Cameras

This is not an easy question. There are the camera nuts who will suggest that anything less than $1000 DSL with at least two interchangeable lens is not photography. And the other end is the $100 point and shoot. There is a lot in between. I like the Canon series in part because they use standard batteries so you don't drag along a recharging cable and a plug adapter. Most digital cameras take excellent pictures. The more expensive the camera the greater choices you have of picture control. But if you don't know anything about f-stops, aperature opening, shutter speed, depth of field, focal length, etc., then a good auto camera works for your. I prefer a camera with a view finder BUT there are getting hard to find. An a zoom feature up to 10 or 12 is very handy. I use an older model Cannon about size of two decks of cards. Easily fits in a pocket, doesn't a special case, and is quick to use on the auto setting. Unless you are going to blow up pictures to 10' square don't be overly impressed by megpixicals. Eight is fine, 10 is great, and anything over that is a waste of storage space. Check Consumer Reports for recent evaluations. And match the camera to your interests and ability.

Various websites offer good advice. One is http://www.imaging-resource.com/

Price: what can you afford, how much do you know how to use? Memory: what are you trying to do? Ease to use: comes with practice Ease to carry: what do you have stuck on it? Conceal: spy, pervert? My wife and I both drag in a few odd coins with cameras. Her 'best' is at the top of Brand X, I'm at the top of Brand Y. There's a tripod that costs as much as a pretty snazzy camera and several lenses that each approach the price of a one-year-old small car. The tonnage isn't worth toting unless there's an objective in mind. We both have mid-ranges in our brands, but think they're a pain in the tail for cities. They don't get used that much, but they're around. We've got a Canon S95 and a S100 that's always in our pockets. We have serious maritial discord on who gets to claim dibs on the old one. Those pictures sell as well. Pictures come out of the brain and eyes. The machine just helps. You can get stuff you can be proud of from something thats costs two hundred bucks. She's goofing off in Antarctica and sent me a picture this morning that makes me want to slap her up the side of the head it's so good - - it was taken with a damn iphone.

I am not a professional photographer, not even a highly skilled amateur, I just want my pictures to turn out good enough to enlarge and frame and hang on my wall at home (if so desired). I stopped carrying my DSL camera with multiple lenses a few trips ago. Now I just carry my point & shoot and I love it. It's a Panasonic Lumix ZS8 with a 16x optical zoom. It's compact, fits in a pocket, and pretty lightweight, the Leica glass zoom lens makes it a little heavier than some p&s cameras but not much. It has a long battery life and charges up in about 2 hrs (battery charger is about 1/2 the size of pack of cigs and doesn't have a cord, plugs right into the socket so doesn't take up any room at all). The most important point is that it takes great pictures! You can enlarge to 11x14 and still get nice crisp print to frame. I do agree with Ed. About 75% of a photo's quality is the photographer, the rest is the camera (if it's a good quality one and working properly). The Lumix I have cost $299 and it was worth every penny, I can't say enough about it. Good luck with your decision, whatever it is.

I have often taken two cameras. One is a Nikon point shoot. The second is a Canon DSLR. I really love photography. I want the ability to adjust controls, change the ISO, change the aperture, and or the shutter speed. So, for those shots I use my Canon Rebel XTI. In the evening, though, I just want to carry a small camera so that I can catch the special times of the evening without having a large camera. That's when I've used the Nikon point and shoot. I don't carry multiple lenses. Instead, I have a lens that goes from 18 to 225. It really lets me frame my photographs. Pam

Thank you all for the input. Ed, your replies never cease to entertain as well as inform. Makes me wonder what other forums you take part in! The point and shoot is the way I want to go, but my wife fancies herself a photographer(she shot almost a 1000 pics on our Austria/Hungary trip. We're still debating taking our smartphones. Thanks again!

Canon SD 1400 IS, so tiny and takes great HD movies. I have a 32 gig chip to go with it, more than enough for weeks of travel.

Bill, I have to agree with Ed's always interesting and profound view. The Camera is part of the equation, but the skill of the photographer is also very important. What type of Camera are you using now? Whichever new Camera you buy will depend on a number of factors..... > How much do you want to spend? > Do you want something you can carry in a pocket or are you willing to carry a larger (and heavier) Camera (and perhaps an extra Lens or two)? > Do you want the flexibility to be able to change ISO settings, shutter or aperture, depth-of-field or other parameters? Once you decide on the basic type of Camera, start looking at the review sites for information: > www.dpreview.com > www.steves-digicams.com > www.imaging-resource.com > reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras A good compromise might be the smaller Micro Four Third Cameras from Olympus, Panasonic, Nikon or Canon. These are relatively new, so still a bit on the expensive side, but provide the advantage of interchangeable lenses in a compact package. Photography is an important part of my trips, so I haul more gear than most people, including a P&S, DSLR (with 2 Lenses) and now an iPhone as well (I have to agree with Ed on that as well - it produces good results under some conditions). The P&S is fine for snapshots and videos, but doesn't provide the same quality or flexibility as the DSLR. There are some photos I simply could not have taken without a DSLR, and the ability to change settings or lenses according to conditions and the desired result. Something you could consider would be to buy an entry level DSLR for your Wife, while you could carry a compact P&S. That should cover all the bases. Continued......

