[edible snowman]

how much would i have to spend on a digital camera to get good reference pictures, and probably some general pictures in place of my trusty disposable cameras? money is the main factor here, i dont have a lot of it.

[Kjetil Nystuen]

I have a digial Canon Ixus, and I am very pleased with it. It has zoom (very important), macro option (also very important) a lot of othe useful options, and the size is wonderful. The same size as a packet of cigarettes. It has recently dropped quite a lot in price. I don't know how much it costs in the states.. Probably less than in Norway. I think I paid around 500 US dollars for it.

You will soon find out the importance of image size and quality once you start using it. Don't get stuck with some shitty camera..

However, if you are looking for a really cheap camera.. Try and get hold of a used first generation camera. They are really crap, and you shouldn't pay more than almost nothing for it. Maybe you can find something on online auctions?

-Kjetil

[MrPumpernickel]

Btw, how good is the zoom on digital cameras nowadays?

I remember a couple of years ago when the school bought a Sony Mavica (actually a kinda crappy digicam) and I messed around with it quite alot...but one thing which struck me was that the zoom was total crap, it blurred everything, no matter if I had it on auto or manual focus...

[The Dude]

A really great digicam review site is:

http://www.dpreview.com

They give you more details about each camera than you could ever want to know along with sample photos.

A nice feature they have is their buying guide which allows you to select the features you are looking for and the price you want to pay, then it will show you all the matches.

I am looking into a Nikon Coolpix 950 or a Sony DSC-F505V. Both are highly recommended.

The cheapest you can find a new Nikon for is about $500 from http://www.ritzcamera.com . You can also find refurbished ones for cheaper.

The sony has a really nice lens and built in battery charger and the cheapest I could find was $680.

Both of these cameras have really nice macro function so they take pics up to .8 inches at high quality.

Hope this helps.

Oh ya, I just noticed that post about zoom. The Nikon has 3x optical zoom and 2.5x digital zoom. Sony has 5x optical and 2x digital.

You want to make sure that the cam has a decent optical zoom (with lens). Digital zoom can really lower quality, especially at like 10x.

[ June 15, 2001: Message edited by: The Dude ]

[waylon]

I just got a Canon Powershot G1, and it rules. A lot. I mean, really. But it runs for about $700, which I'm guessing is out of your price range. But if you can afford it, it's really worth it.

Beyond that... well, make sure you get a camera with optical zoom, since that's really a very nice feature to have. Digital zoom is pretty much useless - if you zoom in 2x, it just cuts your resolution in half. You can do that in photoshop.

Also, look at the resolutions the camera can do, and what kind of flash card it uses (and how big of a card it comes with.) My camera can do 2048x1536, but the card it came with was only 16mb, which means it could take about seven full-rez pictures before the card was full. So like I said, make sure you know what kind of memory it uses, and how much an upgrade costs, because the default card is usually pretty wussy.

Beyond that... well, the more features you can set manually, the better. Being able to adjust the aperature, shutter speed, and focus is a good thing, but it's nice to be able to put it in automatic mode too.

I guess what it comes down to, if you get a cheap camera, you'll love having a digital camera, but you'll get sick of its limitations pretty quickly. Which will make you want to buy a better one. So either get a really, REALLY cheap one to start out with so that you know what you'll want when you upgrade and don't have to worry about throwing too much money away, or just save up for another month or two and get a nice one to start out.

Ok, enough rambling on my part. I hope this helps.

[Ko]

From my experiences the Canon range is VERY good, and you get a wide feature/price range.

I have a Canon Powershot S20 which is similar in most ways to the G1... It has the same resolution and image quality but has a fixed LCD display, whereas the G1 has a rotatable one. Also the G1 has an option for external flash and a wider zoom lens... I can't remember all the differences as I've only used a G1 a few times.

Then there's the S10 model which is basically an S20 with 2.1 megapixels CCD instead of 3.1 megapixels.

So try to find either a used S10 or an S20.

You should NOT go out and get a first generation camera! These are simply not worth the effort as they output in max. 640x480, and in horrible JPG quality...

