Serious cameras should have hotshoes at the very least. I'm not sure an ultra-zoom should have one, if only because it would require a dedicated flash that knows about the zoom setting.
A manual-focus slide shooter lost in the world of digicams.
It is an extra expense to buy an external flash, but if you are actually going to buy an external flash and use it then a hot shoe is great. Personally I don't like carrying big bulky cameras in most indoor enviroments (public at least) and will sacrifice picture quality for a compact size. The external flash will add quite a bit of bulk to you camera.
I know this is a digital camera resource site but I was actually looking for a cheap digital camera with a hotshoe to test film camera setups. I would actually be using studio flash for film portraits with Nikon/Mamiya gear.
The digital would just be used to test the lighting set-up really. ( In the old days you would use polaroids to do this. )
I cant seem to find many low-end models with a hotshoe, though. Fuji MX 2900? Anyone know of any others?
I know this is a digital camera resource site but I was actually looking for a cheap digital camera with a hotshoe to test film camera setups. I would actually be using studio flash for film portraits with Nikon/Mamiya gear.
The digital would just be used to test the lighting set-up really. ( In the old days you would use polaroids to do this. )
I cant seem to find many low-end models with a hotshoe, though. Fuji MX 2900? Anyone know of any others?
I don't know a low-end model that has a hot shoe on it and basicaly I won't suggest one if it would exist. Low-end models don't have manual controls and I guess that's what you need to be able to set when you want to test your lights. Another option is getting a camera with full manual controls and use a flash trigger to have an external flash fired.
How cheap is 'CHEAP'?
You maybe able to find discontinued FZ20, FZ30 which has a hotshoe that may suit your need. There are plenty on Ebay.
All new digital cams with hotshoe are more like higher-end models like Wutske already said.
Thanks for the quick advice, Wutse/Tim. I managed to do what I wanted on a 20 quid Fuji digital. You can set the aperture to F4 or F8 on this camera to preview the shot. Image quality wasnt really important because the final shot would be on film anyway ( yes, I can hear you tittering!). I would be using two off-camera strobes and a backlight, which was why I needed the hotshoe digital to test the lighting setup.
A nice article on studio flash techiniques is here. You will all want a hotshoe/PC after reading this!
Canon SD1000, S3, 20D & 5D; Panasonic LX2. Canon lenses: 50mm f1.4, 16-35mm f2.8, 28-70mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 IS Also have two film cameras: Canon Elan 7E and a Yashica TL Super (which I purchased in Vietnam in 1969 for $106).
I couldn't live without either a hotshoe or sync connector. On-camera flash has only one purpose, which is convenience. It's a good way to get mediocre photos. The attached photo has an external flash to the left, firing through a translucent diffuser. (If the chipmunk looks guilty, it's because he just swiped all the peanuts I put out for the birds. )
Yep, Bill. You would definitely have lost texture in the bark and the fur if you had used on-camera flash on that shot. The odd thing is that we (old farts) were always taught that on-camera flash was a sin - you will almost always get red-eye. But most builtin camera flash units are placed exactly where you dont want them - bang on top of the lens! If you could at least twist the flash then you could bounce it off a wall but many just seem to be the pop-up-flash variety.
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Originally Posted by Waz
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