topic Re: Camera Help / Advice in Selling

Camera Help / Advice

digital*ghost — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 10:05:45 GMT

I'm hoping someone here will be able to offer a couple of suggestions or point me in the right direction, as I've been intermittently reading articles / reviews all day and I haven't made any progress. (It's related to selling, because I need a camera to take decent images :D).

Anyway, the jist is, my old camera malfunctioned today and I really need to replace it. I am not a skilled or knowledgeable photographer, and I'm not very rich, either, so what I really need is a budget-conscious compact point n' shoot digital camera that will take good, clear macro images (99% of my images will need to use the macro function) without too much fuss or fiddling between products (preferably none ). I realise "budget conscious" can limit the options, quality etc, so I'm not expecting I'll be able to take magazine quality images, just looking for the best option under $300 (or $200 :D).

I'm looking to buy a new, non-grey import from an Australian retailer - I've searched and read (and searched and read!) for articles, first for recommendations, most of which are outdated (even the ones that had a post date of 2016 referenced model numbers I can't find anywhere), then for what kind of specs I should look out for when looking at a camera in order to determine whether it's suitable, but most websites just have overall reviews on specific models and don't tell what spec or feature of the camera is resulting in the relevant performance aspect, except for DSLRs etc....if that makes sense... Most of them also only seem to mention cameras in the $400 and above price bracket, so maybe what I'm looking for isn't possible or available?

So, can someone please save my sanity and help me understand what features a camera should have to take decent macro images, or offer a brand / model suggestion? (The now-passed away camera was just a Samsung ES55 - it was ok, but often a bit grainy / noisy).

TIA 🙂

Re: Camera Help / Advice

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 10:14:30 GMT

Hi,

I've bought many of these over years and think they are one of the best simple cameras.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OLYMPUS-Stylus-Smart-VH-520-Black-14-MP-10x-Optical-Zoom-Compact-Digital-Camera-/221866165380?hash=item33a8410484:g:BdkAAOSw~bFWGImW

Even if not this model I swear by Olympus. Very robust and water resistant.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

digital*ghost — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 10:37:07 GMT

Thank you kopes 😄 Looks like a pretty good option to me. (Olympus is one brand name that did not pop up in all my searchings - It was all Panasonic Lumix this and Canon Powershot that, so half of them were probably paid advertising in one form or another, but none of the model numbers matched what's available here anyway, while the closest matching ones seemed to be around $600 ).

Re: Camera Help / Advice

heihachi_73 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:02:07 GMT

My main camera is a Canon PowerShot A2000IS bought in 2009, which does the job reasonably well as long as it isn't too dark (the CPU simply can't handle low light without the whole thing lagging, yet strangely it works fine in video mode, never dropping a single frame, although it's only 640x480 - at least it's a solid 30fps and not 15 or all over the place like you'd find on old YouTube videos).

When taking photos for eBay I use a small tripod* with the camera set in macro mode with the self-timer on so it doesn't shake when taking a photo. I do not use the flash at all, in fact, I've turned it off in the settings so it never activates. In most cases, the lower ISO speed (shutter/aperture speed, I can't remember) will result in a better photo quality, e.g. a shot taken indoors at ISO 800 will probably look grainy, but at ISO 80 or 100 it should be crisp. This camera has a 1600x1200 option so I use that rather than waste bandwidth uploading 10 megapixel images which take forever to download even on a decent broadband connection, not to mention large photos often end up grainy anyway. This one was a present, so I don't know exactly how much it was, but I think it was over $300 when new.

*Actually, the tripod I use was made out of a 1.25L Pepsi bottle with a bolt stuck through the lid acting as the mount for the camera.

Both of these cameras use regular AA batteries, which I always prefer to see rather than proprietary shapes and sizes which are not interchangeable. Both regular 1.5V batteries (alkaline etc.) and 1.2V rechargeables work fine in both cameras - I bought two Duracell rechargeables with the Canon camera in 2009 and only now are they starting to not hold a full charge, giving the low battery light after only a few minutes of the camera being on despite being straight off the charger.

Another thing about batteries in cameras, if it uses AAAs or requires three batteries, buy another camera instead as it will drain these batteries quick smart, and for those with three batteries you'll be lucky if it even turns on using rechargeables at 3.6V when it expects 4.5V (or 4V/3.5V minimum).

