Digital Cameras - Any Good

[egor]

I've just bought my first digital camera to sort of replace my 35mm SLR.
Being new to the digital feild when I was looking round I wanted a camera to have near enough the same functions as my SLR, as in priority modes, telephoto etc.

I have bought a Casio 5700 digital camera, which has a lot of functions, some the same as my SLR. It has 5 meg pixels, 3x optical zoom, 3.6x digital zoom - which is equivelent to approx 400mm.

I took it to Donington on Sunday and spent most of the day trying to take pictures as good as I can with my SLR but, I could not get any satisfactory results.

I found that panning shots were no good as it takes time for the camera to re-act to what I want and the focus was not that great in any mode I tried.

Now am I using it wrong or have I bought the wrong camera? I'm off out tonight to take some pictures to try and prove the camera once and for all and if it's still cr*p I'm taking it back.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks egor...

[Kelvin]

Unless you buy a top of the range digital backed 35mm body, cameras, such as u describe above, will never be any good! I now take my film to Boots and get the images onto CD and a set of prints too, its a marvelous service! I retain my 35 mm equip and lenses and get a set of digital images too!

[egor]

Thanks Kelvin, I have had films in the past put on to CD and they are very good.
I was forced a little into my purchase as my SLR body has a fault and would require a non-costefective repair as the body is a few years old.
This was the final push I had to buy a digital camera instead of a replacment body as I believed the digital camera could offer the same quality of image as my 35mm SLR, but without having to buy films.

So far I am not to imprest with any picture I have taken, only the ease of down loading to a pc is great.

[Tim Falce]

I found that panning shots were no good as it takes time for the camera to re-act to what I want and the focus was not that great in any mode I tried.
I had this problem when I bought a Canon Powershot. It takes a lot of practice to estimate when the picture will be taken after you press the shutter. Another way round is to put the camera into continuous shooting mode and delete the ones that miss.
In the end I gave up and bought a Nikon D100, although I have seen and had very good results from the Canon

[jpm]

Hallo egor,

I´m using a non SLR digital camera, too, but after a little time of learning, panning shots are no problem (at least not a problem concerning the camera ).
I don´t know much about this casio type but maybe it´s just a matter of changing your technique (prefocusing, etc.) and takeing some time to understand your camera.
Here are two examples:
http://www.modellers-paradise.de/dtm/pics/PICT0033.jpg
http://www.modellers-paradise.de/dtm/pics/PICT0008.jpg
I know these pics are not perfect, but after all I´m not a professional Just to show you it´s possible with a non SLR digital, too.

So long jpm

[Crash Test]

I've been borrowing a few cheapish digitals, and to be frank, they can take some very nice pics. Just takes patience and practice. Face it, practicing won't cost you anything. Panning shouldn't be too much of a drama, but a bit of anticipation...

[Kelvin]

Maybe a camera with higher spec will not have the delay u speak of?

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by Kelvin
I now take my film to Boots and get the images onto CD and a set of prints too

What's the "damage" for this in terms of cost, Kelvin?

Bear in mind that the last time I had films developed, it was the 17 rolls I brought back from Le Mans with me......

[Crash Test]

For sure, but it's pretty satisfying when you can get a really nice shot from a crud camera, it's good to have a challenge some times

I know last year I took my missers along to some club events, and I let her loose with the SLR. She had no idea, but after I showed her the way for a roll of film, she started taking great shots.

I'm trading in the SLR for something digital at the end of the year, but it's going to be hard to chose something, you could spend mega bucks and you wind up back where you started...

[Maisie]

Ayse,

I get mine done on CD too - it's a couple of quid per CD, but the image quality has always been good, and it's way over 1024x768 per picture, which makes it easy to crop, reduce etc. It works out expensive if you've got loads of films (my record's 14 in one go!) but it's worth the hassle for having instant access to your pics instead of having to mess about scanning.

[bella]

i use a d100, and i'm not sure i'd reccomend it. maybe i would if it wasn't arguing with the lens so much.

the canon digitals seem to come up with better colours, and better results.

it's definitely worth the money. you'll save yourself a bomb.

[Kelvin]

Aysedasi,
2 films(36exp) with 5x7 pints + CDs £19.95
You could opt for smaller print size which is a little cheaper for 6x4

digi images from boots - film stock was Kodacolor 200

http://www.xpower-mg.com/gallery/dat...00022.jpg?9813

http://www.xpower-mg.com/gallery/dat...00002.jpg?8773

http://www.xpower-mg.com/gallery/dat...00024.jpg?5413

[egor]

you could spend mega bucks and you wind up back where you started...

It does feel that way, the Casio was £420 which looking around falls into the middle ground between the Cannon/Nikon SLR body digital cameras and the also rans.

One of the problems is the view finder is not through the lens, so when you zoom in on the subject it does not increase in magnification to the same as what the camera see's, and of course you cannot see the lcd display on a bright sunny day.

Perhaps I am expecting to much straight away, and should practice a little more.

[KC]

Many consumer grade cameras have a tremendous shutter lag. Couple this with a slow autofocus, the meter measuring the light and then the mechanism exposing the CCD and you can get a 1 second or more delay.

