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In lugnet.publish.photography, John Henry Kruer writes:
> Now, wait a minute. Not everybody can get $400 cameras for Christmas, and
> not everybody can afford to spend an extra $200 or $300,
I was just about to say that. Saying that anything less than a 3MP camera
and you won't be happy with the quality is a little absurd. Considering
that most people will post at maximum 1Kx7 images which are sub 1MP.
However...it's not just the resolution that's the issue.
> 1.3 megapixels and an LCD screen and a Digital zoom isn't to bad for that
> price, and it's certanly better then nothing.
> The focus is 1.3 meters to infinity, so you won't get any good close-ups. I
> would take a picture at 1280X860 resolution image at a respectable distance,
> then crop out the model on the computor. This will allow you to get a
> resonable close-up, though not really that close.
The major problem with some cameras in the lower end of the market these
days is that they often have:
a) inferior optics
b) CMOS sensors instead CCD sensors
In category a) you really want to have a macro mode when shooting Lego. 1.3
meters is a mile away from say, a minifgure sized vehicle, even if you crop.
Optical zoom isn't so much the issue as a macro for closeups. For b) CMOS
cameras, which are cheaper, the same technology used in most webcams, are
just too damned grainy. Many times the resolution is worthless if the CMOS
imager is gaining the picture a lot.
What I would do is to give the camera a try. Can you get an acceptable
picture from it? How does it compare to some of the photos that other
people post on BrickShelf? There are some folks who do really good
photography there of small models like Kotaro Ono:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=216397
Like John mentions, lighting is crucial.
If you can't get a good image, look at used 1 and 2MP cameras if you can't
afford a new one. There are many good deals out there from those who are
off in the 3, 4 and 5MP world and are casting off their older cameras.
Another option is to look around at some of the open box specials that are
being returned post Christmas, and older stock retailers haven't been able
to move.
I'm perfectly happy with my 2MP Canon PowerShot S100 and was also very happy
with my 640x480 Canon PowerShot 350 from like five years ago, which had an
incredible macro mode that focused as close as half an inch away! Don't
discount them because they're old, often they have excellent optics and
features because they used to be top of the line back then.
Calum
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: need camera advice.
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| Now, wait a minute. Not everybody can get $400 cameras for Christmas, and not everybody can afford to spend an extra $200 or $300, The camera costs about $100, but the reviews I found are great, they say that it's 'good for it's price.' 1.3 (...) (22 years ago, 26-Dec-02, to lugnet.publish.photography)
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