Digital SLR camera. What to look for and what not to look for.

[Scythe]

With most decent cameras you should be able to set that preference.

Deewy, the Optio is great, it's 7.1MP not 6MP and it's tough, I have had it at the coast several times, the vaal all the time, it's been in my pool, been in the ocean, been in the shower ... wait I didn't say that.

Anyways, point is, unless you're a pro, start off with something that will give you good use while compensating for your obvious weaknesses as a new entry into the world of photography.

Oh yeah, when you get a tripod, get a proper corosion resistant one especially if you're going to be spending time at the ocean, night shots on the Optio and timer shots are great fun to play with, it will also help with your macro photography.

[andrewbuch]

Dewald, why do you specifically want a SLR? If I was you I'd get yourself something like a 6mp Pentax Optio W30. It is compact, waterproof, no interchangable lenses to worry about, built in photo lightmeter, excellent macro facility, 3 X Zoom which is more than adequate for the kind of photography you'll be doing. It has a manual mode of operation for more advanced users and quite a few programmed modes of operation that'll take a lot of the guess work out of your photography, especially advantageous for someone who is starting out. They are so simple to operate, even a kid will master them in 5 minutes.

How much is it??

[Surly Ghillie]

Bwah.... wish i knew the answers to these kind of questions. sorry, i don't.

I do know;
1. If you care about quality at all, the following issues are significant
a. File type. You must be able to shoot preferably on raw, but if not, at least tiff.
b. megapixels are important, to the extent that it governs maximum available size. ideally you want to be able to do at leat an A4 at 300dpi. 72dpi size is only applicable to viewing on a monitor. it is not sufficient to produce prints of size. So effectively you need to find out what size pics the camera can produce at 300dpi.
c. As important as the max pixel size is the DYNAMIC RANGE that the camera can cope with. In fact ultimately it is more important that pure megapixels. per example; My d200 can record 12.8 megapixels (with a dynamic range of about 3.5 stops, it's a similar resolving power to old analogue film cameras, and it can make enlargements to about 52cm at 300dpi). the D3 only gives me 12.1 megapix, but has a dynamic range of better than 9 stops (3 times more sensitive than the best films, only, the analogy does not strictly compare apples with apples). Also, it records raw files in 14 bit colour, as opposed to 6, or 12 bit, which is the max for the d200. When push comes to shove, the D3 can produce the same quality pic at 3x the size of the d200.

Though you say you don't want to get technical (believe me, neither do I ) it is in the technical detail that the differences reside.

You have to ask yourself a fundamental question; Do i want to produce pics that look good on a monitor, or do I want to produce pics that are sufficient quality depth for reproduction? Also. what max size limitatation will I be prepared to accept on reproduction applications? It is these answers which determine the direction you will take. keep in mind that the camera is only a platform for your lenses and if you actually get into it, you would be better off mounting the best glass you can afford, onto a shoe box, rather than buying an aspiratiional cpu (that's all the camera is) and using junk glass on it.
In terms of the base reference points that these questions address, none of the camera options above can be considered seriously. they take wonderful pics, sure, but enlarge for printing above perhaps A5, and they don't feature.

so it comes down to SIZE OF PRINT at 300dpi. as far as monitor-view pics go, you wouldn't even know there is a difference.
the models refered to in the above posts are fine for the one, don't even begin to feature for the other.

[dlampert]

Hey guys.

I have some questions regarding these cameras. I would be in the market pretty soon and I would love to know what to look for when I do buy.

What I want to use it for, When i am out in nature to take good clear pictures of the landscape and fauna and flora. Do Macro pics in nature and have atleast a good Zoom lense.

Now guys, Wolf in perticular, please do not bombard me with all the technical talk as yet, I have a pretty good idea what appeture, shutterspeed and all these things are. I have never used it before and I would be keen to learn all those things as I go allong.

I would prefably like it to be either waterproof to a couple of meters or use a housing, but then how do I do with the interchangable lenses?

What would you guys recomend in the form of lenses to suit me in what I have just described

Would you recomend to get a tripod or not.

Light meters? yes or no, for when i am in the field.

I would definatly look at getting atleast some polaroid filters for my lenses, what else would you recomend in this regard.

I would not have a terribly big budget to play with so just the basics at the moment, if i had the cash I would have gone for Wolfs 100K setup but unfortunatly I do not.

Thanks in advance guys.

Dewald

Hi Dewald,

If you have a budget of R15000 - R20000 then look at getting a digital SLR with a decent lens or two otherwise look at one of the good digital compacts.

I am selling my Canon G7 with a couple of extra's:

1. Canon G7
2. Canon G7 Underwater Housing -WP-DC11
3. Canon G7 Lens Adapter LA-DC58H (allows you to fit additional lenses like wide and tele plus polarising filter)
4. Polarising Filter to fit LA-DC58H
5. Spare Battery for G7

Here are the specs for the G7:
10.0 Megapixels
6x optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer and SR coating
DIGIC III and iSAPS with Advanced Noise Reduction and Face Detection AF/AE
2.5� high-resolution LCD with wide viewing angle and anti-glare coating
ISO 1600 for flash-free, low light shooting
Ergonomic design with dedicated ISO and Multi Control dials for fast, easy operation
25 shooting modes including full manual control and 2 custom settings
Extra telephoto reach with Digital Tele-Converter and Safety Zoom
Hot shoe support for Canon Speedlite flashes and optional lens accessories

If you were to buy all of them new you would pay around R9000.00 - R10000.00. I am selling the whole lot for R6250 - all in excellent condition. I might even throw in a 1GB SD card. PM me if you or anyone else is interested in buying it. As for quality, all the pics in the Brutus magazine article were taken with this camera including the cover shot. You can also shoot RAW with a hack but all my pics for the article were shot as jpegs.

