Camera Choices

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reefrunner69

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
May 16, 2002
Messages
1,663
Location
Cedar Key, FL
This thread is to get an idea what camers your using and whether your happy with them or not. This can be either a digital cam or a fil cam, which ever. Please give camera specs.

Nikon CoolPix 995
Max resolution 2048 x 1536
Low resolution 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480
Effective pixels 3.14 million
ISO rating Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800
Zoom wide (W) 38 mm
Zoom tele (T) 152 mm (4 x)
Digital zoom Yes, 1.2x - 4.0x in 0.2x steps
Auto Focus Yes
Manual Focus Yes, 50 positions
Normal focus range 30 cm
Macro focus range 2 cm
White balance override Yes - 5 positions, fine tunable, manual preset
Aperture range F2.6 - F10 (wide), F5.1 - F10 (tele)
Min shutter 8 sec + Bulb
Max shutter 1/2300 sec
Built-in Flash Yes, pop-up

The rest of the specs can be read here.

I gotta say I love this cam, it gives great results in either point and shoot or in full manual mode. The color rendered is great even with the auto white balance. The macro ability of this camera is simply fantastic, it will focus on an object that is a mere 2cm from the lens!! Although I have been very happy with my Nikon, there are a couple of things about it that I don't like. The three biggest complaints I have about this cam are...
1) The LCD display is not coated and it is almost impossible to view the display in the sunlight, this means that outside macros are difficult if almost impossible.
2) The flash sucks, it isn't powerful enough for everyday use and gives inconsistant results on aquarium shots. I think some of the problem is it's placement directly over the lens.
3) The lens is slow, unless your shooting in full on manual the lens is almost too slow for movement shots.

Even with that said, I would rate the Nikon CoolPix 995 a 9/10.

So what do you got?
 
Nikon coolpix 880
3.34 megapixel CCD delivering up to 2048 x 1536 pixel images.
1.8 inch, low temperature, polysilicon, TFT color LCD display with brightness and hue adjustment.
2.5x, 8 to 20 mm lens (equivalent to a 38 to 95 mm lens on a 35 mm camera).
4x digital zoom in 0.2x steps.
Auto and manual focus options.
Automatic, Scene, Programmed, Aperture Priority, Manual and Custom exposure modes.
Single, Continuous, Multi-Shot 16, VGA Sequence, Ultra HS and Movie capture modes.
Shutter speeds from eight to 1/1,000 seconds plus Bulb mode.
Apertures of f/2.8 - 4.2 or f/7.8 -11.3. (Variable with lens zoom setting)
Variable ISO setting from 100 to 400 with an Automatic option.
Manually adjustable white balance with seven modes.
Built-in flash with five modes.
JPEG, uncompressed TIFF still-image formats and QuickTime movie file format.
Image capture on CompactFlash card with an eight megabyte card included.
USB and serial cables for connection to a computer.
NTSC or PAL video output formats, with cable included.

learning with the digital camera but it takes great photo's on the auto. If you use the LCd it eats battery's like mad.
 
I have a digital cam and don't know how I did without one..

Olympus Camedia
D-490 Zoom
2.1 Megapixel

There are better cams out now, but it's still a good one and I'd probably get another Olympus.
I don't have all the specs of this cam in front of me, but the battery life is real good, and using rechargable batts is recommended.
 
I have a Canon A70. Love it.

3.2mp
3x optical 2x digital zoom

I'm still learning how to use it. Seems you can manual adjust just about everything on this camera.
 
I have a Sony F717. I finally have a camera that I won't outgrow in the near future. I love it, so far.

Here are some specs:

2/3-inch 5.24-megapixel CCD imager
Still image sizes: 2560x1920, 2048x1536, 1280x960, 640x480
5x (38-190mm) all-glass Carl Zeiss F2-2.4 zoom lens
TTL autofocus with hologram laser AF assist
5-zone Auto Focus area, auto or manual selection
Manual focus with ring on lens and magnified LCD view
1.8" 123,000 pixel color LCD monitor
High-resolution eyelevel TTL color viewfinder
Program AE and four Scene modes
Shutter speed priority (30 secs. to 1/1000 sec. in 30 steps)
Aperture priority (F2 to F8 in 13 steps) with 6-blade iris diaphram
Manual exposure with EV indicator
Exclusive NightShot and NightFrame exposure modes
Auto Exposure Bracketing with +/- 0.3, 0.7 or 1.0 steps
Three shot burst mode at 2fps
Multi-pattern, Center-weighted or Spot metering
Five white balance presets and one-push custom;
Selectable ISO sensitivity (Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800)
In-camera sharpening (+/- 1, 2)
Picture Effects: Negative Art, Solarize, Sepia
14-bit A/D conversion for wider dynamic range from highlight to shadow
Adjustable TTL flash with Red Eye reduction
Hot shoe and connector for optional external flash
3:2 image ratio for making "perfect" 4x6 prints
MPEG-HQX 320x240 video at 15fps w/audio; limited only by memory
TIFF uncompressed and JPEG in Fine or Normal quality
Voice Memo Mode to add narration to still images
Clip Motion 10-Shot GIF Animation
MultiBurst mode captures sixteen 320x240 @ 7.5/15/30fps
A/V output for displaying images and movies on TV sets
USB 2.0 connectivity for fast downloading to PC
Sony InfoLITHIUM NP-FM50 battery with longer runtime
:D
 
My camera is a Sears 35mm SLR, the TLS model

It's about 35 years old ... bought it used a long time back for a photography class.

it takes asa 25 to 1600 film, has an integerated light meter, and shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/1000th, plus bulb mode

The lense I use most of the time is a 55 mm, f-stops from 1.4 to 16, it has a distance gauge on the focus ring (0.5 meters to infinity), and is calibrated for both normal and infrared film

I also have a 110 mm telephoto lense, but not handy, so I'll post the specs later.

