Camera for "art" shooting?

[SeanC]

Hey everyone,

Im curious what type of camera I should get for more "artistic" shooting. I plan on taking pictures at local shows of bands and people, and general cool pictures. I only know a little about cameras here so bear with me.

I definitly want something with adjustable shutter speed (those cool light tracer effects), some zoom would be nice, and definitly some manual controls (focus and others).

I would love to take pictures worthy of me posting on a site like deviantART or something of that nature.

Something around a 500-700 dollar range would be nice.

Thanks in advance :)
-Sean

edit: something that wouldnt be to large to lug around, i dont mind bringing a bag at all, but i do plan to be at venues with this thing (st louis area if anyones interested)

[SeanC]

Any opinions on the Olympus C-5060 Wide Zoom camera? or the Fuji FinePix S7000

[Slnce-z-GSI]

Any opinions on the Olympus C-5060 Wide Zoom camera? or the Fuji FinePix S7000
Hi,

first before I start odes abpout C-5060 I wantt to remid you also Minolta A1, A2, Nikon 8700 ...

maybee I can help yopu a bit. I own the C-5060 for cca 6 moths and did quite a lot photos with it (anyhow mostly amateur ones). If yoiu would like to see some of those, have a look on www.photosig.com (my user name is Matus).
Allover I really like this camera. What I was bying it (end of 2003) I found it to be the best one within the class (does not have to be true now)
So, advantages and disadvantages: You can set narly everything you want - what I really like is the Custom function where I can on the dial set up to 8 complete camera settings. The quality of the images is really good, I just do not advice to use ISO 400 if you raelly do not have to. Zoom 27 - 110 mm (fo 35 mm film) is just right although 27 - 200 would be better :-)
Really good thing is AF illuminator AND pssive autofocus - something you should have on the camera you are looking for. Alo the lifetime of the batery is nice - about 400 images with ~ 50% of flash. Just the charging could be a bit faster than 6 hours for empty batery. YOu will also like te rotating and flipping display, whis has good colors and high resolution.
What could be better?
For many peopel is the handling of this maschine a bit complicated - and maybee they are right. If you want to change e.g. the flash compensation, you have to press two buttons + turn the dial in once. Its really true, that you have to read the manual first, but now I can not complain. What I would appreciate is a bit higher performance in terms of speed concerning the autofocus lag. This is not a camera for sports or wildlife, where one tenth of second is playing the role. But if the process is a little bit predictable, that it works fine.

All over - good robust (500g - titanium frame) camera, well sitting in a hand producing nice images without any crucial weak pionts - just do not forget about the competition which is younger and maybee better. Anyhow, lot of the C-5060 story is writen in the Jeffs review.

[SeanC]

Yeah, i read up on the camera on this and other forums, cant really find any bad complaints, and it seems a lot of people use this as their first camera.

Now to find a place to get it from :)

[SeanC]

just ordered the olympus c-5060 for 493$ shipped 2 day air.. not bad i say...


I cant wait for it to come in, I have a new computer coming tomorrow, and this would give me a chance to do something with it.

[Slnce-z-GSI]

so, ....Good luck :)