I need to look for a new digital camera, probably somewhere in the $250 to $350 range. My biggest requirement though is the ability to take wide angle shots. Too often, I need to back up all the way out of a room to get a shot of a bookcase. Obviously, that’s not always an option.
Does such a camera exist and if so, does anyone have any specific recommendation?
thanks
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Replies
I just purchased a Canon that has wide angle as a standard feature but you will be paying about 500
the lower the number in"mm", the wider the lens. Look though some photo mags or online for wide digital cameras. B & H photo is where I get most of my gear from, good selection.
Most point/shoot digitals start around 35-38mm lens, there are a few like sony that has a wide adapter, and fuji has a couple at 28mm.
Only way to get really good wide is to get an SLR camera and wide lens
Canon can get a little wider because of sensor size.
Good luck
Judo Chop!
I got a wide angle lens and adapter for my Sony and it works pretty good.
This may be to specific of a question, but how low does the mm need to be to shoot a 10'-12' wall from 15'-18' away?“The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..†– Hume
I have a Nikon D200 with a 12-24mm f4 lens and I can fit damn near my entire room into that lens. Technobabble follows: Nikon and many point/shoot cameras have an APS-C size sensor(film) vs Canon with 35mm size sensor, so there is a factor of 1.5 to 1 for lenses. Esentiallly multiply 1.5 x lens focal length (12mm x 1.5= 18mm) a canon lens has no factor so a 12mm canon =12mm. Many commercial shooters who do interiors real estate and many indoor shots use canon for this reason. Costco and others have some good deals on the rebel line of canon SLRs and you can add other lenses later for other things.
If you need good quality photos for portfolio or documenting progress, I would go this route.
If you were to get one, get the body only and a wide lens. It is an investment and a tool for your business.edit:
the angle of view is about 65degrees for a 28mm lens and 110degreesfor a 12mm lens
__________________________
Judo Chop!
Edited 2/11/2007 3:06 pm by LEMONJELLO
Awesome, I now know just enough to sound like I know what I'm talking about (or just enough to be dangerous). I'll check out costco.
thanks for the help,Joe“The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..†– Hume
You might want to try this place too:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home/The biggest camera store in the WORLD!
I've spent way too much money at B&H.__________________________
Judo Chop!
The cheapest new SLR at B & H is $450 - Ouch!
(by the way, I understand what it is, but what does SLR stand for?)“The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..†– Hume
single lens reflex
light comes in through the front of the lens, off a mirror to your eye. When you push the button, the lens flips up to allow the light to hit the sensor(film) Esentialy a reverse blink. Close your eyes for a few seconds, open and shut real quick, that's what a SLR camera does.__________________________
Judo Chop!
I've got an old canon slr film camera, still works fine.
My main purpose for a better camera is to take photos of my work - about once or twice a month at most. What do you think about the idea of just using regular film and getting the film developed to cd instead of photos? I could burn through a lot of cd's before I would come close to the $450 to $550 for a new camera.“The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..†– Hume
that works too!__________________________
Judo Chop!
>>The cheapest new SLR at B & H is $450 - Ouch!That same $450 SLR is capable of results that are better than the digital SLR's just 5-6 years ago costing $15,000.00-$30,000.00.$450 for that kind of quality is a great deal these days, combined with the fact that you can buy a 2gb card for $20 these days which would have cost you $229 just a year and a half ago and today's options are the sweet spot for digital pics.I used to be a photographer for close to 15 years, so I keep up with what's out and about.The VERY BEST compact digital camera available these days (although has no exteme wide-angle - starts at around 36mm equivalant) is the Fuji F series line of cameras. The F20, F30, F31fd and newly announced F40 are truly amazing quality wise first and also battery life and handling.The diff between these Fuji cameras and the simlar Canon is that the Fuji sensor is capable of higher ASA pictures with amazing results. Higher asa options allow for pictures to be taken in lower light levels and without the need for flash - resulting in more natural looking images.For example, the Fuji F20/F30 at ASA 800 is better than any of the Canon compacts at ASA 200 - if you understand anything about photography and digital cameras, you begin to realize how important that is. And they allow for very usable picts to be taken at ASA 1600 and above - no other sub compact camera is capable of the results these cameras give at higher asa's.I have the Fuji F10 which is the first one they came out with and couldn't be more pleased with it - the newer ones are even better.If you need the wide angle - get the newer Canon SD series with the 28mm equiv lens, if you want a basic do-all digital - get the Fuji F20/F30//F31 (all same sensor - diff options.The results from the F10 I have at ASA 80 will almost match and possibly beat the results from that $450 digital SLR. The sensor and lens are that good.Only possible drawback is that they use XD-cards which are a bit outdated, but they've announced the F40 and it will have a newer 8MP sensor and take SD cards and XD cards and suggested list at $299 - that's the one to have for an all around.Regards,Julian Tracy
I'll agree on the Fujifilm reco. I have the E550; it has the equivilent of a 32mm wide angle lens - not quite to the 28mm of some others, but better than the 36mm on the F series and quite adequate for almost all the interior shots I've done. The image quality is outstanding and the price is quite reasonable. For a point & shoot, far more than adequate.
