I know a few of you guys were talking about this before but I didn't pay attention. I gave my camera to a kid who's joining the service as kind of a thank you gift. Now I need another one.
My last to have been low end Olympus cams 3x glass and less than 3Mpx The work ok but I'm looking for somthing that reaches out farther and perhaps has some manual control.
I'm looking to spend about $500 plus or minus a few centavos.
Thanks in advance!
Off Topic: Best digital cam for shooting watersports
Moderator: MK
I'm really happy with my Fuji Finepix S5000. Feels like a full size SLR, 10X optical zoom, can interchange lenses, and it's not very expensive! Takes great pics too!!
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartn ... Id=I616756
Woody
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartn ... Id=I616756
Woody
I don't consider this off-topic... 
Tighe's Olympus is about the best. Some of the Canon offerings are really nice, too - and I think they take the best pics in terms of color balance, noise, etc...
Yeah - the DSLR's are at least a grand or much more with a lense that will shoot at the equivalent of Tighe's 10x optical. The upshot is even better color, more control, faster shutter speeds, and better motor drive action.
But, probably the BIGGEST advantage of a DSLR is the response time. Not even the $1000 digicams have a fast enough response time between shutter press and actual picture taking to get fleeting moments. Only a good DSLR/SLR will do that.
All of the Duluth shots from last Sunday were shot at f4-f8 and at least a shutter speed 1250. My previous Kitefreeze shots were f2.8-f4 and shutter speeds of 2000 or higher. No digicam can do shutter speeds like that, and it makes a difference if you are trying to TOTALLY stop the action.
The above isn't an argument for DSLRs as much as it is to let you know what you are getting into. If you are expecting *true* sports-shooting capabilities in a $500 or even $1000 digicam, it's not there. A good shooter can use pretty much anything, but you'll yield more high-quality shots in the DSLR range.
-Coach
Tighe's Olympus is about the best. Some of the Canon offerings are really nice, too - and I think they take the best pics in terms of color balance, noise, etc...
Yeah - the DSLR's are at least a grand or much more with a lense that will shoot at the equivalent of Tighe's 10x optical. The upshot is even better color, more control, faster shutter speeds, and better motor drive action.
But, probably the BIGGEST advantage of a DSLR is the response time. Not even the $1000 digicams have a fast enough response time between shutter press and actual picture taking to get fleeting moments. Only a good DSLR/SLR will do that.
All of the Duluth shots from last Sunday were shot at f4-f8 and at least a shutter speed 1250. My previous Kitefreeze shots were f2.8-f4 and shutter speeds of 2000 or higher. No digicam can do shutter speeds like that, and it makes a difference if you are trying to TOTALLY stop the action.
The above isn't an argument for DSLRs as much as it is to let you know what you are getting into. If you are expecting *true* sports-shooting capabilities in a $500 or even $1000 digicam, it's not there. A good shooter can use pretty much anything, but you'll yield more high-quality shots in the DSLR range.
-Coach
I was considering the s7000 I can find it online for about 450 plus with rebates. It looks like a fine camera. It looks like it would be worth it to get a big memory device, like a gigWoody wrote:I'm really happy with my Fuji Finepix S5000. Feels like a full size SLR, 10X optical zoom, can interchange lenses, and it's not very expensive! Takes great pics too!!
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartn ... Id=I616756
Woody
WOW!!
You computer digi-cam freaks have amazed me with alot of your shots, and it sure adds alot of excitement to this site! I'm continually wowed by the amount of expertise by the founders and contributors to these web pages, and think it would be cool if some of this knowlege could be shared. I guess I get a little frustrated sometimes trying to download some of this stuff over a dial-up line, but would still like to learn some of the ins and outs of what's involved in storing and sharing images on line. JN
My $0.02: I use the Canon powershot s200 inside the Canon WP-DC600 waterproof case. It's only 3X optical, but since you can wear it as a helmet cam, or stand in the water as folks sail around you, you can keep the subject mater very close and yeild the best shots possible. This also works well underwater for snorkling, as it's rated down to 100ft! Camera and case was about $600.
