Reply to: Photography

[Sputnik]

Just a thought which may or may not suit your needs. Most compact Digitals nowadays come with a video function (length of time depends on the memory card etc but 3 mins usually suits me and the wife ) but if the main use is for interiors you could use the still shot to link to a small film of the interior.........

[The Lone Gunman]

Is your wife interested in photography? Know what I mean, know what I mean? Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more, SAY NO MORE!

[~Craig~]

Kodak z740 looks good, in fact i might get one myself..........

5megapixel, 10x optical zoom and fairly small. Some good reviews out there and all for £155

[foritisme]

Where can I buy a digital Wide angle Zoom camera (cheap and online)?

They seem to be pretty rare?

http://www.warehouseexpress.co.uk/

Have a look at the nikon coolpix 5400. I had a coolpix before moving up to dSLR, quality was excellent - good lenses. This camera starts at 28mm - not many around at this price with a wider angle. Special offer £199.

(I won't confuse you with 35mm camera equivalents)

[DaveB]

Usefull article can be found here. Be warned

[DimPrawn]

Where can I buy a digital Wide angle Zoom camera (cheap and online)?

They seem to be pretty rare?

[Fungus]

Oh and don't buy from Jessops. Expensive, poor return policy, and the staff are from the Dixons school of service. One of the best online shops is Warehouse Express. But do check out Comet. They have lots on display so you can fondle cameras without a salesperson breathing down your neck.

[Fungus]

I'd go for a compact. An SLR is big and costly and you'll find it annoying, especially since it's a pain to carry, and too valuable to leave in the car. These days compacts are marvelous and they have huge depth of field. Only go for a DSLR if you want larger than A4, and want to be really creative e.g. macro.

Photoshop Elements 3 is a good and cheap software package. One of the best. And it might be free with some cameras.

The blue sky is probably largely due to increasing saturation.

Check out photo magazines recommended buys at WHSmiths. A small compact with 4-6 MP, and a 2x or 3x zoom should do the job.

[OwlHoot]

Hi,

This is something I know NOTHING about.

I would like a digital camera specifically for taking high quality pictures of overseas properties, both outside and in.

I believe you can get things called lenses and filters. These should make the pictures outside seem brighter and more vibrant.

Inside I would like a lens that shows the whole room (wide angle?).

Now, what sort of digital camera can do this? Don't really want to spend too much money.

Any advice or guidance?

Cheers.

DP

I'd suggest a Canon Rebel, or whatever it's called. It only costs about a grand (You did say you didn't want to pay too much.)

If photographing property, when you get to the garden don't forget to crouch down and take pictures of the lawn from about an inch off the ground. That way it looks like a vast expanse rather than more like a green handkerchief.

[Joe Black]

Only problem is the interiors. Yes, you do need as wide a lens as you can get

Not necessarily, especially if DP's aiming at just screen/browser level quality.

Personally think you'll do fine with just a decent quality P&S and, as malvolio suggests, get some stitching software. With very-wide angle lenses, if you're trying to get half the room in a shot, you're gonna end up doing perspective corrections in any case.

Main things I would look out for are a) low-noise in low light conditions, and b) decent lens and optical zoom...

[bogeyman]

Pictures will be used for web mostly and will be scaled to 640 x 480.

In that case, any halfway-decent point-and-shoot compact will do - so long as the zoom goes wide enough for interiors.

You will need a tripod for shooting interiors - don't try to do it with the built-in flash.

Polarizing filters can be used to darken blue skys, cut out reflections and intensify colours, but are only useful on SLRs or cameras with live preview as you need to rotate the filters to see the exact effect.

Otherwise don't worry about filters - just do it in Photoshop or Paintshop Pro.

[DimPrawn]

Pictures will be used for web mostly and will be scaled to 640 x 480.

[bogeyman]

Hi,

This is something I know NOTHING about.

I would like a digital camera specifically for taking high quality pictures of overseas properties, both outside and in.

I believe you can get things called lenses and filters. These should make the pictures outside seem brighter and more vibrant.

Inside I would like a lens that shows the whole room (wide angle?).

Now, what sort of digital camera can do this? Don't really want to spend too much money.

Any advice or guidance?

Cheers.

DP

You don't say what the pics will be used for - i.e. print, or web (or both).

If you're not a very experienced photog I suggest a decent 'pro-sumer' or 'bridge' camera like the the Fuji Finepix S9500 (£400-ish).

Only problem is the interiors. Yes, you do need as wide a lens as you can get - and a tripod. Problem with some bridge cameras is that the wide angle end of the zoom isn't very wide (needs to be <= 28mm equiv. to be much use in small rooms). The Olympus C-8080WZ is good in this respect - and quite cheap now for such a solid bit of kit.

If you can afford it, and are willing to invest time learning how to use it, get an SLR like the Nikon D50, Canon 350D or Olympus E500, with a wide angle zoom.

Loads of info and good reviews here: http://www.dpreview.com/

[malvolio]

If you want to spend the money, buy a Canon 350d, best start digital SLR on the market, get two (maybe three) overlapping zoom lenses (18 up to 300-ish), and filters to suit (they are standard fit according to lens diameter BTW). But before you do that get down to your specialist camera shop (not one of the chains) and talk to them about it. It's way too easy to buy the wrong stuff for the right reasons.

[NoddY]

I have a feeling that it might be more cost effective (and easier) to alter the originals in Photoshop.