backup. These cameras are good picture-takers under almost all conditions. The s2 requirers expensive digital memory due to its 12 mega-pixel per image capability. Also eats up the batteries. This camera is mostly used by professional and advance amateur photobugs.

A new digital SLR camera that provides great pictures and can use the older Nikon accessories, is the Nikon D70, which is getting great reviews.

The only problem, so far, with the Canon G5 is that there is significant delay from the moment you pressure the shutter release to when the shutter fires.

I take a 80gig storage drive to download the memory chips when full. The chips are just too expensive to buy any number of them at this point in time.

John

[kruisey]

Have a digital Nikon 5700,only problem slow to shoot a speeding object,but it had a great zoom and the resulting pictures are of an excellent quality.Will be getting a Nikon D70 when the price drops a little.These digitals are like buying a new computer the price drops as soon as you buy it and there is always a new model in the works.Are'nt the accessories for digitals expensive ?? [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]

[marlinmike]

I use a Oly 2100 which has a 10x optical and 2.6x digital zoom and 2.1 megapixel CCD. It also has an image stabilizer, which I really like, however, I'd like more pixels and a faster focus. I purchased this camera three years ago and would like to upgrade. You can see what a 10x - 2.6x zoom will do on the Tracey Arm pics located at:

[jhannah]

Another Sony person here. I use a DSC-S85 (5 MP) and my DW a DSC-P72 (3.2 MP.) We like their ease of use and output. Our Epson printer even works with the P72 in matching output to the data recorded along with the photo. Really great. Go to [url="http://www.printimagematching.com"]www.printimagematching.com[/url] to see what camera and printer combinations have this function.

'Vegas Jim

[JohnnyO]

Sony here....DSC-P92...still have yet to use it on a cruise as we just purchased it a couple of months ago....it has seen a couple of weddings and a car crash(its pictures of my car really helped in getting proper compensation)...the wedding pics were great....some were better than the professional photos that they paid for...I need to get one of those 1 gig memory sticks if I want to always have the quality of the 5MP on a regular basis.

Where do I get one of those storage drives?

JohnnyO

[NEW YORK LADY]

I just purchased the Olympus D740 and am very happy with the pictures. (I am not the best picture taker in the world and could still shoot very good quality pictures.) I found the 10X zoom to work wonderful and I got some good closeups that were not out of focus. I've never used a tripod and my pictures are excellent. This was just my first batch of pictures which were actually "test" pictures to see how I liked the camera. This is replacing my old Toshiba digital which ate batteries like crazy and also seemed to have a problem with turning off after about 30 seconds. I would turn the camera on, pass it to my husband to take a shot and it wouldn't work because it turned itself off. Very frustrating. The new Olympus is great and was very easy to use and learn.

Jackie

[Coral]

Another person with 2 Kodak cameras. A dx4900 and a new dx6440.

[augie]

My "main" camera is the Olympus C5050Z. I bought that one because Olympus also sells an underwater housing for it and I like to take pictures when scuba diving.

It is also an awesome topside camera, as attested to by some of the respondents in this thread.

I don't like to take it to places where it will get exposed to harsh conditions or wet (the housing doesn't work to well topside as it would get too hot inside) so I bought a pocket sized point-and-shoot Olympus Stylus 400, which is a 4 mega-pixel camera that is also dust and splash resistant. It doesn't have nearly the flexibility that the C5050 does, but it takes good pictures and is easy to use.