Cheap digital camera
 

Hi,

I am looking for a the cheapest camera which can do what I need:
I run a very small food shop and I need sometimes to take picture of
my products to use on web and sometimes get a print for hanging up the
wall. The print does not need to be very great. I have f.eks. printed
photos I have found on the net with good results. there are however
some specification which matters: the zomm should be between 50 mm to
90 or 120 mm (Equivalent). the camera should either have high ISO
(800) or if not possibility to use external flash, such taht I can use
a flash connected to camera by cable. Do you know a good camera, cheap
with similar spec?

Thanks

Mojtaba

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

Dangit, I just wrote a huge post and it died on me.

short answer then.

Canon EOS 300d w/ 18-55mm lens. This translates to 27-80mm appx because
of the 1.5x focal length multiplier. About $800 with lens.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

You can choose whatever lens you like though really. 50-75mm is best
because is leaves the subject in more true lifelike form. Lower makes
things look fatter, higher makes them look thinner. (that 10lbs TV
effect...)

A Konica Minolta DiMage A200 is about $550, has bad noise above 400
ISO. But you can use lighting or flashes and a lower ISO. This camera
is compatible with all of Konica's high end flashes.

You really need some continuous lighting, not flashes, for indoor
product shots.

Photoflex starlight tungsten soft-box. $300
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

Photoflex Multidic reflector set and holder. $200
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

At the very least you need to get a soft-box add-on for the on camera
flash.

Also some good muslin backgrounds would be a boon. But a fancy table or
setup world work also for food. Maybe a large backdrop behind the
table.

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

err..

that should have read "multidisc" not dic.

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

Mojtaba wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for a the cheapest camera which can do what I need:
> I run a very small food shop and I need sometimes to take picture of
> my products to use on web and sometimes get a print for hanging up the
> wall. The print does not need to be very great. I have f.eks. printed
> photos I have found on the net with good results. there are however
> some specification which matters: the zomm should be between 50 mm to
> 90 or 120 mm (Equivalent). the camera should either have high ISO
> (800) or if not possibility to use external flash, such taht I can use
> a flash connected to camera by cable. Do you know a good camera, cheap
> with similar spec?
>
> Thanks
>
> Mojtaba

Have a look at a Canon A400 or A510. Either should suit your purpose,
without costing too much. Be sure to look at the Steve's Digicams sample
pictures; the still life/candy shots in particular. They should give you
a good idea of what to expect for your food shots.

A400:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca...t_a400-review/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/a400.html
http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/psa400/index-e.html

A510:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca...ew/index.shtml
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/a510.html
http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/psa510/index-e.html

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

I do food pics for a publication...I like to use slave flashes. I have a
couple of them that are set off by the cameras flash and they have bounce
reflectors on them. It takes a little practice buy once you get it right
once it is easy to repeat.

--
Thanks,
Gene Palmiter
(visit my photo gallery at http://palmiter.dotphoto.com)
freebridge design group
www.route611.com & Route 611 Magazine
"wavelength" <sbrisendine@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1123967964.785290.327530@z14g2000cwz.googlegr oups.com...
> Dangit, I just wrote a huge post and it died on me.
>
> short answer then.
>
> Canon EOS 300d w/ 18-55mm lens. This translates to 27-80mm appx because
> of the 1.5x focal length multiplier. About $800 with lens.
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search
>
> You can choose whatever lens you like though really. 50-75mm is best
> because is leaves the subject in more true lifelike form. Lower makes
> things look fatter, higher makes them look thinner. (that 10lbs TV
> effect...)
>
> A Konica Minolta DiMage A200 is about $550, has bad noise above 400
> ISO. But you can use lighting or flashes and a lower ISO. This camera
> is compatible with all of Konica's high end flashes.
>
> You really need some continuous lighting, not flashes, for indoor
> product shots.
>
> Photoflex starlight tungsten soft-box. $300
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search
>
> Photoflex Multidic reflector set and holder. $200
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search
>
> At the very least you need to get a soft-box add-on for the on camera
> flash.
>
> Also some good muslin backgrounds would be a boon. But a fancy table or
> setup world work also for food. Maybe a large backdrop behind the
> table.
>

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 22:02:39 +0200, Mojtaba <mojt@stwart.net> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I am looking for a the cheapest camera which can do what I need:
>I run a very small food shop and I need sometimes to take picture of
>my products to use on web and sometimes get a print for hanging up the
>wall. The print does not need to be very great. I have f.eks. printed
>photos I have found on the net with good results. there are however
>some specification which matters: the zomm should be between 50 mm to
>90 or 120 mm (Equivalent). the camera should either have high ISO
>(800) or if not possibility to use external flash, such taht I can use
>a flash connected to camera by cable. Do you know a good camera, cheap
>with similar spec?
>
>Thanks
>
>Mojtaba

