Wanted help on puchasing a camera.

cool.arctic

Hi All,
I have recently acquired flair for clicking photographs while on trip. Although i am not much inclined into photography i need your advice for normal cameras which will make my journey a memorable and adventurous. Currently i have following three camera in my mind.

1 Canon Powershot SD800is Digital Elph (7.1 MP)
2 Nikon Coolpix S50c (7.2MP)
3 Sony Cybershot DSC W55 7.2 Megapixels Camera

All you people you have better experience with you cameras please pour in your ideas. All your suggestions are welcome.

Piyush

How much optical zooms they have
1) Canon Powershot SD800is Digital Elph (7.1 MP)
2 Nikon Coolpix S50c (7.2MP) ..optical zoom??

I have used the third Sony Cybershot DSC W55 7.2 its a good camera.

Presently I have Sony Cybershoy H3(new release).Nice camera with 8MP and 10X optical zoom.Canon has also launched SX100 with 10X optical zoom and 8MP sensor.Both these cameras might not be available in India right now.

If you need more optical zoom (12x +)Canon S5IS(12X),Sony H7/H9(15X),Olympus(18X) are available.
These cameras are big and heavy except the Panasonic FZ8
you can also consult www.dpreview.com

cool.arctic

Thanks Piyush..

Actually a frined of mine is coming home from US. So she'll be getting camera for me. Your advice was really helpful. I think i will go for Sony cyber shot only.

fitzy_b

I have an additional camera question.
I don't know much about them, but I think this is correct:
- digital zoom is about zooming in before you take a photo; optical zoom is about zooming in on details once a photo has been taken (e.g. on the computer) - is that right?

If so, how much optical zoom does one need to blow up a picture to say, an A4 size without it loosing any picture quality?

Piyush

optical zoom is used before you take a photo.If you want to capture far by image ,use the optical zoom.
Just ignore the digital zoom.
Exactly optical zoom means how far you can zoom.

fitzy_b

so what is digital zoom then?

nomad

its the opposite. optical zoom is the magnification of the lens. same as what your binocular does. hence the second question is not valid.

in theory the mega pixels of the camera governs the maximum size of your print. 5 mega pixel is enough for A4. but most consumer camera's do not produce good A4 size images on paper. they may claim 10-15 mega pixel but you dont gain any quality if you fit all that mega pixels on a tiny sensor.

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nomad

fancy name for cropping your image in the camera.

fitzy_b

Thanks Nomad.
So I can work out how many megapixels I need by how large I want my photo to be.
How do I know what optical zoom I want? Is it by how far away I will be taking the photo from?

Piyush

For buying camera basics things to consider...
1) Lens
2) Optical zoom
3) Mega Pixels(MP)
4) Sensor size

It does not necessarily means more megapixels will give more good quality pictures.Increase in MP demands increase in sensor size.The camera manufacturing companies are increasing the MP but the sensor is still small.This causes cross talking and thus noise comes.

The sensor size is small for point and shoot cameras compared to DSLR thus the picture quality is always better in case of DSLR.

Bhaswaran

Right. Not only the megapixels matter..but the quality....better pixels matter,,,and their formation on the sensor. You cannot compare the image quality of a 6 MP point-and-shoot with a 6 MP D-SLR. If you are interested in good quality and enlargements, go for a D-SLR. COnsider the Nikon D40 D-SLR (6 MP). You will notice huge quality difference. This is a cheap D-SLR (with a 18-55 lens) and costs about INR 20,000 in the grey market.

See this http://www.jjmehta.com/pricelist/NikonPrice.htm

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Piyush

Bhaswaran absolutely right...Nikon D40 is a great camera,never tried it but read the reviews.

Some queries..please help...

1)What lens(in mm) I should buy for getting equivalent of 15X zoom(as in point and shoot camera).
2)How much this lens would cost (with bill,without bill)
3)Which is the best lens manufacturing company???(Tamaron??)
4)Are cameras/lenses from grey market worth considering, or one should always buy with bill.
5) Nikon service center is in Delhi???

Bhaswaran

Answer:
1. You can buy superzooms like 18-135 (28-200) or 18-200 (28-300) from Sigma or Tamron, or if possible from the original manufacturer (e.g. Nikon). Tamron even has a 18-250 (28-288) lens. They will cover almost all photographic conditions.

2. See this links for an overview of grey market prices

Nikon lenses: http://www.jjmehta.com/pricelist/NikonPrice.htm
Canon lenses: http://www.jjmehta.com/pricelist/can...al_pricing.htm
Tamron lenses: http://www.jjmehta.com/pricelist/propricelist1.html

3. Always prefer the original manufacturer. Although third party lenses are cheap and almost as good. I personally use a Nikon 18-135 lens with my Nikon D80 D-SLR and a Tamron 19-35 lens with my Nikon F75 film-SLR, as well as Canon 28-90 & 90-300 lenses with a Canon EOS 300v film-SLR. All of these lenses are pretty good.

4. I always buy from grey market and till date found no problem. But do take with you someone known to the shopkeeper.

5. Nikon has service centers in many important cities in India, obviously there will be one in Delhi.

Piyush

using 18-200 I can take photographs ..equivalent to 15X zoom??this single lens is sufficient, no need to buy extra lenses?
I being new to digital photography and never used a DSLR...thats why I have so many questions.

Thanks a lot...

nomad

Hi Piyush,
I am also in Singapore. and recently bought Nikon D80. plus also searching for new lens.
if you are planning to buy a DSLR, i can probably help you in shopping. Ping me if you need help.