CanalStalkin Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Hey guys. I am looking for a camera to start taking some decent quality pictures with. I dont need anything rediculous. Just something to start with and take with me fishing and to the car shows etc. What should I be looking for in an entry level camera? Quote
soccplayer07 Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 I would love to help. I need more info though. point and shoot or DSLR? Price range? Quote
bigfruits Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 www.dpreview.com unless you want to spend a good amt of cash and have manual settings, get a small point and shoot with good reviews. dont get hung up on having to have 50,000 megapixels unless you want to print poster sized photos. Quote
jdw174 Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 If you're going to be shooting shots in the boat of fish or your boating partner, a 2 or 3 megapixel "point and shoot" should do the job. Inexpensive, and most of the better ones allow you to choose photo size that you can post easily on the internet, or print 4x6 shots of good quality. Quote
Fish Chris Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 CanalStalkin, I have some good camera advice for you..... But what I really need to know first is > Do you ever plan to take photos of yourself holding a fish, when by yourself ? Their is some very critical info you neeed to know about this.... and I'm late for work. But answer this, and I'll come back this evening to tell you what I'm talking about..... Peace, Fish PS, I hope you can wait for me.... because many / most cameras out there, are not suitable for doing self taken fish shots.... PPS, For fish photos, in most cases, DSLR's are a big mistake. I love my DSLR.... but NEVER for fish photos. Quote
zero limit Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Not entry level but.This camera is great for taking pictures of yourself w/ your catch. It has duel LED screens, One in front of to make sure you get the perfect picture http://www.samsung.com/us/photography/digital-cameras/EC-TL220ZBPRUS Quote
CanalStalkin Posted February 19, 2011 Author Posted February 19, 2011 Sorry I'm late. And no I dont think im going to do self shots when by myself. I guess I just need a "point and shoot". I hear people talking about mega-pixels and "oh well mine has 12 this one has 10 har har" I see some guys here using light boxes etc and getting real nice pictures. Do I need a high end piece to get that crispness? Quote
tallydude Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Check out www.kenrockwell.com He's one of the best photographers out there and does reviews on his site. He also pulls no punches on his reviews so you really know what you're getting. I have bought 2 cameras based on his recommedations. Extremely satisfied. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted February 19, 2011 Super User Posted February 19, 2011 Ken Rockwell is joke. A COMPLETE idiot. You do realize his site is satire? Its sad that people take what he says as useful info. Look at http://www.dpreview.com/, http://photography-on-the.net/forum/, or http://photocamel.com/forum/ for real information. Personally, I'd be looking at an Oly waterproof point and shoot or a GoPRo. Quote
Super User QUAKEnSHAKE Posted February 19, 2011 Super User Posted February 19, 2011 some features that you might look for are shock resistant, waterproof, wide angle 28mm or wider. HD video is normal now. I basically havent touched my camcorder since I got my camera w/video. I know nothing about this but a quick search found this http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/TX10/TX10A.HTM Quote
I.rar Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 hm. i was thinking about picking up a camcorder and/or replace my older canon 570IS. it does take videos , but only youtube sized and with good (not great) quality. i would like to be able to take videos that can be played on my TV. would a newer HD camera do that , or would i be better of just getting a camcorder? sorry to highjack , OP. Quote
Fat-G Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 CanalStalkin, I have some good camera advice for you..... But what I really need to know first is > Do you ever plan to take photos of yourself holding a fish, when by yourself ? Their is some very critical info you neeed to know about this.... and I'm late for work. But answer this, and I'll come back this evening to tell you what I'm talking about..... Peace, Fish PS, I hope you can wait for me.... because many / most cameras out there, are not suitable for doing self taken fish shots.... PPS, For fish photos, in most cases, DSLR's are a big mistake. I love my DSLR.... but NEVER for fish photos. Hey Chris- I would love to hear what you have to say about this. Can you dumb it down though? I know a little bit about photography but I'm not on the level of John or soccplayer07. Before I fish a spot I pre-rig my point and shoot Canon SX120IS on a tripod. Quote
