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MAIN MEETING - ALL ABOUT THE NEW DIGITAL CAMERAS
by George Margolin - November 03, 2001 at 18:43:48:
It's a digital world out there, folks. Digital Cable, Digital Music on MP3, digital - thermometers, hydrometers, manometers, rain gauges, strain gauges and pain gauges. In other words, Digital Everything.And now - even excellent Digicams, that can provide outstanding pictures for even the sub-amateur snapshooters of the world.
But while these cameras may be "equal," some of them are "more equal" than others. For this presentation, I gathered a group of 5 excellent examples of the field. Each of them had its own advantages.
Starting with the highest pixel count of the group, were the Casio 3500 with 3.3 Megapixels, and the Kodak 4800 with 3.1 MPs. Both produced marvelous photos which should be viewable on our www.noccc.org website, better than the black and white printed versions in the Orange Bytes.
But I liked each one for its own special qualities. The Casio 3500 with its 3x 38 to 104 mm (All Digicam focal lengths are listed as equivalent to those of a 35mm camera) has what is now a "normal" slightly wide angle to somewhat telephoto. At the longest length it is a great Portrait lens, since it avoids the foreshortening (think BIG BIG NOSE) of the ultra wide angle pictures I showed for another camera. And the quality of the Casio's pictures, is superb, as we could see with the picture of a very attractive and well endowed professional model name Kim.
But the Casio's BIG advantage is that it takes the newest and largest IBM Microdrive which is the exact size of a Compact Flash Type II Memory. I had the first of this IBM series, the 340 Meg card. Good for over 240 pictures, even at the highest camera resolution. And this camera will also take the newest IBM Microdrive 1 Gig card. LOTS of memory. Interestingly enough - these memory cards can also be made to fit into the PC Card slot of a laptop - giving you a quick way to pull the pictures into a computer - AND - a great, fast, extended size quick backup and/or presentation disk.
The Kodak 4800 had its own advantages - very useful to me, making it a camera I try to carry with me wherever I go. Its has a bayonet mounted ULTRA W I D E angle 17mm lens that fits over its regular lens, making this great for photojournalism. A set of these Ultra Wide pictures will also be shown on the web site.
In addition, the Kodak 4800 has an unusually Short 3X zoom range, It goes from 28mm (equiv) to 84mm. The 28mm is wider than any of the other digicams that I know of and is Very useful for undistorted general shooting. And the 84mm works well for most portrait shoots. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL that the Kodak offers. There is an excellent Telephoto bayonet lens that brings the focal length to about 160mm - a very useful focal length. With the Ultra Wide and Telephoto snap-ons - this is a very versatile camera..
With lower, but more than adequate pixel counts, I showed the excellent 10X Optical Zoom Olympus P2100. A camera that is now superceded by the Camedia 700 - about half the size but with virtually all of the same features.
These cameras, with 2.1 MPs - AND a 10X Optical zoom - are sensational all-round cameras. All of the Blimp, Flying Pig and other telephoto shots came from one of these two marvels. Their Optical (forget Digital Telephotos) ranges go from 38mm to 380mm. BIG Time telephoto length - particularly in such small (P2100) and TINY (Camedia 700) cameras.
I also showed the last generation but marvelous Epson 850Z, with its 2.1 MP resolution and stunning print quality. Take a look at the portraits on the NOCCC www.noccc.org web site. This camera also can take the Compact Flash memory cards but, as an earlier model, may have trouble with the IBM Type II 340 and One Gig cards.
Despite this, it is Cathy's workhorse camera. She uses it for all of her eBay auctions (lots of auctions for Haviland China) and shoots lots of beautiful close-ups with it. In addition, it was the camera that did over 90 percent of the portraits shown, including the striking shot of the priest.
Which is the best camera or the best company?
Casio, Epson and Olympus all make excellent cameras. Choose which one you buy for what features you want. All of them will provide high quality output. And while Higher pixel count is "better" than lower pixel count - in my view, anything over 2.1 MP can be a winner. So the "all things being equal" phrase is just that. For example - I LOOOOVE the Olympus 10X zoom cameras - despite the fact that they are "only" 2.1 MP cameras. That's because their long lens permits me to fill the frame with the subject - allowing fantastic 8X10 inch pictures. Take a look at the Flying Pig as an example. It's sharp, the 8X10 print is beautiful, it provided a high shutter speed to capture the action without blurring, and the long telephoto shot - from an upper bleacher seat - was perfect for the subject.
What I'm saying is - the more pixels, the better - IF - the other characteristics are there as well. Lots of pixels alone do not a better camera make. Check out which one "feels" best and does most of what you want a camera to do.
For further information check out our website: www.netsurfernews.com/ There you will find a section called "reviews" and among many reviews a handout listed as "choosing.htm". Lots of information on Digicams.
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