Digital Cameras….

About a year ago I purchased a Fuji Finepix S602… a highly rated prosumer digital camera… since that time Ive taken thousands of pix… and had a blast with this camera… its amazing how much fun you can have with one of these new digitals… so now Im encourgaing anyone who has NOT taken the plunge to do so… asap!… below I will talk about a few things to consider when purchasing a camera….

MegaPixels… this basically deals with how clear your shots can be viewed at larger sizes… my camera is a base 3.2 MP with an interpolated mode of 6.4 MP… this allows clear prints at nearly poster size… though your standard printer cant print anything larger than letter size… and a 2MP camera is adequate for this….

Optical Zoom… My camera has a 6x zoom.. there is NO way I would go with less for outdoor shooting… Im fortunate in that my camera will accept additional lenses, most digitals dont… so Im going to buy a zoom lens which will double my range to 12X… there are some cameras on the market right now with better zoom…. the best is the new Panasonic Fz1 with a 12X zoom, its only a 2MP camera.. but that zoom makes up for that since it can really bring you up close… 12X is probably going to be hard to hold still without a tripod unless you have bright light which will result in high shudder speeds…. the Olympus C740 UZ has a 10X zoom… and the Minolta Dimage 7I and Sony Cybershot-DSCF717 have 8X zooms… pretty much all the rest are less than these… with 3-4x being the most common…. Personally I would look for 6X or better….

Size.. My Camera is a Prosumer camera.. which is larger than a PAS (point and shoot)… most PAS have small zooms… but they can often fit into your pockets and be carried everywhere… there are several good cameras that are about the size of a pack of cards or just a bit bigger… one of the most highly rated is the Minolta Xi.. has 3.3 MP and a 3X optical and priced around $350 or less… very nice compact take anywhere, anytime camera…

Video… My camera has the best digital video available in a digital still camera… it runs at 640×480 and 30 frames per second… this video looks nice and sounds decent.. much better than the usual cheasy video obtained from other cameras… Im using this more and more.. because Ive found that I can take still shots for posting on the computer out of the “footage”… and at 30 fps I get a lot of frames to choose from…. ONE of them HAS to be great!…. plus the video is very watchable on the PC….

Macro Mode… I LOVE macro mode… this is one of the strongest features of my camera… and I can take pix closer than 1 centimeter away… its quite interesting to do this…. I will display a macro shot further down…. along with a telephoto.. to show the difference…

Modes besides Auto Mode… I have many choices of modes.. including full manual… my camera is still way more than I can utilize.. but Im learning…. the Fuji S602 is widely regarded as one of the best all around digitals in service.. it does many things as good as most of the best cameras… and video better than any other…. not that Im trying to sell anyone one of these… but I AM trying to get you ALL to have a digital!! you WONT regret it….

Heres a Shot I took last week of my youngest with his first decent bass…. (ps… my shots are all shot in the 6.4 MP mode.. the software has to compress it drastically to get it on this board and that has some effect on the quality of what you see, this is why my video mode is getting more attention from me.. its already at 640x 480…. so the quality remains high)… my prints are GREAT!… on my canon S520 printer….

http://www.ssdonline.com/category.cfm?categoryid=7&cfid=5161091&cftoken=25617263

this is a macro shot… Ive taken many closer than this one… but this is a recent shot… and represents a typical macro shot….

this is a telephoto shot… as you can see Ive been experimenting with the camera just to see what the pix look like you can get some suprising images by accident.. like this one… geee those darn butterflies wont set STILL… even at telephoto I spooked him… but I caught him in mid flight anyway!!

heres a still frame taken from some video I took at a recent concert… Im pretty sure not many will recognize this Rock Star…. he was at the Great Jones County Fair in Monticello Iowa last weekend which is where this video was shot… (and YES I Was VERY close)….

then of course there are sunsets to record and remember…. heres one I viewed at Everts Landing last November…..

