*Official Digital Camera Info Thread*

[PakaloloHonda]

I'd like to start a digital camera thread that would be in a general place for all members
including our nOObies, to respond to questions or ask specific inquiries regarding digitals.

I myself am just getting started with digital, as I've been working with a medium format
film camera for quite some time .. and as all new things go, I'm pretty confused! LOL

I'll never replace my medium format film systems, however, I would really like to enter
the age of digital as a means of having something besides what I already have.

I saw the image that J-Speck made of that Acura in another thread earlier, and well ...
it freakin blew my mind !!! Not to mention, it was made with a Canon a95. Very nice!
Since the a95 has been produced, it's been replaced by a host of newer models ..
One of which is the a620 .. and finally the a630 and a640 .. only to be outdone by
the newly realeased a700! Which to me, is an extremely awesome camera for the money!

Now I'm more confused then ever before .. I had my heart set on the Canon S3 IS,
but now I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing something between the a95 and a700.

I'd like to add also that there are far better deals to be had then simply eBay or
your local Best Buy and Circut City. One great place I've found is:
www.newegg.com and of course the site to end all sites in regards to digital anything is ..
http://www.steves-digicams.com
I'm aware also of dpreview.com and perhaps a few others.

I'd hope that there would be a great interest in this and some members would find it useful.
We have an animal forum that was added by Fiz lately, and perhaps this may take off too.

EDIT: Ok .. it appears I'm more confused then I thought .. the Canon a710 with IS is errr,
what I meant to say above .. not the a700.

A Hui Hou !!!
Tomi

[PakaloloHonda]

So .. question #1 .. lol

What point and shoot do you own? And which one would you like to own?
What are your thoughts on what you might like to upgrade to in the future?
Show us some images of what you have and are proud of ..

Talk Ta Me !!!
Tomi

[aero]

Medium format...

Is that the stuff that they have in museums? I was wondering what that whole exibit was about. With the funky dark room and black tape stuff.

anyways, my camera aint anything cool. Cannon SD 100. Thats why I always let others take pics instead.

Cannon Rebel's seem to take good pictures

[PakaloloHonda]

Medium format...

Is that the stuff that they have in museums? I was wondering what that whole exibit was about. With the funky dark room and black tape stuff.

Hahahaa .. funny guy this Brandon .. Hey man .. some a my best work was done
in a darkroom .. Now, there's photoshop where you can kick up your feet,
eat a donut, drink some cawfee .. all the while, in the confines of just your undies .. damn man ..
times sure have changed ..

Besides .. I dont miss the smell of acetic acid .. whewww ..

A Hui Hou !!!
Tomi

[phatdoughnut]

I got a konica minolta z3

Got mine from www.butterflyphoto.com cool place good prices, but i dont think they cary the konicas anymore

[TekSi]

I actually just bought a new digi cam about a month and a half ago.
Nikon Coolpix L3
It's actually a pretty cool little camera with the ability to shoot short vids with sound. I like all the little modes it has too. Definitely worth it so far.

[wlfpck]

may I also recommend the store Tiger Direct.

www.tigerdirect.com

personally when I lived in naperville, the store was about 30 min drive away. Was very easy to pick up almost anything electronic related there. Never ordered anything off of them. But if you are like me and near one of their warehouse locations you might want to check them out.

[The G-Man]

I own a Canon A510. I really like it. Besides like a SLR upgrade. I would like another Canon in the A series, probably the one with the most MPs.

[deckeda]

This is the link Tomi refers to.

I'll post what I posted therin:

Photography is guesswork unless you understand why changing a setting on a camera has a particular effect. It's not enough to know what the control does; that's a limitation of the owner's manual. Otherwise, everyone would be a pro, right?

To fill in the "why" something does what it does, start with a book. There are tons of photography books, some are basic and don't seem related to modern digital cameras, some are from the film era, many have an emphasis on SLRs, some have an emphasis on a particular type of photography (i.e. landscape or whatever) --- and it doesn't really matter much as long as it's a good book.

The reason is because photography books get you thinking about things OTHER than the damn camera, and you'll come to learn it isn't so much the camera that's important as the monkey behind it.

Here are some to get you started:
Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure

John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide

Jeff Wignall's The Joy of Digital Photography

***Kids, don't get hung up on the hardware unless you specifically know it's limiting you.***

In other words, Tomi, that RSX pic you mentioned can be taken with not only the discontinued Canon A95, but also with the ancient Canon A60 (or similar.) People are throwing them away for $20 on eBay.

^^ That's why "what do you use" questions aren't going to help you, or anyone very much! Good luck.