Things you can do to speed up your camera. Shoot in manual focus mode. Turn off image stabilization and use metering lock to get rid of the extraneous tasks. My Olympus shoots awesome action shots, but it needs my help to get it do do it when I want it done. It is different than my Canon EOS and took some practice but it is now easier for me to get the shots I want. My Canon cannot duplicate the image quality I can get with the Olympus.

If you cannot turn off your focus, then prefocus the area you are going to shoot and pan the race car into the focussed frame and fire away.

Hope this helps.

[redshoes]

Originally posted by egor
It does feel that way, the Casio was £420 which looking around falls into the middle ground between the Cannon/Nikon SLR body digital cameras and the also rans.

Perhaps I am expecting to much straight away, and should practice a little more.

I'm not familiar with the exact model so this may be an overgeneralisation.

You have to take into account the spec not the price. Your £400 digital is roughly equivilent to a £150 conventional film compact and should be treated as such. If you had brought that £150 compact then you probably wouldn't expect to get the same results as you could with a proper SLR.

If you really want a digital equivilent of an SLR then you are going to have to buy a digital SLR. Think of what you've got as a goood quality non-SLR compact and you won't be as disappointed.

[blackfalcon]

I used to use a kodak dc290 and it did take a while to get used to the shutter lag. It takes a bit of practice, you need to fire the camera a half second before the point you want to photograph. Panning shots will turn out great when you get used to it.
Taking general pictures it is better to place yourself at the exit of a slow to medium speed corner, where the cars are going that bit slower. It's pot luck as to whether the nearest car will stay on focus. You can forget about trying to get any sort of a good shot in bad light. Ever on overcast days the lack of light can be a problem.
I invested in a Canon slr and the difference between the 2 could be measured in light years.

[Kelvin]

Several people have now said if you practice you can get used to the lag, IMHO this in an unacceptable option!!

Kelvin

[Crash Test]

Patience is a virtue, otherwise throw it in the bin

Actually, the first digital I borrowed was one of those Sony jiggers that reasonably stick shaped, as opposed to a conventional design. The good thing about it was that you could slip it in all sorts of places there you couldn't put an SLR with a big fat lense on it. Also I found it very useful wandering up pit lane, taking pics of the drivers sitting in their cars. All you need is for a window to be slightly wound down, or door open, and you could get some really nice candid pics. Here's one with the camera stuck through the catch fencing down the Gold Coast.

[egor]

Thanks for all the tips, I went out yesterday evening and took pictures of cars, trucks and the odd bus on my local main road(people must of thought I was a bit strange!), I seem to have sorted out the panning shots but, the subjects in question were going a bit slower than race cars.
I shall go out again tonight, as last night I think everything was against me as They closed the road just after I got in a good place to practice the art of photography - we will see tonight????

Anyway here's the best of a bad bunch from sunday!

[egor]

As you can see the focus is not good enough and this has been croped.

[PaulSands]

egor I'm suffering exactly the same as you...I still take my 35mm SLR with me but use it exlusively for slides now..my non SLRdigital is an HP Photosmart 850 that can produce really good results at times but likewise can also be a real dissapointment, in all honesty though I suspect that is more down to the user(i.e. ME) than the camera
I was finding the cost of film+development+cd really prohibitive as I was getting through 4 rolls a meeting on average (I know, I know pretty paltry I hear some of you experts hark )..I had tried sending them away and having the results combined on a single cd put the results were less than satisfactory and they took nearly two weeks to return

all I can recommend is practice practice practice...buy the biggest memory card you can afford and just keep on snapping

[Crash Test]

Egor- this is probably a very lame bit of advice- but get as close as you can to the cars. I've found that I get my best results when I'm no more than 10m away from the cars, and by practice you get incredibly good timing

[Alx]

Unfortunately Crash Test, I think you are limited with getting very close, certainly at Donington.

If you start to get close you get fences and marshals (apologies to all when I'm the other side of the fence), which makes it difficult! Unless you have some sort of pass then you're likely to struggle. However, Oulton isn't bad for stuff like that, and I;m sure there's other circuits too of good quality.

Love the photo though Crash test, nice touch.


regarding the CDs - there are cheaper places than boots - but I always found the photos on CDs to be poor quality and too small - maybe that's just me though. I prefer to scan - simple. And I can't afford £100 every time I go to a motor race. £50 is bad enough!!!

[Crash Test]

I've got a similar problem to Donnington at my local track. Being new and safety conscious, in most places with the SLR you need 300-400mm of lense to make anything work, with there really only being one spot on the track where you can get within a few metres of the action. Problem then is that the best you can get is a side on shot of the vehicle under brakes. You can still get these to work well enough I suppose..

[egor]

Crash Test, I don't normally have a problem with my SLR shooting good shots(just me), as you have said get as close as possible and the problems do reduce, which from experiance I know.

Here's a picture from Oulton Park earlier this year, it's not the best but it's the only one I have on my pc in work that I have not posted elsewhere.
As Alx says you can bet a bit closer there and the catch fencing is a lot more sensible, next meet for the Super bikes is in August so I will go and flog my digital to death and try to re-create some good shots