Camera for SOTD pics

p.b

p.b

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1,699
Location
Brentwood, Essex
My missus takes all our photos (Nikon stuff) as I'm fairly useless when it comes to seeing the opportunities and I'm just not that interested.

However, I would like something a bit better than my Blackberry for taking SOTD pics. I'm not going to spend much and I'm only interested in compacts but what sort of features would I need to take passable close-ups that are actually in focus etc!

cheers, Paul (pretty clueless on cameras)
 
I was planning on spending no more than £50... Which I appreciate might not be possible.

I'm looking to be able to match the quality of 782sirbrian:

SOTD221013_zps3e3c46b3.jpg


http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-22404-page-7.html

Apologies for nicking your photo 782sirbrian!
 
Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Olympus... they will all do budget compacts for < £50.

Best to have a look on Amazon e.g.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_pg_2?rh=n%3A560798%2aCn%3A%21560800%2Cn%3A560834%2Cn%3A560836%2Cp_74%3A3000-9999%2Cp_6%3AA3P5ROKL5A1OLE&page=2&sort=price&ie=UTF8&qid=1382462028

PS. The key to keeping your images looking reasonably decent is to either use a tripod or ensure that your shutter is speed is no slower than 1/60th of a second.

Anything slower than 1/60th of a second will result in the camera shake i.e. the natural shake from your hands blurring the image.

The image above... you could take something with as good as quality with an iPhone or any good smart phone. Compressed down for web display you don't need a multi million mega pixel camera.
 
The picture above is a pretty standard picture (no offence to the photographer). The natural light coming in from the window ensures that it's well exposed so I doubt that any flash was used.

Based on your criteria set out in replicating the picture above, I would say no. Most modern compacts are more or less the same in the standard features they carry. The Nikon linked to below seems to be reasonably spec'd for the price

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-COOLPIX-L27-Compact-Digital/dp/B00B4QSO20/ref=sr_1_45?m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1382462741&sr=1-45

Personally, if there was a Nikon DSLR floating around the house already I'd say "why not use this?" and save yourself a few sheckles.
 
Thanks for the links.

Good point about the Nikon, however, my wife is one of the least tidiest persons alive. She thinks you're boring and predictable if you put things back in the same place everyday. Things like car keys, phones, handbags and cameras... It's best if I have my own things!
 
I've got a Canon IXUS 132 for snapshots as the camera feature has stopped working on my phone and the pics didn't really blow up that well on my PC monitor.

I'm no expert but I'm having some decent shots with this - it's got a good macro and I've been taking a few close ups.



I'm no photographer, and that's no razor, but it gives a pretty good idea of how the camera can cope with close ups for a SOTD pic.
 
One of the important things about taking close ups is that you need a tiny aperture (large f number). The canon/nikon compacts are great at this. The thing to remember about small apertures is that you need to have long exposures. Think tripod/gorilla pod. Think lighting. So, if you have the time, get something to put the camera on, and if you're subject is dry, think about getting a nice light box from eBay, they're cheap, fold up and give your subject a nice background.

I personally spent a lot of money on a Canon G10 from Jessops around 2008, I took some nice photos of flowers other subjects, I love that camera. It's got loads of features, it does REALLY good close ups, you can focus on subjects around 10mm from the lens, that's pretty amazing if you ask me. I think they're up to a G15 now or some other large, number, so I'm betting that you can pick up a second/third hand G9 or something not far from your budget. Looking at eBay, perhaps you'd even have money left over.
 
eneville said:
One of the important things about taking close ups is that you need a tiny aperture (large f number).
Click to expand...

That's not actually true. You can easily shoot macro shots at larger apertures if you want, it really depends on the effect you're looking for. Something like F5.6 - 8 would be fine for a general macro.
 
jb74 said:
eneville said:
One of the important things about taking close ups is that you need a tiny aperture (large f number).
Click to expand...

That's not actually true. You can easily shoot macro shots at larger apertures if you want, it really depends on the effect you're looking for. Something like F5.6 - 8 would be fine for a general macro.
Click to expand...

True, it's artistic effect, you're right. If you want to shoot just the face of an insect then you could get away with a larger aperture. However, if you want the option then you need to think about it before making a purchase.
 
Any camera will take a picture good enough for posting on the Web. The most important consideration is lighting. Don't use a flash gun. Light the subject with some other lights. Sunlight through a white sheet to diffuse it works great.
 
Something that winds me up on ebay is people who apparently don't realise their phone camera doesn't focus down to 3 inches. Ebay shots really do need a macro lens or setting. Don't know if that necessarily applies to SotD distances though.
 
Lose the beard said:
Any camera will take a picture good enough for posting on the Web. The most important consideration is lighting. Don't use a flash gun. Light the subject with some other lights. Sunlight through a white sheet to diffuse it works great.
Click to expand...

When you say "Any camera", I hope you're not including cameras on mobile phones, which quite often can be nothing short of atrocious (see Nokia 6500c, for example). Without perfect light it's rather rubbish.
 
Ok. Some phones really are rubbish.

I did an experiment on here a while back. I set uo a SOTD shot and used 3 different cameras to take the picture.

A Canon EOS 60D with L series lens. A Fuji finepix and a HTC Desire.

The photo from the Canon was the best, but the other two were pretty damn good too. All lit the same with natural light and a tin foil reflector.

I will try to find the thread.
 
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