Need a new camera - Recommendations?

[Sea Jypzee]

It's time to replace the cheap digital camera with something that does a better job. Looking for recommendations.

Have a bit of photography background from 20 years ago, using an old Minolta SLR (standard film camera), and my current digital was my first delve into the digital world. (a cheap Samsung point & shoot).

Primary usage is going to be on the boat, and in the woods and other outdoors opps. (wildlife, and scenics primarily), so I am looking for something that is fairly easy to carry, has good zoom capability, decent megapixel size range, and possibly a few manual over-rides for custom exposure options.

I figure I'd start with the other Dogs here to see what people are using and liking/disliking and go from there.

[OuterLimits]

I have the Cannon Sure Shot S3 that I really like for about $350. The new Cannon Sureshot S5 just hit the market for about $500. Both cameras can take pictures as well as little movie clips. Easy to operate either in the auto mode or manual. Easy to down load pics. Includes a zoom len. You can go to their site for more details.

[bikenut64]

I've got a Sony Mavica Disc camera. Uses a 3" disc and has a Carl Zeiss lens. Takes great pics and seems to be bulletproof. Mine spent a year in the Desert in Iraq. Endured 140 degree temps among other things and never crapped out on me. My boss has same camera but in a digital version and he really likes his too.Not sure the megapixel but the quality lens I think is the key in the sonys.The disc ones are a little big as I found out but I imagine the digital one is as solid as mine was.

[Herring Problem]

Canon Powershot SD800 IS Digital ELPH (AKA IXY Digital 900 IS) Camera

[fishbait]

Have owned many Cannon Powershots, great cameras

Do your research as to features, size and resolution (that you will actually use) and then go to that big E auction site and look for bargins.

[Pete]

There have been some excellent discussions about cameras (and a really fun photo contest to help us learn to take better pictures) on the Life in General forum over the last couple weeks. Don't miss out just cuz it's not exclusively salty dogs there! We are, after all, all Ifishers!

[Weather or Knot]

Bought one Canon powershot -Wife liked it- had to buy another one for the boat . There easy to use as stated before and I also got the Sylphy cps10 printer and that thing works great!

Brandon

[Tinman]

On a boat, you want a wide-angle lens, and the Canon PowerShot SD 800IS has the equivalent of a 28 mm lens. This is one of the widest available in the point-and-shoot category, and on that basis I just bought it. So far I like it very much.

[luckyr]

There is a lot of great cameras out there. If you are used to a SLR one of the new digitals, that are out now are awesome. 10 plus megapixels. We have a Canon XTI. I put up my wifes flickr site. She takes pictures and than draws or paints them. Some samples of her art is here and the flowers will show you the power of her camera.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisnjule/

[Sublime]

AS some have said, Canon has some great 'point and shoot' cameras that work well. Just make sure you get one with "IS" on it...>Image Stabilizer<


Especially with the movements on the boats, waves, etc.

[Sea Jypzee]

Thanks all for the recommendations. I'm really liking the Canon Powershot S5 IS so far. May have to find someplace I can go take a look at one.

[Paddler]

If you want high quality photos, you'll eventually end up with a D-SLR. Shutter lag will kill you in wildlife photography, and SLRs eliminate this problem. The body is not as important as the lens, of course. Something like the Nikon D80 would be a good jumping off place. Something like this from B&H would be great:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_Camera.html

There is a lot of great info on the Avery Outdoors Photography Forum. Few subjects are as challenging as flying birds, and there are lots of guys over there who do very nice work. Search for posts by Kent, who goes by Two23. Very knowledgable and helpful.

Since you have an SLR background, you may as well make the leap now. I bought the D200 last year, as it's a great camera. Full manual override, and is easy to use if you understand the basics of photography. I have the 18-70mm zoom for all around use, this is the lens I took the LP photos with. I also have the 50mm, which is a steal. The 300mm f4 is pro quality, and I also have the TC-14 teleconverter.

Of course, budget is the prime concern. It's like the race mechanic said,
"Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?"

Here are a couple of examples from last winter:

[fish-on-bend]

Beautiful shots Paddler. As already stated, figure out what you want your camera to do, then go shopping. I did that and settled on a a Canon Powershot A700. It has a 6X optical lens for wildlife and scenery. Love it! I could only find it online and it was about $275 with shipping.

[Crustycritter]

Another vote for the Canon XTI its a great camera, but for those shots on the boat, get image stabilization like Sublime suggested.

[bigwhite]

My vote is for the Olympus cameras....They are water resistant.

Mine has been submerged and still works great..

[garyk]

Here's some rain on the Canon lovers parade.....

I've got two Powershop S30's that I'll sell you CHEAP. One has moisture damage (just a foggy day, not submerged). The other S30 I dropped while in the boat and the mode selector switch has to be replaced.

Then the Canon XTI that was purchased to replace the busted S30's is now headed back for warranty service a second time. The last series of pics (a couple are on Tacklebuster's tuna thread) proved that the light metering is malfunctioning.