Fish Chris Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Okay, Canal, Fat-G, and anyone interested..... First thing is, I've spent a TON of time on the camera forums, and one of the first things you will find out, is that most of the experienced photographers, will actually talk nothing but garbage, about point and shoot cameras with super high mega pixel counts. Their reason being, that by trying to pack too many mega pixels onto such a small sensor (the sensors in nearly all point and shoots is tiny compared to that of pretty much all DSLR's) you lose a lot of photo quality... mostly because of a big increase in digital noise, especially when shooting in less than bright sunlight. That said, 8 or 10 mp is MORE than enough to do really nice, detailed shots.... even for printing modest sizes up to say 8" x 10"s. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now, Canal, you said you are not worried about self taken shots. This is VERY important to me, but because it's not important to you, this will make it about 100 X's easier to get a good camera for your purposes. But for anyone who does want to take your own shots, when by yourself, here's the catch > You put your camera on a little tripod. You set it to full auto. You set the timer for 10 seconds. Pick up the fish in one hand, and reach up and hit the shutter button with the other..... Bam ! You now have a problem And that problem is, that as you hit the shutter button, and it beeped to tell you the timer has started, it also focused, right then, and there FAIL ! ....on what ? Your forearm, which was 8" in front of the camera ? Doh ! Now you set back 2 1/2 to 3 feet from the camera, but it won't focus again It will stay misfocused until it actually fires 10 seconds later My work around for this {and probably why everyone is always surprised at how good my self taken shots come out} is that I use Canon A 6XX series cameras, which have a "C" (custom) mode. I then set my focus distance manually at like 1 yard, for Largemouths, and other smaller fish, or 2+ yards for larger fish, like Sturgeon, etc. I also set my shutter speed, my ISO, my flash brightness, exactly how long I want the timer, and even how many consecutive shots it will take after the timer counts down..... basically, I preset the camera for anything I want it to do... then hit "save functions". Bam ! The next time I turn the camera on, it remembers everything and is instantly good to go ! What's really cool, is that even if I'm shaking with adrenalin, my camera is just as calm and cool and READY as it can be Their is only one lame catch Canon quit making the A6XX series cameras :( Too much camera, for too little dollars I suppose. I paid like $125, for my A630, $175, for my A640, and $200 for my A650is. Right before these were all sold out (and with nothing coming up behind them, to really replace them, the prices had spiked to twice as much, or more ! Thank God I have 3 of them ! If you can find a used one in good condition, for a decent deal, snag that sucker fast !!! Otherwise, you can spend like $400, or more, on a G10, or G11, which do have the custom function.... but what I don't like about them {besides the price}, is that they use proprietary batteries and NOT AA's And you know what this means > You can try, and try, and try, to always have a good charge in your battery..... But the one time you slip up and don't charge it for a while, will be the time you catch the biggest bass of your life, and your camera will die on you ! Freaking Murphy's law, right ? That can't happen to me. As my cameras use AA's. So sure, I use rechargeable AA's... Why not ? Way more cost effective. But I also ALWAYS have a brand new set of old school AA alkalines with me (12 year shelf life) so I know I'll NEVER be caught without juice ! Obviously, this battery thing pertains to you, the fisherman, whether or not you take your own photos or not ! Now, of course you can buy a spare proprietary battery for whatever camera you have, but 1) they are expensive, and 2) if the proprietary battery in your camera has gone dead from just sitting too long, whether it was ever used or not, then their is a very strong chance your back up battery will also be dead Which is just all bad right ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DSLR's for fish photography. Okay, if you are a pro photographer... or even just an avid hobbyist like myself, and you have a nice lens or two > and plan to take photos of somebody else holding your fish, well sure then, by all means, get a DSLR ! But the problem with a DSLR, is that it is about 100 X's more picky, about light, and especially about focus ! In a nutshell, while it is hard to take a really bad, (read: unusable) photo with a point and shoot, it is very easy to take a completely blurry, out of focus shot with a DSLR ! And self taken shots with a DSLR ? Yea ! Good luck ! You might just be way better than me..... But personally speaking, I wouldn't even risk missing good shots of a prized catch, with my DSLR...... and even if I thought I might try it, it would require a remote shutter release that I could press with one foot > as a DSLR also has that same, lame premature focusing issue I mentioned earlier, which plagues most point and shoots > the only difference is, DSLR's are just so much more critical with focus distance in the first place ! Just some stuff every fisherman should know about cameras for fish photography. Hope this helps, Peace, Fish Quote
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