I sometimes use a flash, which is a Braun Hobby 17b, it's at least as old as the camera, and I know nothing about it

-----

This camera takes sweet photographs, but not of the aquarium - too much motion and not enough light in my tank

Outdoor shots with lots of sun and 100 asa kodacolor gold film really look nice.
 
NIKON D100

The Rez is awsome on this SLR like Camera.

My fotos: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photo...o=662&password=&sort=7&size=medium&thecat=500
My Ropefish. Very Photogenic.

Nikon D100 Specifications
Type of Camera Lens-interchangeable digital SLR camera Nikon D100
Effective Pixels 6.1 million
CCD 23.7 x 15.6mm RGB CCD; 6.31 million total pixels
Image Size Large (3,008 x 2,000)
Medium (2,240 x 1,488)
Small (1,504 x 1,000)
Sensitivity ISO equivalency 200 -1600 in 1/3 steps (can be boosted to higher ISO equivalency)
Storage System: Exif 2.2 file (uncompressed TIFF or compressed JPEG);
uncompressed RAW (12-bit) or compressed RAW (12-bit lossless compression)
Media: CompactFlash (CF) Card (Type I/II) and 512MB/1GB IBM Microdrive

Number of frames per 96MB CF card (Image size: L)

Shooting Modes Single frame shooting (S) mode,
Continuous shooting (C) mode: approx. 3 frames per sec. (up to 6 consecutive shots with JPEG or TIFF format, 4 shots with RAW format),
Self-timer mode: time duration can be set

White Balance Auto (TTL control using image sensor),
Manual (6 settings with fine tuning),
Preset

White Balance Bracketing Captures images at three different white balance settings
Color Modes 3 modes available
Color Adjustment +3 to-3 step for each colour setting


for more...

see review at Steves
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/nikon_d100.html
 
I have a Sony Handy Cam TR10. It was top o the line when i got it, now its a POS. It still takes great dig video, but the stills are sub par. So i use other peoples cameras for stills.
 
Yeah Canon has the new eos 10d, I should have waited. I rec the canon over the d100 due to the CMOS sensor and it runs about 1500.
 
I use a Sony P-71 3.2 Megapixels 3 x optical / 6 x digital zoom digital video is ok but mines without sound, the newer model does have sound though. Not a bad camera for the money
 
Canon has added the eos-300 or digital Rebel depending on where you live :p same 6mp sensor as the 10d but a all plasticy body.
and 1/2 the price. Body is ~800$us
Can use all lenses compatible with the EOS line.

Pacu Man said:
I use a Sony P-71 3.2 Megapixels 3 x optical / 6 x digital zoom digital video is ok but mines without sound, the newer model does have sound though. Not a bad camera for the money
 
My digital p&s is a Nikon 5400

Effective pixels 5.24 million
ISO rating Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Zoom wide (W) 28 mm
Zoom tele (T) 116 mm (4 x)
Digital zoom Yes
Auto Focus Yes
Manual Focus Yes
Autoexposure: standard range of programs
Manual shutter:Yes
Manual apature:Yes
Macro focus range 1/2 inch
White balance override Yes
Aperture range F2.8 - F8
Min shutter 10minute Bulb
Built-in Flash Yes
external hotshoe:yes

35mm is curently Canon EOS body's & lenses, still holding on to old canon manual FD series gear.
 
35mm is curently Canon EOS body's & lenses, still holding on to old canon manual FD series gear.

You planning on geting the digital rebel? I'm looking at trying to talk the wife into it at tax time, should be much easier than my previous task of talking her into the 10D ;)
 
rr-just tell the wife that you "need" it to take awesome pics of the kids in the long run it will save you money on photographer and developing costs :mrgreen:
 
maybeeeee :lol: I am waiting for the price to drop, have heard it may be in the 500's$ at some of the discount stores. Might be reeeel good by christmas :mrgreen:
 
reefrunner69 said:
35mm is curently Canon EOS body's & lenses, still holding on to old canon manual FD series gear.

You planning on geting the digital rebel? I'm looking at trying to talk the wife into it at tax time, should be much easier than my previous task of talking her into the 10D ;)

We just bought the rebel and love it so far, well worth the money. I was using a Minolta Dimage 5 before and it simply doesn't compare in any way. You can see some sample shots on fully-auto in a separate post.
 
I have a Olympus C-720. I have had olympus cameras for years and they have always served me well.

Anyone else use this camera? I have trouble getting in close to objects in the tank which I guess is due to the glass. I am still learning about the manual aspects of this camera.
 
I have trouble getting in close to objects in the tank which I guess is due to the glass.

Consult your user manual and make sure your model has a macro function and make sure it is turned on. This will allow you to focus on things that are close up, als make sure you know the minimum focal length and how it is measured, some measure from the CCD sensor and some from the lens. Do not try to get closer than the minimum focal distance ;)
 
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