My New Camera ???

People have been doing a superb job with close-up food pictures lately.
I'd like my next camera to do the job ... simple... easy ... little attention getting rigamarole ...
If you are happy with your camera ... how big is it ???  what is it ???  and how much was it ???

I use a DSLR, but have a friend who just bought this and is very happy.  His low-light shots are way better than mine, which I blame less on the camera and more on the photographer!
 
It's not cheap, but it is a fantastic point-and-shoot and is really easy to use.

TTM:  I have two Canons.  The one I have had the longest is a Canon SD800 IS and I know how to use it much better.  The other one I have about two years and it is a Canon SX210 IS.  It has a optical 14X with image stabilizer with more control.  I use them both interchangeably.  I will bring them both to Nashville.
 
DavvyD has made some good shots on his facebook.  He has a DSLR with 100mm to 300mm lens.  I would like to get a Canon DSLR with their 100mm 400mm lens but the dadgone things are sorta pricey at around $1500.
 
I would like to have the image stabilizer lens along with the IS camera to make wildlife shots on the lake.  It is a half mile across the lake from my deck.
 
Al is very good and he has some good stuff and perhaps he can teach me some of his techniques.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN 

So far the DSLR is the winner but it is a lot more than I'm hoping to pay on account of my record of dropping/breaking/losing/etc.

I've kept it very simple with fantastic macro results for my crafts and bead jewlery. I use a Canon G9 rangefinder with a filter/close up supplimentary lens adapter. I also bought a ring light for shadowless illumination. Several of the upper end Canon and I assume others have a lens shade-like device that can be mounted to accomodate filters and aux lenses. I never had good results with these using film cameras, but for some reason, in the digital domain they work much better.
 

I also have the Canon S95 and I love it.  If you can buy it in the low $300's you've made a great purchase.  When I bought mine they were closer to $500 most places.

I use an Olympus DSLR E520 with a 25mm pancake lens for food photography. That camera is now out of date with newer models but the lens isn't. This shows the three lenses I own on my camera, the 25 mm pancake, the standard zoom lens that came with the camera and the 300 mm telephoto:

Olympus now has newer, smaller Pen system cameras that could utilize my lenses.
 
http://www.olympusamerica...pen.asp?section=camera
 
I mention this because I am always looking for an unobtrusive camera to use inside restaurants in low-light conditions without needing flash. For serious photography to cover all needs and situations you need a DSLR, IMO. With Olympus, Canon, Nikon or Sony you can't really go wrong.
 
I also use the Canon S95 previously mentioned which for the point and shoots has been the best I could find for low-light photography and it fits easily in any pocket. It's newest iteration is the S100 model.
 
Not to be caught without a camera I now have the Apple iPhone 4S smartphone. For cell phone cameras it is absolutely the best for low-light photography and has performed surprisingly well for me. This is something I researched carefully and no other smartphone camera has come close. What I am really enjoying are all the photography apps for taking photos and post processing. My favorite post processing app is Snapseed. For taking photos I like Camera+ and for something funky and different I use Instagram. The great thing about the iPhone is you can take a photo and immediately post it right from the app to various places like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Instagram, etc. Unfortunately, you still have to first post a photo to a hosting service to get it posted to Roadfood.com.

The Travelin Man


I use a DSLR, but have a friend who just bought this and is very happy.  His low-light shots are way better than mine, which I blame less on the camera and more on the photographer!

It's not cheap, but it is a fantastic point-and-shoot and is really easy to use.

 
That is EXACTLY the one I was going to recommend! Get it fast, it's been replaced by the S100 and when it's gone, it's gone. TTM, Canon engineered it to excel in low light. It is better than most DSLRs from the mid-2000s.
 
A GREAT deal. Small, light, and great quality. I can't get it because I have too many damn cameras.
 
Davydd, I have an Olympus E-P1, it is a phenomenal camera, one of my favorites. Olympus color fidelity is unsurpassed, IMO.

Davydd is the one who recommended the S95 when I bought it.
 
Thank you!

Years ago, when the opportunity arose, I used a Polaroid!

chewingthefat


Years ago, when the opportunity arose, I used a Polaroid!

Chewy needs a camera that comes with a waitress !!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys have got me in the camera shopping mood.  Now I gotta have a different one as if I need one.  The image stabilizer is important to me. Does the Olympus have that.  I will have put purchase a 100-400mm lense.  Those things cost more than the camera.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Sundancer7


You guys have got me in the camera shopping mood.  Now I gotta have a different one as if I need one.  The image stabilizer is important to me. Does the Olympus have that.  I will have put purchase a 100-400mm lense.  Those things cost more than the camera.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Then let's talk about, Cadillacs!