To compensate for the slow button press to shutter release speed, I use the rapid-fire mode, shoots about a pic ea 1/2 second. Just folow the action while holding the button, and the camera does the rest!
I also built a remote shutter release for helmet cam action, that lets me squeeze a bulb in my hand/on boom, to press the button on the helmet mounted camera case. This alows for decent on board short videos, and some sequence shots. Lot's - o fun!
To be honest, I loved the old manual shutter for action shots, but always hated maintanence, specially in a beach enviroment. This combo keeps the camera clean and free of lens jamming sand, but lacks any real zoom, and is slow to snap a shot, but fully waterproof is very nice.
To compensate for the slow button press to shutter release speed, I use the rapid-fire mode, shoots about a pic ea 1/2 second. Just folow the action while holding the button, and the camera does the rest!
I also built a remote shutter release for helmet cam action, that lets me squeeze a bulb in my hand/on boom, to press the button on the helmet mounted camera case. This alows for decent on board short videos, and some sequence shots. Lot's - o fun!
To be honest, I loved the old manual shutter for action shots, but always hated maintanence, specially in a beach enviroment. This combo keeps the camera clean and free of lens jamming sand, but lacks any real zoom, and is slow to snap a shot, but fully waterproof is very nice.
I like the Olympus 740 my girlfriend has. Lots of versatality once you read the manual and understand all the different settings. 10x optical is major bonus, continuous shooting mode, easily adjustable exposure compensation, flash output compensation, etc... One of the best things about this camera is that it will fit in your pocket.
Re: WOW!!
There's no magic to it, you just need the right tools some instruction and a place to locate files that are accessible to folks on the internet (the last part being the most confusing for newcomers) I've set you up with a place to locate files on my server at downhaul.comJim N wrote:You computer digi-cam freaks have amazed me with alot of your shots, and it sure adds alot of excitement to this site! I'm continually wowed by the amount of expertise by the founders and contributors to these web pages, and think it would be cool if some of this knowlege could be shared. I guess I get a little frustrated sometimes trying to download some of this stuff over a dial-up line, but would still like to learn some of the ins and outs of what's involved in storing and sharing images on line. JN
http://downhaul.com/users/ I've set myself and Tim W up on there. I offer this space to anyone learning HTML or demonstrating a real need to store files on the internet. I limit accounts to 100MB
First you'll need a tool to access your directory on the server. Download this nice free program http://www.spottke.com/misc/WS_FTPLE.exe and run it. I've sent along a password in the mail to you. Configure the program to login http://downhaul.com/users/jimn/wsftpconfig.jpg
and then set the remote directory http://downhaul.com/users/jimn/remotedir.jpg
You should see some files there. Now you can just drag and drop stuff in the little window and make links to it
Here's a shot of a hotel I stayed at in Chicago earlier this week http://downhaul.com/users/jimn/swissotel1.jpg blah blah blah....
Once you get the hang of uploading files, you might want to start a small webpage that contains links and stuff. You can even write a windsurfing dairy http://downhaul.com/users/eric/
Go here to learn more about basic HTML, Just think of it as old skool word processing
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/
good luck and have fun!
I totally agree with Coach regarding the jump between digicams and DSLRs. The photos that he and Todd Hanson took a the kite freeze are the proof. When I got mine I knew someday I'd have a DSLR though just didn't want to put down the $ at the time. Prices on the DSLRs are coming down. Until then I really like my 740.
