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Affordable digital

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Posted on January 9, 2004 at 03:29:27
plantsman
Audiophile

Posts: 4792
Location: Maine
Joined: April 4, 2002
 I have a considerable background in film photography although I haven't been shooting much during the last few years. I'm now in the process of setting up a website for my business (I'm a landscape designer) and I'm short on good images. My options are to buy a good scanner and shoot on film (I have Nikon bodies & lenses)OR buy a modest digital camera. My website designer is also a pro photographer and is urging me to buy a digital SLR but that is way more than I'm willing to spend right now. Money is tight and the half-life of digital equipment is frightening. I'm leaning toward the Canon G5 in preference to the Sony DSC V1. The street price is almost exactly the same and the Sony feels much more plasticy plus it eats batteries and uses the Memory Stick. I am, however, certainly willing to listen to arguments for the Sony or Panasonic or Olympus or ??? My other option would be a further step down to the Canon A70/A80 but I'm not sure they have adequate image quality? I'm sure I will find other uses but right now I only want plant and landscape images for the web. Any informed advice would be very welcome. I could put off the purchase until April but not much later (need the shots and the dwindling value of the dollar is worrisome). Yes, I have searched the archives.

 

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Re: Affordable digital, posted on January 9, 2004 at 06:11:33
Joe M
Audiophile

Posts: 11980
Joined: September 27, 2001
 Both are reviewed at this site.

You may value a close up macro lens in order to capture the essence of some of your plants. Also a wider angle of view may be preferable as well - 28mm instead of 38mm.

>>> http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong5/ <<<

 

Re: Affordable digital, posted on January 12, 2004 at 16:56:35
kendall
Audiophile

Posts: 72
Location: New Orleans
Joined: August 5, 2000
 The only digital camera I own or have used is a Nikon 4300. It accomodates lenses and has manual setting capability. If you would like, send an email to me at: lovetro@cox.net and I'll reply (in separate emails) with a few high resolution 700kb to 1.2kb jpgs of some vacation shots in the North Cascades. This may give you an idea of image quality for this camera if you plan to post your images on the web.

 

My take on it...., posted on January 13, 2004 at 08:34:15
Frunobulax


 
You'll get better photos for web work from a moderately priced digital camera than from a moderately priced scanner. The G5 should work fine. An SLR is not needed for your use (my opinion). Since the camera has an LCD display to view the picture in real-time, the advantage of through-the-lens viewing of the SLR is somewhat negated.

The SLR does give you the ability to have more precise image composition, but, I think for taking general photos (and even close-ups), with a little practice you can get the images you need.

I have the Canon S-45 and am quite pleased with the results for fast images needed for the web or other electronic usage. I have made 8x10 prints from the raw files and they're okay (workable) - but still a long way from anything done in 35mm, let alone medium or large format film. If you want prints of the images, shoot in the RAW mode & don't expect to get a quality print at anything over 8x10.

The G-5 has the advantage of having a lot of reasonably priced add-on lens accessories (wide angle, telephoto, etc.) The problem with scanning film, is that until you get to a scanner with a D-max capability of at least 3.8 (real, not manufacturer's best wish), you're going to be losing information in the shadows.

Also, I think you'd be more likely to update photos on your website more readily with a digital camera because it's so easy to do. Film scanning, (which I do a lot of) is slow, requires retouching of the image to look good and becomes a real chore for images that are only going to be displayed at 72dpi at 6x8-inches max on a monitor.

Buy the G-5, believe me it will do everything you need it to do & will pay for itself in time saved if you plan on updating you website regularly.

 

Don't rule out an affordable Ebay item . . ., posted on January 17, 2004 at 23:06:01
albee33
 I just recently scored a barely used Panasonic LC-40 for half the going price of a new one (new = $400). It works great, and the Leica lens set makes great images at 3.9 megapixels. At full resolution, a 256 meg SD card yields just over 120 shots.

 

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