Decent and fairly cheap camera?

If it doesn't fit .. It fits here .. - -

Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby machineman9 » Sat May 10, 2008 9:46 am

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
User avatar
machineman9
Major
Major
 
Posts: 4816
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:05 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby Mictheslik » Sat May 10, 2008 9:58 am

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
[center]Image
User avatar
Mictheslik
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 5517
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 11:32 am
Location: Bristol, England

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby machineman9 » Sat May 10, 2008 10:00 am

Budget I am guessing would be around the
Last edited by machineman9 on Sat May 10, 2008 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
machineman9
Major
Major
 
Posts: 4816
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:05 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby expat » Sat May 10, 2008 10:09 am

[quote]Budget I am guessing would be around the
"A bit of a pickle" - British translation: A catastrophically bad situation with potentially fatal consequences.

PETA Image People Eating Tasty Animals.

B1 (Cat C) licenced engineer, Boeing 737NG 600/700/800/900 Airbus A318/19/20/21 and Dash8 Q-400
1. Captain, if the problem is not entered into the technical logbook.........then the aircraft does not have a problem.
2. And, if you have time to write the fault on a napkin and attach to it to the yoke.........you have time to write it in the tech log....see point 1.
User avatar
expat
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 8679
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:06 am
Location: Deep behind enemy lines....

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby pepper_airborne » Sat May 10, 2008 11:06 am

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.
User avatar
pepper_airborne
Major
Major
 
Posts: 2268
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:42 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby mrjake2002 » Sat May 10, 2008 11:11 am

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
[url]http://www.flickr.com/gravityxgrace[/url]
mrjake2002
Major
Major
 
Posts: 2243
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 4:42 am
Location: Cornwall, UK.

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby machineman9 » Sat May 10, 2008 11:34 am

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?
User avatar
machineman9
Major
Major
 
Posts: 4816
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:05 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby pepper_airborne » Sat May 10, 2008 12:40 pm

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.
User avatar
pepper_airborne
Major
Major
 
Posts: 2268
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:42 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby machineman9 » Sat May 10, 2008 12:42 pm

But also with a high resolution cropping later could enhance the zoom too.
User avatar
machineman9
Major
Major
 
Posts: 4816
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:05 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby machineman9 » Sat May 10, 2008 1:22 pm

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
User avatar
machineman9
Major
Major
 
Posts: 4816
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:05 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby expat » Sat May 10, 2008 6:02 pm

[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
"A bit of a pickle" - British translation: A catastrophically bad situation with potentially fatal consequences.

PETA Image People Eating Tasty Animals.

B1 (Cat C) licenced engineer, Boeing 737NG 600/700/800/900 Airbus A318/19/20/21 and Dash8 Q-400
1. Captain, if the problem is not entered into the technical logbook.........then the aircraft does not have a problem.
2. And, if you have time to write the fault on a napkin and attach to it to the yoke.........you have time to write it in the tech log....see point 1.
User avatar
expat
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 8679
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:06 am
Location: Deep behind enemy lines....

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby Rifleman » Sat May 10, 2008 10:28 pm

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.......... ;)
Image
User avatar
Rifleman
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 5684
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2002 4:44 pm
Location: Tropical island in the Pacific

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby machineman9 » Sun May 11, 2008 7:56 am

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  ;)
User avatar
machineman9
Major
Major
 
Posts: 4816
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:05 am

Re: Decent and fairly cheap camera?

Postby mrjake2002 » Mon May 12, 2008 9:37 am

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 ;)
[url]http://www.flickr.com/gravityxgrace[/url]
mrjake2002
Major
Major
 
Posts: 2243
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 4:42 am
Location: Cornwall, UK.


Return to General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1003 guests