posted
Yesterday I was out shopping around for blank DVDs and I stumbled upon a sale (of sorts).
They had two Nikon Coolpix 5700s (Demo models) on sale for $399. I've always been against buying shop demos in the case of digital cameras but this made me stop and think (hard).
It's 5MP, which is not earthshaking, but that comes with a (rare) 8X Optical Zoom. It's got the Nikon ED glass so the optics are sharp AND uses Compact Flash (which is a huge bonus for me because I've got tons of that laying around).
What I would get out of this is that nice long zoom, giving the the ability to create a lot more depth-of-field and better portraits, etc.
It's not a camera I have looked at or thought about seriously before but at that price point, just may be worth it to me, albeit a shop demo. I didn't buy it but I've spent that much money on far lesser cameras in the past.
-------------------- Respectfully,
Ben
Malory in Signature Posts: 5772 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I remember my brother-in-law telling me of a really good quality-price Nicon Coolpix digital camera. Nicon is one of the tops and with a 5 Megapixels chip I think you struck gold at that price. However, dealing with so many makes and models it makes it impossible to choose one for another as this situation will go on for ever. Think what are your needs (remember a recent post?) and what is it that you wanna do with a camera and do as told. If I were you I d go for a digicam with wide lens (e.g. from 4.0-54 W).. so that the more light goes in the better shoots you d have. That is the meaning of photo-graphy after all, (phos=(Gr)light)
I already have the wide angle covered; bought an Olympus camera for that specific purpose quite awhile ago (28mm and gathers light quickly). I augment my wide-angle needs with a 35mm SLR, using a 24mm lens.
Neither of these gets a lot of use because 95% of my shooting is people (specifically girls and feet) and wide angle is terrible for those purposes. I use these for landscapes, large group photos and real estate, etc.
What I need, is more zoom. In the world of digital cameras, 3x is the default. You can get a little more (4x) with models such as Sony's DSC-V1 & V3 (and a few others).
So that's what I'm specifically wanting - is more zoom and less wide. Finding a camera with an 8 or 10x zoom in the digital world is great.
Because of this need, I've looked at many of the Panasonic (Lumix) cameras, which range from 8-12X zoom / the Sony "F" series, a few Canons and a few of these Coolpix cameras.
$399 for that Coolpix 5700 really is a great price (but I still haven't bought one).
-------------------- Respectfully,
Ben
Malory in Signature Posts: 5772 | Registered: Oct 2004
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It's definitely a great camera and has many merits!
The ergonomics, for example. It's designed to feel good and work well in the hand. Those optics, with the Nikkor ED Glass are SHARP of course and as I've said before I LOVE the fact that is uses (cheap and abundant) Compact Flash memory.
Thanks for weighing in, it's great to hear from somebody who has some hands-on experience with the camera.
-------------------- Respectfully,
Ben
Malory in Signature Posts: 5772 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Mr Ben, since you have a wide-angle converter plus that your shooting purposes are feet poses (meaning that the girls you are taking photographs pose for you knowing about it) why bother getting into zoomed in techniques? I mean there is no reason to zoom in the girl's feet since you have right there, in front of you..at least 1 metre of distance, let alone that the more zoom you get the less the quality of the picture you get.
For example, I as a candid amateur photographer/videographer certainly I m in need of the "Zoom" factor since most of my subjects are far away than me, except in a few cases where I pretend to do something else other than really taking pictures/clips of their feet.
I think a wide-angle converter would be more to the point of a "one-to-one" photo session with your girls rather than zooming
The reason I want more zoom is called "Depth Of Field". When I do shoots of girls (not the unplanned ones in the car), I set up a simple studio or go to a beach, something like that.
It's actually just the opposite of what you are saying, when shooting girls and feet; wide angles are unflattering, long angles are flattering to faces, bodies, etc. It's why you will never see a bikini photographer using a wide angle lens (or Playboy, fashion, calendar girls, etc.)
If I'm using my 35mm camera (with 200mm zoom or greater), I will put it on a tripod and stand far away from the subject - and zoom in .. rather than standing close to the subject without zoom.
This does several things that make for a better photograph. It creates a greater separation between my subject and the background (and this is due to the depth of field). It also keeps me from splattering harsh light all over the model's face (or feet) from a close distance.
It is friendlier to the model. Oversimplifying a little, but the wider the angle, the wider the model.
In the case of portraits (of which I do a lot), this is even more meaningful. This is why professional photographers never (NEVER) use wide angles to shoot models and why they always (ALWAYS) us long zooms for this.
Next time you see some fashion show on TV, notice how they shoot calendars, playboy shoots, bikini companies, Victoria's Secret, etc. They stand far away and zoom up - which is also why they so often use tripods (and sometimes stand FAR away).
Most simply put - the farther away you are from your subject, the better. These articles explain it a lot better than I can:
So that's why I want more zoom in my digital camera. I don't mind shooting with my 35mm SLR equipment and I've got tons of lenses for them, but I've gotten to where scanning has become a pain and of course the cost (and added time) of film processing makes it less desirable.
[ July 27, 2005, 11:05 AM: Message edited by: Ben Del Amitri ]
-------------------- Respectfully,
Ben
Malory in Signature Posts: 5772 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Oh I see! I got it now what you want to do. Yes, indeed I agree with the "depth of field" technique. And thanks for the links.. They are very helpful
quote: don't mind shooting with my 35mm SLR equipment and I've got tons of lenses for them, but I've gotten to where scanning has become a pain and of course the cost (and added time) of film processing makes it less desirable.
As for this.. I got a headache from reading it only, let alone to go back to good old 35mm films and processing. Never again Even though experts claim that films and processing are far more better and have more quality than the digital ones It might be the bitter truth but it's too much hassle to have 150 films to process and then scan them day and night, dont you think? I think yes. I dont want to know what would have happened if those half of million (1024x768) photos and another 12 hundred with greater resolution would be in 35mm film processing style rather than with my digicam/vidcam.... Brrrrrr...It gives me the creeps Stick with the digicams and may everything turn as you wish
Brother, you've got that right! Thank Heavens digital imagery has come along so far and so fast. One of the cameras I looked at today was a "Lumix" with 12X zoom. Yes, it had Leica optics and this lens was REALLY nice. For one thing, it's stated spec for speed was 2.8 throughout the ENTIRE focal length of the zoom. Now that is RARE in a zoom lens and usually very very costly.
I didn't buy it but came close. It had a hot shoe for external flash, which is also something I love.
-------------------- Respectfully,
Ben
Malory in Signature Posts: 5772 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Maybe goodguyneighbour and Hal can help you chose on a camera with large zoom, because I think they are using "zoom" quite frequently If I m not mistaken.
posted
I bought the camera. It's not going to get too much use, it's going to be used specifically for outdoor portraits (and a little bit of studio work). So it's a dedicated camera with limited scope of purpose.
On Saturday, I'm going to meet a girl from FM Concepts so this will be my chance to test out the camera and it's capabilities. Looking at this thing when I got home was EXCITING!
-------------------- Respectfully,
Ben
Malory in Signature Posts: 5772 | Registered: Oct 2004
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It's nice to take photos just for testing purposes on a new camera. I used to do it like this: "Hello, mind if I take some photos of your feet. You see I just bought a new camera and I want to see whether it has capabilities and good lens capturing" LOL... It always works
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