Bill - Part 2.... Regarding Memory Cards, that too will depend on what type of Camera you buy and whether you want to get more into the technical details of post production. JPEG images are only about 3.5 MB each, so you can fit LOTS of them into a 4 GB card. Depending on how many pictures you typically take on a trip, two or three cards should suffice. JPEG images are acceptable with most people, but not as suitable for those that want to squeeze a lot of detail out of an image. A lot of information is stripped from a JPEG image when it's compressed, and that information can NEVER be recovered. For those that want the best image quality and don't mind spending some time in post production, shooting RAW images is preferable. No information is removed from the image, and these can be processed any number of times without degrading the original image. However, RAW images produce larger file sizes, the size of which will depend on the sensor size of the Camera. With the current crop of DSLR's, it's not uncommon to be dealing with 25 - 30 MB per RAW image. DSLR's typically provide the capability to shoot RAW only, RAW + JPEG or JPEG only in various sizes, which provides the greatest flexibility for the photographer. For those shooting RAW images, larger memory cards are usually necessary. I still have a few 4GB cards, but tend to use 8GB and larger these days. I try to pack enough memory cards so that I don't have to reuse them during a trip. However, these are backed up on my Netbook, so could reuse them if necessary without risk of losing my images. Good luck with your decision!

Nancy's praised her P&S camera, the Panasonic Lumix ZS8. I have the same camera; mine is the ZS9. The ZS8/9 are the same device with only 1 difference: whether the microphone (used for video) is mono or stereo. I like my Lumix camera as much as Nancy likes hers. Mine is the 3rd in that Panasonic P&S series that I've owned. The ZS8/9 is out of production as far as I know. A quick search on amazon.com turned up ZS10, ZS15, ZS19 and ZS20 models for sale now. These are not super-tiny, and because of the construction of the lens mechanism they should be kept in a case and not just dumped "bare" into a large bag with other items. But they're much smaller and easier to tote than a DSLR, and I've found them intuitive to use. The lens goes from a very handy wide-angle (you get so much more into the shot without having to back away) to really good optical zoom. Ed's right about photography, brains and eyes. Find a camera you will carry and USE as a part of your travel, and won't keep having to step aside and fiddle with. Some people get so used to using their DLSRs that they can do this. I think that most people are more distracted by complicated camera equipment than they want to admit, and they would do just as well with a good P&S. Just my two cents.

You have already received great advise. I'll just add that we have really enjoyed having the video capability. It is a lot of fun to set up a slide show that has little short videos mixed in. So whatever camera I chose, it would have video. I use a dSLR and find it worth the extra bulk for the picture quality. My newest dSLR is a Canon 60D with a Canon 18-200mm lens. I bought it at a great price as a set at Costco. I think it was about $1200. We took a fall foliage trip to New England last fall. The pictures are phenomenal. My brother in law is a photographer and uses the Canon 5D. The resolution on that camera in almost perfect, but it costs over $3500. But the lesser cameras get some great pictures too. The Panasonic Lumix cameras seem to get a consensus for a great camera. My photographer brother in law bought one, so it must be a great camera.
I usually take a small camera with me as well as my dSLR because I don't want to haul around the big camera some days. When we use a car on the trip, the big camera gets used more. If you go to Best Buy, the guys there can help you a lot. Camera shops are useful too, but I have actually found the tech types at Best Buy are more up to date on their information. Costco and Sams Club both have some great deals on cameras. You just need to know what you want because they come in kits.

I carry the best camera I can fit in my pocket. Currently I have a Nikon and my wife carries a Canon. They both take great pictures and weigh next to nothing. The features I like are: - optical zoom (5x or higher, 3 isn't quite enough). - quick shutter release time - good low-light capability - motion reduction - large viewing window - long battery life
- HD video I packed (lugged) an SLR with lenses, tripod, filters, flash, etc. one trip through Asia with a friend and our wives. He packed an all in one Canon. My pictures were great but so were his. Mine weren't enough better to justify carrying the weight - plus you tend to lose the opportunity for candids when you have a big SLR.