I got a Cadillac and I have had it for five years with only 8,000 miles on it.  I have never driven it in the rain.  I do not need another car neither do I need a camera but I want one.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Mosca

The Travelin Man


I use a DSLR, but have a friend who just bought this and is very happy.  His low-light shots are way better than mine, which I blame less on the camera and more on the photographer!

It's not cheap, but it is a fantastic point-and-shoot and is really easy to use.

That is EXACTLY the one I was going to recommend! Get it fast, it's been replaced by the S100 and when it's gone, it's gone. TTM, Canon engineered it to excel in low light. It is better than most DSLRs from the mid-2000s.

A GREAT deal. Small, light, and great quality. I can't get it because I have too many damn cameras.

I think the reason that the S95 has come down in price recently is because of the availability of the newer model.  The S95 held out pretty long as the standard-bearer for point-and-shoot cameras.
 
From what I understand from those who know more about photography than I do is that even with advances in whatever technologies may come down the pike, the S95 will remain a good, comprehensive, piece to add to any photo taker's arsenal.  I believe that it does have image stabilization (as requested by the Sundancer), as well.
 
My last DSLR was an Olympus and I really liked it...until I bought my Nikon.  I now have the D3100, and it blows my Olympus out of the water.  I have really only started to take the thing off of the automatic settings, but I have had some decent results, so far.  If you are going for ease of use, then the DSLR is not necessarily the way to go.  Ease of use, the point-and-shoot wins almost every time. When I bought mine, what I really wanted to do was move from taking pictures to taking photographs - and I am still not anywhere near there...but, I am closer than I was!  
 
Paul, if you can hold out until the Glee Club meet up, I am sure that there will be a number of different models of cameras out there - in actual use (as opposed to the showroom use that you would get if you go to a Best Buy or the local camera store)...by people whose pictures you've seen.  I know Chris (ayersian) has a very nice point-and-shoot, but I don't recall the brand, and he takes excellent pictures.  Cliff also got something new recently, and I know that Al and myself will both have the SLR-type cameras, too.  You might get a better idea of what you want after seeing some of them in action!

My friend pulled into my driveway todaywith a surprise for me......................(for me?.............I could not care less)............he was driving this bright blue 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Sedan .  I cannot imagine anyone spending that much money for transportation!
 

I have decided I want to stay under $100 due to my record of losing/breaking.
This came across today:
http://1saleaday.com/?utm...ent=1SALE+01%2F13%2F12
... it meets another of my requirements that it use just simple everyday batteries, rather than rechargeable ones, prone to running out of juice and/or requiring a bulk charging station.
 ... but, I have no idea how it would be in taking close-up low light images ... so, I'll probably keep deliberating.

wheregreggeats.com


http://1saleaday.com/?utm...ent=1SALE+01%2F13%2F12
... it meets another of my requirements that it use just simple everyday batteries, rather than rechargeable ones, prone to running out of juice and/or requiring a bulk charging station.

I like portable electronics that use batteries that are available in both conventional and rechargeable versions.  I use NiMH rechargeables for AA and AAA applications and if I get caught in a bind I can always switch to conventionals.
 
Brad

Sundancer7


You guys have got me in the camera shopping mood.  Now I gotta have a different one as if I need one.  The image stabilizer is important to me. Does the Olympus have that.  I will have put purchase a 100-400mm lense.  Those things cost more than the camera.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

The point and shoot Canon S95 has image stabilization. It also has manual controls along with the usual presets most point and shoot cameras have. It has been replaced by an improved (mostly in HD video) S100 camera. So, the S95 is a bargain if you can find it at a reduced price while they last.
 
Paul, That Owl shot I posted on Facebook was with the Olympus E520 and has image stabilization. I used a Zuiko 70-300 mm telephoto lens and shot the photo holding the camera in my hand and not on a tripod. The lens cost me about $271 a few years ago. I see Amazon.com has it for $314

 
The Olympus cameras use the Four Thirds image sensor and lens system. So my lens compared to the old film SLRs, Canon and Nikon actually compares to those cameras' 140 - 600 mm lenses. I couldn't figure any other camera system that could give me that equivalent hand held 600 mm for shooting birds. The camera itself has built in image stabilization. Some cameras use lens image stabilization so you have to make sure you buy the lens with it to have it. You'll get IS with any kit lens bundled with a DSLR camera if the camera body doesn't have IS. My decisions are three years old now and there have been a lot of improvements in the Olympus cameras and the others so you should do some research. The telephoto situation and the fast f-stop for low-light and flat "pancake" lens

for shooting in restaurants were my decision makers to buy that Olympus. Like I said earlier, you can't go wrong with Olympus, Canon, Sony or Nikon, Panasonic or Richol. Often it comes down to which camera just feels right to you in your hands.

