Digital Photography

[Zero260]

Powershot S5 IS by any chance? I have the older S3 IS... Pretty sweet camera, I must say. Especially if you can't afford a DSLR. The screen can pop out and rotate which I find extremely useful in certain situations.

For example, when I was at the top of Feather Falls, there was a fence on the edge so no one kills themselves, so I put my camera above the fence, rotated the screen down so that I could see and take my shot.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Ah, yeah, that was it. Still trying to decide if it's worth the extra $100, though.

Edit:
Wee, pretty picture~ :>



Very satisfied with how this photo turned out; the vibrancy of the colours, especially, without any editing in Photoshop.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Bored at work...

[Stereo]

<3 those macro shots. =D

I was looking into buying a SX100, but then I decided not to because I found a GREAT and cheap DSLR for under $300. (Pentax K100D Super) It's got internal Image Stabilization and other really neat features. And if you can't take pictures without being able to look at the screen, look into the Olympus E-510. Internal Stablization, and Live View, and it usually comes with two lenses.
Trust me, any DSLR is worth the money.

Sorry for that bit of DSLR marketing.

<rant>

I don't think you should switch to the S3 and S5. I took some sample shots in the stores (for both cameras) and the zoom is horribly blurry. It's only new feature is a flip screen, but it's smaller. (Which is a bad thing) Trust me, the flipping thing isn't worth the extra $100. Its quality won't improve, either. Their sensors are both DIGIC III. You won't even notice the +2x zoom you get. What's the point of going from x10 to x12? IMO It's just another way for Canon to make people think they will get better quality with a bigger lens.

</rant>

[xHaZxMaTx]

Well, if you zoom in far enough, anything's going to be blurry unless you have your camera on a tripod, or something. The smallest twitch while zoomed in that far will move the field of vision quite a bit, causing the image to blur when the photo is taken. As for features, there are some other nifty things I wouldn't mind having that the S5 has, besides 12x zoom. (Did you do optical zoom, only, or digital, when you tested it in the store?)

I looked at SLRs, and there are cheap ones out there, but that's the problem - they're cheap. A $300 SLR is like buying a $100 point-and-click.

[Stereo]

Make sure it's a DSLR. SLR's are film cameras. I have no idea where you found a DSLR for $300... I got my DSLR (Body only / no lens) for aruond $280, but it usually costs around $400.
Also, about the $300 DSLR / $100 PnS, You're REALLY wrong on that one. Go look at some comparison shots, and you will see a HUGE difference between the "cheap" DSLR and the $100 PnS.
BTW, with a DSLR, you can attach filters like infrared, and it will give you GREAT shots. Look up infrared photography on google or something. Amazing stuff.

And yes I used only optical zoom on the S5 and I placed it into the security slot thing to see how blurry it would be. Bad, bad, bad. Just stick with what you've got. I don't think you can give the SX100 back for the same price now.


To tell the truth, if photography isn't a hobby for you, don't get a DSLR. It would be a waste of money, and especially if you want a large zoom. But there is an upside to zooming with a DSLR, and it's that the quality of the image doesn't change much when you zoom in, unlike a PnS. You WILL get much better quality with a DSLR than a point and shoot could ever get, but it's not worth the extra money if you don't care all that much. The largest amount of money you'll spend on your DSLR is buying lenses, which cost a lot in some cases.

EDIT: BTW, that last shot on page 2. Look at the tree and hills. That orange outline wouldn't be there with a DSLR, or atleast it wouldn't be nearly so visible. The sky would also be an orange color, and not white, although you can always change that with exposure. (Sorry if you think I'm bringing you down or anything, I'm not trying to)

[xHaZxMaTx]

Honestly, it's just something I thought I might be interested. I wanted my own camera, anyway, but I figured I'd spend a little extra on a decent camera to start out with. So far I'm enjoying it, though I doubt I'd ever get any money, or anything, for it. Just a hobby. Though I certainly wouldn't mind having a nice camera... RAW photos would be especially nice.

[Zero260]

Well, if you want to see what kind of quality you'll get with full optical zoom, check out my photo on the previous page with the lizard on the mossy rock. I obviously couldn't get too close to it or else it'd run off, so I zoomed in from a small distance. And this is with a S3... I'm sure the S5 is much improved. Don't get me wrong, if you can find a DSLR for the same price or a little more, I'd say go for that, no doubt. But in my opinion, I think the extra 100 is worth it.

