CabrissiTea
10-05-2005, 12:49 AM
I have been shooting on an ancient Sony Cybershot and am finally in a position to get a new camera! As old as my Cybershot is I've got some really great shots off it. (Not just my opinion, I've had a couple professionals who were visiting my parents comment on some of my photos as well and then be shocked they were digital, let alone from my digital! Made my day each time!) :D
The guy at Michael's recommended the FZ30 to me but I've heard about it's issues with noise. I realize for a pro, $1000 (AUD) might be basic but it represents a big investment for me.
Having seen some photos in comparison on the forums, I can certainly see the noise at full size! I’m just not sure how this will apply to me. I really like the different features that were demonstrated to me and it looks otherwise very nice so I'm trying to decide 1. how big the noise issue is for MY (present and future) purposes, 2. if despite the noise issue, the camera is the best one for me or not and 3. if there is another similar camera which has otherwise all the same features the FZ30, same price range but without the noise issues. I welcome any comments and suggestions!
Our camera use...
* $1000 AUD or under roughly (FZ30 is roughly in this range, $1099.)
* Image quality is very important but within the context of what I usually shoot/print. One thing I love about my Cybershot is that I can get astoundingly crisp, fine detail on it though there are a lot of other image quality issues I’m not so in love with, particularly in low-light or if I crop post production.
* Will be used by those who are point-and-shoot strictly and myself. I want to be able to use auto or modes but have the option of doing more when I want to as well. Currently I'd class myself as an interested amature: I always enjoyed getting good pictures but was stuck with a small automatic until I was given the Cybershot. After that I started to experiment a lot. I've done pretty well there but my lack of technical know-how is fast becoming frusterating. I often have an idea but don't always have the technical know-how to acomplish it. I'm hoping to remedy this with photography college courses in the near future. I do have a (film) Pentax MV1 and a Canon AT1 which are older but in good order, the later of which has a couple lenses (Tamron) with it as well. So I do have that option available to me for classes as well. I just like the convenience of digitals that can do it all.
* I shoot a lot of different types of pictures... portraits at home and events; action shots at agility trials, wildlife etc.; more artistic things, close-up detail/macro shots, landscapes/vistas and long distance stuff wild-life I'll need to use a zoom lense on. I also use the zoom a lot to shoot from across the room for 'natural', unobtrusive pictures of people. A lot of my photography is outside during the day, I suppose I've just gotten used to working with what my digital camera is capable of. With my new one though, since I'm looking at a lot of money I do expect to be able to take decent shots in a much wider variety of situations... low-light, indoors/less than ideal lighting (schools, florescent lights), evenings, night shots etc.
* I would like scope to grow. As I said, I'm looking to improve my understanding of the technical side of photography, so I want a camera that will continue to be suitable as I progress.
* I do enjoy some fiddling on the computer with the pictures and have several programs (Adobe, PSP etc) but I don't like HAVING to do so just to get a tolerable print... more of touching up an already good one for fine tuning, cropping etc.
* Most of my photos I do print and post to my websites. Prints are usually 4x6 or 5x7, though I'd like the option to do larger. I probably won't print larger than 8x10 with any regularity and wouldn't need to do that very often. Do I need 8MP for that... no and I do know that. *G* So, no I'm not dead set on an 8MP camera, it just happened that when I listed the other ‘wants’ the one suggested happened to be an 8MP camera. Four to five would be more than adequate I’m sure.* image stabilization is important, I have tripods but don't always like lugging them about and sometimes the places I'm in are windy etc.
* rechargeable battery and must have decent duration, I don't care about being able to supplement with disposables though, I'd rather buy/carry a few extra rechargeables * ability to review on camera but not necessarily between each shot (having to flip between still and shoot on my camera is fine...)
* decent size/weight... I don't like having to haul around a 10lb monster and 15 lenses but I do like to be able to actually FEEL my camera in my hand! ;-)
* want to be able to use flashes other than pop-up and accessories later down the road as I learn how to use them
* LCD swivel screen was one of my must-haves. I take lots of animal/pet portraits and many do NOT like a big black camera hiding the persons face or "staring" straight at them so this is really useful!