Similar to your ES55, I also have an ancient Samsung S750 (from circa 2007) which also suffers from grainy images; it's all up to the amount of light I think, it's probably fine when taking photos outdoors in sunny weather, but indoors under a single CFL lighting the entire room, it's as good as it can get even at highest quality, ISO 80 and with the self-timer. As for price, this one cost me nothing! It was found in the hard rubbish with a bunch of old/broken/SIM-less phones and a few cables (CAT5/phone line etc). The only thing wrong with it was the fact it had two leaked Energizer batteries and no SD card.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

lyndal1838 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:39:04 GMT

Digi, I have had over 50 years experience with cameras, starting as a teenage member of a Camera Club and going through two husbands who were professional photographers/camera shop owners.

The writeups on Panasonic Lumix and Canon Powershot are not just paid advertising. They are two of the best, reasonably priced cameras on the market. If you can find one with a Leica lens you will have top quality. I would recommend you to look at both of them and see if you can find a model that has the features that you need.

Take yourelf into a specialist camera store and see what they can show you. You often find that cameras are sold in Australia under different model numbers than overseas and the writeups are based on the overseas models.

In 1983 I got myself a Canon SLR...top of the range at the time, with all the lenses....and I still use it on the few occasions that I need a camera although getting the film developed is a bit of a pain now. My daughter bought the digital version and she is ecstatic about it, especially when she nicks my lenses. However it is not a cheap camera by any stretch of the imagination.

We had a cheap Panasonic Lumix for a number of years which was great for close up work....photographed all my jewellery for insurance purposes as well as other collectibles. Unfortunately OH dropped it and it was goodbye to a very handy little digital camera.

He has just bought another "cheapie" for general use...not even sure what it is but he seems happy.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

digital*ghost — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:43:30 GMT

@heihachi_73 wrote:

Similar to your ES55, I also have an ancient Samsung S750 (from circa 2007) which also suffers from grainy images; it's all up to the amount of light I think, it's probably fine when taking photos outdoors in sunny weather, but indoors under a single CFL lighting the entire room, it's as good as it can get even at highest quality, ISO 80 and with the self-timer.

That's actually good to know 🙂 (As in, at least it probably wasn't what I was doing that was causing it. 😄 ). I have a tripod as well (quasi-Christmas gift, via a JB Hifi gift card in 2014) and I think I've used it twice I know I probably should be using it, but the best spot in the house, in terms of lighting, is kind of an awkward space, and I like to move the camera around to all sorts of different spots and angles, so I found it easier to just hold it and move around the object myself, plus I found image clarity was still less than perfect, which I thought the tripod would help with, but obviously more of a camera / setting issue. I'd probably be half-decent at dance-freeze games, now though. Except for not really being able to dance.

I'll have to try adjusting the ISO on the next one, I only ever really experimented with some of the more basic settings, partly because I don't know what I'm doing or what the options would affect, and partly because I worried I'd forget what I'd done and not know how to change it back.

My old (old) camera was a Ricoh (which I had for ages and it put up really well with all sorts of abuse, including being held together with gaffa tape towards the end ) that used 2 AAs and I really liked that, because I could charge up spare batteries while using others, but the Samsung had its own rechargable lithium battery, less convenient but lasted quite a long time between charges - will note the advice re: required batteries, though, as that wasn't even on my radar.

Ta muchly for all the tips and info. 🙂

Re: Camera Help / Advice

digital*ghost — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:55:10 GMT

@lyndal1838 wrote:
Digi, I have had over 50 years experience with cameras, starting as a teenage member of a Camera Club and going through two husbands who were professional photographers/camera shop owners.

The writeups on Panasonic Lumix and Canon Powershot are not just paid advertising. They are two of the best, reasonably priced cameras on the market. If you can find one with a Leica lens you will have top quality. I would recommend you to look at both of them and see if you can find a model that has the features that you need.
Take yourelf into a specialist camera store and see what they can show you. You often find that cameras are sold in Australia under different model numbers than overseas and the writeups are based on the overseas models.

Thanks, lyndal, it's difficult to know for sure sometimes, as some lists were nearly all Panasonic and Canon cameras, just different model numbers, and they only seemed to mention pros not cons, whereas when other brands were mentioned, they seemed to be looked at with a much more critical eye.