I also earlier mentioned that I started using an Apple iPhone 4S for restaurant food photography. Here is an example shot in available light of an Emma Krumbee's pork tenderloin sandwich.

 
I think all smartphone cameras have made remarkable improvements just in the last year and may be replacing the small point and shoot cameras because of the conveniences they have connecting to the internet. Here is a web site that compares the four generations of the iPhone.
 
Foodspotting on four generations of iPhones
 
If you want inspiration check out Lisa Bettany's blog.
 
http://mostlylisa.com/

Davydd:  Thanks for the advice.  I will be shopping.  Perhaps you could advise the best place to get a good IS camera with lense appropiate for shooting at birds and waterfowl on the lake.  In addition can you advise what program you use to modify your shots?  How much are they.
 
Thanks
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul,
You can shop at a place like Best Buy, Costco and even Walmart and Target though the latter three usually have mostly low end of the spectrum cameras. You can also shop Amazon.com for nearly best prices and reviews. Two good places to study up on cameras on the internet are:
 
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
 
I went to an independent camera store in the Twin Cities for the DSLR and got to handle all the cameras with some different lenses. That was the National Camera Exchange. I had already known where I could buy the camera cheaper but bought from them anyway out of courtesy and the lengthy expert advice time they spent with me. It was worth the price. I know a lot more now so would probably shop best price alone. They even bundled in some camera classes.
 
As for post processing, I use mostly iPhoto that comes with all Mac computers. It does the job easily such as color correction, exposure correction, red-eye fix, cropping, etc. I know Canon and Olympus (and assume maybe the others) bundle photo editing software with their cameras that will work. For advanced editing I use Adobe Photoshop CS. Less expensive for consumers is Adobe Photoshop Elements. Two applications for just manipulating photos not as advanced as Photoshop but suitable for pros are Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Macs and PCs) and Apple Aperture (for Macs).
 
Here is the Adobe lineup of products. They are the proven best.
 
http://www.photoshop.com/products
 
You can also correct photos by uploading them to Adobe Photoshop Express or Photobucket, and others. I mostly use Photobucket. They have basic editing tools that I don't use much and they also will resize a photo for posting to forums if you like.
 
Finally, cameras themselves now are featuring photo editing tools but I seldom use them as it is hard to make judgments on such a small view.
 
On my iPhone and iPad I have been using a $4.99 app called Snapseed for editing photos. I load my photos from my cameras to my iPad when traveling. I think it is intuitively fantastic to use and it just came out for the Mac computer itself for $19.95. I may give it a go.
 

Now I'm thinking it might simply be time to upgrade to the next iPhone ... the 3 seems to be inconsistent ... sometimes is is awesome (like when i use it  to fax something) ... and sometimes disappointing (like when I want to shoot food).

Shot with the Olympus PEN E-P1:
 

 

 
Mirrorless micro-4/3 system.

mosca:  Are you sure those pics are not fake?  Just kidding of course but the colors are outstanding.
 
Paul E. Smith
KNoxville, TN

Paul, Olympus color fidelity is so beautiful. That is the brand's strength. I could pick nits with some things, but the Pen is one fine camera series.

There's a lot of useful info at this site: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/?tag=TOCleftColumn.0
If it gets down to price & convenience of ordering, I've been dealing with this company for over 30 years & have never gotten burnt... http://www.jr.com/category/cameras-and-optics/digital-cameras/ 

I have 2 cameras...
 
1)...Canon A530...pocket "viewfinder" type...
 
What I like: small, discrete, uses 2 AA batteries, SD card plugs directly into a slot on my computer to trasnsfer pictures (or you can use USB)...
 
What I don't like: no ability to attach lens filters, parallalex (sp?) error...this is because the viewfinder image is not what the camera lens sees at close range...the result is that what might be centered in the viewfinder may not be centered on the actual image...this is true of ALL viewfinder cameras...
 
Because this is a "fixed focus lens" the minimum focus distance is about 2.5 to 3 feet...so if I want to take a picture of a plate of food on a table, I find it best to stand up and position myself to compose the shot...I can always zoom in if need be
 
I keep this camera in my car at all times...
 
2)...Canon EOS...DSLR type...
 
What I like: Through the lens image composing, filter threads on front of lens, auto or manual focus, interchangable lens, suberb images, battery has good capacity...
 
