Digital Cameras ??? !!!

[KITKAT]

What camera do you use for photos of your snakes? Does your camera have extra features that make pictures clearer, more focused, etc.? Do you have a manual override that allows you to focus?

[mikm]

hey KITKAT ... it's been my experience that the most successful shots of garters requires a macro lense or a macro setting on the camera. I believe it's less the manufacturer as I had a Kodak, now I have a Cannon and both do an equally good job. Without the macro however the clear, close ups were not possible as our subjects are too small ...

best of luck,
marian

[abcat1993]

I have some panasonic camera thats pretty good. I'll figure out which one it is later.

[Gijs & Sabine]

We use an olympus FE-140 with 6.0 megapixel. It works really nice and it's small, so easy to use. It's got different options for macro pics.
But I can make better pics with my old camera, but that's not a digital one I have many lenses that go with that camera.
In the future we want to buy a bigger digital camera so we can use our different lenses again, but that's a lot of money

[Stefan-A]

I use a Panasonic DMC-FZ5, with a macro function of course. The nice thing about that camera is that it will still focus on objects just 5cm away, the picture quality is pretty good and it is (was) cheap. Has been replaced by the FZ7 on the market and you can expect that model to be replaced by the end of the year if it hasn't already been replaced.

I agree with marian, it's not really the (camera) manufacturer that it depends on. The optics are usually made by some other company and many of the big brands use the same lens manufacturer. As a result, cameras in any given price/size class will be very evenly matched. The ergonomics and the battery life will still vary, but the overall potential depends on what the optics are capable of.

I also have a fairly new 6Mpix Panasonic FX3 that can barely compete with my old antiquated 2Mpix Fuji Finepix 2600 Zoom in terms of image quality. There may be years of development between the two models, but when you want to squeeze a lense into the smallest/thinnest frame possible, you have to make compromises.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX3: Digital Photography Review
Fujifilm FinePix 2600 Zoom digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review

[adamanteus]

I agree, digital cameras (compact models), whilst being small and convenient to use, can't compete with conventional photography for close up work. I've never tried one of the digital SLRs that are available, I'm betting they're pretty good. I only ever use a conventional SLR for macro work, and a pocket digital for holiday snaps. No doubt somebody will prove me wrong by posting a fantastic photo taken on a digital now!!

James.

[GarterGuy]

I use a Cannon Dgital Rebel XT SLR with a 18-55mm lense for regular shots, a 75-300mm lense for trying to get shots of those snakes or other critters from a distance, and I just got a 50mm compact macro lense that I'll be trying out this year. The SLR is an 8 megapixel, so the detail is very good and I find that even if the picture isn't a real close up shot, the detail is good enough that I can just zoom in using editting software. As far as proving James wrong with pics.....well check out my gallery of pics and you be the judge.
Roy

[adamanteus]

Roy,

When you're using the digital SLR is there still that annoying half second delay between pressing the shutter realease and the camera actually taking the picture? The compact digitals I have had always seem to pause just before firing. Very frustrating when you're trying to capture the moment! Just wondered if digital SLRs are the same, before I consider buying one. My favourite camera is my Canon A1, it's older than God and weighs about 250 pounds, but I love it! Over the years I've used it for some serious macro photography.

[GarterGuy]

Roy,

When you're using the digital SLR is there still that annoying half second delay between pressing the shutter realease and the camera actually taking the picture? The compact digitals I have had always seem to pause just before firing. Very frustrating when you're trying to capture the moment! Just wondered if digital SLRs are the same, before I consider buying one. My favourite camera is my Canon A1, it's older than God and weighs about 250 pounds, but I love it! Over the years I've used it for some serious macro photography.

It acutually depends on what settings you have the camara on. On autofocus modes you can have shutter delay if your taking pics of wildlife, since the camara seems to have a problem figuring out what to focus on. I've had to take several pics of snakes that were streaking by and was able to get good pics of them with out missing due to shutter delay. I'm still trying to figure stuff out though.....I've been pretty much self teaching my self in photography so I'm still a bit new to this, I don't consider myself an expert.....yet!

[drache]

Thanks for starting this thread, KITKAT - this is great!