David C Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 For the benefit of the moderators, I have used the search function, but the last entry was getting on for 2 years ago and I feel its reasonable to re-start this topic as new products have appeared whereas a lot of old ones are no longer available. Having only used a borrowed digital compact before now and having missed Andy Y's talk at Ally Pally the other weekend (due to being trapped on a broken down train for 2 hours), I know hardly anything about what to look for. I assume the ability to stop down to F32 or similar and a manual override to the various auto functions are what are required. Has anyone any suggestions for a compact at a reasonable price? Max price would be £80 -100. Thanks in advance David C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The Canon G12 seems to be going down well in some quarters. The lens is low enough to give pleasant 3/4 views of 4mm scale locos and trains (see Great Northern's Peterborough). This camera's downside appears to be a restricted minimum aperture of f8, but so long as one doesnt wander into telephoto territory the G8 delivers very good sharp results. I use an SLR out of sheer habit and whatever minimum aperture I can get (usually around f29 at the 35mm lens setting). But I can't get the low down views that the compact G12 is capable of. But as you have mentioned £80-£100, I rather think you will have to look as used cameras if you want good optics. Google for digital camera reviews. DPReview is a good site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted March 29, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29, 2013 Andy Y recommended to me to try the Nikon Coolpix S4300 which I duely did and I'm currently experimenting with it.A good price for the spec. http://www.trustedreviews.com/nikon-coolpix-s4300_Digital-Camera_review Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I read that 4300 Nikon review. Full of bells and whistles but in the end the image quality is lacking. It's a camera......It's prime purpose is taking images, so whats the point? We used to pay a premium in order to obtain best quality optics from the likes of Nikon and Canon, but when these companies happily offer cameras that don't deliver the goods, I wonder if there is a future for under £600 cameras when so many folk use their Mobiles to take pictures. Having used an entry-level Nikon DSLR for a job last week, it makes my £600 camera look like a waste of good money! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted March 29, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29, 2013 Like most things in life you get what you pay for.However if I bought a set of golf clubs that Tiger Woods uses it wouldn't make me play like him unfortunately.I can't justify a nice slr camera and the Nikon fitted my/wifes criteria thats all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The first things I would look for are what the macro range is and whether the machine has a good white balance control. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The first things I would look for are what the macro range is and whether the machine has a good white balance control. Definitely, and ensure the Macro setting is available across the entire zoom range. I also find it essential to be able to "teach" the camera a custom white balance for every shot. I also wouldn't be without CombineZP software to extend the depth of field, and some basic functions within a decent photo editing suite (but nothing too over the top). The 8mp Bridge Camera I brought in 2005 and quickly regretted is still in use and shot a magazine cover last year, thanks to those useful tools. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ELTEL Posted March 29, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 29, 2013 For the benefit of the moderators, I have used the search function, but the last entry was getting on for 2 years ago and I feel its reasonable to re-start this topic as new products have appeared whereas a lot of old ones are no longer available. Having only used a borrowed digital compact before now and having missed Andy Y's talk at Ally Pally the other weekend (due to being trapped on a broken down train for 2 hours), I know hardly anything about what to look for. I assume the ability to stop down to F32 or similar and a manual override to the various auto functions are what are required. Has anyone any suggestions for a compact at a reasonable price? Max price would be £80 -100. Thanks in advance David C Well you did not miss Andy Y talk last weekend, as due to illness Andy did not make it, may be the talk will be rescheduled. Eltel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Well you did not miss Andy Y talk last weekend, as due to illness Andy did not make it, may be the talk will be rescheduled. I wonder if Andy Y has heard of a place called RMweb he could do his talk on? