Digital Camera Experts

[andy a]

Reading the specs doesn't always explain how to actually use the features.

[Jim Hinsch]

I'm in the market for a new camera and have been researching for about a month. I settled on the Canon S230. As far as I'm concerned, anything higher than 2.1Megapixal is a special purpose camera for enlargements or large prints.

You won't be taking your vacation shots at that resolution as it won't make the photos look notably better and uses 50% more storage (meaning you get fewer photos).

You will not carry this camera in your pocket. It is too heavy. Get the leather belt pouch and wear in on your belt like a pager. You'll never know it is there.

If you want a tiny camera for your pocket, Mustek (?SP) has a 2.1 Megapixal that also is a webcam and does digital video and has a rechargeable battery that is the size of a box of matches and weighs about the same.



Cool Webcam!

If you don't need all that resolution, there is an even smaller one with all the same features (about US$40), shown below:



Make no assumptions about photo quality from these pictures, as you don't know how far away I was, how steady my hand was, what resolution was used (they all have variable resolutions), or how dirty the lens might be at the moment. Plus, they were cropped and adjusted for contrast, brightness, and gamma.

The tiny cameras do not take fantastic pictures. They do take decent photos. I don't recommend them for indoor shots, because they don't have a flash and good light makes for good pictures. Great for the keychain or glovebox. Or make the smallest one into a belt center and take photos covertly.

These two pictures below were taken with the tiny $40 camera with no flash. The first is no-retouching, the second is cropped and adjusted.

[Keith&Cris]

I use 2.1 megapixel Kodak DC 215 zoom. It's about 2 years old but it takes great pics. I would prefer a camera with a better zoom capability though. I print 8"x10" pics on my HP 970Cse Professional series printer on kodak premium gloss paper and get excellent results. I sell lots of framed pics! Consider getting a camera that you can readily get a waterproof case for taking underwater pics. Some cameras you can't buy a case for. Like mine! A case would be great for snorkeling in DR or having fun around the resort swim-up bar ... go to www.virtualtourist.com/keith&cris to see what I mean, hehehehe.

[andy a]

Jim,

What do you think about a DV camcorder instead, especially if a camera needs to be carried in a pouch anyway?

Thanks.

[AtlantaBob]

reviewing and comparing cameras, etc., is:
http://www.photographyreview.com/reviewscrx.aspx

[DRtechie]

I own the Canon S330 and looking into getting my girlfriend the S230. I love my S330 because it's very small and light but still gives me 2.0 megapixel resolution, 3x optical zoom and 2.5 digital zoon. It also allows you to take video clips with sound. The memory card it comes with is small but I can still get around 30 pictures by lowering the quality of the picture. Even with the low quality setting you're still getting great pictures. The S330 does a have a red eye problem though...I hear it's the same with the S230.

[Jan]

I just have a logitec. It wasn't too expensive and its a web cam also. Has a memory card and the fotos look pretty good. I have a flash but now I wish I spent a little more and got zoom also. But it has video with sound. 20 minutes worth. Not too bad a little camera.

[m65swede]

Bob, The Canon you describe is a nice little camera, though I would suggest that you handle one of them before purchase. They are so tiny that I was afraid of losing my grip and dropping it overboard!

The premier website for digital camera information and evaluation is:Digital Photography Review. Click on Gallery at the left side of the home page to see sample photos of dozens of camera models.

The evaluation of the Canon S230 is at: Canon S230 .


I looked long and hard before purchasing my digital camera. I decided to buy only from an established camera company, so limited the choices to Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Sony. I really wanted the Canon G2 but didn't wish to spend so much $$. Finally settled on the Sony DSC-S75, a 3.1 megapixel model that serves me well. I shot about 385 photos in the DR last April.

Regardless of which model you buy, heed the words of previous posters and get a couple of large memory cards/sticks. I also have a card reader and brought it with me to the DR; when the memory sticks were full, I simply burned the images onto a CD. Then erased the memory sticks and filled them up again!

Good luck in your decision.

Swede

[Jim Hinsch]

Originally posted by andy a
Jim,

What do you think about a DV camcorder instead, especially if a camera needs to be carried in a pouch anyway?

The technology is approaching the level where I'll be switching soon. Right now, they just don't make one that for me, is small enough and still delivers high-quality stills. Even then, you must really want the ability to make long videos to justify the high price. You can use today's digital cameras for short videos.

Stills taken from compact digital recorders have resolutions that are not good enough for prints. To get good still resolution, you have to switch to a still mode. This makes sense. A 2GB memory card (2048 Megabytes vs 8-32MB that typically comes with a digital camera) would only hold 45 seconds of video if every frame was high resolution at 30 frames per second. Or with compression, maybe 5 minutes of video. A 2GB compact flash card will run you $1600.

Even if what I wanted was available, have you ever tried working with that much data? Computers and transfer rates are still too slow and you're talking about pushing the limits of even the newest and fastest components and in my experience, that's a formula for locking up your system, software crashes, and wait-wait-wait. It would take an hour to transfer a couple hours worth of digital video to your hard drive.

Finally, with the exception of a few water skiing analysis videos, my 8mm camcorder sits in drawer and never gets used. Watching home videos is about as popular as watching home slide shows of the past - they are a good way to lose friends!

The technology coming is exciting. Watch for the coming DITIGAL MIRROR. A unit the size of a cell phone picks up your digital video image, live, and projects a big screen TV sized image wherever you want. Maybe the ceiling above the bed?

I know guys that already use the little cord that comes with their digital cameras together with their laptops to make little home movies.

They plug their digital camera into the TV in their hotel room, set the camera on top of the TV, point and zoom as desired, and they let the fun begin as they make their own movie. Even low cost digital cameras that don't have video capability can do this.

If they happen to have one of those hi-8 video watchmans for watching movies on airplanes (these are full-featured VCR's that have built-in 3-5" LCD screens and use 8mm or hi-8 tapes and run on batteries), or their laptop, they can also record the video and later cut a VHS tape or a DVD (or just grab special frames to get cheap stills).

I read an article about how a working girl in Indonesia complained about a tourist that did something like this but did not disclose it to his partner. The girl discovered his lilttle hookup and had the local police arrest him. Since he had a computer, Newspapers announced "International Child Pornography Internet Ring Leader captured - the result of an intense investigation and operation in cooperation with local, national, and international agencies". What's a fall guy to do? This is reminiscent of some of the headlines I've read in the Dominican Republic after a Boca Chica "raid".

[Jim Hinsch]

Originally posted by Jan
I just have a logitec. It wasn't too expensive and its a web cam also. Has a memory card and the fotos look pretty good. I have a flash but now I wish I spent a little more and got zoom also. But it has video with sound. 20 minutes worth. Not too bad a little camera.

Note: Never zoom when you have an option to move closer to your subject. One feature of the higher resolution cameras is that they allow you to "zoom" after the fact and still maintain enough resolution for good prints.

Digital photography has made it possible to spend much less time on framing your subject and getting the lighting just right, as that can be done with software after the fact, letting you spend more time on composition. The best photographers will tell you it takes 10 or more shots to arrive at 1 great shot, you can take lots and lots of photos without the cost of film. Just throw away the ones you don't use.

I find people that initially are shy about having their photo taken, when shown the one you just took, will insist on a retake or 2 or 3 and end up actually posing cooperatively.