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buying a new camera, need help!
- Thread starter mro415
- Start date
NWDMD
Active Member
There's a forum on here for photography. Myself and many others have asked similar questions, I bet you can find some good resources there.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=46
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=46
WDWFigment
Well-Known Member
Regardless of what camera you get, get a tripod if you expect decent night pictures.
disneydiva72
New Member
DO NOT BUY the Kodak Easy Share 8.0 megapixel, it takes crappy pics.
TigerBravo1977
New Member
For Christmas I bought my wife a Sony camera. I don't remember the model # but it was about $150 or so. It was awful, always taking blurry pictures of our daughter if she moved the least little bit during the shot, so we went back to using our old, somewhat bulky Fuji camera that took great pictures. While at WDW last week we decided we needed a new one after my wife dropped the old Fuji. We went to Wal Mart and decided to try a new Fuji since the old one was so good. We spent roughly the same money as on the Sony and now have a great camera that is very slim and portable. I can't recommend Fuji cameras enough.
MattyFresh
Well-Known Member
I second that....you can use stable objects in the park, like trees, trash cans, and tables to keep the camera stable, but you don't always get the shot you want because its hard to move the tree to get the shot you want. I was surprised at how small and compact some tripods are now.
I had a Fuji, will never own another Fuji. Quite working after a year, lens wouldn't open and was just a pain. Love my Canon Powershot.
MickeyJman06
New Member
there's camera's with video and pics. i recomend you buy that so you won't have to carry two cameras.
MissM
Well-Known Member
I got the Canon PowerShot SD100IS for my birthday last month and it's really quite nice. Takes video, uses the high capacity SD cards so you can put a 4gig card in there, takes nice photos and has a ton of preset modes if you don't want to futz with the controls manually.
DivineMadness7
New Member
There have been some recent threads on this, try searching for them.
I second the Canon PowerShot SD100IS.
I second the Canon PowerShot SD100IS.
Based on your desire to take pictures of fireworks and stuff at night, here are some suggestions that I would keep in mind when shopping:
- Look at the ISO range on the camera. The higher the ISO, the more you can shoot in low light. Look for something that goes up to 1600 ISO or higher. Read reviews to find out how much digital "noise" there is with the various models you may be considering. Digital noise refers to the amount of graininess that you will get in your photos. Typically, this happens at higher ISO settings and with longer exposures. The best site for digital camera reviews is: www.dpreview.com
- As others have mentioned, you will definitely need a tripod if you want to shoot fireworks. The secret is to shoot at a really slow shutter speed (like a few seconds or longer). Because of this, it's imperative that your camera be extremely steady while the shutter is open.
- Make sure you get a camera that allows you to manually adjust the shutter speed.
- Try not to get too caught up in the hype over megapixels. It's a misconception that more megapixels automatically translates into better, sharper pictures. Megapixels are an important consideration only in cases where you plan to enlarge your photo quite a bit, or do some extensive cropping. When digital cameras first started becoming popular with consumers (about 8 years ago or so) 3 MP was considered fairly decent. Nowadays, 6 or more MP is the norm, so that's not really the thing to worry about anymore. Instead, consider the quality of the lens.
- Consider getting a camera that has a "hot shoe" which allows you to place an external flash on the camera. An external flash will put out more illumination than the one that's built into the camera. Plus, it will save on the camera battery if you are shooting with a flash, because the external flash will use it's own battery power. Do not use a flash for fireworks shots (Many people make this mistake). But a flash is great for other types of night and indoor shots (except for inside the attractions of course :animwink
.- Try to get a camera that takes either the compact flash (CF) memory card, or the smaller SD card. Those are the most affordable memory cards. Sony makes some really good digital cameras, but most of their models use their proprietary Memory Stick, which is more pricey.
Probably more information than you were looking for, but these are all things I would factor in when making your purchase selection.
Good luck!
TTFN-Tiggger
New Member
I have the Casio EX-V8 - it is small. 8.1 mega pixel with 7x optical zoom. I got lots of great pictures from various vacations. Even the castle/epcot at night. I recommend using a tripod with the flash off to catch the good nighttime photos. Nikon & Canon's are also suppose to be great cameras.
EpcoTim
Well-Known Member
If you were looking at the Canon 40D, why not look to its little brother the XSi or the Nikon 40D. With the kit lens, or the even lighter 50mm f1.8 your at less than 2 lbs, in a camera that is still very easily carried around all day, plus you get all the advantages of an slr.
The lens you refer to is a great lens, especially for low light situations that the OP expressed interest in. On the Canon, though, it equates to an 80mm lens (and I believe 65mm on the Nikon), so I'm not sure if it would be the best for fireworks shots. Also, it's definitely not the best lens for taking group shots, but is excellent for photographing one person at a time (a great portrait lens).
As a side note, the current issue of Popular Photography Magazine has a how-to article on photographing fireworks.