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mod5 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 For the benefit of the moderators, I have used the search function, but the last entry was getting on for 2 years ago and I feel its reasonable to re-start this topic as new products have appeared whereas a lot of old ones are no longer available. Thanks in advance David C David no problem at all with starting a new thread for this. If a week is a long time in politics then two years is forever in the digital photography world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Thanks to all of you who responded to my post. gwrrob and Coachman: I too read the review and it implied that that particular model had a lot of additional features which I didn't want at the expense of the lenses. However, I'll be very interested what gwrrob makes of it. That said, the DPreview site reckoned that the Nikon Coolpix range was best overall for "macro performance" .... Thanks, Coachman, for suggestion of that site, too: the glossary was useful. I'm going to have to toddle off to the Library for a book on digital photography as it seems completely different to what I have been used to with film! The G12 is a bit out of my price range (unless I sell one of my body parts, but I'm not sure anyone would want any of 'em!). Westerner ("Wencombe") and Sparky ("Penhydd") use a Panasonic Lumix, the most basic model of which is at the top end of what I can afford, so I'm tempted to go that route. Anyone else got any thoughts about these? David C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I got a Lumix TZ-30 for Christmas and with its Leica glass I am extremely pleased with it. Very little need to go beyond the 'intelligent auto' (including for macro and WB). And the video is very good too - can even zoom whilst filming. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmay2002 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Westerner ("Wencombe") and Sparky ("Penhydd") use a Panasonic Lumix, the most basic model of which is at the top end of what I can afford, so I'm tempted to go that route. Anyone else got any thoughts about these? I've had a Lumix FZ-18 for a few years now and been very happy with it. See for example http://www.s-scale.org.uk/gallery23.htm You might find a 2nd hand one or even old stock within your price range. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Hi just to put my bit in, I am using Panasonic DCM-SZ1 16mp with a 10x optical zoom lens, Lieca lens and macro . I have found it to good camera and serves my purpose. Cost about £110.00 on web sites but sometimes retailers will match web site prices. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Sidelines Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I would second gwrrob - taking good pictures is not just the camera but it is also a lot to do with the photographer. I would also say that it is only after a little practice that you begin to realise what is important to you for your pictures. The beauty of the digital era is that you can now experiment and you don't have to pay for rolls of film and duplicate prints. There is never a perfect 'shot',you just have to be prepared to spend a little bit of time, take a lot of different views using slightly different settings and then keep the best image. In days gone by I had a lovely chunky Pentax SLR. Then when I graduated to 'digital' I had a couple of Fuji FinePix. At the time they seemed to be the leaders in digital technology and the results were very good. I do have a serious complaint - I had to throw away my expensive S5000 after a couple of years because Fuji had hard soldered a watch battery deep inside it to maintain the basic camera settings - when the battery dies (as they surely do) the camera would have had to be sent back to Fuji and competely dismantled at cost far exceding its replacement value - unforgivable. I have just bought a Sony which if anything tries to be 'too clever' - however I am still learning (and it takes excellent pictures). In my case I want a camera with a Macro that focusses down to one or two centimetres. I want a camera that takes HD video. Above all I want a compact camera that can easily be held in one hand. You might also like to consider the type of batteries to be used, how long do they last and are they easily recharged? Quite a challenge and the model out next week will be better still. Regards Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I would second gwrrob - taking good pictures is not just the camera but it is also a lot to do with the photographer. The point I was trying to make earlier was that the best and most practiced photographer in the world would not be able to do much with a camera that will not deliver sharp images. Image quality is the primary function of a camera, not video, bells and whistles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I have a Nikon DSLR and a couple of lenses, but I find I normally take my Fuji X10 which easily fits in my pocket. Biggest plus is the high quality of the f2 lens which means great pics in low light conditions without using flash. Might be worth considering at circa £349 from Amazon, but possibly £299 if you shop around. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-X10-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B005JRGWNS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim Read Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Hello all, I use a Panasonic camera a G2 and having used it for a number of years I prefer it to my clunky DSLR which is now in the loft. The G2 has a lots of things similar to a DSLR and most parameters are on buttons rather than in the software. The two features I use the most are the tilt and swivel screen and the movable with my finger on the screen focus area. My DSLR is a Canon 5D the original one and making an A4 print of the same subject made with both cameras the G2 has a slight fall off to the edges, but that's a 50mm prime on the Canon to a zoom on the Panasonic, the centre results are indistinguishable. Cheers - Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Size