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 22:02:39 +0200, Mojtaba <mojt@stwart.net> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I am looking for a the cheapest camera which can do what I need:
>I run a very small food shop and I need sometimes to take picture of
>my products to use on web and sometimes get a print for hanging up the
>wall. The print does not need to be very great. I have f.eks. printed
>photos I have found on the net with good results. there are however
>some specification which matters: the zomm should be between 50 mm to
>90 or 120 mm (Equivalent). the camera should either have high ISO
>(800) or if not possibility to use external flash, such taht I can use
>a flash connected to camera by cable. Do you know a good camera, cheap
>with similar spec?
>
>Thanks
>
>Mojtaba

Take a look at the Fuji Finepix F10. No personal experience, but I
have been watching info on this camera and am hearing good things. My
main point of interest is the high ISO capability. Take a look at the
sample shots at www.dpreview.com

HTH
Bill

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

Is there some reason to want only a digital? Instead of paying for a
new digital, you can shoot with a film camera and send to to a
processor that would ordinarily develop and print for $7-8 who can give
you CD with images for $3-4 more. You can process a lot of film and
have it converted to CD for the price of a new digital!

If you really need to get a digital, you need to find one which has a
hot shoe for camera-mounted flash, you can get a hto-shot-to-PC adapter
unit which permits you to connect directly to studio flash unit. And,
of course, you will need to have the ability on the camera to set the
lens aperture manually to correspond to the light output.

The other alternative someone mentioned is to use the in-camera flash
unit to optically trigger slave flash units that go off when the
in-camera flash goes off.

-Wilt

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

"wilt" <wiltw@aol.com> writes:
> Is there some reason to want only a digital? Instead of paying for a
> new digital, you can shoot with a film camera and send to to a
> processor that would ordinarily develop and print for $7-8 who can give
> you CD with images for $3-4 more. You can process a lot of film and
> have it converted to CD for the price of a new digital!

1. The quality of the scans you get on those picture CDs suck big
time, even when compared to pretty low-end digital P&S cameras.
Those I've seen was compressed to death, and had sharpening and
JPEG-artefacts that were clearly visible at web resolution.

2. With film, you often need to wait a day or more (unless you live
next door to a 1-hour photo minilab) to see if the shot came out
OK. With digital, you check the camera LCD (or a tethered full
size laptop if you can be bothered to set one up) - and re-shoot
immediately if you see some ugly shadows, or other defects not
visble pre-shot. This is very convenient if you spend some time
staging product shots.

3. YMMV, but savings in film and processing paid for my first digital
camera in less than 2 months.

For this type of project, I would say that film is a waste of time
and money.

The problem I see with this project is that while one doesn't need
much of a camera - resolutionwise - to take photographs of food to put
on the web - such a project is actually very difficult to stage and
light in such a manner that the food look appealing and appetizing.
A single strobe - on or off the camera - will probably not show the
food in its best light (no pun intended).

If this is done for marketing purposes, the OP may be better off
spending his money hiring a pro that actually know something about
lighting technique and food photography.
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kodak DCS460, Canon Powershot G5, Olympus 2020Z
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Cheap digital camera
 

On 14 Aug 2005 12:27:52 -0700, "wilt" <wiltw@aol.com> wrote:

>Is there some reason to want only a digital? Instead of paying for a
>new digital, you can shoot with a film camera and send to to a
>processor that would ordinarily develop and print for $7-8 who can give
>you CD with images for $3-4 more. You can process a lot of film and
>have it converted to CD for the price of a new digital!
>
Hi,
Gisle have already given several reasons why I am lookjing for
digital. I ahve already a film based system. i am simply looking for
speed. I don't live in America and here buying a film and processing
is expensive. At the end wehn yo get the pictures you see that litle
mistake. Normally a cheap process takes 4 days for me but digital
gives imidiate results. that's why I am looking for something not
expensive because I am not leaving film. Thank you for your reply.

Mojtaba








>If you really need to get a digital, you need to find one which has a
>hot shoe for camera-mounted flash, you can get a hto-shot-to-PC adapter
>unit which permits you to connect directly to studio flash unit. And,
>of course, you will need to have the ability on the camera to set the
>lens aperture manually to correspond to the light output.
>
>The other alternative someone mentioned is to use the in-camera flash
>unit to optically trigger slave flash units that go off when the
>in-camera flash goes off.
>
>-Wilt