What Camera?

[nicemms]

Well its after Christmas and I have decided to treat myself to a new Camera. As I go to BTCC rounds, where you can't always sit close to the action, a good zoom is needed (above 3X)

I have about £150 to spend, but if the camera was right I could spend a little more, say £200 max.

I like the look of this one:

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s64949/0/Digital-Compact-Cameras/Fujifilm/Finepix-S5700-(Black)/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageindex=1&CatId=236&comp=y

Anyone got it or can recommend me a Camera?

Thanks

[Valve Bounce]

All I can say is that Cameras, like all other electronic goods from TV's to mobile phones to Recorders to lap tops appear to be plummeting in price from month to month, as well as having new and better models out a regular intervals. So if you want a better camera than that one, wait till next month (and possibly cheaper). I bought an Olympus four years ago for around $300, and now I can get a mobile phone with a camera for less. Tomorrow you will porbably get one that has an inbuilt TV as well for less. That is the history of electronics.

[GridGirl]

For £150 your only going to get a point a shoot camera. I would be more inclined to shop around as I'm sure that other places will provide you with a much better deal than Jessops. I dont know much about point and shoots but I would have thought it would be very difficult to get a decent motorsport picture with one. You just can't take a picture quick enough and then it might struggle to get it in focus.

If I was you I would save your money for a couple more months and buy a SLR camera. :)

[Daniel]

What gridgirl says is right. Save up and buy a new slr. Or buy a used d70 or 300d if you can find one for 200 which you should be able to.

[Iain]

For £150 your only going to get a point a shoot camera. I would be more inclined to shop around as I'm sure that other places will provide you with a much better deal than Jessops. I dont know much about point and shoots but I would have thought it would be very difficult to get a decent motorsport picture with one. You just can't take a picture quick enough and then it might struggle to get it in focus.

If I was you I would save your money for a couple more months and buy a SLR camera. :)

Nothing wrong with a point and shoot if you can find the right one. :) I got a Fujifilm F650 in Jessops sale last year for half price and it's served me very well so far. Very pleased with the photos it turns out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13482693@N03/2064093060/in/set-72157603296786793/

[Daniel]

But an slr wins hands down if you want to take pictures of moving things. J4mie used to use a Nikon coolpix something or other and got some good pictures. Then if got a dslr and started getting 100x more. Plus if you use a dslr you can blow pictures up nice and big like my 20x30 inch photos of WRCars moving fast.

[GridGirl]

Sure you can take a good picture with a point and shoot but it would be one hell of a lot harder and I would guess you would have more rubbish pictures than the great example you hosted on flickr. We have a SLR and still dont get it right all the time. :)

I suppose some of it is down to the talent of the person taking the picture. You can spend thousands on camera equipment but it still doesn't mean you can take a good picture.

[J4MIE]

But an slr wins hands down if you want to take pictures of moving things. J4mie used to use a Nikon coolpix something or other and got some good pictures. Then if got a dslr and started getting 100x more. Plus if you use a dslr you can blow pictures up nice and big like my 20x30 inch photos of WRCars moving fast.

It was a Nikon Coolpix 950 or something, my dad got it in about 2002 and once you started trying to find out why the photos weren't so good you could go about trying to improve them. Of course, back then I didn't know much about taking photos but as you learn more you realise the limitations of your equipment and want to upgrade... so here I am with 2 DSLRs, several lenses, filters, batteries by the hundred, flash and a bag just about able to fit a sandwich in after all the stuff I carry around.

Downstairs on a wall I have a 30x20 print of Colin McRae taken in Greece with it, as long as you don't look too closely then it's splendid, although again things can be improved with photoshop for better quality prints! (the sunshine in greece did help....)

My brother got a Coolpix L14 for £90 which seems really good and when I give up with the DSLR I will go back to something like that.

But I really don't know about compacts these days as it's not something I've ever paid particular attention to. But I'd probably advise against a DSLR, as even if you get one for £200, you will need to buy lenses etc on top of that.

I guess a compact would be fine for touring cars, you just need to hope that the sun shines :)

[Valve Bounce]

Well its after Christmas and I have decided to treat myself to a new Camera. As I go to BTCC rounds, where you can't always sit close to the action, a good zoom is needed (above 3X)

I have about £150 to spend, but if the camera was right I could spend a little more, say £200 max.

