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Digital camera advice (DSLR)
crashwg:
--- Quote from: mpm32 on October 31, 2007, 01:23:28 pm ---In reading the popphoto article, it seems like the best bet would be to shoot in RAW + JPEG. I'll get the instant gratification of having the JPEGs to bring and be printed and I'll have the RAW file if I capture a special picture.
I'll have to play around with the camera. I'm still mostly using it in full auto.
--- End quote ---
Yes you'd be getting the "instant gratification" of JPEG and also the adjustability of RAW, but at a cost. The cost of longer time between shots and you'll be eating up space on both your camera's memory card and wherever it is you store the photos when you take them off at a exponential rate.
patrickl:
--- Quote from: mpm32 on October 31, 2007, 01:23:28 pm ---In reading the popphoto article, it seems like the best bet would be to shoot in RAW + JPEG. I'll get the instant gratification of having the JPEGs to bring and be printed and I'll have the RAW file if I capture a special picture.
I'll have to play around with the camera. I'm still mostly using it in full auto.
--- End quote ---
To be honest you won't see any magical improvement from going to RAW, but if you buy an expensive DSLR and go through the effort of carrying this heavy thing around, I personally like to squeeze every possible bit of advantage out of it.
Indeed you will probably see more of an improvement by using the possibilities of the camera. Pickt the right aperture for a photo, think about the choice of focal length (don't just zoom in and out at random). You should try that first before going to RAW. I usually shoot in aperture mode. That way I pick the depth of field (if I want the whole image sharp, or just the subject) and let the camera pick the shutter speed.
I shoot in RAW+JPEG too. I have two 2GB cards. (better than one 4GB card since if one fails I still have some pictures left)
I actually never use the JPEG files, but the camera won't let me zoom in on the images when I only shoot RAW.
When I need a lot of pictures or when I need fast continous shooting I switch to JPEG only. I think that happened only twice though. I'm not a big fan of continous mode shooting. I tried it a few times, but I just ended up with hundrds of images which looked almost identical. Most of them were pretty crappy since I cannot see what I'm shooting when the pictures are being taken.
You really need to start using some sort of workflow when dealing with RAW. With raw you cannot just copy the pictures and be done with it. you need to "develop" them first. I download the pictures, convert them to DNG, go through them in a slideshow and mark the ones I like. The nice ones I fix and the rest I just leave as is (or delete them if they are really bad)
patrickl:
--- Quote from: ChadTower on October 31, 2007, 01:36:57 pm ---
I definitely dont' want another camera in that price range... I was always aware of how much I paid for the damn thing and how easily broken/stolen it would be, and that's a pain when you have something with you a lot. I'll be perfectly happy with a really well working high megapixel point and shoot. I'm way out of the loop on what the current best models are, though.
--- End quote ---
many of the $300 point and shoots have great image quality these days. Much better than standard size prints need.
I just bought my GF a Canon SD870. Mostly based on looks I must admit, but reviews showed it was also a pretty good camera. it turned out to be much better than the Canon Ixus she had before (which developed the dreaed E18 error). I like the face focus (camera detects faces and focuses on that rather than the fence behind the face).
billf:
We just got the Canon PowerShot SD1000. We were in sorta the same predicament that Chad is in - old digital camera that still works and that we spent a fair amount of money on initially. Ours was a 2.1 megapixel Sony CyberShot. After the prices of cameras started coming down, I was comparing the photos taken with our crappy Sony to those photos that relatives and friends were taking with their newer, larger megapixel cameras, and I wasn't happy with our current camera. But it still took probably three years before I broke down and got the SD1000. Still haven't used it very much yet, but so far I'm happy. Got it through NewEgg.com with a bundled package that included the camera, extra backup battery, a 1GB memory card, mini carrying case, tripod, protector film for the LCD screen, USB card reader and lens cleaner.
TOK:
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I at least have some kind of short list of cameras now. Lots of great info in this thread.
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