[Stereo]

The S5 doesn't have much more features than the S3. Trust me, I was reading almost EVERYTHING about them because I wanted to get either one. The lens on the S5 is the same as the S3 lens. The only new thing is the stereo microphone, new image CCD/sensor (DIGIC III), and the bigger screen. The camera is pretty much the same. I'd maybe pay an extra $50, but not $100. Also, just know that you should look for deals on cameras before buying them. Look on FatWallet.com for camera deals. (Type in S5 or S3 or DSLR into the search box.)

Honestly, the SX100 isn't that far from the S series cameras. It'd be a waste of money if you switched. If you had bought an S3/5 first, then it'd be worth it, but you already have something thats REALLY close to their performance, with the same sensor. All you'd be getting is +2x zoom and a bigger screen.

As I said, if you want to photograph as a hobby, then the SX100 is a great starter camera. If you want to have a professional photography hobby, get a DSLR. You may think that the LCD screen is a must-have, but it's really not. I used to think that, too. I started out with a horrible Samsung 2MPX without any optical zoom or extendable lens. The quality was really bad, but then I got to a 4mp FUJIFILM, and that made me happy for a while. Then I finally got my DSLR. =)

Just use the SX100 and train your skills (yes there are skills in photography...) A DSLR is useless if you don't know how to use its features correctly. Here's a really good photographer: Gilad Benari
Once you and others think your photos are great, then it's time to get a DSLR. If you need any help with photography, feel free to ask meh.


I just noticed... these are some of the longest posts I've made. ;D

[xHaZxMaTx]

I actually have very little interest in the size of the screen. One of the main things I was concerned with when looking at the SX100 was the lack of a viewfinder. Having the screen is obviously a necessity, but it doesn't have to be huge or a really high resolution. Just want to see how my photo will turn out before I take it.

By the way, Mr. Toes says hi.

[Stereo]

You can see a preview of the photo you will take on some cameras. On my camera, I can press a button and it will give me a preview of what I will take without actually saving it, so I know what settings to choose.
And just so you know... Most of the time, Live View screens usually don't show exactly show what will turn out to be the photograph. For instance, if you set the white balance to Sunny, the Live View may look excellent, but when you take the photo, it could come out worse. And I usually never trust in-camera screens, because my monitor is calibrated differently.

I also should state that some people think DSLR's are a waste of money because many PnS cameras have a Converter for Wide Angle and Telephoto lenses. Well think of it this way. You can't take out the lens that was built into the camera, so if you put in a professional lens, you're still looking through the same piece of glass, and then ANOTHER piece of glass. A top-range $50,000 lens won't save you from the quality of a PnS if you don't mount it on a DSLR.

BTW is that a lizard?

[xHaZxMaTx]

You can see a preview of the photo you will take on some cameras. On my camera, I can press a button and it will give me a preview of what I will take without actually saving it, so I know what settings to choose.

Yes, the SX100 does that, too. I was just saying that that's all I really need from the LCD screen. And granted, your photo doesn't always turn out the way the preview looked, but it's better than guessing, no?

And he's a leopard gecko, not a lizard.

Edit:
Woo! This photo came out far better than I ever imagined it would!


And this is what happens when a helicopter flies through your 15 second exposure.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Why am I the only one posting pictures?



I spent over an hour in the parking garage setting up shots. There were three people on longboards who kept riding through - from the top to the bottom. I thought about getting some pictures of them, but figured that'd be kinda weird. Lighting wasn't really adequate, anyway. I was using a 2.5" shutter speed, ISO 80 and F8.0 for the photos of the car. I could have used a higher ISO and opened up the aperture, some, but the images would have likely come out grainy.

I'm not sure why I took Crossing in sepia, but it seemed to fit. I think it turned out for the best, though, seeing as if I took the shot in full colour, I'm sure it would have come out washed out, and sepia has a sort of red tint to it, which matches the crossing gates, which is what I was wanting the main focus of the shot to be.

[boganbusman]

Those are all very good Getting better every time.

Although you do hang out at some strange places at night O.o

[Stereo]

I <3 Twins 003. The blue one is sweet. BTW, about the S5/S3, it has no TRUE viewfinder. Its viewfinder leads to an LCD screen which is the same as the one on the back. You won't be looking directly through the lens.

I wish I had money to spend on camera gear... I want two lenses, one worth $500 (18-250mm) and the other $325(50mm macro)... I want a flash for $170. Totaling almost $1000. My camera body only cost $285...
Spring is finally here so I'll start taking pics again.