The Samsung was actually supposed to be a stop-gap solution , so I didn't really want to go down that road again, but alas my bank-balance is saying no to all the ones that I could find that seemed to fit all my other needs etc. (My phone's camera is terrible, too, so I can't use that while I save a bit for a decent camera, unfortunately) I'll definitely have a chat with someone at a specialist store and see what they can tell me.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

lyndal1838 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 12:42:50 GMT

Digi I just checked with my OH....the new "cheapie" camera is a Samsung WB35F. It has not been used much yet and certainly not for close up work so I can't give you much information.

I am guessing that the reviews you were reading did not mention too many cons was because there were not many/any to mention. At least that has been our experience over the years. It is really a matter of finding the model that has the features that suit what you want it for,

We are lifelong fans of Panasonic products....since the days when they were branded National.....I still have a small National desk fan going strong in my sewing room after 40 odd years and it got a very good workout when my girls used the room as a study. And I have loved all my Panasonic DVD recorders right from the very first one in 1982. At least I can work them without the need of an instruction book for every step.

BTW if you ever need technical help the Panasonic people are fantastic.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

pennyforum14 — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 23:08:42 GMT

Don't mean to hijack your thread DG, but I have some interest in this topic, I have a tiny compact Canon which is getting long in the tooth and probably need to update soon. But I promised myself my next camera would have remote capture capabilities. I have the luxury of space in my workshop and want to set up a permanent photography point rather than have to drag everything out each time I need to take pics. I have a professional quality tripod (best bargain I've ever scored, picked it up for $5 in a bin of "imperfects" at Harvey Norman, the imperfection turned out to be a missing leg clamp that cost me $4 to replace, the RRP of the tripod was $350!) and I want to be able to control the camera form my PC instead of constantly getting up and down to rearrange things and take the shot every time. Are any of the models recommended above suitable? It seems to me they don't readily identify this feature in camera specs, it is really hard to find.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

erg-auto-electrical-wholesalers — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 23:37:00 GMT

Get a DSLR Camers and a 50mm lens.

I like mine.

The trick is the 50mm lens.

Canon 400d

They are cheap to buy and work well.

I got mine for about $200 incl lens.

before contrast afjustment

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement-Starter-Motor-24V-Auxillary-Solenoid-/262343345813?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

After contrast adjustment

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement-regulator-John-Deere-Kohler-Regulator-Rectifier-B-AC-AC-/262353270485?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Mobile phone image.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement-Starter-Motor-Brush-2M100-Jaguar-Range-Rover-MG-triumph-/262331288660?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

You do have to adjust the contrast, as I discovered, in am image program.

Got to go back and adjust my images.

Takes a long time... I guess this is why people study photography 😃

Listen to Penny, she/he has it right with the tripod

Re: Camera Help / Advice

clarry100 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 02:02:45 GMT

For what its worth DG....

I think you are right to stick with the reasonably "lower" end of the camera range.

Like you, also not knowing too much about photography, we lashed out and bought a Canon EOS-60D DSLR with a 50mm lens for closeup work a couple of years back.

Since putting it to use for pics on ebay and our website we have found that to get decent useable quality images at a size that does not overload your broadbband upload and times we have to back off the resolution levels of the camera to about 50% of what it is capable of.

So this just tells us that the approx $750 we spent on it was too much and we could have gone for a lesser model.

No doubting its a very good camera and does the job handsomely, but we clearly did not need to spend that much money.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

mbselections00 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 08:43:29 GMT

Only just noticed your post and it's possibly too late now - if you've already bought something.

My photos are probably not the best advertisement for the camera, as I'm no photographer, but I use a quite old and very basic Panasonic Lumix Model DMC-FS42 which my daughter gave me when she up-graded to a better & later model. Pretty sure it was around $200.

I love it, because for the most part it self adjusts and it has a zoom which is more than sufficient for my needs.

I'm quite sure my photos could look better if I took the time to study the technicalities of how to use the camera to optimise performance

For what it's worth - back when we purchased them, JB had the best deals and quite a good range to select from

Re: Camera Help / Advice

crowsman53 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 09:33:54 GMT

Hi DG

I use a Pentax Optio E40 These are very cheap and do what I require. This is my 2nd one as I dropped my last one and broke the lens. First one I bought was Brand New can't Remember the price as it was about 7 years ago, 2nd one I bought on eBay 2nd Hand for $35.00 about 2 Years ago. Runs with 2 x AA Batteries Zoom Features and up to 8 Meg Pixels. Point and Press and your Pics are there. Great little camera and I love it. There are still some listed on eBay today Optio E40 and S40. Cant go wrong with the price and if they last 5 years you are way in front.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

digital*ghost — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 09:56:22 GMT

Thanks to all for the advice and suggestions 🙂 (sorry I haven't been back til now, unfortunately I didn't have much of a chance to visit the forums today).

