What kind of camera do you folks use?

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sandking

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I would love to update my camera to a SLR but have a couple of point and shoots that are good already. I have the Canon SD550 which is 7mp but no manual settings besides exposure. The second camera is a Olympus C4000. It's only a 4mp, but with lots of manual settings (more than I even know what to do with).

I wonder if I got a SLR I'd be over my head and budget....
 
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Either of the cameras can be set to work fine. The olympus has a better lens in my opinion and would likely work better for the macru stuff. I have the Olympus C5050 and have had great results with it.

Fangar
 
I just purchased the Canon Powershot S3is this past spring as a replacement digital camera. It has great macro capabilities along with lots of creative controls and manual focusing. Oh, yeah, it's a 6 MP camera...and the 12x zoom and image stabilizer work great for outdoor shots!
 
Originally posted by Fangar
<br />Either of the cameras can be set to work fine. The olympus has a better lens in my opinion and would likely work better for the macru stuff. I have the Olympus C5050 and have had great results with it.

Fangar
Click to expand...

Is 4 mp enough to get all the detail some of these woods have?
 
Originally posted by sandking
<br />
Originally posted by Fangar
<br />Either of the cameras can be set to work fine. The olympus has a better lens in my opinion and would likely work better for the macru stuff. I have the Olympus C5050 and have had great results with it.

Fangar
Click to expand...

Is 4 mp enough to get all the detail some of these woods have?
Click to expand...

Yes, 4 mp is sufficient. More important is to get close and use as much of the frame as possible. Make sure you macro is set (if you have one), the camera is steady and adequate light. Focus and steady are the two main ingredients for a good pen picture.
 
You can make just about any camera work just fine.
Today digital is the way to go. A SLR is best because you can see what you are shooting but it's not critical since you will need to do some post-production work anyway, resizing at the least. 4mp is plenty since you want to keep file size down for web work anyway, just be sure to get as close as you can to maximize frame size, macro all the way. Lots of light, fast shutter speed to reduce shake, a tripod to reduce shake, and off you go.
 
I use a Nikon D2H - a 4 mp DSLR. I use a 60mm Macro lens. I find a tripod is a real asset for taking sharp pictures.

I agree that 4 mp is plenty. In fact, I usually use the smallest size pictures that my camera can take. And then I still need to reduce and crop the picture for web use.

John
 
I use Panasonic DMC-FZ5 ... I am very happy with it.

Descent pictures, great zoom, and more compact compared to its Sony or Canon counterpart so we always carry it with us on trips too.
 
I've used the Olympus C750 for a couple of years and still like it. 10x optical zoom since we like bird and wildlife photography, macro settings for pens and other closeup work.

Mark
 
I use a Konica-Minolta Z-5 and it works quite well. It doesn't have manual focusing, but does have macro, super-macro, custom white balance settings. It will be replaced by a Nikon D-100 or D-80 so I can use all the Nikon lenses I already have.
 
Originally posted by bob393
<br />You can make just about any camera work just fine.
Today digital is the way to go. A SLR is best because you can see what you are shooting but it's not critical since you will need to do some post-production work anyway, resizing at the least. 4mp is plenty since you want to keep file size down for web work anyway, just be sure to get as close as you can to maximize frame size, macro all the way. Lots of light, fast shutter speed to reduce shake, a tripod to reduce shake, and off you go.
Click to expand...

This is the best advice. The light source is key as I have found out. Until this spring I used an old Kodak DC280 which was 2.1mp. I could take nice pictures of everything but pens with that camera until I made a light box and set up the camera on a cheap tripod. After the light box and tripod, the pictures IMO looked as good as anything else I have seen.

I now have a canon S2-IS that I bought for about $300 that I'm hoping gives me even better results. I guess we'll see when I start taking pictures again of my pens.
 
Sony DSC H5 here. Got it about 3 months ago with the proceeds from 50 cigar pens I sold! I looked at all of them, the Cannon, Pentax, etc and ended up with the Sony. I really like the huge screen on the back and all of the great manual controls. I have been VERY happy with it so far.
 
I have a Nikon D50 and love it. The megapixels is really not as important for what we are doing once you get to 4 (or even 3) megapixels. The lens is what will help more than anything else. My Nikon is a recent purchase and I used an old 4mpx Canon point and shoot for a while and it did great too. The lens was just more limiting.
 
My trusty, old HP R507 for the pen pictures because I haven't learned yet how to use the Canon S3 I got in November......many, many thing to play with. Lens and macro modes help most - nice close focus range so you just get your pen and not the background. Light, light, light from every direction....well almost every direction!
 
Primary is a Canon 1DmII DSLR, 8.3mp, 8.5fps. Backup and carry around is Canon Rebel XT DSLR, 8.3mp. Several Lenses, Studio Flash & Studio Equipment.

Allen Turner
 
I am using a 5 year old Canon Powershot 330, 2 mega pixel. I have over 17,000 images recorded on it. I use it mostly to shoot my woodworkingand also my pens. It's been a great camera, I have no idea what it will be replaced with one day but for now it's still my choice. Metal body and all it's been a great camera, it cost $699 back all that time ago.

My, how things have changed.
[:)]
 
I have an old Minolta Dimage Z1, it is only 3.2 mega pixel which doesn`t sound good compared to what you get now. But it works fine for pen pictures![^][;)]
 
I use two camera.. one is a 10 year old Sony Mavica.. and the other is a Fuji Finepix E510.. I like the Sony, but having trouble keeping the battery charged... need to look for a new one I guess.. the Fuji does excellent pictures for its size.
 
Olympus SP-310. 7.1 megapixel, fully adjustable manual mode, super macro feature, large LED screen, "my settings" feature, uses standard AA's or special long life battery. Lot of other features I like. When purchased, we got a list of goodies and a sale price on the camera. All (with extended warr.) under $240. Very happy.
 
I use a 4mp Nikon Coolpix e4800. Works okay in close-up mode. This is my documentation camera. you know, for documenting life around me. My infrared camera is a 5mp Nikon Coolpix e5400. That is the other art I love.

keithz
 
I use a Nikon D70.

I wanted to add, Megapixels are overrated, but are really dependant on what you want to do. If you just want to use it for web work. 1 mpix is more than enough. The only real use of more mexapixels is for printing and blowing up, thats where you will see a difference and anything 8x10 or smaller, 4 megapixels is just fine. The other advantage of more mexapixels is being able to crop in a great deal (because you are croping out the other 3 or so megapixels around the small image you want). The big difference between point and shoot and SLR is the Image Sensor size. Same 6mpix SLR picture will be clearer and sharper than a 6 mpix Point and Shoot because the image sensor is much larger. This also alows the camera to take better lower light pictures with less noise.

In the end, if you just want to take pictures of your pens and woodworking for posting on the internet or looking at them on the computer screen, and basic point an shoot w/ macro capability will work just fine. Like others say good lighting and a tripod will make all the difference.
 
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