[lug] Camera recommendations
Jeffrey Haemer
jeffrey.haemer at gmail.com
Fri Dec 12 08:46:02 MST 2008
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist at perl.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 8:24 AM
Subject:
To: Jeffrey Haemer <jeffrey.haemer at gmail.com>
Thanks for having me last night. I think folks were happy with event,
but I also feel that I did a poor job at answering simple questions.
Last night was my first 6h+ night of sleep since Sunday night;
that probably didn't help, and I should hvae done better)
I don't think that the fellow who wanted to know what to buy for just
$200-300 was happy that I told him that in that price range, any camera
he gets is going to be able to take decent 4x6' snapshots in daylight,
or inside only with flash.
I think that the most important question asked because it came from the
person who both knew the least and most needed an answer for practical
reasons of an imminent purchase.
This letter fixes that; I answer his question in simple terms. I'd would
appreciate your forwarding it to the BLUG list, w/ my email-address intact.
Don't know why I can't subscribe. I'll try supplying better answers to the
rest of the poorly answered questions this weekend.
The New York times on Monday reviewed the best small cameras that went for
less than $300. They did not look at SLRs (eg, if you subtract the lens
price, the Nikon D40 is $100-$200, but that doesn't get counted in.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/technology/personaltech/11pogue.html?pagewanted=2&em
The three he chose I summarize below. I'd get the Fuji for indoor, the
Canon
for outdoor.
Make Canon Panasonic Fujifilm
Model SD880 IS Lumix DMC-FX37 FinePix F60fd
---------------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Price $264.02 $293.72 $239.20
Max resolution 3648 x 2736 3648 x 2736 4000 x 3000
Pixel density 35 MP/cm² 36 MP/cm² 25 MP/cm²
Max resolution 3648 x 2736 3648 x 2736 4000 x 3000
Effective pixels 10.0 million 10.1 million 12.0 million
Image ratio w:h 4:3, 3:2 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 4:3, 3:2
Zoom wide (W) 28-112 mm 25-125 mm 35-105 mm
Aperture range F2.8 - F5.8 F2.8 - F5.9 F2.8 - F5.1
Flash range 13' 20' 14'
LCD 3" @ 230k 2.5" @ 230k 3" @ 230k
Weight w/batteries 6.9 oz 5.2 oz 7.2 oz
Dimensions 3.7x2.2x0.9" 3.7x2x0.9" 3.7x2.3x0.9"
Pixel density and lens are the best indicators of quality: you want
a low pixel density. I also note are all very slow at the far zoom.
That's from
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_sd880is%2Cpanasonic_dmcfx37%2Cfuji_finepixf60fd&show=all
They've recently reviewed the top Budget Cameras at
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/
and the top "Slim Ultra-Compacts" here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408slimgroup/
After you that, you start getting into the compact range of fixed lens
cameras, which as expensive, and sometimes worse, than an SLR proper.
However, they do have their own benefits (easy to carry like Brent did,
good depth of field, don't attract thieves), although ease-of-use and good
pixel density aren't amongst them. All take an external flash possibility.
I'd get the last for indoor work, the first for outdoor.
Make Canon Nikon Panasonic
Model PowerShot G10 Coolpix P6000 Lumix DMC-LX3
---------------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Price $450.42 $439.49 $442.16
Pixel density 34 MP/cm² 33 MP/cm² 24 MP/cm²
Max resolution 4416 x 3312 4224 x 3168 3648 x 2736
Effective pixels 14.7 million 13.5 million 10.1 million
Image ratio w:h 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 16:9, 4:3, 3:2
Lens 35mm equiv 28-140 mm 28-112 24-60
Lens aperture range F2.8 - F4.5 F2.7 - F5.9 F2.0 - F2.8
Flash range 15' 26' 27'
LCD 3" / 460k 2.7" / 230k 3" / 460k
Weight w/batteries 13.8 oz 9.9 oz 9.3 oz
Dimensions 4.3x3.1x1.8" 4.2x2.6x1.7" 4.3x2.4x1.1"
Extras ---- Built-in GPS Wide-angle
sensor,
fast lens (low
light')
That was found at:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_g10%2Cnikon_cpp6000%2Cpanasonic_dmclx3&show=all
Here are Nikon SLRs, arranged from best pixel denity to "worst", but note
the incredibly different pixel densities from what you see above:
Model Sensor MegaP at Density weight volume ISOs
Bucks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
D3 864mm² 12.1 at 1.4MP/cm² 45.9oz 137in³ 200 - 6400 (L0,H1,H2)
$4600
D700 864mm² 12.1 at 1.4MP/cm² 37.9oz 84in³ 200 - 6400 (L0,H1,H2)
$2652
D40 367mm² 6.0 at 1.6MP/cm² 18.4oz 45in³ 200 - 1600 (H1)
$~200
D60 372mm² 10.2 at 2.7MP/cm² 18.4oz 46in³ 100 - 1600 (H1) $
430
D3X 861mm² 24.5 at 2.8MP/cm² 44.4oz 137in³ 100 - 1600 (L0,H1)
$8000
D300 372mm² 12.3 at 3.3MP/cm² 32.6oz 76in³ 200 - 3200 (L0,H1)
$1556
D90 372mm² 12.3 at 3.3MP/cm² 24.8oz 64in³ 200 - 3200 (H1) $
952
Here's a variety of models, all fixed-lens. Pixel density is bad, like
all fixed lens camerass. The Leica is the same as the Panny Lumix DMC-
FX37 at its 24 MP/cm²; only the Fuji is better, and all others are worse,
some much worse.
