Suggestions needed for good but cheap camera

[Reef Bass]

To me the hippos stand out like a repeated pattern superimposed on the tank shot. Amazing timing with your shutter to capture the three of them simultaneously in essentially the exact same orientation and body position across the front of the tank right under the lights. Your other shot undermines my theory.

Interesting how the firmware runs from your sd card. I've heard of SD cards being used to store downloads (like blu-ray players storing downloaded movies and BD Live content) but not as a point from which code could be executed. Ah, technology.

I use Photoshop Elements currently. I should explore the differences between it and Lightroom. Sorry for the confusion. I confess I was fishing for a comment along the lines of "yeah it's so much easier to get great accurate colors shooting in RAW" to help convince others with high color temperature lighting to stop being ok with blue or off color pictures of their tanks and to shoot in RAW.

 

[djc1026]

Here's some suggestions:

Panasonic LZ8: Great little budget camera, uses 2 AA batteries
Kodak Z1085: One of only a few decent Kodak budget camera's, but 20 cm macro distance (not a show stopper if you're aware of it)
Panasonic LX2: great lens, has RAW
Fuji f100fd: Good low light high ISO performance
Canon A650: Feature packed, rotating LCD, uses 4 AA batteries

All of these can be found for near or under $200. However, realize they are last year's models, or even released late 2007.


Here's a couple of pics from a simple Kodak C340 I took a couple of years ago. Not the greatest, but pretty decent considering the camera:

Dave

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14369965#post14369965 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by djc1026
Here's some suggestions:

Panasonic LZ8: Great little budget camera, uses 2 AA batteries
Kodak Z1085: One of only a few decent Kodak budget camera's, but 20 cm macro distance (not a show stopper if you're aware of it)
Panasonic LX2: great lens, has RAW
Fuji f100fd: Good low light high ISO performance
Canon A650: Feature packed, rotating LCD, uses 4 AA batteries

All of these can be found for near or under $200. However, realize they are last year's models, or even released late 2007.


Here's a couple of pics from a simple Kodak C340 I took a couple of years ago. Not the greatest, but pretty decent considering the camera:



Dave

Thank you very much Dave. Now, I can start doing some research on these cameras. I appreciate the ideas .

 

[Jeff]

I keep coming back to the Panasonic DMC-FZ28K. It's got a Raw mode, somewhat small size, HD movie mode, and can be bought for under $315.00. it's a little more then I origionally intended but still close.

 

[TWallace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14367911#post14367911 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bmwardo
Thanks again for the Firmware tip! This is a shot I took today with my old Canon Powershot SD870 IS, handheld in Auto, in RAW. Converted and adjusted WB...

Have you got a link to the firmware you're talking about? I read about this around a year ago and tried to get it for my Canon P&S but couldn't find one for my camera model at the time. I think I had trouble formatting the SD card as FAT 16 as well, which I think was required.

My camera is a Canon A720IS. I'd love to be able to shoot in RAW format and adjust WB in Photoshop afterwards. I mostly use this camera for snorkeling photos on vacation, as I have an underwater housing for it.

 

[Jeff]

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

Use at your risk.

 

[TWallace]

Thanks Jeff.

 

[Jeff]

You are welcome TWallace. I think that there are other hacks out there too.

 

[Jeff]

Here's a little update to this thread. I ended up buying a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28K and so far I love it. Here are a couple pics using the camera right out of the box. No tripod, no manual focus, no exposure adjustments, no timer, no Photoshop, no nothing. I just let the camera choose the best settings. This is going to be a huge improvement over my last camera.
These are in jpg mode, not RAW, which the camera will do.

 

[Jeff]

oops.

 

[bmwardo]

Very Nice Jeff, I am glad you found one that you are happy with. Those first couple shots look pretty sharp. Congrats!

 

[Jeff]

Thanks Brandon. I still need to play with this camera and get used to it.