no discussion of digital cameras could be truly complete without talking about photo editing software… I will try and keep it simple here…. Adobe Photoshop is the flagship product here.. but its very expensive and the learning curve is quite steep… on the plus side it will do amazing things… if you can figure out HOW to do them… the price is in the $500 range I think…. a great alternative here is Photoshop Elements… not NEARLY as expensive… generally around $100… my choice is a local product.. paint shop pro… for less than $100… by Jasc… for my money it give photoshop a good run.. some say its even superior… Im NOT qualified to judge that.. but its great… and its one step photo fix does wonderful things…. and man can you have some fun with some of the features.. always entertaining to cut things out of one pic and put them in another!…

the pic below was done with paint shop pro…. just a quick and dirty…. I could have made it much better with a bit more time…. I did it when I noticed an erie similarity between a couple of well know personages…. could they BOTH be terminators?

I liked Giannis comment when I first posted this… pretty funny… though I cant remember it word for word… something like ‘gimme your clothes,your boots, and your Lund’

I do believe that is Mr. Meat Loaf

and thanks for the camera info… need to go digital myself!

geeeez… that was quicker than I expected!… it was indeed Meatloaf……!

But what is his real name ??????

thats what i’m waiting for !!

well.. since you HAD to ask… I DO happen to know the answer to that trivia question… he was born Marvin Lee Aday…… in texas… guess he parents were Lee Marvin fans?

I agree with you rivereyes ..I also have the fuji fine pix and in auto mode it is idiot proof..and i really need that feature..meatloaf dont look any thinner just a heck of a lot older than when i saw him last ..can he still belt out the tunes??

My son is a professional photographer in Rochester and I have worked extensively with him on setting up his business at http://www.elitedigitalphoto.com/ We also believe the Adobe Photoshop software is the best image editing software out there (tried many different programs) but it is also very complex even for a person very experienced in software use. I am a recently retired programmer and Photoshop is not user friendly, but Photoshop Elements is easier/cheaper — I also recommend it for new users.

As far as buying digital cameras go, I highly recommend going to this website http://www.megapixel.net/ and reviewing the details about any cameras you may be considering. Many professionals go to this site to read about cameras and to also get some very good prices. For a fast overview of any particular camera, just select “Our Opinion” from the “Review Selections”.

The upper line of the Cannon cameras is highly used by professionals and for good reasons. Although, for the typical digital photos we take, just about any brand will work fine.

Dave Gulczinski

More Trivia:
Meatloaf appeared in a movie as the main course,spawning the classic line “meatloaf again”. Who among our slightly bent readership remembers the movie and the name of the character Meatloaf played?

I am using the Olympus D-380. 2.0MP and 5x zoom. I like to take pics in the SQ2 quality mode as they are sized ready to post or mail. The camera is inexpensive and does everything I need it to,as long I keep the manual in the boat with me or BFD’s wife on the cell phone

Duhhh. The movie, I believe, was The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and if I remember correctly, Mealoaf played the biker boyfriend “Eddie.”

I talked to BFD at the ice gathering this spring about his D-380 and ended up getting one for myself in march. The only problem so far has been-I haven’t had a chance to use it yet. Haven’t even read the manual. Haven’t been on the water since early april. Any suggestions? Serious replies only please.

Practice with it around the house if you can’t get on the water. I went through a set of batteries before I ever used it in the boat. I’ts a alot of fun to play around while READING the manual. Having said that, I chose the D-380 because BFD already had one and his wife knew how to use it. Great saftey net!

hey Dave…. I just read that autobiography.. got an autographed copy at the concert…. and Im sure Gianni is write with his answer.. that would be my answer too….
and yeah.. he CAN still belt out the tunes.. most fun I ever had at a concert… and Ive seen a few and had some fun!… right now were looking where else we can see him…. Ive heard that this is his last international tour… I think he now lives in England…..