is important. If the idea is to take shots from a realistic model sized human perspective, then you need to get the lens down to track level. To get a large depth of field you'll need a small sensor. If you are only concerned with showing stuff on the web, then a mobile phone will be good enough, provided the camera lens is at the edge of the case. Of course, lighting, etc. will be important. Just to show by what I mean wrt low viewpoint and depth of field (plus the plasic case will not short out the track!) then this'l do. http://www.yertiz.com/pic1204/tabtest.jpg - tons of noise since in semi darkness, only the third pic I've taken with a samsung tablet, so ignore everything except the viewpoint. Other than that, anything will do, with a length of posing track/diorama to be able to get the view you want. Depending on what you want to pay, and if you can hack the processing required, then you will not beat the sigma dp3M for image quality, unless you want to pay £60k for a large format digital back system. However, for the web, image quality does not matter. Best wishes, Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim Read Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Hello Ray, DOF is not really a factor that needs to be taken into account now that that Combine ZM and ZP are available and are free. They are mentioned further back in this thread but without an example. For this pic I made three exposures, one focussed on the deck in the foreground one one the loco buffers and one on the cafe in the background and combined them in the software. It's a really great little program. Cheers - Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Biggest problem with cheap cameras is, as alluded to earlier, the sensor. An £80-100 digital compact will beat a phone by a noticeable margin ( especially as soon as the ISO goes up ) but the ISO ceiling where noise is an over-riding factor. If you can guarantee decent lighting ( and the in-built flash doesn't count) and decent white balance control ( although Lightroom will help with that ) then a compact will work, if not then honestly your going to have to 'bite the bullet' and increase your budget. The £200-300 options are certainly worth considering although I'd still take a DSLR myself. I'd probably get a Pentax k-r, it's a out of production 12.4mp DSLR but the reason I'd choose it for this type of work is three fold. Firstly it's light weight at 595g including battery, it's also compact with the lens very low. Secondly it's available cheaply Thirdly and most importantly, despite it's price it has impressive IQ and ISO control ( Class leading at the time and still more than holds its own). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 I think this phone is in some respects better than a cheap shirt pocket camera, and if the op is on a fixed rate phone tariff, then it may be a low cost option - after all for those who use 'em, a mobile phone will be with them ( and for web - easy image posting, afaik). For example - some user images http://www.getdpi.com/forum/small-sensor-cameras/43767-nokia-808-images.html - reckoned to be better than a 5d in some respects. I'm not sure of its macro capabilities or lens position, etc. I've image stacked in the past, (for macros), but not much use with a moving subject (or camera). Also if the idea is to make the model photo look like a photo of the full sized 'real thing' then other aspects come into play, not equal sharpness/lighting, etc. throughout the depth of the image. Ideally, what we need is a scale 35mm sensor, to take a scale 35mm image. (This is the opposite reason as to why the video guys fell over themselves in the haste to get the Canon 'full frame' still cameras with HD video a couple of years back - subject isolation via depth of field control.) It is, of course, horses for courses, but as well as the shot from the sky, it is nice to get a ground level shot, and you can't always do that unless you can get the camera into where the action is, and get the lens down low. (or if you didn't bring your camera with you ) Best wishes, Ray ps can't get the link to work - maybe you have to register on the getdpi forum to see it all, anyway it was the nokia 808. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim Read Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Hello Ray, What a great idea, the RMWeb Scale Digital Camera three models 500k for 7mm, 300k for 4mm and 100k for 2mm. These are available from the Shenzhen Midsun Technology Company Limited. Minimum order 100 units with a 7/10 day delivery. Lets invest we could clean up :-) Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 I didn't mention it for the afformentioned IQ at higher ISO reasons.. but the Pentax Q and Q10 actually might work well rather well. They use a high quality sensor that is around the size of the compact (so is limited on the ISO size, although does outperform compacts) but has the big benefits of decent pricing, tiny camera (for getting into nooks and crannies) and capabilities of mounting DSLR lenses if required. The Q is on my wish list as for me it's a great 'companion camera'. In this case, of course, it should produce better quality images than a phone or a compact camera, but have the same 'benefits' of depth of field. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Hi Jim, The pity is, you can't scale nature. Best wishes, Ray (But I guess it's fun trying) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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