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Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 9:46 am
by machineman9
Please move if in wrong forum... I didn't see one that was very much specific in this...
Anywho, because my sister is complaining that I use her camera too much I am thinking about getting my own. Nothing hugely expensive as I dont have much money to hand and probably wont be able to fully invest in it myself.
Things I might need it for:
Aircraft photography, so something which can take lenses or has a good zoom
Modelling photography... well... my sister is the model but she might need something that is good for that as hers isnt great.
Something that can work well in all light
Something which I could take flying with me (so something with some G resist)
Any thoughts? I'm not really a specialist.
Cheers
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 9:58 am
by Mictheslik
Any ideas on a budget?
I'd go down to your local camera shop, tell them sort of what you're looking for and let them select a few for you to try out. Then, having tried them out, go home and look for the best deal on the one you like the most.....

Remember, don;t be scared of second hand aswell....you can pick up some good deals on slightly older SLRs now

.mic
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 10:00 am
by machineman9
Budget I am guessing would be around the
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 10:09 am
by expat
[quote]Budget I am guessing would be around the
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 11:06 am
by pepper_airborne
I can also recommend the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, or FZ-18(18x optical zoom). Its really good, but loses some at the higher ISO settings, although in the old days nobody went over ISO200 with film, so i never got the whole ISO rage.
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 11:11 am
by mrjake2002
The Fuji does look very good, I've never had it but I did have an earlier model so if its anything like my old one then I can happily recommend it.
Check out this - at
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 11:34 am
by machineman9
That Fuji S5700 does look very nice indeed.
It looks like it only takes the lens that it has though... Would 10X be enough to get some fairly good shots at a distance- say, from the crowds of an airshow to the actual aircraft that is showing off?
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 12:40 pm
by pepper_airborne
10x is definately not bad, the FZ8 has 12x, and FZ18 18x. I use 12x quite alot, especialy for plane spotting, and from time to time i wish i had some more.
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 12:42 pm
by machineman9
But also with a high resolution cropping later could enhance the zoom too.
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 1:22 pm
by machineman9
Bloomin heck... I was sure there was a photography subforum... I missed it twice when I first looked ;D
I'll see if I can get this moved
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 6:02 pm
by expat
[quote]The Fuji does look very good, I've never had it but I did have an earlier model so if its anything like my old one then I can happily recommend it.
Check out this - at
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sat May 10, 2008 10:28 pm
by Rifleman
Remember one thing,.....it's not the brushes, canvas, or colours, but the artist who brings an image to light......... 8-)
Learn about photography, then practice your craft and you can bring forth some very nice images from a camera you can afford, without breaking the bank by trying to keep up with others who have lots more of experience..........it's not an overnight thing, unless your nights are 20 yrs long..........

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Sun May 11, 2008 7:56 am
by machineman9
Expat... for the price I dont think it is too much to pay for the few extras... batteries are cheap and cases shouldnt be too bad either. That camera looks to take a good selection of memory devices, most of which are compatible with my card reader on my computer.
Rifleman... Ive got a few years on and off photo experience, ive just never had anything that gets the photos quite as I wanted. My Olympus is good for longer range shots than my sisters new camera but it hates moving objects so photos are a bit tricky... one camera zooms, the other takes a good photo... I just want something that combines the two. I'm hardly an artist so I hope that being a photographer will suffice ;)
Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Posted:
Mon May 12, 2008 9:37 am
by mrjake2002
Remember one thing,.....it's not the brushes, canvas, or colours, but the artist who brings an image to light......... 8-)
Learn about photography, then practice your craft and you can bring forth some very nice images from a camera you can afford, without breaking the bank by trying to keep up with others who have lots more of experience..........it's not an overnight thing, unless your nights are 20 yrs long..........

Exactly! It took me about four years before I finally 'outgrew' my old 4MP fuji. I'm fairly confident I managed to squeeze as much out of that camera as possible before moving on to bigger and better things. ;D
