Im trying to deside which of these cameras to buy. I hav seen sample images and have read reviews on these cameras already and now need your point of view. Here are the cameras im considering to buy Olympus SP-800UZ with 30x Optical Zoom and 14mp and the Canon Powewrshot SX20 with a 20x optical zoom. also if you own on of these please tell me your point of view of how well it takes train pictures or an other camrera between 300 and 400 dollars. Thanks
I believe this is a great place to get information http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/
I have always found the reviews to be extremely accurate and written in everyday language…
Having dished out money for a nice EOS Canon {film camera}, just before the digital boom exploded…I waited and contemplated what to do. Just an amateur photographer, so I kicked around all kinds of possibilities.
Finally settled on {a less expensive camera}, then you suggest above, but was a Canon Powershot SK120 IS. 10X Optical zoom…Stablized Zoom…10 mp…and 3" LCD.
I looked at more powerful Canon Powershot models, but being an amateur I settled on the above listed one. Have a 4GB card in it and rechargable batteries. It seems to be reasonable on batteries.
I simply want to say, for my use…It is a really capable “small” in size camera…Lots of controls I’ll never use. I’m simply saying I’m very pleased with what I’ve done with it so far. Price: Lower than your suggested price range.
Years ago, you bought a system. Lenses, bodies, etc. would interchange for decades. Advances in image recording technology came in a yellow box from Rochester.
With digital, buy a system and throw it away every 5 years. A good all in one is cheaper to pitch when the time comes.
Thanks I have also found a GE X5 Camera for 150 dolars 15 zoom 14mp. The main purpose is for getting engines distant in the yards. With also good quality.
Watch for battery life on smaller digital cameras. Some early pocket models had exotic little rechargeable batteries that drained in a hurry. Replacement/extra batteries were not cheap. After a couple of years when no longer capable of holding a charge, the price of a new battery was more than the camera was worth.
I also suggest that if the camera uses an SD memory chip (either the postagestamp size or the thumbnail size), you should make sure you get the fastest chip you can. Look for the letter “C” on the chip with a number in the “C”. The higher the number the faster the chip and the sooner you can take the next photo. If there is no “C” with a number, it is probably equivalent to a “C-1” which is slow. At a minimum make sure it is a “C-4” or higher. The camera docs may have a recomendation regarding this, too.
…I’m using a postage size {a bit bigger}, Kingston, 4GB, SDHC, class 4 memory card, and it will hold hundreds of photos and seems to perform just fine. Batteries: AA size, rechargable, NI-MH 2100 mAH and 4 of them with charger was very resonable in price.
As long as the camera is 10mp or higher and 15x Zoom or higher also with sd im all for it. I still need your thoughts on which camera i should get.
My brother swears by his Pentax K10D. Says it has more features than other cameras of similar price but doesn’t seem to get the press it deserves. I can’t comment about cameras myself as I gave away my Pentax K1000 film camera to my granddaughter and use a Radio Shack Optimus 6 MegaPixel (yeah, that is the model name) which takes movies and photos well enough for me most of the time… the rest of the time I take the photos anyway and blame the camera for how lousy they are.
As zardoz mentioned, DPReview is a good place to check out reviews. They’ve also got a Comparison Tool that might be of use to you.
Your choice of camera should be driven by what you want to do with the photos. The ones you mention should be equally good if you want to build a file of rail photos to share on line or just view on your monitor. On the other hand they might fail miserably if you want to crop down to a small image ( a distant locomotive, say) and enlarge it. Ditto if you want to print enlargements of even a whole uncropped file.
The problem for enlargements and cropping is that the sensor of a point and shoot camera is too small. As a general rule, an SLR with a DX sensor will perform better than a point and shoot with a smaller sensor. That holds true even if the P&S has more megapixels.
To stay within your budget I recommend you consider a used SLR camera - a Nikon D80 would be excellent - from a reputable dealer. Adorama. B&H and KEH are three dealers you can trust who will stand behind their wares.
But all really depends on how you use your images.
Chrissakes, don’t get an olympus. The SX20 is a good camera, canon generally owns in terms of point and shoots. If you’re looking for a camera with large zoom, the panasonic FZ-35 or whatever they might have replaced it with is also good. It uses a rechargeable battery as opposed to canon’s 4xAAs.
I agree with tpatrick, but I also disagree with automatically going for an SLR. If you want a lot of zoom, it’s cheaper by a long shot to get it in the form of a P&S than an SLR. On the good side, if you get an SLR you can slowly upgrade the lenses and body as money permits without getting rid of everything. I tend to avoid Nikons before the D90 though, Canon had higher quality sensors in the last generation.
I Thank everyone with there Help. I decided to Buy Fuji S2700HD it has a 18x optical Zoom and shoots in 720p HD. It So far has been an amazing camera it gets right up on the engines in the yards and only paid 250 dollars at Best Buy with a 4GB SDHC Class4 Memory Card. Im very pleased with this camera.