Jim regarding posting photos. The main thing you have to do is to put your photos on a computer that is on the main hub of the internet, which are called servers. Your internet service provider has a big one of these and most likely gave you some space (memory set aside for your folders of "stuff") with your account. So the first thing you have to do is get your digital photos from your computer to that computer (server). This process is called Publishing, or Posting, or uploading. Unfortunately though your home computer doesn't speak the same language as these servers, other wise you could just copy it from yours to theirs. You need some software that's called FTP (file transfer protocol) software. There are many different brands of FTP software. Essentially what these give you is the ability to see the folder(s) (just like on your own computer) that are on their server that are under your account. Many of these allow you to just drag the files (or images) from your folders or desktop and drop them into their folders. Once there they will be available to be seen on the web. The most likely address would be http://www.yourISP.com/youraccountname/imagename.jpg. The slashes are just showing levels of the file storage, so imagename.jpg is in the folder labeled "youraccountname" which is on the server "yourISP.com". If you can type in the address to your browser and you get the photo to display, you can display them in chat. When you want to display the photo, hit the IMG button on the "new topic/Reply" screen, type in the full address for the image then hit the /IMG button. You won't see the image till you submit your post, or hit "preview".
Many times you'll see Coach, or Eric or myself just post a link from chat. These either go to a webpage that has been created with small thumbnails that you can then click on to bring up larger images. These are essentially small websites (pages, images, and navigation) that a lot of software creates now automatically. Photoshop does, Iphoto on the mac does. Or sometimes you just see a list of links that you have to click on one by one. The address for these is just folder that contains the images that are on the server, ie. http://www.yourISP.com/folderofimages/.
I'm assuming you have digital photos, if not you'll need to scan your photographs ( kinkos will do it for you or most film processing places give you copies on a CD if you like. )
I hope the description above wasn't too basic. Anyone have any good suggestions for FTP software? Photo editing software. I'm sure there are packages that allow you to edit,and publish your photos.
I'm also not probably the best to speak to this. There are numerous people on this forum that know this stuff far better than I, many who run servers of their own. I rely on the technical wizzardry of folks like Coach and Eric to help me make sense of it. Chip in guys. Have I missed anything?
Jim regarding posting photos. The main thing you have to do is to put your photos on a computer that is on the main hub of the internet, which are called servers. Your internet service provider has a big one of these and most likely gave you some space (memory set aside for your folders of "stuff") with your account. So the first thing you have to do is get your digital photos from your computer to that computer (server). This process is called Publishing, or Posting, or uploading. Unfortunately though your home computer doesn't speak the same language as these servers, other wise you could just copy it from yours to theirs. You need some software that's called FTP (file transfer protocol) software. There are many different brands of FTP software. Essentially what these give you is the ability to see the folder(s) (just like on your own computer) that are on their server that are under your account. Many of these allow you to just drag the files (or images) from your folders or desktop and drop them into their folders. Once there they will be available to be seen on the web. The most likely address would be http://www.yourISP.com/youraccountname/imagename.jpg. The slashes are just showing levels of the file storage, so imagename.jpg is in the folder labeled "youraccountname" which is on the server "yourISP.com". If you can type in the address to your browser and you get the photo to display, you can display them in chat. When you want to display the photo, hit the IMG button on the "new topic/Reply" screen, type in the full address for the image then hit the /IMG button. You won't see the image till you submit your post, or hit "preview".
Many times you'll see Coach, or Eric or myself just post a link from chat. These either go to a webpage that has been created with small thumbnails that you can then click on to bring up larger images. These are essentially small websites (pages, images, and navigation) that a lot of software creates now automatically. Photoshop does, Iphoto on the mac does. Or sometimes you just see a list of links that you have to click on one by one. The address for these is just folder that contains the images that are on the server, ie. http://www.yourISP.com/folderofimages/.
I'm assuming you have digital photos, if not you'll need to scan your photographs ( kinkos will do it for you or most film processing places give you copies on a CD if you like. )
I hope the description above wasn't too basic. Anyone have any good suggestions for FTP software? Photo editing software. I'm sure there are packages that allow you to edit,and publish your photos.
I'm also not probably the best to speak to this. There are numerous people on this forum that know this stuff far better than I, many who run servers of their own. I rely on the technical wizzardry of folks like Coach and Eric to help me make sense of it. Chip in guys. Have I missed anything?
Tighe
Helmet & Release Camera Design?