I like the look of this one:

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s64949/0/Digital-Compact-Cameras/Fujifilm/Finepix-S5700-(Black)/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageindex=1&CatId=236&comp=y

Anyone got it or can recommend me a Camera?

Thanks

OK, here is some really, really good advice; possibly the best you can get.

Contact our forum member AJP : http://www.motorsportforums.com/forums/member.php?u=79489

This fellow is a professional photographer who even takes pics of F1 cars.


Basically, I can only offer one piece of advice: if you want to get a digital SLR, make sure there is no delay between pressing the button and shutter. My son -in-law had one very expensive DSLR which was totally useless for even taking pics of his twins' baptism, because I would press the button, but by the time the shutter worked, they had turned their faces.

[Mark]

I think more infromation is needed as to what it will be used for. If it is only for touring car pics then there is no question that an SLR is the way to go but for day to day use they are far too cumbersome. Panasonic do compact cameras with 10X zooms which look good.

[nicemms]

It will obviously be used for Touring car pictures when I go, but I'll also be using it on holiday and general photography really, so people etc.

I did think about a SLR but they are to big to use all the time, and to take around with me.

[Mark]

If it is at all for holidays etc then you should not get an SLR. Fortunately most compact cameras these days are good. Just make sure it takes SD (most do)

[Mark]

The new technologies to consider are optical stabilisation and face recognition. I wouldn't consider any camera without them.

[nicemms]

Just out of interest, what camera do you have?

[SEATFreak]

I know nothing about digital camera but the one little titbit of info I DO know is make sure the zoom is has a very high digital zoom and not the optical zoom.

This one is one I did from last season with my old Olympus D-380 (2.0 megapixel). Which I admit is not a more serious looking camera like the one nicemms is after. The lack of detail is most evident on the Leon. Despite it being digital zoom which is the better it is only 5x. Which I think is partly to blame for the quality of the detail. I also can put it down to the wrong atmopsphere settings. I certainly have never suspected it being because the camera is only a 2.0 megapixel because the pic is taken with the zoom at it's furthest.

[nicemms]

I know nothing about digital camera but the one little titbit of info I DO know is make sure the zoom is has a very high digital zoom and not the optical zoom.

This one is one I did from last season with my old Olympus D-380 (2.0 megapixel). Which I admit is not a more serious looking camera like the one nicemms is after. The lack of detail is most evident on the Leon. Despite it being digital zoom which is the better it is only 5x. Which I think is partly to blame for the quality of the detail. I also can put it down to the wrong atmopsphere settings. I certainly have never suspected it being because the camera is only a 2.0 megapixel because the pic is taken with the zoom at it's furthest.

Your right about one thing, but wrong bout another!

Optical Zoom is best as it actually does zoom where as Digital Zoom just cuts the picture and makes it bigger.

[Daniel]

Your right about one thing, but wrong bout another!

Optical Zoom is best as it actually does zoom where as Digital Zoom just cuts the picture and makes it bigger.
Correct. Just looked at the Jessops link you posted (I couldn't look before as I was on my phone and it doesn't render some pages correctly) and the camera is ok and I wouldn't really consider it a compact. I used a similar camera (Canon S2 IS) for a few shots rally Finland and they're OK but still hard to use as the optical viewfinder isn't great and using the LCD is never really a great idea either. When you said compact I assumed it was a compact. This camera will be alright for the task but be warned they're also not that small and don't just fit in the pocket like a true compact.

[nicemms]

Correct. Just looked at the Jessops link you posted (I couldn't look before as I was on my phone and it doesn't render some pages correctly) and the camera is ok and I wouldn't really consider it a compact. I used a similar camera (Canon S2 IS) for a few shots rally Finland and they're OK but still hard to use as the optical viewfinder isn't great and using the LCD is never really a great idea either. When you said compact I assumed it was a compact. This camera will be alright for the task but be warned they're also not that small and don't just fit in the pocket like a true compact.

Thats ok bout size! I never put my current compact camera in my pocket anyway, too heavy! I once put it in my coat pocket after a wet Donington in July for BTCC and it fell out into the toilet!