Most of the pics on the above mentioned thread were taken with an Olympus Stylus. Not great but a rugged, water resistant camera. I bought it cheap after it was used/abused for a couple years in an industrial environment.

A water resistant Olympus will likely be my next camera.

Talk to a knowledgable camera salesman and they'll tell you that all non-H2O models are very susceptible to moisture.

[Sublime]

This is why i bought an underwater camera housing for mine~

[KillerBeee]

My buddy FishNg1 has a Pentax Optio waterproof that is compact, takes nice pics and can even go under water.
Check these out!

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...07037Small.jpg


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...al-2007055.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...al-2007008.jpg

[pirk fan]

I've got one of the pentax optio waterproof cameras as well. Truly waterproof, just to try it out I took a picture of the bottom of Waldo lake out in the middle where it's deep and that robins egg blue color. Got a great picture of robins egg blue nothing, but the camera functioned perfectly. They take surprisingly good pictures for a point and shoot and have a movie function with microphone for sound as well (don't have a clue how they waterproof that, but it is)

[tracker]

Well as many of you may know I take a few pictures! I also like to take some videos! So I ended up with a Sony H9. I have an eight gig card with it and it holds plenty of info. Takes great pics and video. Is quite small. But if pics is all you want then a slr would be the ticket. But I have very quick response at the shutter.


Paddler, those pics are very good!

[retaliate]

I also went for the Olympus...cause they were one of the few Water resistant Cameras at the time, I beleive there are more available now.

[garyk]

One thing I notice on the new waterproof cameras, like the Optio series, is they eliminate the optical viewfinder...I'm not sure how easy it'd be to compose a pic using only the LCD screen in bright sun while wearing polarized glasses??????

[garyk]

a bump up for this informative thread...

[Paddler]

Good thread. Again, the camera you choose should be selected according to what you want it to do.

For a boat camera, wide angle is best. Also, water resistance and IS are good. If you want pictures of breeching whales, you're going to need an SLR with a wildlife lens, 300mm minimum. Image Stabilization isn't necessary for this because you need to use such a high shutter speed that blur because of camera motion, given decent technique, shouldn't be a problem.

Like anything else, decide what you want it to do, then go shopping. Ignore your budget. Cost won't matter in a few years. I think everybody on this board realizes that.

[crabbait]

Timely. I just bought a DSLR for the Costa Rica trip. I took a good look at the Nikons after seeing what my friends D50 will do. The reviews said the D80 was the replacement for the D50 and that the D200 was a much better camera for a few hundred more... About the best price I could find from a vendor that was at least semi-trustworthy was around $1300 for the body alone. Too spendy...

More online research revealed that the Canon Rebel XTi 400D 10.1mp camera was very well reviewed. I found it in town at about the same price as I could buy it online...$799 body only or $899 with a throw-away lens. I went with the fastest 4gb Sandisk card I could get (20mb/sec-read/write), a Canon EF-S 28-135mm zoom lens (stabilized) and a detachable digital flash that automatically adjusts with the camera. I wouldn't normally but I bought the 4 year extended warranty because it covered loss and theft as well as malfunction ($140).

Initial impressions: First, you can't use the LCD screen to compose pics like you can with a pocket cam. The viewfinder is great, however. It features an array of little dots that light up individually to show you the item that the focus has used to compose. If it chose the wrong item just move the camera a little and press the shutter halfway down again. The camera will refocus and will hold that focus as long as you hold the shutter halfway down (unless your subject is moving, in which case it will lock the subject and maintain focus).

The focus is lightning fast as is the shutter. Hopefully, no more "splash" pictures missing the fish. Now the learning curve...

[garyk]

Originally Posted by crabbait

I wouldn't normally but I bought the 4 year extended warranty because it covered loss and theft as well as malfunction ($140).

Do you think 'malfunction' includes exposure to water? If so, the extra $35 a year seems like money very well spent.

[theo11d]

my Cannon EOS-5D with a EF70-200 F2.8L IS lens seems to perform well. But I still use my EOS 30D on occasion with good results.

[Pilar]

Most of the shots I post are with a disposable Costco camera, 800 or 400 film 27 exposures. I just can't picture taking an expensive, fragile thing like a camera on a boat.

If the disposable breaks I'm out $7.

[fyshndad]

Originally Posted by Pilar

Most of the shots I post are with a disposable Costco camera, 800 or 400 film 27 exposures. I just can't picture taking an expensive, fragile thing like a camera on a boat.

If the disposable breaks I'm out $7.

I agree with John
I use a Walgrens camera that I bought a few years ago for $10 and I joined thier photo club
It is simple
Take all the pics
Take camera in they replace the film for free and I just pay for developing
Never have to buy film and the 1 hour proccessing is cheap

I do have a Sony digital that uses floppy discs for film but it never goes on the boat

[Reel Obsession]

Been using a Canon EOS D10 for years, still love it. I shoot on the boat a lot, and have taken it to Costa Rica and on several other long trips. 7,000 pics and no issues so far. It's mostly about good glass in the end, so plan on spending money on the highest quality glass you can afford if you go the slr route. Good feedback all, and great photos Paddler!

