Faq For Digital Camera Shoppers

[Travis]

I. Intro
II. Important Features
III. Links



I. Introduction


Choosing the right digital camera for aquarium photography is a common subject, and rightfully so- who wants to plunk down hudreds of dollars for a camera that won't take good pictures of the beautiful displays we've created?

There are some special features to take into consideration for the reefkeeper who is shopping for that new digital camera. Not all cameras excel at or have these features, so there are models to avoid.

However, since the digital camera market seems to be in a mode of constantly introducing new models, reviewing cameras out today will be of little help tomorrow.

It's better to equip you with the most important features to look for and tell you where to find out if a particular model has those features, and that's exactly what I plan to do.



II. Important Features


Macro
By far the most important feature to look for is an excellent "macro" mode. Macro is the photography term for "close-up." Contrary to popular belief, Macro photography does not consist solely of photos mere centimeters from a subject. In the world of digital point-and-shoot cameras, often the camera has to be a foot or more away from the subject to focus in "normal" mode. From 12" away, there's not much detail and you have little hope of getting much more than a partial tank shot. This is where your macro mode comes in.... OFTEN. I would guess that 90% of my aquarium photographs taken with a digital point & shoot are in "macro" mode. The only time I switch out of "macro" is to take full-tank shots. when looking for a good macro mode, you want the smallest "minimum focusing distance" possible in your price range. For some time, Nikon's Coolpix series had the market practically cornered on close macro ranges, but the other brands have caught up. Put simply, don't buy a camera until you've checked the macro distance and it's less than a few inches if you want to get good shots of your corals/fish.

Custom White Balance
Not quite as important as macro, but a close second. Some cameras can balance out the blue light of our tanks and render accurate colors better than others. However, if you have a "custom white balance" feature built into your camera, you can overcome this problem in almost every case. Custom white balance allows you to take a test picture of your tank and the camera adjusts the white balance to the image it sees rather than a bunch of pre-set values, none of which is ever "2X250W 20K XM bulbs with VHO actinic."

Optical Zoom
Operative word here, "optical." For now, forget that number with the word "digital" next to it. In most cases, digital zoom is more trouble than anything else. For sim0plicity's sake, just assume for now it's completely worthless. No, optical zoom is where it's at. That's the good stuff, and the higher the number in front of the "X" (i.e., "5X optical zoom") the better. In today's market, I wouldn't settle for less than 5x optical zoom. My digicam has 3X, which is barely sufficient in my opinion.

External Flash
If you can afford a high-dollar camera, this is one of those features that makes those dollars worth it. For fish photography, nothing beats an external flash.

A Word About Megapixels
Don't buy into the hype. A 3.3-megapixel camera will be more than enough for web, email, and prints up to 8x10 in some cases. So rather than buying into the marketing and buying the camera with the biggest number of megapixels, spend wisely on the camera that has the above-mentioned features first, and then worry about megapixels.

It's a feature, but it's not built-in
Buy a tripod. Even a cheap $20 special. You NEED it, and your $20 investment will wind up improving your photos more than any feature built on to your x-hundred-dollar camera. Just trust me on this one.



III. Links


Okay, now that you know what to look for, I'll tell you exactly where to look.

Start here: www.steves-digicams.com
A slightly ugly web site with more content on more cameras than you'll ever see anywhere else. This guy reviews pretty much every digicam to hit the market, he does it well, and his reviews have always been spot-on. Sample macro pics with every camera... make sure you check them out and compare the differences.

For a second opinion, try www.dpreview.com
Slicker, nicer, and very thorough reviews but ol' steve's got them beat in my opinion.

And when you get your new camera, your first stop should be www.shortcourses.com for an excellent primer on photography, digital photography, and often your camera specifically.


Good luck, happy hunting, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at travis@reef-life.com or here on The Sanctuary.

And don't forget to post some pics!!!

Travis

[wooddood]

thanks travis you the man.

[Craig Manoukian]

Good stuff Travis. Reviewing my daughter's digital camera features as I type!

[Witfull]

if i only knew as much as travis has forgotten!!

[Imperial]

thanks travis!! I'm looking into buying new cam this christmas this will help me alot.

[Scooterman]

I also found these sites for good reviews and locating prices.

http://www.cnet.com/

http://www.consumerreports.org/

[jimeluiz]

THANKS I am doing my reseach right now and have solicited insight from two photography friends - a photo journalist and a commercial portrait photographer. WAY different advice You have highlighted some terrific bench marks.

Once I'm hooked up I'll be pestering you to open a Tank Photography Learning Center forum for some interactive advice.

[Scooterman]

jimeluiz
I'd be intrested in seeing what you decide to get and how it works for you so post as it goes!

Thanks!

[reefrunner]

Originally posted by jimeluiz
THANKS I am doing my reseach right now and have solicited insight from two photography friends - a photo journalist and a commercial portrait photographer. WAY different advice You have highlighted some terrific bench marks.

Once I'm hooked up I'll be pestering you to open a Tank Photography Learning Center forum for some interactive advice.

Photography Forum
Photos you want to share? Do you have some good photography tips & tricks? Articles to link? Questions on reef tank photography? It all goes here.

LOL, your in it now

[jimeluiz]

Thanks reefrunner I noticed that when I hit submit! (I get confused when I wander through the New Posts area and not forum by forum.) Gotta love the Sanctuary!

[Travis]

Yup, RR is dead on. I plan to do articles as time allows. But always willing to take requests.

[deanerk]

Excellent Travis! This is exactly the kind of simple, straight forward advise I had been looking for but found hard to find. Now, do you have an advice column for convincing the significant other that it's time for a new camera?

[Woodstock]

I got a Canon powershot A300 (3.2 mp) for my birthday in October It's nothing fancy but I love it! I also got rechargable batteries and a charger which I HIGHLY recommend! Those digi cams use a lot of juice!

Oh yeah, I also recommend an additional memory card. Mine came with a 16mb but I bought a 32mb just for good measure!

[mick77]

Great info Travis! We're looking into cameras and your info will really help us out.

[Scooterman]

Travis, I have a question, I've been back and forth on the Cannon G3 & A80, can you lighten me up in the differences, I still can't figure out the major differences between the two.