[bowzil]

Hahahaa .. funny guy this Brandon .. Hey man .. some a my best work was done
in a darkroom .. Now, there's photoshop where you can kick up your feet,
eat a donut, drink some cawfee .. all the while, in the confines of just your undies .. damn man ..
times sure have changed ..

Besides .. I dont miss the smell of acetic acid .. whewww ..

A Hui Hou !!!
Tomi

Do you still use darkroom now? I am using my bathroom and closet to print and develop both slide and negative. Yeah....time sure changed, now I use scanner more often than printing w/ enlarger. The chemicals are expensive.

BTW I use Minolta Dimage 7i (Digital camera). Minolta 7D (dad has it)

[sackingz123]

i got a scraper LOL

its a sony 3.2 megapixel forgot the model number and too lazy to get it..

i bought it in 2003 and been using since...

i hate it but love it

[PakaloloHonda]

This is the link Tomi refers to.

O shit Alex .. I din know you had already tried to get this going? My bad man ..
you shoulda sent me the link .. ratz!

Photography is guesswork unless you understand why changing a setting on a camera has a particular effect.
It's not enough to know what the control does; that's a limitation of the owner's manual.
Otherwise, everyone would be a pro, right?

Pretty much a true statement .. I have friends that are like sooo brilliant when it comes
to anything digital, but when I hand them my 6X7 with a lens, and ask them to show me
what EV's they'd use to flash fill with the Metz 60CT .. they simply lose it and are completely speechless!

I think everyone starting out with any camera, should learn the basics from a film camera.
Any film camera .. same way I feel about Photo Shop .. play in a darkroom first ..
learning the tricks with a film camera, and taking the film thru it's final stages in the darkroom,
is a heavy risk/reward/learning experiance ..

My *mentor* made me go out and shoot with no light-meter, no flash guide for flash fill,
and it freaked me out that I was able to figure out what he was trying to teach me!
With todays technology it's almost idiot proof, and most everyone does consider themselves
a *pro* photographer .. lol

***Kids, don't get hung up on the hardware unless you specifically know it's limiting you.***

In other words, Tomi, that RSX pic you mentioned can be taken with not only the discontinued Canon A95,
but also with the ancient Canon A60 (or similar.) People are throwing them away for $20 on eBay.

You know .. I have to agree .. and I'd also like to add that I could prolly make that same image today
using my very first camera, which was a 120 format Yashica C-330 .. lmao!
I just wanna know what people are using to get an idea of whats hot, and whats not ..

Like in one thread on a photography forum that I belong to .. one guy stated that because
he shoots at all the Pro Tennis match's .. and see's nothing but Canon .. he assumes that ..
well, "if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me".
Which I can relate to in golf .. You see all the pro's playing Taylor Made, Callaway,
and Titleist .. well .. it's a no-brainer .. lol .. not the case tho, because most people forget
that those companies, are paying those pro's to use those clubs .. just like Canon is a major sponser
for Tennis .. those cats inside the ropes are shooting with Camera's that were given to them!

Same thing with my clients .. I just did a shoot a couple a years ago for a boat company,
with Ford Trucks as the *trailor guys*. I was hired outta Chicago thru J. Walter Thompson
(who used to use me alot in Hawaii) and I was talking to an account executive
along with an art director .. and said how much I was interested in digital ..
The acct exec looked at me and said .. "You sell out to digital, and we'll hire someone else next time" ..
Yikes !! lol .. I was like .. lalalalala ..

My Brides also wont let me do it .. they LOVE the 16x20 and or 20x24 prints that my 6X7 Pentax's make ..
I have a 24x30 Portrait of a Bride .. that I shit you not .. you can count the eyelash's on her eyes!!!
And I could have gone even bigger with that one image .. razor sharp!

If not for digital .. I really feel that all of us *pro* photographers would have been kept much busier
then we are today .. I quoted a Wedding to a Mom two months ago for complete coverage
starting at $3800 .. she laffed and said she could do it for her Daughter for less ..
I said fine .. enjoy your daughters wedding day, while you're busy running around
trying to gather bridal party individuals, and parents for group shots from three different divorce's ..
lol .. she went .. "Ohhh, you have a point there" .. derrr ..
One mom last year when quoted a $4000 price said .. "Oh my, thats a very reasonable price".
It's just .. whats it worth to you? You spent 2 grand on the dress .. the cake cost you 1800 ..
and you wanna spend 399.99 on the images???? OOoook ... lol, my processing cost me more then that!!!

I just wanna *play* with digital for now .. and I must say .. everyone who has said that
I'd grasp it quickly, has been correct so far .. I feel I've learned alot in the last month or so ..
Reading and research is priceless .. I'm a *manual* kina guy, and cant ever see myself
using the *auto* settings at all .. I just dont trust them .. hmm, does that make any sense? lol

Thanks for chiming in and adding some great insight deckeda

Do you still use darkroom now? I am using my bathroom and closet to print and develop both slide and negative. Yeah....time sure changed, now I use scanner more often than printing w/ enlarger. The chemicals are expensive.

