I Need to Know About Your Equipment...

[SlowHand89]

I hate luring you in and leaving you with a boring subject but I'm checking out digital cameras and all the salespeople are making it difficult. "It's a great camera without any drawbacks." ?!?

I would really appreciate some help. What do you use? Would you buy it again? Pros/Cons?

I want it for more than just snapshots. I'm currently leaning towards the Nikon CoolPix 5000 but what do I know?


If you don't have a camera or any experience with, making you a digi-virgin, then feel free to discuss the 'equipment' you do have. I wouldn't want you to feel left out.
And if you want to discuss your 'equipment' as well, then feel free.

 

[weathered2]

Have the compact Nikon Coolpix without the swivel head; identical otherwise. I like it better than the swivel head because I can throw it in a pocket easier for hiking around. After we got a high capacity flash card and learned about batteries and resolution, so that we could get a ton of good-quality pics in an outing, we love it. One drawback on ours I would look to change in a new camera is ours has no remote shutter control; only a self timer. If you look at some of the better work here on Lit, a la Mae13 or Aaron697, you realize how much a remote shutter control would add to the ability to be creative.

 

[SlowHand89]

Thanks Weather2. I was looking on the net and reading reviews about the swivel head and everything indicated it was really good but I had that impression too. It just seemed way bulkier than I wanted. Plus, why a swivel head?

 

[TonyRajTiger]

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Hi. I dont use digital cameras yet. I find the quality sometimes can be a problem. I Like to use my trusty Pentax SLR and good old silver halide colour film. Then scan the prints, which gives a much better resolution.

Wouldnt mind knowing which is the best digital camera on the market up to now, because I need to use a really good one soon.

Any ideas?

~Tony

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[Scirocco]

I had a cheap HP dc210 and it broke within a year. It was never dropped and was taken good care of. HP wouldn't help me a bit with it. It took ok pictures, but now I have a Kodak dx3600 and I love it. The pictures are perfect, and since I have the cradle, I can just drop it in and hit a button and the pictures are unloaded. Perfect for action situations because your mood isn't totally blown by the interruption. Whatever camera you get, look for this feature (the cradle) its totally handy. Oh, the 3600 also lets you take lo-res movies w/sound...

hope that helps!

 

[Mae13]

Well, I think we already had a bit of a conversation about 'my equipment'...lol! This subject pops up every once and a while...here goes!

I have the Canon G1. As dear 'Old Bull' mentioned...(BTW Weathered, when you gonna grace us with more shots of you and your sexy self?! Or you and your sexy self wife?!! ) I love the remote control option. It's the only way I can do a lot of the shots I do as a solo photographer. The price has probably dropped considerably on it now, even when I got it I figured I got a helluva good deal online. With the 4+ and I think 5+ megapixel family already out, ol 3+ megapixels are dropping fast, which is good! They take awesome photos, I love the detail of mine. It's a little tank, probably the only downfall I could think is the fact it is a bit heavy for it's size. But I can handle a few more ounces, whether I am shooting indoors or taking it around for outdoor shots, so I don't mind it. It has several settings for different type shots, which I like. It's a bit idiot-proof as far as I can tell, however it can be used like a pure manual cam as well. It came with a smaller flashcard, but I got a larger one, can fit a few hundred med-reso pics on it! Verra nice You can mount an external flash on it if you wish, but the one in the camera is damn near nuclear, so I haven't had to worry about that.

I'm afraid I can't say yea or nay for any other cameras; this has been my only one to experience. It's been brough up before, but this site: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php3 has great camera reviews. He is extremely thorough, and shows sample shots as well! I know, just what you need, more stuff to look through! But he isn't gunning for a commission, so he is very good at pointing out good and bad things about the once he critiques.

Good luck! Does that mean you'll be joining the exhibitionist fray here at Lit?! *claps hands* Another convert, yea!!

*hugs*
mae

 

[~thonglover]

I have used 3 diff. digi cams in order of preference:

Nikon Coolpix 950

Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 618

Kodak ---- dont remember the #

Nikon takes fantastic pics....and is my #1 choice. I believe the newer ones all have USB for download

HP is great also, has USB for download

the Kodak was not great, in my opinion

some things I like to look for:

2x or 3x Optical zoom

Optical viewfinder (a must)

I have noticed some newer cameras that do not have the optical viewfinder, so you have to use the LCD on the back to frame the pics -- this is USELESS outside, and sucks batteries like crazy

All you need for web usage is 1.3 MegaPixels
Better is 2.1 MegaPixels

the 3 or 4 MegaPixel models are only needed if you want to print out 8" x 10" photos

PM me if u need more help.... I have researched this to death....plus there are some great websites I could point u too for comparisons, just need to get on my other comp. to get the addy's

 

[SlowHand89]

Thanks everyone.

This is making it much easier for me.


Especially with that website you suggested Mae. It's fantastic. They cover everything. I had been leaning towards the new Nikon 5000 but your camera seems worth much more consideration.

Then again, thonglover likes the Nikon 950 the most and the newer Nikon must be as good right?


I guess I'll just have to keep wading through all the options and see what floats to the surface.

Please continue posting any info you all might have. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[TonyRajTiger]

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very educational -

thanks for letting me share your information everyone and to you too SlowHand.

~Tony

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