New Camera Quest

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Several days ago I sought some advice from the guys about getting a new camera for the next vacation in Pattaya. Some very helpful ideas were offered, I especially appreciated the ones who suggested I take a survey of the types of pictures I take and how often I use a camera. Also someone mentioned not investing too much in a camera that will be outdated in a short time.

I'll tell you the process I used in researching a new camera. Since I use a camera mostly on vacations 2 or 3 times a year, but I take a few hundred pictures when I get going. Then the camera sits around for 3 or 4 months. I looked at a few varieties of cameras with a bias that I wanted it to be powered by AA type batteries. I'm sure I would play with the zoom and wear out a special camera battery and not be able to charge it up with different currents around the world or on a ship at sea. I also wanted to move up the food chain from 3.2 mega pixels. I looked at the Nikon L1 and Nikon P1, but settled on the Nikon 7600, which has 7.1 mega-pixels, so some cropping can be had without effecting the 4X6 pictures I usually make. The L1 has AA batteries but only 6.1 mega-pixels and the P1 which is 8 mega-pixels is the camera I would like but it has its own special battery and charger. I am pretty sure I want to stay with the AA so the 7600 my default choice. Again, thanks for the helpful suggestions, I read them with relish and appreciated the input. He He, If I am not happy with this camera, it will be my own fault. :ufo:

This was an article in Time Magazine which I took to heart. At the time I had a 2 mp camera and was very happy with the quality and A4 enlargements were very good. When you get a digital camera and post your photos on a computer you use the camera more because it is so easy and so much fun. The main problem with the camera was that it ate AA batteries so quickly and even using an expensive re-charger (about Bt2100 which broke quickly) it was a nuisance. It also took time between shots with a flash.

According to Time the 2 or 3 mp are fine for everyday useage and up to A4 enlargements. Above that in the 5+ range you have enough definition to print an advertising hoarding. Sure you can crop down to a tiny fraction of the photo and still get nice pics but one does that very rarely indeed. If you like counting the number of hairs on a nipple then 5+ is a must. Many many people are very happy with their phone cameras which are about 2 mp.

After reading ecstatic reviews in camera mags and friends who own one I went for the Canon Ixus 5mp. which I bought in Thailand for about Bt18,000 and it is a very nice camera. It does droves of things that I don't care about like brief movies. What I do like is that it is small and fairly light. It comes with small lithium batteries like a mobile phone and a neat light re-charger and this does me for most uses though I do carry a spare. I also bought a bigger scan disc chip thingy to I can take more pics. I have turned down the mp's to 3.5 and thats fine. It can also take photos quickly one after the other. The leather carry case was extra! and about 1259 baht from Amazon UK. You have to renew the batteries after a year or so as they won't take the charge. These discounted are about 1200bt each. I do worry about carrying around a fairly expensive piece of equipment in my bag.

What I think I would go for next round is a tiny vestpocket sized one which seem to do all that I want. Friends with these - mostly have Sony ones - seem delighted and there seems to be little that my larger camera can do that these don't. I am not up to date on the market so you would need to shop around a bit. You have to remember that there is practically no second hand market for these cameras unless you are talking about the top ones.

In short my suggestions are to go for a small light one with lithium batteries and a re-charger. Don't go mad on megapixels. You certainly don't need more then 5 for snapshots and 3 is OK. Zooms are not madly important from my snapshot and boys in rooms point oooo ( sorry the batteries ran out in my bluetooth keyboard) of view. Mine does about 3x.

Have a look at Amazon's top sellers to see what is popular. The Canon Ixus 55 pocket camera does very well at about UK┬г200. Ejnoy your shopping!

I found it!

Monday, Aug. 23, 2004
When buying a digital camera, many people focus on just one factor: megapixels, the more the better. But that's not the whole story. Lens quality, image-processing capability and even the size of the pixels can all have a greater effect on how your pictures turn out. "The number of megapixels," says Bob Sobol, an image scientist at Hewlett-Packard, "is relatively unimportant."

