Digital cameras

[joey182]

I was going to get a cannon powershot A70 digital camera how are they? I am 15 and money is hard to come by so I dont want to waste it.

[Fiji Live Rock]

If you can save up enough beans...get the Sony DSC-F717

It is 5.0 Mega Pixels with a 10x Zoom and all the nice bells and whistles.

Takes KILLER close up photos...you can litterly get 1/2" away from a object and have a crystal clear photo.

[Phish]

Hey Fiji... Is your tang 'playful'... at my lfs (before my ... departure) Whenever I stuck my hand in the 'Tang' tank one of the Yellow Tangs would come over and swim on my hand and arm, at first I thought he deployed his little razors at his tail but he didnt he just rubbed all over my hand, every time, I never came accross this anyother time with any fish.

(I used to play tag with a trigger fish we had... Iam glad I never lost)

[rebornhunter]

I've been using a PowerShot A70 for about 5 months. The quality is out standing. I dropped it 1-week after I got it, 4 days before going to Disneyworld. I over nighted it to canon and they fix it and shipped it to me at Fort Wildneress. It was there the Day I arrived. Canon's service Dept. is GREAT to!

[Loserland]

I use the Canon Powershot S-50... No complaints here!

[phistio]

i shoot with a fuji S602 zoom Pro, but ideally would love to be shooting on a nikon D-100.

try reviewing some models, inlcluding the canon PowerShot A70 at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/.

a friend of mine just bought the sony 717 (which is what PineappleHouse shoots with). and now the bigger brother comes out...the Sony 828 just came out, and boasts a full 8 megapixels. the truth is, at that kind of resolution, yoiu can really get better than film quality!

that being said, let me ask you, how much can you afford to spend on a camera. i can recommend several different camers. there are some excellent "stand-outs" at different level price intervals.

[joey182]

I got a panasonic DMC-LC33 Lumix. Its really nice. Im fifteen so I couldnt get a real expensive one. I like it its got a 3x optical zoom and a 9x digital zoom.It says it has a new kind of lense and has 3.2 megapixels. As soon as I read all the manual and learn to post pictures ill show you my 10 gallon nano. I just got home fromschool and went to check my nano tanks and my clownfish ws dead. It was the one that got up by the filter and survived poor guy. Looks like I could put a new fish in there I dont know if I will get another.

[Fishmonger]

Go with the best you can afford, my camera doesn't have optical zoom and boy do i refret that !

[Pineapple House]

If you can save up enough beans...get the Sony DSC-F717

It is 5.0 Mega Pixels with a 10x Zoom and all the nice bells and whistles.

Takes KILLER close up photos...you can litterly get 1/2" away from a object and have a crystal clear photo.
I completely agree with you about that model. I have the DscF707, which is almlost the exact same model (but larger and with a weaker zoom). You're able to get 2mm close to an object in macro mode. Unfortunatly, the camera runs for quite a bit of money. I've seen some between $700-$900 for that camera (and in some stores, almost $1000). To see some of my photo's, please check out my webshots album (link veiwable in my profile) and my "photography" thread, posted in this forum.

If you wanted a camera on the cheaper side, yet good quality, I would recommend the Canon Powershot G3. I've seen some go for around $400.00, which is a great price. They also have a very good macro mode and are able to take clear pictures with the most accurate coloration (provided if the "white balance" was set correctly). If you do not have that kind of money, most other models over 3 MP with good macro mode should do just fine. Zoom isn't too much of a big deal, esspecially when it comes to taking pictures of your aquarium(s). When you use the zoom feature, you often loose quality in the picture.

Take Care,
Graham

[chicagoman_35]

I have a Minolta DiMage 7HI that I am extreemly happy with. Takes great pictures (>5MP) and about as close to a digital SLR as you can get. Can find em on Ebay for under $500

[reefcrazy20]

I just bought a Canon digital EOS Rebel. Not what you would call an affordable camera, but the pics are unbelieveable. When buying a digital camera don't bother with digital zoom, digital zoom is the same as cropping the image afterward and blowing it up to normal size. professional cameras do not have any digital zoom for this reason. Based on this you should buy the camera with the highest megapixel count and highest optical zoom. More megapixels will allow for better cropping and resizing. This will result in a larger file size but it is well worth it.

[FishFox]

Hey Guys,

I just got a Minolta DImage A2 I am super pleased with my purchase, I especially like the "anti shake" function that cuts down blur that sometimes comes into images from shaky hands when not using a tripod. Apparently the CCD is set on two actuators that can move in the x, y direction and compensate for any hand shake! I am gonna give some macro
s a shot...

[shanmarie]

If you can save up enough beans...get the Sony DSC-F717

It is 5.0 Mega Pixels with a 10x Zoom and all the nice bells and whistles.

Takes KILLER close up photos...you can litterly get 1/2" away from a object and have a crystal clear photo.
I completely agree with you about that model. I have the DscF707, which is almlost the exact same model (but larger and with a weaker zoom).



Amen to the Sony F-series cameras for good aquarium pictures, I say. You can press the lens up flush with the glass in order to steady the camera and take very nice, non-shaky closeups with no glare.
I use mine pretty much exclusively in macro mode as well.
I know that the original poster of this thread already bought a camera, but I would even suggest an older f-505, or I think there was one with the same body style before that, for someone who was looking for a good camera without needing the latest and greatest. Although my old 505 used to go though batteries like mad.

Anyway, that is my .02 in an attempt to raise my posting ratio.

[chessmanmark]

I've had a Cannon A20 for about three years now and was completely satisfied with it until recently when I started taking pictures of my aquarium. When I see the outstanding pictures that some users post on here I get bummed out with my camera and start thinking it's time to buy a new one. I can't focus on specific areas of the tank and end up with "out of focus" pictures. Other than that it takes very good pictures. I have used 35 mm with a ton of accessories my whole life and was surprised at how much I enjoyed my "simplistic" digital.

[gregoryalln]

all i use is a cannon a70, i love it. i have a diving case for it, they hold up very well, and have a great picture. i did 4 months of research reading every article on every camera. i wanted something compact enough that i could carry it around with me in a pocket or something, but i wanted it to take good pictures everything i read,consumer reports,and 8 other magazines/web pages all ranked the a70 1st or second
it also takes video which can be fun
if you want to see some pics just p.m.me i have a great one underwater of 2 rainbows and a brook trout under a log

[FragMaster]

I recently bought a canon powershot a520.
Before that I had just purchased a Nikon 4600.
I returned the nikon 4600 in two days!
Although the Macroshots are outragouse, the color is sadly over stated, it WILL NOT take a picture that isnt distorted in any conditions under 5.5 lux!!!!!! Thats about a little bit lower than normal room lighting!!!!

Now I am just learnig on my new A520 Canon, and I amnot impressd withit very much so far.
Any Canon user out there? in particular users of the A520?
How do you get good macro shots and how the HELL do you use all the functions properly?
I may buy a Sony F828 with two lenses , flash, 1 gig card, and hard case I saw on ebay used for $350? I think.

[phistio]

there are a lot of fans of the canon powershots...

i however am not one of them...i'm partial to fuji.

www.dpreview.com and www.dcresource.com are both fineplaces to learn about the features and functions of your camera. and both have forums like these to get tips.