What I don't like: it's hard to "bracket" the exposures to compensate for certain lighting conditions (in the old FILM camera's you merely open the iris a stop or two for backlit scenes), non standard (proprietary) battery (I bought an extra battery "just to make sure" I don't lose a shot due to a low battery)...
 
This camera usually stays at home unless I'm on a planned road trip...I have a complete camera kit with bag, telephoto zoom lens, lens caps, lens shades, plus a UV "skylight" filter and a polarizing filter for each lens (besides the camera and the lens it comes with)...
 
NOTE...many of the pocket type cameras do NOT have an optical viewfinder...the only way you can compose your shot is by looking at the display screen at the back of the camera, which can be impossible to see IF the sun is shining on the display...because of this I'd suggest a pocket type WITH an optical viewfinder...

GREYMO: re Cadillac CTS-V:  One persons's soup might be another persons dirty dishwater...
 
I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4...I live in an area of snow, mud and landslides in the winter, and I drive a fair amount in the summer, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another...it has every option but the block heater...(the Jeep Wagoneer was the original high end "Tahoe Cadillac")
 
If I still lived on a paved street I'd still be driving a Cadillac (I've had 3)
 
WHEREGREGEATS: You might want to increase your budget...you get what you pay for...if you are lucky you'll select a camera you'll want to use for many years...if you buy a camera that's real "low end" you might not like the results and will want to replace it poste haste...

Hey BackRhodes, on every EOS I've seen (I have a 40D and a 7D, and I've worked with the 5D, XT and XS series) there's a menu setting for automatic exposure bracketing. You can choose 1/3 stop or 1/2 stop bracketing, up to 2 stops in both directions. Set it, compose your photo, and it will take 3 shots in succession (at maximum fps). It's a pretty nice feature, actually, taking advantage of one of the things digital does best, the fast electronics. The EOS series will also do white balance bracketing, same way. If you shoot raw that's something you can better handle in post processing, but if you're shooting jpgs that saves a step in editing.

Mosco...what I read in the manual and what happens in the camera seems to be different...it will take only a single frame...having to fiddle around with menus makes me wish it was as simple as a film camera (Canon TL)...
 
What I often do with digital cameras is to point the exposure sensor at a certain part of the scene and push the "take" button down half way to lock in the exposure, recompose and "snap it"...

Mosca...
Was that shot taken at the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT?

BackRhodes

What I often do with digital cameras is to point the exposure sensor at a certain part of the scene and push the "take" button down half way to lock in the exposure, recompose and "snap it"...

That's a pretty standard technique and works most of the time but the dynamic range, the bane of digital, often suffers. What cameras are offering today is HDR, High Dynamic Range, which when selected takes three photos in rapid succession at under, normal and over, and then automatically combines them in one photo so shadow areas and sunlit sky all come out properly exposed. It is difficult to use on moving action scenes but great with stills. Even the iPhone 4S utilizes that technique. The iPhone gives you two photos to choose from. Your original setting and the combined photo. So if you messed up with blur movement from action you still have the original.

cavandre


Mosca...
Was that shot taken at the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT?

 
Yep! You know how dark it is in there.

BackRhodes


Mosco...what I read in the manual and what happens in the camera seems to be different...it will take only a single frame...having to fiddle around with menus makes me wish it was as simple as a film camera (Canon TL)...

What I often do with digital cameras is to point the exposure sensor at a certain part of the scene and push the "take" button down half way to lock in the exposure, recompose and "snap it"...

 
Go into your settings, find "AEB", and press "set". Turn the proper dial to choose the amount of bracketing. Then choose the continuous shooting mode, and hold the shutter down. Otherwise you have to push the shutter 3 times. The exposures will be standard, decreased, and increased, in that order.

Mosca:...ah ha...gotta KEEP the shutter release button DOWN for all 3 exposures...THANKS...
 
Davydd...It sounds like I'll look for HDR my next camera...It might be a while before I need to replace my current cameras, but it sounds like it's great because 99.9% of my use for that camera IS still photos...

I got an offer for a Kodak C-1530 ... for $40 on one of those Internet deal-a-day sites ... pretty happy with it ... optical view finders are a thing of the past ... the display is big and bright ... i wish it took 4 replaceable AA's instead of 2 ... it is feather light, it could accommodate the weight for sure.
 
Here is (an enormous) close-up sample I just took:
 
http://wgedc.com/1530-demo.jpg
 ... click on magnify

I have a Nikon D40, which is fine for web photography, especially since it takes all my old Nikon film lenses. Unfortunately, I have to focus and set the exposure manually on those lenses, but my old skills came back remarkably fast.
 
Bart