BTW I use Minolta Dimage 7i (Digital camera). Minolta 7D (dad has it)

No I dont bowail .. but I give you alot of credit for working with E-6 and C-46 processing!
That can be a little *hair-raising* .. lol .. how are you controlling your chemical temps?
Keep up the awesome work man .. I dont know many today that are still doing E-6 ..


A Hui Hou !!!
Tomi

[bowzil]

No I dont bowail .. but I give you alot of credit for working with E-6 and C-46 processing!
That can be a little *hair-raising* .. lol .. how are you controlling your chemical temps?
Keep up the awesome work man .. I dont know many today that are still doing E-6 ..


A Hui Hou !!!
Tomi

Thanks for compliment.

Less people are doing E-6 and not many print slide using enlarger because I believe they do not produce the papers anymore, but ilfochrome still have their p30 and Arista has got their chemical that is the same as discontinued kodak r-3000 chemicals.

As for controlling the temperature. The first time I developed slide I did not use any controlled temperature and the result was not satisfying. Then I ended up buying Jobo CP-2 and since then I developed and printed pictures. What I really hates when I was printing picture from slide was the color adjustment and color filtering. It was time consuming. Jobo really helps maintaining the temperature and it has motor for rotating the tube.

I am glad that there are some people in our forum that have interest in classic photography (darkroom age).

[PakaloloHonda]

Thanks for compliment.

Less people are doing E-6 and not many print slide using enlarger because I believe they do not produce the papers anymore, but ilfochrome still have their p30 and Arista has got their chemical that is the same as discontinued kodak r-3000 chemicals.

As for controlling the temperature. The first time I developed slide I did not use any controlled temperature and the result was not satisfying. Then I ended up buying Jobo CP-2 and since then I developed and printed pictures. What I really hates when I was printing picture from slide was the color adjustment and color filtering. It was time consuming. Jobo really helps maintaining the temperature and it has motor for rotating the tube.

I am glad that there are some people in our forum that have interest in classic photography (darkroom age).

Wow .. you are the man .. lol ..

Yes .. Jobo makes some great products .. Have you looked into any Agfa Papers?
I know Fuji made some a while back .. (I still use their 220 NPH Film)

I know what you mean about .. Color adjustments .. lol .. I gave up trying to print color.
Talk about costly .. I found out that my lab in San Diego was alot cheaper to use ..lol!
And they got the density spot on .. first time .. every time ...

I gotta hand it to you man .. kudo's for haging in there with printing color ..
I can do E-6 chrome .. thats not too bad .. but whew .. printing color is Rocket Science ..

Serve Up Some Samples !!!
Tomi

[bowzil]

Wow .. you are the man .. lol ..

Yes .. Jobo makes some great products .. Have you looked into any Agfa Papers?
I know Fuji made some a while back .. (I still use their 220 NPH Film)

I know what you mean about .. Color adjustments .. lol .. I gave up trying to print color.
Talk about costly .. I found out that my lab in San Diego was alot cheaper to use ..lol!
And they got the density spot on .. first time .. every time ...

I gotta hand it to you man .. kudo's for haging in there with printing color ..
I can do E-6 chrome .. thats not too bad .. but whew .. printing color is Rocket Science ..

Serve Up Some Samples !!!
Tomi

I never rent a Darkroom here in Houston, so I do not know the price. But my friend told me that if we want to develop E-6 on their lab we need to make reservation since they do not always have E-6 chemicals all the time. Most of the time they provide B&W chemicals.

Yeah man, printing color is a rocket science. I wasted like 375ml of ilfochrome p30 and 5 papers of ilfochrome classic paper just to adjust the color.

Do Agfa still produce paper for slide? I never now that. I always use cibachrome (now known as iflochrome) paper and fujichrome. Ilfochrome is more expensive but it use less step to print on the other hand, fujichrome use a kodak r-3000 to print the paper which is more steps. I have not print any photo for 4-5 months since I move to an apartment. Fujichrome papers were discontinued I believe.

I forgot where I put my printed slide pictures but I have some scanned slides that were developed by myself.

All of these pictures were taken using Fujichrome Provia and Velvia. As for practicing I always use Ektachrome 100ft slide film (roll your own film ).

The color on these pictures were not edited by photoshop but I use filters and circular polirizer while the pictures were taken.

Pictures are being updated, sorry about that.

Do you notice some dot in the pictures? The water was dirty on my bathroom. But you see the color is still bright even though I use expired slide film. I use Kodak E-6 chemicals. This is my hobby and I am still an amateur so this is the best I can do.