Thanks for info. Ken. We are looking to get one and this cleared up a lot of my questions.

Im glad this information is helpful!… and I hate to keep “bugging” ya… but heres another pic… you should show these to your respective Honeys so they can see these camera can be useful for lots more than fishing pix….
One thing I forgot to mention in my first talk is batteries… I like the fact that my camera just uses regular AA batteries… I use the rechargable and with 2 sets I have more power than Ive ever needed… with todays cameras its suprising (to those of us acquainted with the OLD digitals anyway!) how much use you can get out of a set of batteries… and if your pick in camera uses double A’s you can even stop at the store in a pinch and get some more power!….. I will also second an opinion from above… almost any of these new cameras will do a good job… good enough for everyone except maybe a demanding pro… and the better of these prosumers will even handle that work pretty well… though Ive read that the exspensive digital SLR’s are the route of a true pro… but when you add in the lenses for those your talking quite a few thousand $…
I have been researching whats available right now.. and if your interested in something go ahead and PM me and I will give you what guidance I can… also the advice on megapixel.com is good… I visit that site a lot and another favorite of mine is http://www.dpreview.com they have forums there that are similar to what we have here… I particpate on the fuji forum there and have learned a lot… but I have MUCH to learn…..
the below pic was taken today….

Fuji made 5 announcements yesterday… 3 of them are new cameras… a PAS the F700… a new 10X optical zoom with specs similar to the S602 but priced cheaper the S5000 and a replacement for the S602 the S7000 with a few new features and resolution at 6MP base with 12MP interpolated… that kicks some B*tt…… and its priced the same as the S602 last year… your talking Digital SLR ranges of resolution now…. at a much cheaper price…. they are supposed to be available in October…. the Fuji chat board is abuzz with these new releases….. I would encourage people to check out the chat boards for brands in which they are interested…. heres where they “live”…. THESE forums are for all brands of digital cameras… they are FULL of people that can help with questions… and there are many, many answers there alread… yeah… its kind of like this board… except the people here are nicer… but you cant have everything… (unless your on FTR that is!!)
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/
http://www.bytephoto.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14

Checkout http://www.irfanview.com and try out their freeware. Quick summary: zoom in/out, crop, save as (smaller file size for posting here), change brightness/contrast/gamma, batch file renaming, slideshow, view movies, add text to photo’s, and much more. Don’t forget to download the plug-ins. It’s the best software I’ve seen for nothing ever

Give it a try you won’t be sorry!

Ferny.

thanks…. I WILL check it out.. and I was going to mention that JASC software allows you to try and buy their software for 90 days… so you can try out Paint shop Pro 8.0…. its great… Ive been using it and I love it….. very powerful… and still has easy to use features….
heres the link to that if someone wants to give IT a shot…
http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/

Ferny….
I downloaded that product and checked it out…. your right. a very nice product for free….. does everything most of us would need…. and Ive been looking for a quick simple editor for easy things…. this looks like what Im looking for….. I will still use paint shop pro for the serious work…. but its nice to have a quick and easy editor on hand too… and I WOULD recomend it for everyone……

After Ferny’s suggestion a couple of months ago I did the download to use the freeware. I also found it to be easy to use.
If anyone has an XP operating system the Microsoft Photo Editor does a nice job also. A nice feature about this program is that I can download from my Sony camera without having to use the Sony software , as long as the computer in use supports USB plug and play.
Dino

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=5734390
this is the best sharpening program out there Im told… and its free……

May I just say, as a completely photo-illiterate bystander, that the pics are outstanding! Someday, I might catch a fish worth photographing, and I rue that day, just because I will have no idea how to post it!!! In any case, great pics, and great info!

Minolta just released a sweet little camera (dimage Z1) that looks like it might be quite the thing for the outdoor photographer… 10X optical zoom…. good movie mode too… 3.2 MP….. heres a link to more details…
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0308/03080703dimagez1.asp