There will be temples, villages, long distance shots, market mid-distrance shots and close ups. I have a limited budget and I know nothing about these cameras. I am familiar with 35mm cameras and hope to improve on the automatic one I currently use, I have found a Vivitar Vivicam which is 4.0 megapixel, 16MB, expandable up to 512 MB using an SD card, 4x digital zoom playback, 4 mode auto flash, records short MPG movie clips, auto white balance and presets for daylight, cloudy, tungston, flourescent & sunset. Comes with USB cable doftware cd and uses 2AA batteries and editing software. resolution is 2304x1728. What do you think about this camera for my needs. You need to consider where you are going to store the images once you fill up your memory card. Will you bring a laptop with you? You can buy more memory cards in China.
I would strongly advise you to get a camera that uses the common SD card. Sony uses the memory stick, proprietary, so stay away from them. Also a camera that uses AA batteries, not proprietary ones like so many have. Get rechargeable ones with a universal charger that has an input voltage of 100 to 240v.
4 mp is the least you want. If you want to blow any up to 8X10 then it will do OK, marginal, but OK.
I use a Cannon A640, a 10mp point and shoot that I can override all the settings which I do often. After a lifetime of shooting, both as a professional and amateur, exposure and all the rest are second nature to me. This camera, while not a put in your shirt pocket one, nevertheless its without doubt the best I have used ever in this class. I have a very nice Fuji S2 that I never use because it is big, bulky and noisy. The 640, a 1gb card gives me about 240 shots in highest resolution and slowest ISO. Higher ISO's and it suffers from noise. The only time I go higher is when I must such as at night without a tripod.
As far as software, all the packaged software that comes with camera's is junk. It may serve your needs well, but for me there is only one, PHOTOSHOP. It gives me so much control and has so much packed in it that it would take a year of intensive instructions to get it down 100%.
If you want to see some of my work, go too:
http://www.pbase.com/sailingjim
I hope this helps
Peace
Jim
. There are a lot of cameras out there on the market, and many of them are very good.
I have a few cameras, but the one that I seem to be using most often is my pocket camera- just because it's so easy to take with me. I like the Fuji F31fd because of its low light capability. I'm shooting ISO800 indoors and freezing motion like not other camera short of a DSLR can do.
But for a versatile outdoor travel camera, consider the Panasonic TZ3. It's pretty small, but has a 10x wide angle zoom that goes from 28-280mm. Plus, it has image stabilization. It's about $300 if you shop around. i think the cannon A540, or A550 it has 6 megapixels Personally, I think you will find it rather limiting, especially for the trip of a lifetime. I'd look more in the 6-7 MP range and I'd look for a camera that could accept at least a 2 GB memory card, if not 4 GB.
Of course, you could buy a digital SLR and you'd be rather familiar with the way it works from your prior experience. I'm guessing, since you mentioned a smaller camera, that you are not interested in this. If I am wrong, please post a new question asking about dSLR's.
Please look at the new Canon Powershot SD850-IS. This is a very versatile camera that will not get in your way as you travel. It has a nice workable zoom range that will take you from broad scenics to decent telephoto views. Look at some sample images from the reviews on the SD700-IS to get the idea what this lens will cover. It has image stabilization, which really works. It is small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. It has a rechargeable battery that is good for 200-250 shots, depending on how much zooming and viewing you do or on how many shots use the flash. A spare battery is 1戮"x1录"x录" and the charger is barely twice that size, so carrying the spare is easy and packing the charger is easy. It has an optical viewfinder which can be useful when the sun is too bright to see the image on your LCD monitor. I could go on, but you can read some reviews and see what the pro's say.
SD850-IS (IXUS 950 IS) Preview: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0705/070507...
- See also: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/...
-See also: http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/defau...
User reviews: http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/digital-...
The SD850-IS is replacing the SD700-IS, so maybe it is valid to read this review, since there are not many reviews on the new camera yet. We can trust Canon that actually improved the camera with this upgrade.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
If you know how to read these charts, you can also go here and see what the changes are.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_...
Click on "Read Owner Opinions," which are mini-reviews by buyers. You can also read the full review on the SD700-IS by clicking on that option.
The upgrades for the SD850-IS are:
Canon Digic III image processor instead of Digic II
8 MP instead of 6 MP
Maximum ISO 1600 instead of ISO 800
Accepts up to 4 GB memory card instead of 2 GB
LCD monitor has better image
Face detection
I listed these in the order of importance, in my opinion. The first two are the ones that really count the most and the rest are just gravy. Take a picture with the camera set at ISO 400 and compare it to ISO 400 film.
This may help you make a decision. |
