suggestions on a good camera

hey lads any suggestions on any good camera s for taking pictures of fish.i know some cost a bomb but looking to spend 200 maybe 300 on a camera.pictures i have uploaded are from my nokia n97 mobile phone but have been thinking they havent been captureing the best shots to show yous how vibrant the markings and colouring are on my wild discus.


regards craig

Hi Graig

the Nikon D60 is a fine camera
i have one and i love it although it was a present and i am unsure of the price

angel

cheers angel ill look it up people have told me a really good camera makes the difference and now i have my dream fish i think they deserve to be pictured with a good camera

fishmad1234 wrote:

cheers angel ill look it up people have told me a really good camera makes the difference and now i have my dream fish i think they deserve to be pictured with a good camera

it most certainly does and they most certainly do
the best of luck with your camera (when you get one)
look forward to seeing your photographs

maybe try conns cameras
54 clarendon street, dublin 2
new and used cameras
www.connscameras.ie/

cheers angel had a look at the link was hope ing for some one to reccommend a camera tho all well and good a camera saying 16 megapixel s 6.2 zoom on it but does it take a good picture tho ?

fishmad1234 wrote:

cheers angel had a look at the link was hope ing for some one to reccommend a camera tho all well and good a camera saying 16 megapixel s 6.2 zoom on it but does it take a good picture tho ?

hahaha
this is true
you can't go wrong with a Nikon

ill have a shop around.some serious prices for the nikon tho well some of them wounder is any one on the forum selling any camera s

At that price point your only choice is a pocket camera. A DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera will cost more than that for the body only and you will still need to buy a lens.

There are great pocket cameras for less than €300. Personally I use Canon for everything, but it is a personal choice. I also shop in Conns as mentioned above, so that is a good place to go and get a look and feel what's available and get some good advice - you can't get that online.

For fish photography you are looking for "macro" abilities, closest focusing distance and "noise" levels when you increase ISO.

What you don't need and are useless are digital zoom (marketing gimmick, only optical zoom is of any use) or Megapixel count (another marketing gimmick, with the lens quality and sensor quality of a pocket camera whether the pixel count is 8 10 12 or 16 is pretty meaningless - all modern pocket cameras have sufficient pixels to produce good photos up to about A3 size).

So the two main questions you need to ask when comparing models are:

How close can they focus
What ISO settings can I select manually (200, 400, 800 etc) the higher the ISO number you select the faster the shutter speed so less blurred photos BUT the higher the ISO the more "noise" in the photo - noise appears as pixelation, lots of tiny spots on the photo - the better the camera deals with high ISO noise the better for fish macro photography.

Another nice feature of modern pocket cameras is they can do video clips too, so check that out as well.

Happy shopping.



Daragh

As Daragh says,Canon all the way.
Have a look at the new Ixus,the Ixus 210 from Canon,by all accounts it seems to be the business,but I havnt used it.The wife has the older Ixus 90is and it is very good.
And as always,shop around,prices vary drastically.

oh is that a good camera the miss s has that camera think ill give that a shot try get a video up to and yous can be the judge s guys

The €300 range canons are exceptionally good for the price you pay. Otherwise its €500 for the body and god knows what for a macro lense.

Megapixel, isn't that just a million pixels? 12.1 12.1 million pizxels.
The higher the pixel count the closer you can get to an object without it blurring.

Most decent cameras can be 50 or 60 even 70+ million pixels rather than a phone with even 12mp is quite poor up close, most have less than 12mp.


Mark

Another option,again I havnt used it,is the Canon SX210.It has 14x optical zoom,the body is slightly larger than the Ixus 210,but it has a lot of the features of a DSLR,or near enough for what you will get in a compact.It is the same price as the Ixus too.

Mark. wrote:

The €300 range canons are exceptionally good for the price you pay. Otherwise its €500 for the body and god knows what for a macro lense.

Megapixel, isn't that just a million pixels? 12.1 12.1 million pizxels.
The higher the pixel count the closer you can get to an object without it blurring.

Most decent cameras can be 50 or 60 even 70+ million pixels rather than a phone with even 12mp is quite poor up close, most have less than 12mp.


Mark

Mega pixel = million pixels yes.

Never heard of a commercially viable 70 mega pixel camera.

The number of pixel does not directly relate to the quality of the image, there are a lot of other factors most importantly the lens. At pixel counts beyond 8 or so the lens is more important than the pixel count. Next most important would be the sensor size and type.

Professional DSLR cameras hardly have as many pixels and the pocket camera although they have a sensor many times larger - I wonder why? Because pixel count on pocket cameras is a marketing gimmick, a measure that people can relate to and therefore think the higher the better.

Good old google, I just stuck in "Pixel Count Fallacy Sensor" and sure enough there was something there: forum.photojojo.com/viewtopic.php?id=109



Daragh

Daragh_Owens wrote:

Mark. wrote:

The €300 range canons are exceptionally good for the price you pay. Otherwise its €500 for the body and god knows what for a macro lense.

Megapixel, isn't that just a million pixels? 12.1 12.1 million pizxels.
The higher the pixel count the closer you can get to an object without it blurring.

Most decent cameras can be 50 or 60 even 70+ million pixels rather than a phone with even 12mp is quite poor up close, most have less than 12mp.


Mark

Mega pixel = million pixels yes.

Never heard of a commercially viable 70 mega pixel camera.