* Really like the fast 'up' and running time, fast focus, fast shooting time, burst mode, enlarged zoom thing in manual mode etc. that were demonstrated on this camera
* Movie mode is also nice but not the major selling point/deal-breaker for me
Amanda Orbitani
nic.orbitani@bigpond.com
The guy at Michael's recommended the FZ30 to me but I've heard about it's issues with noise. I realize for a pro, $1000 (AUD) might be basic but it represents a big investment for me.
Having seen some photos in comparison on the forums, I can certainly see the noise at full size! I’m just not sure how this will apply to me. I really like the different features that were demonstrated to me and it looks otherwise very nice so I'm trying to decide 1. how big the noise issue is for MY (present and future) purposes, 2. if despite the noise issue, the camera is the best one for me or not and 3. if there is another similar camera which has otherwise all the same features the FZ30, same price range but without the noise issues. I welcome any comments and suggestions!
Our camera use...
* $1000 AUD or under roughly (FZ30 is roughly in this range, $1099.)
* Image quality is very important but within the context of what I usually shoot/print. One thing I love about my Cybershot is that I can get astoundingly crisp, fine detail on it though there are a lot of other image quality issues I’m not so in love with, particularly in low-light or if I crop post production.
* Will be used by those who are point-and-shoot strictly and myself. I want to be able to use auto or modes but have the option of doing more when I want to as well. Currently I'd class myself as an interested amature: I always enjoyed getting good pictures but was stuck with a small automatic until I was given the Cybershot. After that I started to experiment a lot. I've done pretty well there but my lack of technical know-how is fast becoming frusterating. I often have an idea but don't always have the technical know-how to acomplish it. I'm hoping to remedy this with photography college courses in the near future. I do have a (film) Pentax MV1 and a Canon AT1 which are older but in good order, the later of which has a couple lenses (Tamron) with it as well. So I do have that option available to me for classes as well. I just like the convenience of digitals that can do it all.
* I shoot a lot of different types of pictures... portraits at home and events; action shots at agility trials, wildlife etc.; more artistic things, close-up detail/macro shots, landscapes/vistas and long distance stuff wild-life I'll need to use a zoom lense on. I also use the zoom a lot to shoot from across the room for 'natural', unobtrusive pictures of people. A lot of my photography is outside during the day, I suppose I've just gotten used to working with what my digital camera is capable of. With my new one though, since I'm looking at a lot of money I do expect to be able to take decent shots in a much wider variety of situations... low-light, indoors/less than ideal lighting (schools, florescent lights), evenings, night shots etc.
* I would like scope to grow. As I said, I'm looking to improve my understanding of the technical side of photography, so I want a camera that will continue to be suitable as I progress.
* I do enjoy some fiddling on the computer with the pictures and have several programs (Adobe, PSP etc) but I don't like HAVING to do so just to get a tolerable print... more of touching up an already good one for fine tuning, cropping etc.
* Most of my photos I do print and post to my websites. Prints are usually 4x6 or 5x7, though I'd like the option to do larger. I probably won't print larger than 8x10 with any regularity and wouldn't need to do that very often. Do I need 8MP for that... no and I do know that. *G* So, no I'm not dead set on an 8MP camera, it just happened that when I listed the other ‘wants’ the one suggested happened to be an 8MP camera. Four to five would be more than adequate I’m sure.* image stabilization is important, I have tripods but don't always like lugging them about and sometimes the places I'm in are windy etc.
* rechargeable battery and must have decent duration, I don't care about being able to supplement with disposables though, I'd rather buy/carry a few extra rechargeables * ability to review on camera but not necessarily between each shot (having to flip between still and shoot on my camera is fine...)
* decent size/weight... I don't like having to haul around a 10lb monster and 15 lenses but I do like to be able to actually FEEL my camera in my hand! ;-)
* want to be able to use flashes other than pop-up and accessories later down the road as I learn how to use them
* LCD swivel screen was one of my must-haves. I take lots of animal/pet portraits and many do NOT like a big black camera hiding the persons face or "staring" straight at them so this is really useful!
* Really like the fast 'up' and running time, fast focus, fast shooting time, burst mode, enlarged zoom thing in manual mode etc. that were demonstrated on this camera
* Movie mode is also nice but not the major selling point/deal-breaker for me
Amanda Orbitani
nic.orbitani@bigpond.com