Well, this ought to be off topic BUT because taking photos of all our bikes & parts is so intrinsically important to our hobby/craft/passion, I will jump in!
First, try to avoid using a flash. It never will look good! Try to take pics outside on overcast days or inside with a lot of ambient or exterior light. Use a tripod, mini or whatever, for indoor available light shots (& no flash) If you have to use a flash, just realize that you will likely get a washed out or underexposed amateurish result.....
I have bought and tried a number of cameras (I have two for sale right now, see below!).. Each one getting better & better for my use, which are mostly taking pics of bikes & parts!!
In my opinion, the low light performance and how well the close focus works are key.
My latest & best yet camera is a Canon SD 550. It's pocket sized and does the two things we just talked about extremely well:
- Low light shots are great as you can adjust the ISO up and with stabilization, get decent available light pics.
- The close up focus is fantastic.. It has a little red square that zigs around and tells you exactly what you are focusing on in that shot. Really works well so you get fewer duds (finding out later that it was out of focus..)
I have for sale a fairly newish Konica DiMage G600 6 Megapixal camera that was great except for occassional duds in close-up focus, took great pics though. I will sell it for $200 incl. extra battery, soft case, charger & SD memory card.
I also have the camera before that, a deluxe (and larger) Nikon 5700, 5 mega pixel, looks-sorta-like-an-SLR but not. Lots of features... $250. (orig. $899.!) w/soft case, memory card, etc.
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, NC 27408 USA 336-274-5959 http://www.cyclesdeoro.com http://www.classicrendezvous.com Giant, Specialized, Orbea, Bianchi, Felt, Litespeed, Landshark, Colnago, Townie and other exotica. National Bicycle Dealers Association Board member
-----Original Message----- From: Eugene Powell <radfin@SpiritOne.com> To: Kendra Coatney <masi3vgirl@gmail.com> Cc: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 09:52:37 -0800 Subject: Re: [CR]Recommendations on digital cameras?
I can strongly recommend the Panasonic Lumix cameras with Leica lenses.
Upside, excellent lens, good flash, no question any bad pics are my fault not the cameras. Also, though I've had some good cameras in the past the best pics I've ever taken were with this one.
Downside, Not User Friendly, easily the most difficult toy-tool-gear I've ever tried to learn to use.
If I needed to replace it I'd buy another in a heartbeat. Can send a pic or two to anyone interested, on topic or off.
On Mar 24, 2006, at 9:46 AM, Kendra Coatney wrote:
> I do not recommend the Pentax Optio S50. I have that one and the
> flash is not adjustable enough for good photos of 1970 Raleigh Grand
> Prix (on-topic) :). They get all washed out. It takes great
> pictures outdoors though.
> Hope this helps
>
> Kendra Coatney
>
>
> On 3/24/06, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>> Not as off-topic as it might appear, since I want this primarily to
>> photo
> graph bikes and components. Don't want to spend a fortune, maybe
$250 > to $
> 500. What digital cameras would the experts recommend for bike >
photos? I
> don't care much about printing photos, mostly interested in sharing
> photos
> with list members by posting in an album or emailing.
>>
>> What features should I look for? I have a really cheap digital >>
camera
> now that someone gave me as a gift. One of the biggest problems with
> it is
> that it is pretty useless in low light. You almost need to be >
outdoors on
> a sunny day. I've looked a bit at better digital cameras, but none >
seem t
> o have the equivalent of a flash. How do better digital camers deal
> with i
> ndoor light?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Jerry "Photographically Challenged" Moos
>> Big Spring, TX
Gene Powell Rad Finishes Portland, OR
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