Kitz ADSL Broadband Information
adsl spacer  
Support this site
Home Broadband ISPs Tech Routers Wiki Forum
 
     
   Compare ISP   Rate your ISP
   Glossary   Glossary
 
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Pages: 1 [2]

Author Topic: Digital Cameras for Dummies  (Read 12112 times)

exo

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 2927
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2009, 12:14:27 AM »

Hi Floydoid

This may help.
http://photo.net/equipment/digital/basics/

Not sure what type of photography you intend doing but check out the zoom.
Compact digital cameras may boast a 6 x optical zoom but start at a very distant landscape view.
Using maximum zoom may only bring you up to what the eye normally see's, equivalent to a standard 50mm lens on an SLR camera.

So check out the specs.  If you want to zoom in on distant shots you will need an optical zoom that is equivalent to an SLR zoom lens ranging from 28mm to 200mm or 28mm to 300mm. So you will be looking at 10 x optical zoom or greater.
Hope that makes sense, all to do with the optical focal length.
Logged

sevenlayermuddle

  • Helpful
  • Addicted Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5369
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2009, 12:57:03 AM »

Good summary, Broadstairs.  I agree with all of it.


However...
Now to answer the point about SLRs the main benefit IMHO is not the lack of parallax error in the viewfinder (which really only affects close-up work) but the option to interchange lenses.
Hmmm.  In the 'old' days, non SLR cameras (e.g. Leica rangefinders, or the Russian 'Zorki'clones) also had interchangeable lenses.   And these days, I see no reason that a digital compact shouldn't have interchangeable lenses, if a manufacturer chose to provide such a feature.  I do accept that SLRs generally provide more advanced technology, and the cheap compacts do tend to have the lens and sensor as an integrated assembly, but surely that needn't always be the case?  I still don't really see why a Single Lens Reflex action  provides any intrinsic advantage for digital cameras.

And parralax distortion is not the only issue with (non-SLR) optical viewfinders.  You'll invariably find that the viewfinder includes a little 'box' superimposed on the scene, which frames the picture.  But the position of that box, and the accuracy of it, depends on how close the camera is to your eye, and whether you're looking straight through it or slightly askew.  SLRs overcome that (I think all would agree), and in my opinion (but maybe not everybodies) so does the LCD on a compact digital.


But I'm getting away from Floydoid's request for advice  One specific recomendation I'd like to make is the current Panasonic 'lumix' series, which I've owned for about a year now.  They have a good lens with an optical zoom of up to 10-12 times depending on model, some have optical stabilisation and IMHO are excellent in every respect, including the 'handling' aspects, at least for my hands.  Unfortunately they don't have an optical viewfinder, there's no room for one, the LCDs so big, which might be a show-stopper depending on whether you're long or short sighted.  And they're closer to £200 than £100, although you do find them discounted.

Logged

broadstairs

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 3697
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #17 on: August 14, 2009, 08:00:53 AM »

I think the Lumix models are excellent, my eldest son has had two both of which were excellent (he only got a new one for more pixels and bigger zoom not because of any problems).

In the more budget price range the Kodak cameras are good, my wife has one we bought from Ebay which was a Kodak refurbished model with 7 million pixels and a 10x optical zoom and it sits on top of a small printer (Kodak Easyshare G600) which prints 6x4 photos without needing the computer to be on. The camera was just under £100.
Logged
ISP:Vodafone Router:Vodafone Wi-Fi hub FTTP

UncleUB

  • Helpful
  • Senior Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 29543
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #18 on: August 14, 2009, 10:02:30 AM »

Hi Floydy,I know you are a bit baffled with all the technology etc,so have a read here.Its a beginners guide to the basics of digital cameras which explains a lot of the terminology that has been quoted in above posts.

http://photo.net/equipment/digital/basics/
Logged

Peter

  • Reg Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 433
  • My Country needed me????
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #19 on: August 14, 2009, 10:18:24 AM »

May I reiterate my reply to Floyd?  Sign up for an evening course, all is explained in terms even I can understand :-[

Both my wife and I use the Panasonic/Lumix cameras and find them excellent, although I think they may be out of the price range Floyd stated.

Peter
Logged

tonyappuk

  • Reg Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 589
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #20 on: August 14, 2009, 11:46:43 AM »

May I offer a small comment on the LCD screen versus optical viewfinder debate? When I bought my old Olympus zoom one of the reasons for choosing it was it had both sorts of viewfinder and I had found in previous cameras that the LCD screes were useless in bright sunshine, you just couldn't see what you were trying to photograph. It may well be that modern LCDs are brighter but it is a factor to consider.
Tony
Logged

scottiesmum

  • Guest
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #21 on: August 14, 2009, 12:03:28 PM »

Floydy,  are you confused yet  ?   ;D         I  too have a Panasonic Lumix  and would recommend them highly   ....  there are several on the Amazon UK page (link below)  which fall within your budget  ....and may help you decide.   One thing I would recommend for the LCD screen is a  plastic protective cover, it will stop your screen getting scratched and it actually helps slightly in sunny conditions.

http://foxyurl.com/rDd


protective cover     http://foxyurl.com/rDg
« Last Edit: August 14, 2009, 12:06:37 PM by scottiesmum »
Logged

Floydoid

  • Addicted Kitizen
  • *****
  • Posts: 9640
  • Prog Rock Fan
Re: Digital Cameras for Dummies
« Reply #22 on: August 14, 2009, 02:17:54 PM »

Floydy,  are you confused yet  ?   

Totally.

Quote
I  too have a Panasonic Lumix 

I'm sure you can get tablets for that.
Logged
"We're going to need a bigger swear jar."
Pages: 1 [2]
 

anything