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Recommended point-and-shoot camera?


rapidotrains

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Hi guys,

 

Rapido's trusty point-and-shoot gave up the ghost today. It's a Canon SX500 IS and it has developed a smudge on the inside of the lens that WON'T GO AWAY. This camera has previously got dust in there but a good smack or two has dislodged it. Basically, I haven't been that pleased with it. But it's done the job and most of our videos and product shots over the last couple of years were taken with this thing.

 

What do you guys recommend as a replacement?  I'm looking for good zoom and the ability to take good model shots. That means it needs full manual settings.  Most point-and-shoot cameras have great video so I'm not worried about that. The Canon G16 has been recommended but its zoom is rubbish.

 

We'd like to catch up to 2007 and start using Helicon Focus, but the SX500 IS is not so well suited to that. The manual focus is so fiddly that your camera is guaranteed to move while you adjust the focal length.

 

So any recommendations would be appreciated.  Our budget is $1 to $600.  I'm all for inexpensive, but this may be too cheap:

 

8bb7e71a2398e7dd6432206975a9b89a.jpg

 

Probably won't do the job.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jason

 

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I'd say go to John's, but they didn't switch to digital cameras, so they don't have cameras any more- Heidi was there the last time I was there.  (John & her sold my sister Faller HIT train in 1979, and my Yashica FX2000 came from there).

 

Other than that, I don't have any great recommendations- I'm using a Nikon D40X, and my wife has a Sony point & shoot with a stupidly short battery life. 

 

James

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I've been using a Sony WX80 with near total satisfaction the last 2 years

 

Does it give the close-up resolution you need?

 

The WX220 is the current version

 

Dava

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Panasonic LUMIX FZ72.

 

Having dismissed the best compact camera (Canon G16) for having a pathetic zoom as you call it - 5x 28mm to 140mm effective - I would guess you must be looking for what some would regard as a ludicrous zoom.

 

The FZ72 has a 60x optical zoom that may be just up your street. About £199.

 

If this doesn't suit then there are any number of similar bridge cameras - just drop into PC/Office World.

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Panasonic LUMIX FZ72.

 

Having dismissed the best compact camera (Canon G16) for having a pathetic zoom as you call it - 5x 28mm to 140mm effective - I would guess you must be looking for what some would regard as a ludicrous zoom.

 

The FZ72 has a 60x optical zoom that may be just up your street. About £199.

 

If this doesn't suit then there are any number of similar bridge cameras - just drop into PC/Office World.

 

I guess my challenge is trying to have one camera do all things.

 

I find when I am travelling for Rapido and I need to grab shots of trains from a long way away, I need the ludicrous zoom.

 

It might be worth getting a G16 and then an el-cheapo zoomy-boomy camera for the travelogues....

 

-Jason

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Get an iPhone.

 

Don't worry about independent cameras, they are just an extra inconvenience. Just use your phone.

 

I took this photo of a page from Railway Observer indoors, using normal lighting - no flash -, auto focus, about 10 minutes ago.

 

Remember, this has been scaled down to get within the 1mb file limit, the original is 7.2mb

 

post-4474-0-19992100-1433697990_thumb.jpg

 

My phone is only an iPhone 5.

 

I have seen photos taken with an iPhone 6 that just blew me away, but I am worried about the bendiness of it compared to mine.

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If you consider that is not too clear, remember that it was taken from only about 6 inches away.

 

I can blow it up this much without too much pixellating

 

 

post-4474-0-44563200-1433698662_thumb.jpg

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Get an iPhone.

 

 

I have one, actually.  An iPhone 5 like yours.

 

The trouble with the iPhone is that it's too clever. It thinks it knows where I want to focus, what sort of exposure I want, etc. It's often wrong. As much as I found the bit of guck on the inside of the taxi window interesting, what I was trying to photograph was the suspension bridge behind it.....

 

By the time I adjusted everything with swipes and bloops, the bridge was replaced by an even more interesting concrete wall.

 

-Jason

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I'd echo the earlier advice - go for a Dslr.

Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax , Olympus - all do really, really good cameras. Add a travel zoom for when out and about and a cheap macro prime for product photography and you're done.

If lens changing isn't your thing and you like a big zoom range, the Sony RX10 gets very good reviews but is outside your budget.

If lens changing and a big camera isn't your thing, the Sony RX100 I, II or III get good reviews - the very high resolution may compensate for a more limited zoom range.

Other camera manufacturers are available, your mileage may vary...

(Wholly unbiased Sony A77 user)

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Jason

 

I agree with earlier suggestions to investigate Canon compacts.  Not sure what you mean by the "zoom is rubbish" - if you mean not "long enough in the telephoto end" then you do probably need a DSLR with serious optics. But as far as image quality goes, Ive never owned a bad Canon. You should be able to crop down if you need to get closer.  The better spec'd ones will give you as much manual control as a DSLR.

 

For shoot from the hip and grab the moment stuff, the ease of a compact is hard to top (this, from a dedicated SLR man who saw the light after travelling overseas and using his G-series more then his EOS). The only frustration i have is that most compacts suffer a degree of shutter lag, that DSLRs won't.  But thats not an issue with videos of course.

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I have one, actually.  An iPhone 5 like yours.

 

The trouble with the iPhone is that it's too clever. It thinks it knows where I want to focus, what sort of exposure I want, etc. It's often wrong. As much as I found the bit of guck on the inside of the taxi window interesting, what I was trying to photograph was the suspension bridge behind it.....

 

By the time I adjusted everything with swipes and bloops, the bridge was replaced by an even more interesting concrete wall.

 

-Jason

 

Ah yes. I see what you mean.

 

Fortunately for me, I have not encountered that problem so far.  I have that "pleasure" to come.

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Jason,

 

The Canon PowerShot G16 is what I would recommend ...  almost mid range DSLR, pocket friendly with out the bulk .. good zoom and almost no wake up time or shutter lag ..

 

HTH

 

MC

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Hi Jason

 

I am a Nikon SLR user and it great but it's big....

 

A couple of months back I bought a Nikon s9700 and have been seriously impressed. There is no shutter lag, you can using it in full auto, or aperture priority / speed priority / full manual modes. The 30x optical zoom is very impressive.

 

It also has a couple of features I considered gimmicks when buying the camera but having used them I would never be without - GPS tagging so the location of each shoot is recorded in the exif data and WiFi - so either you can download the photo's direct to your phone / ipad / computer or control the camera from any of these devises (using the free Nikon app). The beauty of this is you could mount the camera on a tripod / selfie stick and reach it up high (i.e. above a train roof) and not only get a live feed from the camera on your ipad/ computer / phone but also control the zoom / shutter etc.

 

And unlike my DSLR, it fits in my trouser pocket....

   

All the best

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I have one, actually.  An iPhone 5 like yours.

 

The trouble with the iPhone is that it's too clever. It thinks it knows where I want to focus, what sort of exposure I want, etc. It's often wrong. As much as I found the bit of guck on the inside of the taxi window interesting, what I was trying to photograph was the suspension bridge behind it.....

 

By the time I adjusted everything with swipes and bloops, the bridge was replaced by an even more interesting concrete wall.

 

-Jason

 

Theres a few apps for that (apple joke intended). Check out Camera+ to name but one. It adds loads of functions like exposure and focus options while still being a good camera.

I also like how you can get an iPhone right in to a layout without a lot of hassle.

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