DRC Forum » General Discussion » Books, Photography, Music and Movies » Shopping for a Digital camera? » Page 1 of 1

[|DRC| Iceman]

Was just wondering what is good/bad when it comes to buying a Digital camera. I already have one right now, but was tossing around the idea of "eventually" buying something more high end in the future.

Any suggestion on what I should keep my eyes open for?

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[|DRC| Death]

The first thing I look for is the resolution and quality of pics. Then I would probably ask someone who has already got it to post some pics of things they have taken with it. Then I would look at functions like zoom etc...

[|DRC| Wartex]

The first and most important thing you have to learn is what all settings/modes mean. Then you have to master how to make your camera see things the way your eyes see.

What is AE-Bracketing, SLR, white balance, ISO, shutter speeds, aperture metrics etc?

You need to know the fundamentals, and you can experiment with your existing camera to learn. Once you have mastered the "manual" settings mode, you can move on to a higher-megapixel SLR. Expect to shell out a price of the camera for a lens. I.e $800-$1300 camera most likely will require $600-1500 lens (pro cameras have no lens or a shitty stock lens). You will also need a tripod ($120).

There is no "best" camera, and pictures taken with even the most expensive Hasselblad for $40,000 (yes, forty thousands) by a beginner will look like a skidmark on granny's pants compared to pictures taken with a 3.1 MP Fujifilm by a professional.

Here's a site with a ton of tutorials and educational material: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

Once you _know_ it (and not "yeah, i kinda get the general idea what ISO/SLR/AE/AF/AP/etc is") then you can go to dpreview.com and compare the pictures of special test tables, such as color tests, sharpness tests etc. For example my 4 year old 5.2mp Sony F717 easily rapes 2005 8mp "consumer" Kodak or HP (especially hp - ROFL ) in sharpness, color accuracy etc. Kodak DOES have higher resolution, but overall quality of the "raw" shot (i.e. if you take a picture of the same object with both cams and pick a 100x100 pixels area and compare) is higher with Sony [and even higher with Canon DSLR].

Factors that play role are:
Lens (that's a whole different theory. Carl Zeiss is pretty good)
Optional lenses
Battery life
Batery price (very important! my Sony battery is fucking $80!!! some cameras use AA)
Afermarket battery availability
Resolution
Storage media format (i.e. CF is cheaper than MemoryStick, SD is faster than CF etc)
Shutter speed setting range
Aperture settings range
Ability to save "presets"
Menu structure & buttons (camera controls) [I used 8mp Kodak and 7.2 mp Olympus and fucking hate them]
Driver support - nothing is more annoying having to install a driver from a CD on every PC you want to connect
Cable standard (some cameras use USB "A" on one end and proprietary plug on the other. You lose or damage your cable - you are fucked, and even if you can get a replacement, prepare to pay dearly)
Ability to have external flash
Viewfinder focus adjustment (my Sony has one, Kodak doesn't - that means if you wear glasses you will have to either keep your eye about half an inch away from the viewfinder or embed it into your eye socket to see sharp [depends if you are +/- deviated])

There is a ton more, but I outlined the basic stuff ...
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[|DRC| Messiah]

good job wartex on the details.. me personally I look for a high optical zoom and digital zoom plus a mid pixel count plus with comfort and image stabilzers... considering the response time on the actual snap to write is long or short.. bluring occurs easily. But Wartex give better details as what to look for if you are serious about a good cam. I like my Canon which i posted about..
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[|DRC| Iceman]

|DRC| Wartex wrote:

---

The first and most important thing you have to learn is what all settings/modes mean. Then you have to master how to make your camera see things the way your eyes see.

What is AE-Bracketing, SLR, white balance, ISO, shutter speeds, aperture metrics etc?

You need to know the fundamentals, and you can experiment with your existing camera to learn. Once you have mastered the "manual" settings mode, you can move on to a higher-megapixel SLR. Expect to shell out a price of the camera for a lens. I.e $800-$1300 camera most likely will require $600-1500 lens (pro cameras have no lens or a shitty stock lens). You will also need a tripod ($120).

There is no "best" camera, and pictures taken with even the most expensive Hasselblad for $40,000 (yes, forty thousands) by a beginner will look like a skidmark on granny's pants compared to pictures taken with a 3.1 MP Fujifilm by a professional.

Here's a site with a ton of tutorials and educational material: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

Once you _know_ it (and not "yeah, i kinda get the general idea what ISO/SLR/AE/AF/AP/etc is") then you can go to dpreview.com and compare the pictures of special test tables, such as color tests, sharpness tests etc. For example my 4 year old 5.2mp Sony F717 easily rapes 2005 8mp "consumer" Kodak or HP (especially hp - ROFL ) in sharpness, color accuracy etc. Kodak DOES have higher resolution, but overall quality of the "raw" shot (i.e. if you take a picture of the same object with both cams and pick a 100x100 pixels area and compare) is higher with Sony [and even higher with Canon DSLR].

Factors that play role are:
Lens (that's a whole different theory. Carl Zeiss is pretty good)
Optional lenses
Battery life
Batery price (very important! my Sony battery is fucking $80!!! some cameras use AA)
Afermarket battery availability
Resolution
Storage media format (i.e. CF is cheaper than MemoryStick, SD is faster than CF etc)
Shutter speed setting range
Aperture settings range
Ability to save "presets"
Menu structure & buttons (camera controls) [I used 8mp Kodak and 7.2 mp Olympus and fucking hate them]
Driver support - nothing is more annoying having to install a driver from a CD on every PC you want to connect
Cable standard (some cameras use USB "A" on one end and proprietary plug on the other. You lose or damage your cable - you are fucked, and even if you can get a replacement, prepare to pay dearly)
Ability to have external flash
Viewfinder focus adjustment (my Sony has one, Kodak doesn't - that means if you wear glasses you will have to either keep your eye about half an inch away from the viewfinder or embed it into your eye socket to see sharp [depends if you are +/- deviated])

There is a ton more, but I outlined the basic stuff ...

Thanks for the great info! The site you recommended is amazing! Full of great information, diagrams, and tutorials! Thank you very much kind sir!