What the quantity of megapixels (each one equals 1 million pixels) does determine is how big you should make your prints. For most consumers, a bottom-of-the-line, 2-megapixel model is just fine for producing great 4-in. by 6-in. prints. Opt for 3 to 4 megapixels if you want to print 8-by-10s. You need the newer 5- or 8-megapixel models only if you want to create poster-size prints or plan to crop and zoom in your pictures on your computer before you print them.

If you were to crack open your digital camera, one thing you would find is the image sensor, a tiny silicon chip about a half-inch wide embedded with millions of pixels tightly packed together. When struck by light, each pixel generates an electric current that is converted into the digital data that make up your picture. But not all pixels are created equal, and some cameras use larger ones than others. For example, the pixels on the HP Photosmart R707 are just 2.8 microns wide, whereas those on the Nikon D70 are 7.8 microns wide. (A micron is tinyтАФ1/24,500 of an inch.) The advantage of a larger pixel is that it is able to pick up more information about the image it is sensing.

Another factor affecting quality is the brains of your camera: it needs to have enough processing power to turn raw data into a beautiful picture. The quality of the lens is also important to ensure that your picture is focused and to pull in enough light to get a good exposure. "If you have a bad lens, the number of megapixels doesn't mean anything," says Atsushi Tashiro, a product-development manager for Fujifilm.

How do you find the camera that's right for you? Read independent reviews on sites like cnet.com, dpreview.com and dcmag.co.uk. Then the next time someone brags about his new multi-megapixel camera, you can ask him how big his pixels are or what kind of lens he's got. Chances are, he'll have no idea.


From the Aug. 30, 2004 issue of TIME Asia Magazine

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Wowpow, you are correct in pointing out the lens is the key. I did ponder the differences, and the Nikon 7600 has a 3X optical zoom nikkor 38-114 mm ED glass lens. It also has a 4X digital zoom for a total of 12X. It is my approach to photography not to use the digital zoom to a great extent, but I'm open to expanding horizons, so it may turn out to be fun part of the package. Personally I did not approach the purchase of a new camera as a sex thing, perhaps if I were in the market for a pistol, the stopping power of a 45 caliber might hint at the need to be masculine. Being comfortable with who I am at the high side of 66, I prefer nice 22 that can shoot at a rapid clip. Yup, load up and shoot again. Nothing like unloading all 10 shots into a target of choice. It can be an Apocalypse experience,, 'Nothing like the smell of gun powder in the morning." (Not quite napalm, but it will do.) Speaking of size, the nikon 7600 is a shirt pocket type camera, and is really about half the size of my former kodak. This is the shot that some pundits take at the nikon. It is small in size and if one has large fingers, the controls on the 7600 might be a bit of a problem. I went to Circuit City to hold the L1 and P1 and to Walmart to hold the 7600 in my hands. I found the fit to be comfortable and the controls are easy for my fingers to manage. Having done the research and the purchase, all that is left is to take some pictures. By the way, the 7600 is rated at 200 plus pictures on a set of AA batteries. With a set of spares in the camera bag, I should be ready to run the streets of Pattaya and even get a few pictures of my favorite boxer down on Walking Street.

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Sorry, but 7 mp for 4x6 pics is way over the top, cropped or uncropped. You end paying way too much for the camera, and way too much for the memory card necessary to store the pics.

Good 3-4 mp cameras for this type of routine use go for 5000-6000 baht or less in the US, Europe and Australia.

If ultra convenience is important, very small cameras are now available cheaply, although not always from well known manufacturers. You don't have to pay 12-15.000 baht ... although that may be your only choice in Thailand. I have come to the conclusion that buying digital cameras in Thailand is false economy. They only sell the latest and most expensive brands, often at similar prices as in the west. But in the west, you find the cheaper models from the name brands as well. And if you get a model that is about to be superseded (usually for marketing rather than technology), you can get a fantastic bargain.