The number of pixel does not directly relate to the quality of the image, there are a lot of other factors most importantly the lens. At pixel counts beyond 8 or so the lens is more important than the pixel count. Next most important would be the sensor size and type.

Professional DSLR cameras hardly have as many pixels and the pocket camera although they have a sensor many times larger - I wonder why? Because pixel count on pocket cameras is a marketing gimmick, a measure that people can relate to and therefore think the higher the better.

Good old google, I just stuck in "Pixel Count Fallacy Sensor" and sure enough there was something there: forum.photojojo.com/viewtopic.php?id=109



Daragh

Nice one. This couldnt have come at a better time .

Jay

Pixel count comes very much second to resolution and sensor size.

The old mega-pixels and the 8000x DIGITAL zoom are pretty awful things to go for when getting a camera. Nice superlatives for those who go for them, but that does not mean 'quality'.

In fact, with digital cameras, the problem of 'Circles of Confusion' is a problem and aliases can be a big problem......pictures can end up looking artifical, too soft, or not actually focused critically.

Go for DSLR.....you can get good second buys nowadays as well.

ian

Cheers Ian, Nikon and Lumix were two brands I was considering. Their DSLR cameras look amazing but tbh, Im not really all that up to scratch on camera specs. Second hand all the way too, couldnt part with over two grand on a camera now.

Jay

It depends also on what you want to do, and do you think that you'd want to do something more in the future.

A good camera should last decades.

I'm a Nikon person when it comes to SLRs....as I can still use my 1980s lenses on digital SLRs.

Go with a DSLR... You wont regret it! If your looking for an entry-level one, go with something along the lines of the Nikon D3000.. .It'll cost you about £340 new from jessops (they have astore in Newry, and one in Belfast, you can also buy from their website). It normally comes with an 18-55mm lens, and can give you some really stunning pictures.

-Brian

sparky wrote:

Go with a DSLR... You wont regret it! If your looking for an entry-level one, go with something along the lines of the Nikon D3000.. .It'll cost you about £340 new from jessops (they have astore in Newry, and one in Belfast, you can also buy from their website). It normally comes with an 18-55mm lens, and can give you some really stunning pictures.

-Brian

this camera is for sale in argoose for 419 euro.........works out the same price when u exchange sterling into euro......6 months interest free as well...
www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5...meras%7C14419500.htm

mickdeja wrote:

sparky wrote:

Go with a DSLR... You wont regret it! If your looking for an entry-level one, go with something along the lines of the Nikon D3000.. .It'll cost you about £340 new from jessops (they have astore in Newry, and one in Belfast, you can also buy from their website). It normally comes with an 18-55mm lens, and can give you some really stunning pictures.

-Brian

this camera is for sale in argoose for 419 euro.........works out the same price when u exchange sterling into euro......6 months interest free as well...
www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5...meras%7C14419500.htm

Thats true, but from my experience deal;ing with Jessops, if you go into the shop to buy it, you can haggle, and get it a bit cheaper... I think i got about £50 off the price of mt DSLR, and got a free camera bag and memory card too!

-Brian

sparky wrote:

mickdeja wrote:

sparky wrote:

Go with a DSLR... You wont regret it! If your looking for an entry-level one, go with something along the lines of the Nikon D3000.. .It'll cost you about £340 new from jessops (they have astore in Newry, and one in Belfast, you can also buy from their website). It normally comes with an 18-55mm lens, and can give you some really stunning pictures.

-Brian

this camera is for sale in argoose for 419 euro.........works out the same price when u exchange sterling into euro......6 months interest free as well...
www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5...meras%7C14419500.htm

Thats true, but from my experience deal;ing with Jessops, if you go into the shop to buy it, you can haggle, and get it a bit cheaper... I think i got about £50 off the price of mt DSLR, and got a free camera bag and memory card too!

-Brian

True, true........nothing like the local shop and the personal touch.i love a bit of hagglin me....

mickdeja wrote:

sparky wrote:

mickdeja wrote:

sparky wrote:

Go with a DSLR... You wont regret it! If your looking for an entry-level one, go with something along the lines of the Nikon D3000.. .It'll cost you about £340 new from jessops (they have astore in Newry, and one in Belfast, you can also buy from their website). It normally comes with an 18-55mm lens, and can give you some really stunning pictures.

-Brian

this camera is for sale in argoose for 419 euro.........works out the same price when u exchange sterling into euro......6 months interest free as well...
www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5...meras%7C14419500.htm

Thats true, but from my experience deal;ing with Jessops, if you go into the shop to buy it, you can haggle, and get it a bit cheaper... I think i got about £50 off the price of mt DSLR, and got a free camera bag and memory card too!

-Brian

True, true........nothing like the local shop and the personal touch.i love a bit of hagglin me....

Don't forget to add €500 or €800 for a macro lens, you will not get fish photos with kit lens!!!

IF you are going the DSLR route and I hope you do, but for the money you want to spend I would go for a good pocket camera, you have to pick a brand, Nikon or Canon (forget the rest), personally I use Canon, but there is nothing wrong with Nikon, so the choice is yours. What should inform your choice apart from the camera body is the price and availibilty of lenses, you can change your camera body several times over the years as you upgrade, but your old lens will still be good and unless you want to switch brand and replace you existing lenses you will stay with the one brand for ever. So pick carefully if you go the SLR route.

Daragh

PS. The Lumix pocket cameras are great, but never tried macro shooting with them, check out that they are suitable.