[Paddler]

Crabbait, your camera probably has several focusing programs from which to choose. The D200 has four different modes, and you can make selections within each mode.

The LCD screen is for reviewing the photos you shoot, and you can review the histogram, the RGB histogram, the parameters each photo was taken with, etc. It's pretty complicated, but the more you know, the better results you'll get.

I keep my camera in a dry bag while out in the boat, and wash the fish slime off my hands and dry them before handling the camera. I take it everywhere, in my canoe hunting waterfowl, field hunts in Canada, etc. I'm careful with it, but I bought it with rugged use in mind. I like the fact that if I take a picture, it has the potential of being suitable for framing.

As mentioned above, spend your money on the lens first.

Here's a simple one I shot last fall paddling back from an evening duck hunt:

[CR dog]

I kind of like those disposable one myself. With all the tuna blood on my hands I don't have to worry about cleaning up.

Also it gives me more funds for tuna gear.

My .

[Sea Jypzee]

Thank you all for the informative reviews, and beautiful sample pics.

I have a few SLR's on my "short list" now so far.

Nikon D40 (w 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, and 55-200mm f4-5.6 lens kit)

Olympus EVOLT E510 (w 14- 44mm f3.5-5.6, and 40-150mm f4-5.6 Lens Kit)

Canon Rebel XTi (w 18-55mm Lens)

The Olympus and Canon have Image Stabilization (the Canon throw-away lens does not, would have to purchase an upgraded lens). All appear to have good reviews, and be fairly equal price range.

The Nikon and Olympus have +/- 5 stops exposure control, Canon is +/- 2 stops control.

Canon would require upgraded lens, meaning additional cash expendature.

How important is the Image Stabilization feature on the Olympus and Canon compaired to the Nikon not having this feature?

All 3 brands are 10Megapixel, so essentially equal there.

Right now, leaning heavily towards the Olympus, with the Nikon as a close second.

The Image Stabilization feature of the Olympus appears to be built into the body, whereas the Canon is a part of the Lens.

Opinions? Suggestions?

[RBfisher]

Nikon D40 w 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, and 55-200mm f4-5.6 lens kit

[Paddler]

The only problem with the D40 is that it has no motor, so it won't auto focus with non AF-S lenses. The lens must have it's own motor to focus properly with this body. For instance, the 50mm f1.8 will need to be focused manually on the D40.

Do not confuse MP's with quality. It is now used as a marketing tool, as people think that all 10MP cameras are created equal. They're not. IS is useful when you have a stationary suject and need to use a slow shutter speed. It reduces blur from camera motion only, not subject motion.

[HugeDuckFan]

I use a Canon EOSD20 and D30, with a 10-22 wide angle lens. The 70-300 lens will work great for the breaching pics 50 yards behind the boat, but don't count on any shots of your buddies hauling up that bluefin. The D5 is an amazing camera with 12 megapixal camera, but it'll cost ya...nearly 2500. The D30 is a 10 mega, and comes with a 28-135 image stabilizing lens. The wdie angle Canon lens is almost $800, the 30D is around $1500. I am selling the 20D with lens, battery, and 2 gb cards.

2 Powershots destroyed through normal use, Canon would not repair them under warranty. The telescoping lens drive mechanisms are extremely sensitive, and Canon will not cover anything if there is even a scratch on the case. 21 day old camera, with a small scratch on the case, Canon warranty wanted to charge me $116 to fix the lens (it opens slightly crooked and binds when retracting).

[Sea Jypzee]

Well, I ended up going with the Nikon D40x with (w 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, and 55-200mm f4-5.6 lens kit). Got the 55-200mm lens with IS on it. Extra Battery, 2GB Fast SD Card, 2yr extra warrantee (yes, it does cover water damage).

Now, for the learning curve!

[Paddler]

Congrats on the new camera. I'm sure you'll enjoy the heck out of it. If you need any pointers, PM me. If I don't know the answer, I can point you in the right direction.

Speaking of photography, there is an article in the current edition of "Wooden Boat" magazine on the photography of Norman Fortier, an East Coast photographer from the 50's and 60's. Pick up the magazine, you'll love the images.

Also in this edition is an article on Pocock racing shells. George Pocock was based in Seattle, and made wooden racing shells. I rowed in some of his boats on the UC Irvine Crew team in 1970. Now they're all carbon fiber, but the wooden shells were beautiful examples of workmanship and natural materials.

[Bill Monroe]

Originally Posted by Herring Problem

Canon Powershot SD800 IS Digital ELPH (AKA IXY Digital 900 IS) Camera

Hands down for a point and shoot.

And the SLR advocates are right, too...instant shutter speed is pretty important at times.

Most newspapers are switching from Nikon to Canon. Canon has the edge on just about all technologies right now.