 BetterPhoto Member |
confused about buying a new camera Okay, I am 16 and I have about 600 dollars saved up for a new camera. I need something with macro or super macro, and a high zoom level for really close-up shots of bugs and stuff like that. I've been looking into SLR's and digital SLR's for a while now, and can't seem to find one that suits me. Also needs to be somewhat portable, about the size of my S3000 Fuji, maybe a little smaller, not a problem if its a little bigger though. Is there anything in that price range, that would do what I want it to do? Or, am I going to have to spend a thousand and a half dollars on something the roughly the size of a compact car that will do "most" of what I want it to do? lol, I may be expecting a little too much out of technology, but if we can send an astronaut to the moon, why cant we have a cheap way of taking close-up pictures of things on this planet? Oh well, hope someone can clear this up in even the smallest way, Aloha and Mahalo Nui Loa(thank you very much) in advance, ~David
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Christopher A. Vedros |
David, For that price range, you might want to look at the Canon Powershot S2IS. Its lens is the equivalent of a 36 - 432mm zoom. It also has macro and super macro modes. In super macro mode, you can focus on an object that is against the front of the lens. I bought this camera for my wife a while back, and I've used it more than she has. It's very handy when I want to travel light and don't want to carry my SLR. The Image Stabilization feature really works well, and allows me to handhold at shutter speeds much slower than what I can hold my SLR. It also has some features normally found on high-end digitals, like the ability to choose either first curtain or second curtain flash sync. I'm very impressed with the image quality, also. I will mention a few drawbacks: It does not have a RAW format mode (this was not an issue for my wife). It does not have a hotshoe for an external flash (again, I wanted something more compact than my SLR). It uses AA batteries. I would be happier if it used the same BP511 Li-Ion battery as my EOS SLR. Even with these drawbacks, I'm very pleased with this purchase, and would recommend this camera over any other digital in the $400 - $500 range. Chris
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BetterPhoto Member |
Wow, that sounds just like what I need, I will definitely look into it. The couploe drawbacks you mentioned don't really bug me, lol, I don't have much use for an external flash other than when I do studio photography, and I don't really do any of it anyway. As for the RAW file conversion, I'm not sure what the difference between RAW and JPEG is, my camera(S3000 fuji) has them saved as JPEGs once I transfer them. AS for the batteries, I prefer batteris to rechargables, I just buy a bunch if I go somewhere, that way even without electricity I can just put some new batteries in, :P. Mahalo Nui Loa (thank you very much) and ALOHA! ~Dave
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Christopher A. Vedros |
I would still recommend using rechargeable batteries. I have several sets of NiMh AA batteries that I use in the S2IS and in the flash for my SLR. Regular alkaline batteries will not last long.
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