[quote="Timewalker"]the Canon powershot s200 inside the Canon WP-DC600 waterproof case. It's only 3X optical, but since you can wear it as a helmet cam,
To compensate for the slow button press to shutter release speed, I use the rapid-fire mode, shoots about a pic ea 1/2 second. Just folow the action while holding the button, and the camera does the rest!
I also built a remote shutter release for helmet cam action, that lets me squeeze a bulb in my hand/on boom, to press the button on the helmet mounted camera case.
I have the Canon S400 w/waterprooff case. It has been great for windsurfing, diving, and surfing photos and movies. I am interested in your helmet cam and remote shutter release design. How did you do it?
To compensate for the slow button press to shutter release speed, I use the rapid-fire mode, shoots about a pic ea 1/2 second. Just folow the action while holding the button, and the camera does the rest!
I also built a remote shutter release for helmet cam action, that lets me squeeze a bulb in my hand/on boom, to press the button on the helmet mounted camera case.
I have the Canon S400 w/waterprooff case. It has been great for windsurfing, diving, and surfing photos and movies. I am interested in your helmet cam and remote shutter release design. How did you do it?
sPk
Eric, I know this is a little beyond the price range you were asking
about, but consider the Sony DSC-717, or if you can afford it..
the DSC-828 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscf828/).
They are worth the price.
These are awesome cameras.. extremely easy to use, spectacular
lens, fast operation.
One especially nice feature for shooting fast moving subjects is
the burst mode which lets you click off several frames at once.
We have the DSC-717 and it has a burst of 2.5 frames per second,
the DSC-828 at 2.3 fps., but it can shoot a seven frame burst.
You just line up the target, say at the start of a jibe, click and
at least one of the frames it bound to catch what you're looking
for.
Another cool feature is the ability to shoot short videos!
The only real downside to these cameras is they are slightly larger
than the other cameras mentioned in this thread (not pocketable),
but still smaller and lighter than an SLR.
Check out the other reviews on the link above.. terrific info.
about, but consider the Sony DSC-717, or if you can afford it..
the DSC-828 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscf828/).
They are worth the price.
These are awesome cameras.. extremely easy to use, spectacular
lens, fast operation.
One especially nice feature for shooting fast moving subjects is
the burst mode which lets you click off several frames at once.
We have the DSC-717 and it has a burst of 2.5 frames per second,
the DSC-828 at 2.3 fps., but it can shoot a seven frame burst.
You just line up the target, say at the start of a jibe, click and
at least one of the frames it bound to catch what you're looking
for.
Another cool feature is the ability to shoot short videos!
The only real downside to these cameras is they are slightly larger
than the other cameras mentioned in this thread (not pocketable),
but still smaller and lighter than an SLR.
Check out the other reviews on the link above.. terrific info.
I have to agree that the "burst" function is GREAT for a digital camera. My camera takes continuous (just hold down the button and it fires away). I've found this to be essential for photographing sports and even people... So many digital cameras are soooo slow to take the picture after you push the button (push the button, wait 3 seconds, then shutter fires) that you often miss the event you were shooting for. And because their digeys, you just through away the ones you don't want.
I'd recommend a camera that allows for continuous or "burst" functionality.
I'd recommend a camera that allows for continuous or "burst" functionality.
I machined a bracket from Stainless Steel, which attaches to the carrying strap, molded frame. This then holds a standard camera squeeze bulb shutter release to press the button. The tripod bolt hole on the bottom of the waterproof case then provides mounting to a helmet, or other.stevenP "I have the Canon S400 w/waterprooff case. It has been great for windsurfing, diving, and surfing photos and movies. I am interested in your helmet cam and remote shutter release design. How did you do it?"
I then wrap the remote shutter air hose around my arm, and strap it to my wrist with a velcro strap, this keeps the squeeze bulb within reach, while holding the boom. Some Photos:
If you want it, I also have a PDF drawing of the machined parts. A reasonable machine shop should be able to cut you one for under $250. A bit spendy, but if you have an end mill.. Just post if you want it. I'm not positive, but it might fit your case also.
Tim Walker