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| Thread ID: 14542 | 2002-01-11 21:48:00 | Digital Camera - advice please | Guest (0) | Press F1 |
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| 30842 | 2002-01-11 21:48:00 | Robo, You worte an article in PCWorld on your experiences with digital photography and obaining prints from your digicam. I recently dropped and stuffed my Nikon SLR. I had been toying with the idea of a digital, but with ruining my camera just before Xmas I had to by a replacement quickly and chose a Nikon Coolpix 775 after a quick browse of the Nikon web site. Main reason for my choice was that it was a Nikon and I've had 2 previous Nikon SLR's which have always performed well, Nikon are well known for exceptional quality optics and that it has a 3x optical zoom with an optional telecoverter giving a total of 6x optical zoom & that my budget diddn't run to a 995! Results on the PC looked good, but when prints were returned they were very poor in terms of colour,contrast between strong colour changes (like a wine red couch set against a cream wall having a flourescent red bloom between the two colours, same sort of contrast/tonal problems with black & red clothing). I'm aware film prints are enhanced at the lab with the equivelent of an 'auto enhance' but I've been unable to correct the 775 photos with the software supplied with the camera (& which is pretty limited) or PhotoStudio which came with my scanner. The Nikon is going back but the dilemma is what to replace it with? You seemed very happy with the results. Can you please adivse what camera you have and how you find it. I'd also appreciate advice from others with experience of 2megapixel cameras. What works well and what doesn't. My main concern is with print quality, but I also want a reasonable optical zoom. Top choices from my browsing of reviews seem Canon A20 & Ixus 300, Fiji 2800 zoom. If any one has experience with these I'd apreciate the feed back, what works well and what doesn't, but most importantly whats print/image quality like. Thanx for your help. |
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| 30843 | 2002-01-12 06:09:00 | Hi Tim, we used a Nikon Coolpix at the paper I worked on as an emergency back-up when something was needed in a hurry, but I wasn't impressed with the quality at all. (I own a F5 so I would also have assumed as it was Nikon it was good quality!) I found the images to be very grainy, even when not blown up much, and the colour balance was appalling. Skin tones were the worst, even in daylight they were very orange and the flash was pathetic! We upgraded to Canon EOS digital cameras (yeah, out of my price range too at present!) and they were great. Good luck, I hope you find what you're looking for as I am also interested in getting something with reasonable picture quality (for printing out normal sized prints) at a reasonable price. | Guest (0) | ||
| 30844 | 2002-01-12 07:58:00 | I have a Coolpix 950 and I would consider it to be the best in it's class (that class being 18mths old now) It consistently topped the polls in every review it was in. I wouldn't say it was a camera for everyone as it isn't really a point and shoot, but it gives those who want more control over settings far more choice than anything else available. Our local newspaper consistently use theirs for ads etc. I can shoot and print photo quality 8x10's and if you aren't an expert larger than that is still perfectly acceptable to the average punter. I haven't had the opportunity to try out any of the new Nikons personally but have read the quality is still there. If it is a good cheap point and shoot you want my father has just bought a Cannon IXUS 300 and it takes great photos. You won't get a digital camera that will take good quality printable photos all the time and most will need to be run through an editor of some description to tidy up any defects before printing. |
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| 30845 | 2002-01-13 02:15:00 | I've been looking at digi cams for the past couple of months. At present I own Nikon SLR's so naturally I looked closely at the 775, but at the top of my list is the olympus c700 with 10x opitical zoom and full manual overide if needed. My second choice would be the fuji finepix 2800 with it's 6x op zoom. The 2800 doesn't have full manual overide and I've read reviews about the electronic view finder being useless in dim light. I know someone (who works in a camera shop and is very knowledgable) who owns a c700 and he loves it. Hope this helps you |
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| 30846 | 2002-01-13 10:51:00 | Hi Phil, Thanx for that. I'd considered the C700, but the reviews I've seen on this camera are not flash. Great features, but poor quality images. I went for the FP2800. Gets fantastic reviews for image quality. From my limited use so far, it's got to be pretty dark for the EVF to be a problem. There is also a brightness adjustment for EVF and LCD, both of which can be adjusted individually. Cheers. |
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| 30847 | 2002-01-14 08:48:00 | Hi Faye, Thanx for your response. I opted for a Fiji FinePix 2800Z. So far, so good. EVF has been critised in some reviews as being too dark & difficult to see in dark conditions. From what little use I've had this hasn't been a problem. It's dark to view in dark conditions sure, but not impossible. In general use I doubt many people would use it in such conditions & encounter a problem. Doesn't have the bells & whistles of the Nikon 775/885, but takes great pictures and has an excellent zoom/optics. Cheers, Tim |
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