Ko

[Vgta]

Hi, I posted a similar thread that might help you out.
http://www.sijun.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=001724

[stan]

I have a Nikon 990 which is far better than the 950. If your going to get a Nikon I suggest the 990. Killer camera. It can take a macro shot closer than any one out there. Less than two centemeters away from an object. Want to see the hair on a fly?

[edible snowman]

1/2-inch CCD, 2.1 million pixels, 1,600 x 1,200, optical 2x zoom lens, 1.8-inch TFT LCD.

how this? its a little more than i wanted to spend, but i can find the cash probably.

[edible snowman]

Platform(s) PC, Mac
Max. photo resolution 1600 x 1200
Interface(s) USB
Viewfinder type optical
Weight 2.42
Lens
Lens type autofocus
Zoom/Telephoto? yes
Power Supply
Batteries included? yes
Software
Software included PhotoStitch 3.0, Adobe PhotoDeluxe
Drivers included TWAIN
Warranty
Parts warranty 1 yr.
Labor warranty 90 Days.


is this the same thing? they both canon powershot s10's but im not sure about this site since it says its in "stcok" this site has exactly the price i want though.

[waylon]

That one looks pretty good. One other thing I'll mention is that the software they give you for transferring images from the camera to the PC sucks. A lot. It's about a thousand times more complicated than it needs to be, and you can't do simple things like.. go into your hard drive and delete a photo. You have to do it all through their software, or the database gets screwed up.

Your best bet is to get a compact flash card reader. (If you order a larger CF card, which you'll need to do, you can probably get one bundled with it.) With a card reader, you can copy the image files right off of the card and onto your hard drive. It's much, much easier to use, assuming you're at least passingly familiar with how to use windows.

But yeah, the camera itself looks good.

[NukleoN]

I'm holding out for the Canon GL-1 or someting like that...essentially, something that can capture motion or stills. Then you can capture reference for animated pieces.

[Muzman]

You can get a very good SLR secondhand and a good scanner and loads of film and prints for heaps less than all of them. Plus its fun, has more options and is cheaper to fix when it breaks.
It's worth considering. Just like every art geek will tell you to put away the tablet and grab a pencil for a while, understanding photography means playing around with its original form too. (and no one aughta think they can bail themselves out of bad or mediocre reference photos with photoshop. If it's not there all the tooling in the world won't bring it out.)

Good luck whatever you do though

[waylon]

Muzman: I have to disagree. I've got 900+ images sitting on my hard drive that I've taken with my digital camera. And I've only had my camera for about four months. I'm pretty sure that, in the lifespan of the camera, it will end up being much cheaper than if I had gotten prints of all those photos.

Of course, if I had a classic 35mm, I wouldn't have taken quite so many photos, so it still may have been cheaper. But then again, that's kind of the point - being able to take a ludicrous number of pictures, and not having to worry about having them developed?

Anyway, snowman, I hope your purchase goes well.

[Phil]

I have had the Canon G1 for about 2 months now.

I do not have a single complaint either.

Max resolution is 2048x1536. I also own a 512mb microdrive. This holds about 300 photos @ the max rez. The BP-511 battery lasts a very long time too. I have two of them just in case.

Other good features:
30 sec. movie mode w/ sound.
50 iso - less noise.
Remote control, extremely useful.

I purchased mine from www.shopharmony.com for about $650 not including microdrive, etc.

If you have a good epson printer, i have a 1200, you will love this camera. I can print photos @ 13x19!

BTW, Twisted Metal Black comes out tomorrow!

PHIL

[edible snowman]

thanks. i should buy it tomorrow, but i have to call because its a pain in the ass to tell what the online sites are actually selling. ahh waiting list music...

[blaise]

Wow, I'm just in the market for a digital camera myself. Didn't expect to have to spend more than $500 to get a decent one.

My question, I'm planning to use mine to capture photosource for custom game textures, can any recommend a sub $500 camera for this purpose?

[waylon]

Heh, Phil, I got mine from the same place.

blaise: If you're taking photographs for game textures, the powershot s10 (the one Edible Snowman is getting) should probably do the trick. Get a tripod, too. When you're making game textures, you **DON'T** want to use a flash, which means you have to hold the camera really still if the lighting isn't too good. (though photoshop's high-pass filter helps, if you absolutely need to use the flash.) But I digress.