I resisted digital. We eventually bought one. We bought a HP that we liked but it lasted a year and broke (my Cannon from high school still works fine - The Nikon has lasted 10 years to date LOL). There were things we found we loved about digital and things we hated. It was REALLY frustrating to miss the "expression" because of lag time. This is an issue with young children. It was also really frustrating to know we'd have gotten a better photo with our bigger SLR lenses.....
Mike bought the Nikon Dwhatever 70/90???? And I loved it. It had all the advantages of the 35mm SLR I was used to AND the advantages of being digital. We can switch lenses between the SLR and the DL. The zoom lenses on the smaller digitals simply don't compare to the bigger, interchangeable Nikon lenses.
My problem is NOT what many of you say. "I'd never take a big camera with me." I've hauled one or two 35 mm cameras around since high school. The problem is that Mike gets nervous watching me juggle the "spendy" camera with the diaper bag, car seats, library books etc.
When Mike deployed we bought a cheap digital - cheapest we could find. We knew he needed a camera but we knew the sand was lethal on digitals. LOL Office Depot has a great guarantee that works well for those deploying. IF the sand ruins your camera you get a new one. LOL Mike asked me to begin using the small digital for my "around town trips" about 6 weeks ago.
Here's the verdict....I LIKE the pocket size. I like the wide viewing screen it has (much bigger than most). It was DEFINITELY lighter and easier to hike with in AK.
I don't like the delay. It doesn't matter that it's "small" - it's noticeable and there. It doesn't take true colors - Stacia's purple shirt looks blue etc. When using the optical zoom feature it gets blurry. When taking photos of scenery things far away become indistinct and often it doesn't "quite" focus (see examples of today's travel photos). In other words with THIS small digital I'm taking more photos but they are NOT the quality of photo that we are used to in our albums etc. They are more the "Instamatic type" photos of the 1970's. LOL There was a GREAT photo of a rainbow ending at Walmart that I tried to get and the rainbow didn't even show up - it would have with any of our other cameras. We got the NIKON out when we were in AK so that we could have good mountain and moose photos. LOL
Mike says this was a trial camera to see if I'd like a small one. Now we're searching for a small one that will do what I want it to do...all those positives without the list of negatives.
If you use a small digital, will you please post in the comment section of this post? WHICH one do you use, what do you love, what are you not so happy with, a link to your blog with photos taken with the camera - AND are they touched up - I never touch up. Anything else you think may be helpful.....
19 comments:
Olympus D-545 Zoom 4 megapixel from Walmart....indestructible and I have great success without retouching. I have used it for three years so they may not have it anymore. But this is our second Olympus digital and I found both to be easy to use, zoom sufficient, colors great, and it takes a lickin'. I was able to take awesome rainbow photos in Hawaii. I found it really helpful to use it a bit and play with it and *then* read the manual to find tips.
Here's a link to the photo blog section of my homeschool blog.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HarmonyArtMom/Photo%2Bblog/
Barb
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/harmonyartmom
We have a Canon PowerShot A540. What I like: it's sturdy, super easy to use and true to color. It was highly ranked in Consumer Reports.
HP Photosmart M525. We've had four HPs (I dropped one and the flash broke, and one is dd's).
What I like: easy to use for the technology challenged; zooms well
What I don't like: no viewfinder, just a screen (hard for daylight shots); delay
I touch up virtually every photo, most often choosing sharpen, saturate color, tinting, highlighting glow. That's the fun part of photo taking/posting for me! (And I sometimes like that blur too, lol!)
http://kristine-jewelsofmyown.blogspot.com/
I'll post about my camera saga later today. I have to say that you'd be better off staying with your Nikon. Once you have SLR it's hard to go back.
My newest camera that took the past few days worth of photos is the Canon Rebel xti. Big, but I didn't miss the shots.
Before this camera I was using the Kodak Easyshare Z650. It's photos are grainy and if the littles are moving then they are blurry.
As you go past those photos, lolol, you will find my Canon PowerShot S3IS. I think it came closest to what you are looking for. We bought it at Walmart but my dh decided to return it for the bigger Canon. This camera took really good photos if you upped the ISO speed but then things began to look grainy. It did take good photos but the backgrounds would blurry.
My first and my smallest camera was the Casio Exilim. I liked that one the very best and had a hard time giving it up.LOL We gave it to my son this past Christmas. It's an excellent pocket camera but still has many of the issues that you don't like in your own camera.
I'll take photos from each of the cameras we still have and add in a few from the one we returned so you can see all the differences, later today.
Canon Powershot A530 - All the pictures on my blog are taken with this camera and none are touched up except for cropping. True Colors and lots of nifty features. It does have a delay though...and that drives me batty. ~Yvonne
We have had a Kodak Easy Share for a while. I think this is our second one. I love it. The number one reason I like it is for the action shot feature. I get some really good pictures at Elle's swim meets, even some of her starts. The only thing I don't like is that under certain lighting conditions (think flourescent, school cafeteria lights) the action shot comes out funny. The pros? The second one we bought has been indestructable. It has been dropped several times and still works great. And being technology illiterate, I love the ease of the program to upload or email. My mom has a Cannon and she really likes hers as well for my sister's soccer games. Good luck.
Kristine~in the middle of it all!
I had a Kodak EasyShare CX7430 for about two years. It is still going strong, Brian uses it now. My blog photos from beginning until about May of this year were with this camera. I loved the small size and was happy with the photos.
