RE: Photo: going digital

Griff,

What kind of price range are you looking at? Makes a big difference in what
you can get. For instance, I bought a Nikon CoolPix a few years ago. It was
a good camera then (and still is) but often I find the camera too slow for
what I want to shoot. By the time I aim and focus, then press the shutter,
the moment is lost. This could be a consideration should it be a breezy day
in the garden. At the time it was a $400 camera.

I am now looking at an entry level SLR digital camera. I'll probably stick
with the Nikon and go with the D50. It should give me more of the control
that I am used to with a film camera--something I thought I was getting with
the CoolPix, but it wasn't enough for me. For a camera like this, you are
looking at close to $1000 by the time you are done with the purchase.

Pixel count is not real important, unless you are writing ads. For most
purposes, 4 megapixels is enough to cover the range of printing you are
likely to do.

Optical zoom, as someone mentioned, is more important than digital zoom,
though the latter has proven its worth to me a couple of times, but not
often enough to make it a real consideration. Pay attention to how close you
can focus. Can you get down to 1 foot, 6 inches? This is more important for
the main purpose of your purchase right now. If you need to stand 4 feet
away, and then zoom in to fill the frame with the flower, it is not the same
picture as if you were a foot away, and merely need to focus.

Also see if you can control the flash manually. You'll need it on an
overcast day, even if the automatic metering says you have enough light to
take the picture, you need the flash for fill-in and depth, as it will
provide shadows for you, where, without the flash on such a day, would give
you a flat looking flower. 

Got to scoot off to work.


\\Steve// 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of jgcrump
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 3:06 PM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: [iris] Photo: going digital

Friends  --  I need to make the transition to a digital camera before bloom
season.  One or two of you know I've been shopping around for a while.  At
this point, I'd like to hear from any of you who is well-satisfied with your
digital camera.  I am looking for  features that may involve tradeoffs
against
one another, such as compactness,  detail and readability of view finder,
zoom
capability, voice labeling and, most importantly, of course, color fidelity.
The prime consideration here is for use in the garden.  If anyone has a
camcorder that delivers these features, I'd like to hear about that, as
well.
If you care to mention price, that would help.  And remember, please, you're
talking to someone who isn't all that techno-literate.  Thanks.  --  Griff

zone 7 in Virginia

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