My wife and I are heading to Italy this summer for a belated honeymoon, and we’re looking to buy a fairly decent camera. Since I know next to nothing on this subject, I turn to the Teeming Millions for advice.
We have a basic digital camera that we’ll be taking for some shots, a kodac DC215 I think. What we’re looking at is getting a good film camera as well. We were looking at the APS cameras, because I like the option of doing the panoramic shots, but most of those don’t have much zoom capability. Since the digital doesn’t zoom much at all, we’d like the film camera to have at least a fairly decent zoom on it.
I’d like something with a good blend of features, and simplicity to use. I’d also like to not haul around 15lbs of extra equipment. One extra lense of something I don’t mind, but not an entire bag of shit.
So, any advice on types? Are the APS cameras worth the extra money? Should we just stick with a regular 35mm? Thanks in advance for any help.
I got some camera suggestions in this thread some time ago. Just something for you to take a look at while you’re waiting for a camera person to pop in, and it might even help.
APS is marketing crap. The actual negative is smaller than a 35MM, causing a limitation when it comes to enlarging the pictures. The panoramic feature on an APS is nothing more than a limited exposure of the already small negative by temporarily placing two plastic covers over the top and bottom of it. Besides, it’s a trick that a lot of normal 35mm Point and Shoots have as well.
OK, now that we’ve got the APS rubbish out of the way: are you looking for a compact camera that’s easy to carry, or can it be something a tad larger?
I’ll continue after you’ve ansered that. Hey, and I’ll change the thread title somewhat so people might actually open it.
Second the opinion on the APS. It’s crap. The 1990’s version of the 110 camera.
From your description, I think you’d do fine with any of the large number of autofocus point and shoots in the $200 range. (You didn’t mention anything about wanting artistic control over exposures, so I’m guessing that you’re more interested in the pictures than the process.)
You could go with a 35 mm SLR with interchangeable lenses, but they’re comparatively heavy, bulky, and expensive. And frankly, with modern lens technology and films, you get very acceptable results with the point and shoots.
I like Olympus cameras for their size, but I have some doubts about their ability to take punishment – there’s a lot of flimsy looking plastic on those shells. I have a Pentax IQ Zoom Weather Resistant camera that I’m pretty fond of – it’s much heavier and bulkier than the equivalent Olympus cameras, but I have a feeling I could use it to pound tent pegs if I had to. It’s very solid and I’ve been very pleased with the pictures.
Compact isn’t too much of an issue, actually, the itty bitty tiny ones are too small. I feel like I’ll either break them, loose them, or not be able to hit the tiny damn buttons fast enough to take the picture. I guess what we’re looking for is a decent camera, with some idiot proof features, that allows us to take good pictures. A lot of the things in Rome, you can’t really get that close to, so being able to zoom a little is a definate plus.
Finagle–
Now are you saying it takes good pictures with your knowledge of photography? Or that a moron like me that can barely find the “Take picture button” can also work it well enough to get some nice pictures? Also, since we’re semi-on the topic, any advice for getting better pictures? Different films to use?..simple tips that I just may not know?
Even though I said my piece in the thread Kat linked to, I’ll reiterate that the Yashica T4 Super and Olympus Stylus Epic would be excellent choices. The T4 has better optics, but IIRC the lens in the Epic is slightly faster, making it marginally better for low-light or fast action shots. Both offer a complete range of flash modes, including night, fill flash, and flash off. I love the auxiliary viewfinder on the Yashica – you can hold the camera at waist level for lower angle shots, or hold it over your head (and the heads of the people in front of you) and still see what you’re shooting. Both are extremely small and light and weatherproof – you can easily carry either one in your pocket without discomfort. The Epic is roughly half the price of the T4, however, and may be somewhat easier to find if you want to buy from a local retailer; the T4’s being discontinued, and stores won’t be able to restock once they sell what they have. Right now, however, B & H has both cameras in stock, according to their web site.
OK Atrael, I think you ought to focus on the top-end point and shoot cameras. Most of them are easy to use, provide ample zoom, and are relatively inexpensive.
I’m not a big fan of Olympus’ lenses, so I won’t recommend one. The Yashica is great, but doesn’t meet your zoom requirements.
I use a Rollei Prego 90 for my easy holiday pics. It’s discontinued, but the 70 and the 125 are good alternatives. The good thing about the 90 is that it has a 28 mm zoom range low, offering a wide angle capability that’s surprisingly useful. I use it a hell of a lot more than the 90 mm zoom range high. Beware of cameras with too impressive zoom ranges, or at least don’t use them too much in difficult circumstances (low light, etc.) These P&S lenses are not as wide as their SLR counterparts, so an extremely zoomed picture (say at 140) will require a lot more available light than with the same zoom on an SLR.
Rollei uses Schneider Kreuznach lenses. Along with Zeiss Ikon, the best you can get. The SK lenses are also used in some high-end Samsung Cameras (check out the Maxima Zoom range). Samsung owns Rollei these days. The cameras are comparable in quality - don’t let the brand put you off, Samsung makes some stunning little machines these days.
A good alternative to the Rollei or Samsung would be Pentax. In terms of value for money, they can’t be beat. Excellent lense quality, easy to use, very durable. Check out their IQ Zoom range.
Just to reiterate something Coldfire said: if you feel that you must have a zoom, you’re going to have to live with smaller aperatures in this type of camera – racked out to full zoom length, some of cameras Coldfire suggests have maximum aperatures of 11 or 12. What that means for you is that you’re going to have to use much faster film (more grain), be extremely careful to hold the camera steady (or use a tripod, which sort of defeats the purpose of a point-and-shoot), and expect that a certain percentage of your shots are going to be either underexposed, blurry (from camera shake during the longer exposure times), or both. You also won’t have the flexibility of shooting indoor available light shots in places where flash photography isn’t permitted.
Consider, before making a final determination on the need for a zoom, that with an extremely sharp, constrasty original from a fixed focal length camera, you can always enlarge and crop to get a final result that’s probably still going to be better than what you’d get from a zoom lens that’s not as sharp or fast. When you consider all of the things working against you – the added grain of faster film, decreased sharpness from inferior optics, and increased likelihood of motion blur – your odds of getting shots you’ll be proud of go way down with a zoom P&S.
That’s not to say that the Rollei, Samsung, or Pentax zoom cameras might not suit you very well; just wanted to make sure you’ve considered the options.
Good points, and that’s precisely why I decided on the Rollei Prego 90. Try to find another P&S in the 28-90 zoom range with f/3.6-9.8 characteristics!
Your points about fixed zoom are very valid, but the average consumer (of which I am one, I suppose ;)) DOES want those nifty gadgets like a nice zoom. It is indeed wise to consider the downsides. So I guess the bottom line is: don’t overdo it in terms of zoom (you REALLY don’t need anything over 100 mm, and a lense that can drop below 35 mm can come in handy), and with similar zoom numbers, compare aperatures. See the f/3.6-9.8 numbers I posted above? The 3.6 goes for the 28 mm end, and the 9.8 goes for the 90 mm end. The lower these numbers are, the faster (i.e. less available light needed) the lense. So, a lense with a zoom of 100 mm and an aperature of 10.5 is better than another 100 mm with a value of 12.8.
Just found a whole string of reviews for the Rollei Prego 90. Apparently, you can still buy them at some places. This site appears to offer tons of reviews on all sorts of cameras, so it may be worth checking out!