Memory cards may well priced in Thailand though, eg at Panthip.

As already noted, battery size, type, and charging is very important. For me, USB out and analog video out were particularly important. Optical zoom is important; I can't think why one would use digital zoom.

Check here to make sure the model you're looking for has all the features you need, and good reviews ..
http://www.dpreview.com/

The 7600 specs and reviews report a bad shutter delay (4 secs) .. should be 1-2 secs.

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Hmmm, thanks for the post. Actually you raise a good point about digital zoom, most cameras have significant depreciation in quality with the digital zoom. I'll let you know
of the quality of the digital. There have been lots of times when I could not get to the position needed for the shot I desired. I hope the extra pixels will increase options.

The information site you posted was pretty good. Actually the prices quoted were a bit over the top. If one surfs around you can obtain the price of $205.00 for the Nikon 7600. It did take a bit of looking as many stores charge more than $300.00 for this camera. With the exchange rate of 40 baht per dollars, the cost in Baht is 8,080. As cameras go, the Nikon lens and the number of pixels are in the ballpark of what I wanted at a price that didn't break the piggy-bank. I guess I will just have to suck it up and wait 4 seconds before I take a second shot.

I have approached the getting a new camera, like planning a trip to Pattaya. I sort of enjoy the process of looking up on the internet all the new places in Pattaya and also hearing of old places that are doing well or seem to be going down hill. If this camera is not all I expect, be assured I'll post my unhappiness. I'll be in Mexico in a week or so and will hope to see if I do indeed get 200 pictures from one set of AA batteries, as no doubt I will be playing with the zoom. As you know that is the classic way to burn up battery power is to zoom in and out and leave the camera turned on when not really ready to take a picture. :ufo:

Hmmm is right. Never use the digital zoom. Picture quality will suffer greatly (it's not actually a zoom after all.. its just a cropping device). Personally, I prefer a lithium battery over having to constantly buy AA batteries. I've never had problems recharging the battery in any country (as long as they have 110 to 220 V) and the battery in my Canon ELF lasts up to 400+ shots (using the LCD for picture review and not for picture taking.. this only works if you buy a camera with an actual optical viewfinder, which I highly recommend. I would avoid cameras that have ONLY a LCD for composing shots). I would recommend against "Turning down" your high megapixel camera to a lower setting. Memory cards are cheap now... and you can always reduce a picture size later, but you can't go the other way! Remember, higher pixel shots allow better picture quality when cropping the picture later. I have a 2 gig memory card in my Canon 5meg, and I shot about 400 pictures plus numerous 30 second videos on my last trip and never filled up the card!

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One2go, you mention what I have heard before about not using digital zoom as it just blows up that section of the pic. The extra pixel power may permit even the 12X zoom to be used without too much degradation. I'll let you know. Also I understand if one upgrades to the more powerful AA you can get 400 pictures on a set of batteries. Since it is new toy, I am sure I will be playing with the zoom and using up battery power. I'll have some spare AA around so no problem. I take delight in composing on the screen and if I have to pop in new batteries, I can live with it. I like the composing factor of the screen and also I like to look at the picture after I have taken it. That uses up battery power too, But even with the Kodak 3.2 I had lots of fun showing pics to guys right after taking on the screen. This is true at the beach especially. I tell them, in few days I'll give you a copy, you can send to Mama. Actually I have never been so happy with a camera as the Kodak 3.2, but you know about men and their toys. The Nikon has a thing in it to remove red eye in the camera. That will be something I will like to see work. Well, I feel like I am about to set off on a journey of adventure into the unknown of mega-pixels and new camera settings. Aside from the automatic, it looks like I'll have a learning curve to understand all the choices on the menu. I don't want to be a myrmidon, so bring on the challenge of the future pictures in far away lands. I'll love it.