This is what kind of quality I get with my current camera - A Samsung Digimax A4. I think I had to crop this picture to get the car a decent size.

http://images5.fotopic.net/?iid=yorytu&noresize=1&nostamp=1&quality=70

[Mark]

I have a Kodak C875 which was released about 18 months ago which is ancient in this market. It does not do a number of things that you can do with more modern cameras. Although it does have 5x zoom but lacks the stabilisation to make real use of it.

[Valve Bounce]

If you specifically wish to take pics of friends racing in their cars just for fun, then that's OK. But I just wonder what the point is in buying an expensive camera for pics of racing cars!! There are heaps of excellent photos on the internet, taken from optimum positions around the track which you can download - same for Rally comps.
I certainly would not take my Olympus SLR plus huge and heavy 300mm zoom to a GP because it's so bloody hevy that I get a headache after an hour from lugging it around, and afraid that it might get damaged or even stolen. There are heaps of photos from the various teams' websites.

[SEATFreak]

If you specifically wish to take pics of friends racing in their cars just for fun, then that's OK. But I just wonder what the point is in buying an expensive camera for pics of racing cars!! There are heaps of excellent photos on the internet, taken from optimum positions around the track which you can download - same for Rally comps.
I certainly would not take my Olympus SLR plus huge and heavy 300mm zoom to a GP because it's so bloody hevy that I get a headache after an hour from lugging it around, and afraid that it might get damaged or even stolen. There are heaps of photos from the various teams' websites.

The fun for me of taking pics with my Olympus is that I know they are mine and mine alone. I look back on them a year on and think "I took that. Nobody but me took that". As crap as the pic is I am happy to know I took it.

I however am in a little dialema. Unquestionably if you want to be a seriously good photographer like PDS I would recommend the one on the Jessops site (or any similar in Dixons or Argos). The fact it is heavy and prime for stealing if their isn't a secure place to put it is a hazzard you I think will have to live with if you want a top camera. They have the highest stuff and best stuff of all cameras no doubt.

But if you just want to take a good snap of Jase once again beating Mat Neal into oblivion the type of compact in this link
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5606801/Trail/C%24cip%3D1500006538.Photography%3EC%24cip%3D15000 06547.Digital%2Bcameras.htm

[nicemms]

The fun for me of taking pics with my Olympus is that I know they are mine and mine alone. I look back on them a year on and think "I took that. Nobody but me took that". As crap as the pic is I am happy to know I took it.



I agree with you there, I like being able to say thats my picture!

[Valve Bounce]

I agree with you there, I like being able to say thats my picture!


Of course, if you want to take some great pics of your better half on the ski slope or Vice versa, then an SLR is unbeatable. You won't get those sort of pics in your album of yourself, whether it is just turning, moguls, or yumping. I think that is far more enjoyable, don't you?

[SEATFreak]

Of course, if you want to take some great pics of your better half on the ski slope or Vice versa, then an SLR is unbeatable. You won't get those sort of pics in your album of yourself, whether it is just turning, moguls, or yumping. I think that is far more enjoyable, don't you?

Ain't got a clue what you meant there but I agree ayway! :)

[Daniel]

I agree with you there, I like being able to say thats my picture!
But having a good picture and having people wondering if you bought it from a shop. Now there's something :)

[Mark]

It depends what you want. For me pictures are no so muvh art but a record of important events in my life.

[Valve Bounce]

It depends what you want. For me pictures are no so muvh art but a record of important events in my life.

I've got one of the sawn-into-two Volvo XC90 at the top station at Whistler which shows how the air bags are deployed. Sent one to my son-in-law who has sworn never to own a Volvo. Didn't get any feedback tho' :(

I also have some great ones of Benny, my Long-haired Chihuahua which was taken with my mobile phone. I'm waiting for the Malamut to turn up at our park so I can take a pic of Benny playing with her.

[nicemms]

Well I bought the camera today.

Got the one I linked to, its really quite good! Havent had chance to do some decent shots but with snow forecast tomorow might be able to.

[Mark]

It's the last thing I would have chosen but I am not you :p

[J4MIE]

Ditto Mark.

So when you asked "What Camera?", you really meant "I really like this camera and it isn't tooooo bad, is it?" :p :

[nicemms]

Basically! It seems ok so I'm happy for now.