jbrukardt
05-10-2008, 12:24 PM
Budget
* under 350 dollars for the camera (additional can be allocated for accessories, lenses, batteries, sd cards, etc)
Size
* size does not matter
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you? I would like 6 at a minimum, but something larger like 10 or 12 to capture additional detail would be excellent
* Ultrazoom would be nice, but I would like at a minimum 5x zoom
* I would like to be able to take decent videos, this is about 5 out of 10 on importance, but it would be nice for occasional use
* How important is “image quality” to you? proper contrast, detail, and sharpness are a 9 to me. Color reproduction is a 7
Do you care for manual controls?
I would rather have it just take great pictures without messing with controls, but im not entirely sure thats possible, so im willing to fiddle with manual controls
General Usage
* Indoor, semi-low light photography
* Macros, both indoor and out
* Portraits (no advanced lighting, just of myself mainly, that fit condition 1, indoors, and not great lighting)
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? No
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Absolutely
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Yes, there is a chance shots will be taken from a moving vehicle. This is less important to me than all the above however.
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Like
I had a Fuji 2600Z for about 5 years, that absolutely loved, it took spectacular pictures with no effort or adjustment at all. Basically, what im trying to do is duplicate the quality i got with that fuji in a modern camera with more options.
Here are some examples of photos i took with the 2600Z
http://picasaweb.google.com/jbrukardt/PCPictures
None of those took any adjustment at all, just point and shoot basically, and in my opinion they came out amazingly.
I am looking for that kind of ease, and quality again, in a modern camera, with the additional features of good low light/indoor photography.
Dislike
After doing a ton of research (somehow missed this forum though) 6 months ago to replace that fuji, I ended up going with a Ricoh R6, and since i got it, i havent been able to take a single photo that even came close the the 5 year old fuji. Ive played with every settings on the camera and have become extremely frustrated with it. It seems to hate hate hate low-light, and either introduces so much grain (even with manual low ISO settings) that the picture is unusable, or if you turn the flash on, it oversaturates everything, even with synced/slow flash. Taking a picture of a white piece of paper from 5 feet away (birthday card in front of a bunch of presents) turns the card into a glow in the dark aberation that blinds out the rest of the photo no matter what i do. In short, the ricoh, in my hands seems horrible at determining proper contrast.
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
I have been looking at the Canon S5 IS for its excellent macros
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Image stabilization
hotshoe (if its necessary on modern cameras to alleviate my oversaturated flash issues indoors?) the fuji never had that problem.
* under 350 dollars for the camera (additional can be allocated for accessories, lenses, batteries, sd cards, etc)
Size
* size does not matter
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you? I would like 6 at a minimum, but something larger like 10 or 12 to capture additional detail would be excellent
* Ultrazoom would be nice, but I would like at a minimum 5x zoom
* I would like to be able to take decent videos, this is about 5 out of 10 on importance, but it would be nice for occasional use
* How important is “image quality” to you? proper contrast, detail, and sharpness are a 9 to me. Color reproduction is a 7
Do you care for manual controls?
I would rather have it just take great pictures without messing with controls, but im not entirely sure thats possible, so im willing to fiddle with manual controls
General Usage
* Indoor, semi-low light photography
* Macros, both indoor and out
* Portraits (no advanced lighting, just of myself mainly, that fit condition 1, indoors, and not great lighting)
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? No
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Absolutely
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Yes, there is a chance shots will be taken from a moving vehicle. This is less important to me than all the above however.
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Like
I had a Fuji 2600Z for about 5 years, that absolutely loved, it took spectacular pictures with no effort or adjustment at all. Basically, what im trying to do is duplicate the quality i got with that fuji in a modern camera with more options.
Here are some examples of photos i took with the 2600Z
http://picasaweb.google.com/jbrukardt/PCPictures
None of those took any adjustment at all, just point and shoot basically, and in my opinion they came out amazingly.
I am looking for that kind of ease, and quality again, in a modern camera, with the additional features of good low light/indoor photography.
Dislike
After doing a ton of research (somehow missed this forum though) 6 months ago to replace that fuji, I ended up going with a Ricoh R6, and since i got it, i havent been able to take a single photo that even came close the the 5 year old fuji. Ive played with every settings on the camera and have become extremely frustrated with it. It seems to hate hate hate low-light, and either introduces so much grain (even with manual low ISO settings) that the picture is unusable, or if you turn the flash on, it oversaturates everything, even with synced/slow flash. Taking a picture of a white piece of paper from 5 feet away (birthday card in front of a bunch of presents) turns the card into a glow in the dark aberation that blinds out the rest of the photo no matter what i do. In short, the ricoh, in my hands seems horrible at determining proper contrast.
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
I have been looking at the Canon S5 IS for its excellent macros
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Image stabilization
hotshoe (if its necessary on modern cameras to alleviate my oversaturated flash issues indoors?) the fuji never had that problem.