I haven't purchased anything as yet, as I probably won't be ready to until next week some time, so I'm still very much in research mode. (My nearest specialist store appears to be at a Westfield centre, a place I avoid going to like the plague, but I might have to bite the bullet on this one ). MB - I do have a JB in walking distance so that's a definite preference (especially if I can manage to pick out a camera without a physical trip anywhere 'cos then I can just buy online and pick-up within 24 hours).

I am a bit keen on Panasonic at the moment, as it seems to be the most highly and widely recommended for macro photography, so it's just a matter of whether or not I can get an appropriate model within my budget (that'll learn me to hold off on sorting and photographing some clearance stuff I wanted to put up at some point, this is the exact kind of thing I was saving that for, lol).

@penny - feel free to hijack, more info is always useful. I do recall some of articles I read mentioning remote capabilities, but unfortunately a lot of the time the reviewer was mentioning the lack of it in certain models. One thing that quite a few mentioned was that compact point n' shoots areen't really getting a lot of attention and development from a lot of companies these days due to mobile phone cameras taking their place and being able to match the average standalone camera in terms of capabilities and quality. (Mine certainly doesn't, and it's a bit awkward to hold for a photography session).

Re: Camera Help / Advice

*tippy*toes* — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 10:22:33 GMT

@erg-auto-electrical-wholesalers wrote:
Get a DSLR Camers and a 50mm lens.
I like mine.
The trick is the 50mm lens.

Canon 400d

They are cheap to buy and work well.
I got mine for about $200 incl lens.

before contrast afjustment
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement-Starter-Motor-24V-Auxillary-Solenoid-/262343345813?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

After contrast adjustment
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement-regulator-John-Deere-Kohler-Regulator-Rectifier-B-AC-AC-/262353270485?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Mobile phone image.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacement-Starter-Motor-Brush-2M100-Jaguar-Range-Rover-MG-triumph-/262331288660?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

You do have to adjust the contrast, as I discovered, in am image program.
Got to go back and adjust my images.
Takes a long time... I guess this is why people study photography 😃

Listen to Penny, she/he has it right with the tripod

A 50mm lens is an awesome all round lens. I love mine. BUT, it's useless for macro, which is what DG needs for her items. I have 3 lenses for my Nikon D3200, none of them do macro to the extent I need it, which is similar to what DG needs. I still use my phone for macro jobs as it does a great job. I can get as close as 10 mm with it and still get clear sharp photos.

I can see why you'd like the 50mm for your photos, it would be perfect for them.

Re: Camera Help / Advice

mbselections00 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 10:27:00 GMT

I'm like you and hate going to big shopping centres, I avoid them like the plague ! I did just realise though, I was wrong, it wasn't JB, it was a chain that went broke - WOW I think. But that said, if you can walk to JB, it's probably worth it - the guys at WOW were very knowledgeable and would always advise which was the best value for money for your requirements and from my dealings with JB, I have always found them to be very helpful too (mind you, that has been buying TV's etc).

Best of luck with your decision

Re: Camera Help / Advice

padi*0409 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 11:21:02 GMT

Digi, I've got a Fuji finepix S2000hd that I got on here for around $120-150 can't remember which, it does great macro and good video.

It's a no-fuss camera and easy to use but with lots of extra options.. Uses AA batteries.

Maybe it's new replacement would do the job for you..................

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm//181634575711?pi=466130

Re: Camera Help / Advice

digital*ghost — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 11:52:51 GMT

Funny you mention that 😄 I noticed they were advertising a Fuji Finepix bundle package at Australia Post, same model, too.

http://catalogue.auspost.com.au/offer/memory-cards/fujifilm-finepix-s8600-digital-camera-bundle/55zoxnjd6.html?source=search

I didn't ask the staf about it though, as they pretty much just sell the stuff and wouldn't really be able to give me any specialised advice, so that's reminded me to check it out in a bit more depth. 🙂

Re: Camera Help / Advice

mbselections00 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 12:07:17 GMT

Do it quickly digi, finishes April 10 (just in case you didn't notice)

Re: Camera Help / Advice

bakeandfry — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 13:09:48 GMT

I dunno if these are any good or not, found it somewere else