Model MegaP at P-Pitch ISO Lens-eqv F/stops Bucks
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Fujifilm FinePix S100fs 11.1 at 2.29µ 64 28-400 F2.8/5.3 $693
Leica D-LUX 4 10.1 at 2.16µ 80 24-60 F2.0/2.8 $849
Fujifilm FinePix S9100 9.1 at 2.23µ 80 28-300 F2.8/4.9 $799
Samsung L210 10.2 at 1.87µ 80 37-111 $135
Kodak C1013 10.3 at 1.69µ 80 34-102 $130
Fujifilm Z20fd 10.0 at 1.69µ 64 35-105 $130
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 10.1 at 1.67µ 100 27-486 F2.8/4.4 $303
Nikon Coolpix P80 10.1 at 1.67µ 64 27-486 F2.8/4.0 $318
Olympus SP-570UZ 10.0 at 1.67µ 50 26-520 F2.8/4.5 $419
Olympus SP-565UZ 10.0 at 1.67µ 64 26-520 F2.8/4.5 $344
Kodak EasyShare Z1015 IS 10.0 at 1.67µ 80 28-420 F3.5/5.4 $257
Fujifilm FinePix S8100fd 10.0 at 1.67µ 64 27-486 F2.8/4.5 $307
Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD 10.0 at 1.67µ 64 28-414 F3.5/5.4 $253
Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd 6.1 at 2.66µ 100 28-300 F2.8/4.9 $500
Casio Exilim EX-FH20 9.1 at 1.75µ 64 26-520 F2.8/4.5 $707
Panasonic LZ8 8.1 at 1.87µ 100 32-160 $120
Olympus SP-560 UZ 8.0 at 1.87µ 50 27-486 F2.8/4.5 $322
Nikon L18 8.0 at 1.87µ 64 35-105 $112
Canon A590 IS 8.0 at 1.87µ 80 35-140 $130
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 8.0 at 1.76µ 100 28-504 F2.8/3.1 $475
Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd 8.0 at 1.74µ 100 27-486 F2.8/4.5 $304
Olympus FE-360 8.0 at 1.73µ 80 36-108 $114
Sony W120 7.2 at 1.87µ 100 32-128 $148
Olympus SP-550 UZ 7.1 at 1.87µ 80 28-504 F2.8/4.5 $328
Canon A470 7.1 at 1.87µ 100 38-132 $104
And here is a comparison just on MP*microns from the very fine:
From
http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/digital.sensor.performance.summary/
(NB: The Nikon D3X has the same spec on paper as the Sony A900):
Camera Megapixels Pixel Pitch CSFM
(MP) (microns) (MP*microns)
Sony A900 24.6 5.9 145
Canon 1Ds Mark III 21.1 6.4 135
Canon 5D Mark II 21.1 6.4 135
Nikon D3 12.1 8.46 102
Canon 1D Mark III 10.1 7.2 73
Canon 50D 15.0 4.7 71
Nikon D90 12.3 5.5 68
Canon 1D Mark II 8.2 8.2 67
Canon 40D 10.1 5.7 57
Canon 30D 8.2 6.4 52
Olympus E3 10.0 4.7 47
Olympus E300 8.0 5.3 42
Sigma DP1 4.7 7.8 37
Sigma SD10 3.5 9.0 31
Canon G10 14.7 1.72 25
Sony W300 13.4 1.8 24
Panasonic FZ50 10.0 1.97 19.7
Fuji F30 6.3 2.67 16.8
Canon S70 7.1 2.3 16.3
Panasonic FZ18 8.1 1.76 14.3
Sony H5 7.2 1.87 13.5
Canon S3 6.0 2.0 12.0
--tom
--
Jeffrey Haemer <jeffrey.haemer at gmail.com>
720-837-8908 [cell]
http://goyishekop.blogspot.com
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