I upgraded this spring. I wanted a camera with a few more bells and whistles. After researching, I went with the Canon PowerShot A630. It has a nice macro feature (I take a lot of garden pictures), a swivel screen viewer (love this) and can be used in a manual setting where you can change your camera settings. It is a little bigger than the Kodak, but still can fit in my pocket easily. It has a very nice crip on the side which makes it very easy to hang onto and shoot with one hand. It has a view finder and screen for viewing. The screen is a nice size.
My blog photos from about May of this year to present are taken with this camera.
I'm pretty sure that Cynthia and Laura have PowerShots also, but better models. I have been very happy with this camera and have not found the lag time to be significant. I think some of the higher models have a continuous shoot feature that should eliminate any lag.
I do not touch up photos often, except for cropping. I find the colors quite true to life.
I have used SLR cameras and would never go back. I love my digital! :-)
De'Etta, wanted to mention that my blog pictures are all resized...not sure if that effects online quality of not. The printed pictures come out very crisp and clear and very true to color.
I did my comparison on my blog. I never touch up, I just don't have time.lol
We've had a series of compact Canon digitals. Currently, I'm shooting most of my Project 365 pictures (http://365in2007.blogspot.com/) with my Canon S3 IS, which is not pocket sized by any stretch but is not an SLR. (A few of my pics on my picture blog are taken with my camera phone--if you're not sure, just ask. They are not nearly as good as the Canon's pictures!)
My dd is using a Canon SD 600; all her pictures on her blog (http://aimee-viewfrommywindow.blogspot.com/) are taken with that. It's tiny and she loves it.
I thought I didn't want a digital SLR but I am leaning that way the more pictures I take. It will have to wait several years, I think, because my current camera was new this spring... Ah, well! I do like this camera very much!
I was given a Nikon CoolPix for my birthday this past December. I wouldn't have picked this particular camera but it's not horrid. Although, I'm doing as you are currently - I carry it around & just take the everyday stuff. It comes out okay. Not all the colors are true. With practice they are getting better. All of my blog photos are taken with it. I do no retouch. My Photo 365 blog has the best of what I've taken with it.
Many have mentioned the Cannon Powershot - various versions. I have a friend who has one. Her photos are wonderful & do not have a "digital" look to them at all.
While I would love to have a digital SLR, I'd be thrilled with a Powershot as well. I do still use film for special shots & my photo business.
HTH!
Lisa in ME
Lisa - the Nikon Cool Pics is one that was highly recommended to us....you don't like it? I liked that it was small, did wifi and such.
How bad is the lag time between clicking and snapping?
All Cannon Power Shot users - Yvonne mentions a delay. How noticeable is the delay?
The girls have this same cheapo camera I have and LOVE it but they are taking photos of adults....not toddlers. LOL
I really have many trip photos that are NOT what I want...because the child turned etc...and with the BIG Nikon that simply doesn't happen AT ALL. It behaves just like a 35 mm SLR.
Barb - what about the Olympus and the delay issue? You do have some awesome close up photos...this little one doesn't do close up well.....even on the flower shoot mode. LOL
I have a Sony Cybershot, 7.2 megapixels. I have used it for a little over 2 years and really like it! The pictures are fantastic. There was a delay that drove me insane, but I found that if you turn off the red eye reduction feature, the delay disappears. It has worked great for us, and it is the only camera we use. I would definitely buy another one if this one died on me!
Sis:
HA! I can't tell you much about cameras........ just that I like the one we bought when in Alaska quite a few years ago... a Kodak EasyShare DX4330. Color is good etc.
I:ll send a foto of Will/Sherri at Aunt Gin's memorial. Very good of them.
l/p
D ~ I posted some pics and details just for you ;)
http://ordinarylife.typepad.com/lifeartist/2007/07/just-for-deetta.html
Blessings,
T.
Hi! I just found your blog and wanted to give you my .02
I use a Canon Power Shot SD360. Love it. I had an older model of this camera for 3.5 years until my daughter dropped it and it stopped working, but I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.
Here's what I love about it: it's small enough to fit in my pocket. I keep it in a case, but can slide it in my jeans pocket if I need to put it down for a minute to say, serve some cake/ice cream or open a bag of goldfish or answer my cell phone. I think the photo quality is excellent and I think the zoom is adequate for my needs, and I love the large display screen.
What I don't like is that there is no view finder (other than the LCD panel), and the display panel is black, so if you're reviewing your photos in the sunlight, it is next to impossible to see them. I'm also not crazy about the placement of the A/V outlets...it seems awkward when I connect my cables to download.
I'm not sure what the lag time is on my camera...truthfully, I don't notice that anymore because I don't have a toddler...LOL.
Hope that helps. You should be able to link to my blog from this comment and you can see my photos...all unedited, of course. And sorry this is so long.
Regarding touching up. I never touch up any of my photos.. I barely have time to blog them and certainly don't have any time to mess with them or no one would ever see a picture (LOL)!
Regarding the price. The last time I checked I could have gotten pretty close to the REBEL for the price my dh paid for my SD800.... so, if you want a nice pocket one I'd expect to have to dish out some $$. You might recall that initially I had wished dh would have spent the extra $100 or so and purchased the REBEL to go with the nice (big and wide and other) lenses that we already have which are fully automatic or manual and will work with the REBEL. However, he knew I wouldn't take it along because I already always have so much to pack everywhere we go.
HTH
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