Meanwhile, here's some of my older stuff.

[Zero260]

Dang, HaZ, those pictures of the MX-5 are pretty impressive. I really like the lighting in that garage; the way it reflects on the car, and the way it sort of makes stripes along the ground.

Why am I the only one posting pictures?

Haven't taken anything worth posting recently. Maybe I'll scrounge up some old stuff later.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Those are all very good Getting better every time.

Danke schone and glad to hear it.

Although you do hang out at some strange places at night O.o

What, you mean my room?

I <3 Twins 003. The blue one is sweet.

Thanks. To be honest, I had to do a bit a of colour-correction in Photoshop on Twins_003 - it was just too yellow.
Both the blue photo and the 'Twins' photos are actually two images, each, spliced together. The blue photo is a 15" exposure of me walking across the bridge, away from the camera, on the right, and another 15" exposure walking towards the camera on the left.

BTW, about the S5/S3, it has no TRUE viewfinder. Its viewfinder leads to an LCD screen which is the same as the one on the back. You won't be looking directly through the lens.

Lame.

Meanwhile, here's some of my older stuff.

Yay, cute kitty. :3 Were you pretty close, or further away and zoomed in to get the depth of field?
Y'know - no offense - I swore never to take a close-up/macro shot of a flower. Seems to me like to many people take any camera and take a close-up shot of any flower and go, "i is gud photographer lol!!1" That's not to say, of course, that there are no good macro shots of flowers.
I like the shot of the waves. Quick shutter speed. I experimented with the shutter speed on my dad's camera for nearly an hour, one day, throwing stuff into my pool and taking photos.

Dang, HaZ, those pictures of the MX-5 are pretty impressive. I really like the lighting in that garage; the way it reflects on the car, and the way it sort of makes stripes along the ground.

Yeah, main reason I decided to go in there. I meant to stop in an empty parking lot at the mall on my way home, and take some more photos. All the lights were still on in the parking lot, which would have also made for some interesting lighting/reflections.

Maybe I'll scrounge up some old stuff later.

Ah, good to hear.

Anywho, I took these at about 8:30, tonight, from my roof. I took several others, but they were either too blurry, dark, or grainy.

[Zero260]

Nice. Did you get a tripod recently, or are you just setting the camera on something? I want a tripod...

Going through a few photos from the past month or so. Some worth mentioning... Including a sweet flower shot that makes me a professional photographer, am I right?!



I even threw in a grainy train photo for you, HaZ. I actually came across a really cool ravine with train tracks running along the river. I might have to take the drive one of these days and get some photos.

[Stereo]

@Hazmat: Lol, I've seen a lot of people who think they are good at photography just because they took a good macro shot. I personally want a 100mm macro lens so I can REALLY get into detail on macro shots. It's just one of my favorite styles.
About the kitty, I set the camera to around 20-25mm (wide angle) so I could get his face across the shot more.
After I came home from the beach/park place, I wished I had something like a 1/3 second exposure, just so I could capture the motion and see how it would look like.

And about the viewfinder on the S3/S5... I don't think any PnS has a real viewfinder where you look through the lens. Most of them (or all of them) have a shutter that is completely closed and allows no light into the camera through the lens, therefore, there is no mirror or pentaprism. This is why the viefinder is usually an EVF (electronic viewfinder) or just a generic hole that you look through and out the front of the camera (near the flash usually). DSLRs have the lens open, and a mirror covering the sensor guides the light into the pentaprism, which goes into your viewfinder. When the shutter button is released, the mirror flips up and the light goes onto the sensor and the image is captured.

/me is photo geek now.

[Danyutz]

I love the one where's the car alone in the garage, lovely! Can I use that in further chops? please?

[baumaxx1]

http://baumaxx1.deviantart.com/art/Godz ... s-84225111

Unfortunately, the camera's a bit dodge... indoor pics don't turn out too flash.

[Zero260]

I took a hike through Bidwell Park (a state park in N. California near where I go to school) yesterday. I hike/bike through the park just about every other week depending on weather. Yesterday, it was really nice out but at one point a raincloud passed over while the sun was still out. It was awesome; reminded me of Hawaii. Anyways, here are some photos from yesterday:

[baumaxx1]

The fire pic rocks!

[xHaZxMaTx]

Indeed it is - very nice! As well as the last pic.

[korge]

Im not really a photographer, but I liked this one I took.