Pitcha Takin'

[Colapop]

I wanna take pitchas with a digital camera, but I don't have one. Who has one (not to borrow) and what do you recommend? What do I need to look for in a piccie taker? How much do I need to know about all the funny symbols some of them have? And lots of other questions I don't know to ask.

[madboy]

My ex has just got back into the camera business after a year or so out (and being my ex I'm not exactly flush with the latest goss), but when my current partner and I were looking a year ago she advised us to buy a "camera" brand, not an "electronic" brand. ie, get a Canon not a Casio.

I can go on and on for ages about specs and this and that, but I'm no expert so I won't regurgitate (and risk putting you wrong) the info that I've been told.

Basically, we bought a Canon A-something with 4 mega-pixels, 3 x optical zoom (optical better than digital - remember that) and it does everything we want it to. Hooks up to PC easy, quality of pics exceeds the quality of our printer and monitors, so it's perfect. I reckon you'd get those specs for under $300 easy.

Of course, you could buy a really really really flash camera with a whole shedload of features you don't know about, don't know how to use, and once you've figured out how to use you'll never use again. But it's up to you

[T.I.E]

Of course, you could buy a really really really flash camera with a whole shedload of features you don't know about, don't know how to use, and once you've figured out how to use you'll never use again. But it's up to you

yep i got one of those. pain in the arse with all the features, and in obsolite*crap spellin*
but a mega pixles are only as good as the camera and thats only as good as the lens and thats only as good as the operator.
depends on what ya want the camera for. i have a diital SLR, and it makes me the idiot take some great shots. long as you know the basics.
ultimately depends on what ya want it for and how big you want to blows the picturses upto.

[Colapop]

...depends on what ya want it for and how big you want to blows the picturses upto.

I dunno - I wanna take pictures of stuff. Family, bikes, scenery, all the usual shit. I suppose being able to make them bigger would be good. Not bigger than A4 size though.

[The_Dover]

Digital Ixus of some prescription. Good lense, good colour balance and piece of piss to use. Either that or one of the decent Sony ones, W1 or V1 are pretty good.

Casio are not bad but very reddish colour balance.

Just get a point and shoot unless you can be arse faffing around. I get great results most of the time with my Ixus 500.

[WRT]

I got a Sony, and rate it highly. Small, slim, has a carl zeiss lens so the pics are come out pretty good. And TIE's comment about the lens is right, get a camera with a good lens, you wont regret it.

Some things I can think of from the top of my head that might influence your decision:

- Size. Mine is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Paid a bit extra to have a small camera, but it means that I carry it around a hell of a lot more because you can just slip it in your pocket and go.

- Screen. Go for one with a big clear screen on the back - makes all the difference to reviewing your photos, and make sure its easy to see in the day light. Mines got a 2.5" screen, and I would never again go for one smaller.

- Battery. Some of the cheaper cameras still use AA batteries. This has the benefit of being able to buy batteries if you ever get caught short, but it also has the drawback that you have to buy batteries (unless you have got rechargables). Bear in mind digital cameras drain batteries like nothing else, especially if you are using the flash.

- Flash. If you are taking lots of pics at night time, get a camera with the lens and the flash as far apart as possible. This is the one major drawback of my camera, they are very close so I get lots of red eyes. The red-eye reduction feature helps a bit, but also tends to make people think you have already taken the picture meaning you wind up with lots of snaps where they are blinking or have turned away, so I keep it turned off. Plus it uses more battery.

- Cost of accessories. Things like an extra battery, a carry pouch, extra memory.

Thats about all I can think of for getting you started finding a basic camera, and these are just my - experiences others may disagree . . .

[Colapop]

Digital Ixus of some prescription. Good lense, good colour balance and piece of piss to use. Either that or one of the decent Sony ones, W1 or V1 are pretty good.

Casio are not bad but very reddish colour balance.

Just get a point and shoot unless you can be arse faffing around. I get great results most of the time with my Ixus 500.

I went for a wander at lunch and I was recommended the Sony W15. $599 but it's got all the bits and pieces.

[T.I.E]

I dunno - I wanna take pictures of stuff. Family, bikes, scenery, all the usual shit. I suppose being able to make them bigger would be good. Not bigger than A4 size though.

you can have all the mega pixles in the world, but crap camera and lens and it just won't happen.
if you have the money aim high SLR, and a good name canon etc.
best thing to do is walk into a camera store and have a look.
SLR's have great features but become expensive with different lens, flash's pod's etc etc. so just a warning on that. a good setup might start at $1400 approx and can go to sore to the heavens.
stores might have pictures taken from certain camers so that might give you an indication of quality and what size you can enlarge them too. check them out.
a 4. megapixle approx, is a good starting size for taking great shots. and price will not hurt you so much.
definatly shop around for package deals.
but for me i love my canon. and will be doing a tour of the south islands to try to take some wicked pictures. full size so i may be able to blow them up to A4 size or larger. i'm only runnng 6.1 megapix.
and mine aint small and its a shit for carting around.

[WRT]

Just had a quick squiz at www.sonystyle.co.nz, not sure about the W15 as I havent actually seen that camera myself.

For pricing of various models, check out www.pricespy.co.nz, they are wicked for getting good deals on cameras, phones and computer gear.

[The_Dover]

I went for a wander at lunch and I was recommended the Sony W15. $599 but it's got all the bits and pieces.

Yeah, one of those would be the go. That looks like an updated W1 basically. I went for Canon over Sony simply because of the fact Sony keep so many thing proprietry that it jacks me off. CF is cheaper than Memory Stick and Canon software tends to be better in my experience. Can't go far wrong with either though and unless you're a photo buff then don't bother with a bulky SLR. The new Ixus range are tiny, way smaller than my older one and the cases are really solid so perfect for biking.

[Colapop]

Just had a quick squiz at www.sonystyle.co.nz, not sure about the W15 as I havent actually seen that camera myself.

For pricing of various models, check out www.pricespy.co.nz, they are wicked for getting good deals on cameras, phones and computer gear.

The chick in the shop said something about Sony trying to protect that model (W15) from being sold at places like paralell imported etc.? Don't know what that's about.
With Pricespy (and others) do I have to ensure that I add in all the extra bits and if I do then how do I know what extra bits I need?

[Colapop]

Just got sent this link - gonna check it out!

www.dpreview.com

[The_Dover]

Just got sent this link - gonna check it out!

www.dpreview.com

Yeah, I've seen that site before, mind you Digital Photography wasn't the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the site name!!

DP anyone??

[v.ros`]

I just bought a Sony 7.2 Mega pixel camera off trademe for around 470NZD delivered to my door.... get on ebay and have a look there. cheaper and i think u should look at both the mega pixel of a camera AND the amount of zoom it has.

[ManDownUnder]

Yeah, I've seen that site before, mind you Digital Photography wasn't the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the site name!!

DP anyone??

Not for me personally... but always willing to help out if needed...