Rgds,
Darryl

[Surly Ghillie]

in a nut shell. Well put Darryl.

Didnt see the Brutus thing, but clearly you are happy with the quality. I stand corrected

The problem with jpegs, Darryl, is that every time you open the file it loses pixels... bit like braincells, so over time the quality of your pics deteriorates.

probably not too significant if you only open your master file once or twice in a lifetime, but no good for masterfiles of archival quality. Also the way raw files store data ensure that ALL the information is retained, whereas jpegs use data compression that allows for much smaller files, but some information gets lost, not only in the initial saving, but with every subsequent saving. Over time they lose their punch.

[dlampert]

The problem with jpegs, Darryl, is that every time you open the file it loses pixels... bit like braincells, so over time the quality of your pics deteriorates.

probably not too significant if you only open your master file once or twice in a lifetime, but no good for masterfiles of archival quality. Also the way raw files store data ensure that ALL the information is retained, whereas jpegs use data compression that allows for much smaller files, but some information gets lost, not only in the initial saving, but with every subsequent saving. Over time they lose their punch.

Hi Wolf,

Everytime you open and save a JPG file it will lose quality - just opening or viewing it will not affect the file (this is a myth). If that was the case then images on websites would deteriorate very quickly which they don't.

Having said that I always back up my originals (RAW and JPG) and work on copies of my files so I always have the master to fall back on.

Regards,
Darryl

[ebf]

The problem with jpegs, Darryl, is that every time you open the file it loses pixels... bit like braincells, so over time the quality of your pics deteriorates.

Wolf, can you pls try explain this in relatively simple terms (I'm of the mik-and-druk brigade). Don't understand why a digital file would "loose pixels" ?

[swsmith]

sorry to high jack the thread here dewald but what would the olmpus or pentax waterproof set you back?

[Surly Ghillie]

Hi Wolf,

Everytime you open and save a JPG file it will lose quality - just opening or viewing it will not affect the file (this is a myth). If that was the case then images on websites would deteriorate very quickly which they don't.

Having said that I always back up my originals (RAW and JPG) and work on copies of my files so I always have the master to fall back on.

Regards,
Darryl

QUITE RIGHT. THE FILE DOESN'T DETERIORATE BY OSMOSIS. My understandin is though, that loss occurs in saving or opening jpeg files.

It is however only cumulative in the saving.
The 'opening' loss is not cumulative, because when you reopon the file, you access the same data that was recorded in the SAVE.
thus, the loss doesn't occur in the file, but in the displayed data. The'change' is the same each time. if you resave the file for whatever reason, then you take a cumulative loss, because of the way the data is compressed. I may be wrong in my understanding.

I also assumed that when you open the file it is to work with it, usually to resize for various uses or applications, & that you will be saving a fresh, changed version. bad assumption in the context of this debate.

Darryls point of a MASTER COPY as opposed to working copies also states the solution, and really is the essence.

[deewy]

sorry to high jack the thread here dewald but what would the olmpus or pentax waterproof set you back?

Hi steven my cam cost me R3300 including the memory card, not bad at all and I love it and I will most probably keep it for when I am on the water and when there is a cjance that it might get wet, safty sake only.

For the other guys, thanks for the replies. As I said I am looking at the moment and I havent made up my mind as yet. That is why I am asking the questions, normaly the over the counter guys dont know their arse from their face so I would rather get some info from guys that have first hand experiance.

My ultimate goal is to take decent/good/excelent pics that can be published or enlarged or just for my own viewing. Why I decided to get an SLR is that when I am in nature or where ever, I want to take a picture that gives me satisfaction in what I am doing, now I "mik and druk" and take a crap load of pics and delete the bad ones. I want to look at the result and say, Wow now that looks awsome. I have been chatting to a guy from overseas and the pics this guys takes is unreal, all fishing related, check out http://www.flyfishing-nation.com/ and you will see what I mean. This is the type of things i am looking to do.

I want to be able to take a pic of a soaring fish eagle and the next pic must be of a dragonfly or what ever, or take a pic of a leerie smashing a school of baitfish and stil have the pic show the person looking at it what realy happend, if you get my drift.

Wolf, thanks for the technical info, much appreciated, and so to you Darryl, I would certainly ask some questions when I go to the shop and buy...one day.

Okay, now, let say I would choose to go for an entry/mid level SLR camara, that can take different lenses, what should I avoid and what should I look for, I have checked out some sites, www.sacamera.co.za and all the specs on the entry level stuff looks the same, with some added and lacking bells and whistles here and there between the different makes. What would make a medium level camera beter than the next?

Thanks again for the info I will deffinatly llok into it all. And sorry for the late reply, it has been a hectic day and only got home late

Dewald