Now, all I need to do is scrape togheter the coin to get a digital body to go with all those good Nikon lenses I have :-)
But do any of these Fuji camera's have wide-angle capabilities? That was my original question. “The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..†– Hume
>>do any of these Fuji camera's have wide-angle capabilities?No - for the best wide-angle compact - go with a Canon. The panasonics have a lot of options for wide angle but the sensor is very noisy at asa 200 and above.Olympus made a few excellant wide angle enabled cameras - more of a mid-compact than a sub compact. The models were the C-6060, C-7070, and C-8080.Great lenses, great cameras; kindof noisy at Mid to high ASA's, but a good size sensor for overall high quality and great build and features.They are the successors to the C-5050 mentioned earlier and would give you 28mm wide zoom.If you can find them, the Canon S60 and S70 were great cameras and had 28 wide zooms.In terms of the entry level DSLR's, they are all great performers and come with wide-zoom kit lens starting at aboutg $450 or so.For my real camera that I use for my interior before and afters, I have a Canon 20D with a 10mm-22mm zoom that is equivalant to a 16-35mm in 35mm terms - makes a small room seem huge and is often the only way to get a decent pic.If you want to do a bit of research, I think DPreview.com has a search functionality that will let you specify the wide zoom range.For the best deals - also check out Newegg.com - especially for media cards.JT
Julian....obviously you having been in "the business" have a better grasp than I. But I have never had a positive experience with Fuji.
Film, VHS tapes and a rather pricey point and shoot film camera I purchased for my wife a while back.
I swore off Fuji some time ago.
Have I just had "bad luck"?
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Their F series cameras are the jewels of the industry right now - if I sound enthusiastic about them it's because no other camera delivers the quality of these little guys in a sub-compact package.Their other models are probably no better than anyone else's but the F series because of the sensor CCD - are amazing. They also have some of the best battery life among their peers - my F10 is rated for close to 500 shots - I've had it for over a year and I can use it very often for close to 3-4 weeks and not have to charge the battery.I know what you mean about being fed up with a certain corp. I'll never buy another Sony anything because of an impossible warranty situation with a car stereo a few years back.JT
JT
I have an opportunity to buy a used Olympus E10 from a friend. It has the appearance of an SLR but the lens is fixed. The fixed lens has a range of 34mm-140mm, which from your previous doesn't sound like it comes with wide angle capabilities.
Even though the lens is fixed, do you think an additional lens could be added to make it a wide angle?
Joe“The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..†– Hume
Sh$#%!I just got done typing out a long great helpful response to your question and than LOST IT!SH&*!So, long story short - the E10 is great but super noisy, I had one for a year or so and it was great - THEN.Now, it doesn't measure up.So - get the Fuji F series (F20 can be had for $150-165) and you'll be able to shoot at 1600asa with great results. At 1600 - the Fuji will look better than the E10 at asa 160.If you need wide angle - get one of the canon's with WA or get a starter Digital SLR for $500 or so.Huge photo show in two weeks - check DPREVIEW.com for updates on what's newly released and announced.Sorry for the short version - I just spent way too long on the long version and lost it.JT
Yes it can accept a wide angle conversion. Olympus made a high quality one that was close to $150.Just remembered - one of the coolest Olympus cameras in recent years was introduced and than discontinued - it was the Olympus 7070 - had a wide angle lens - and pretty darn good quality.Bought mine new for $439 and than 6 months later they were selling for like $700 on Ebay!If you found one of those, it'd be worth having at upwards of $300 used. Much better than the E10 at any price.The Fuji F20,30 will surpass any of the Olmpus's or Canons though in true quality and versatility in asa usage but without wideangle.For $140 or less I MIGHT buy an E10. Not at any higher price - the quality is not there.It was a great camera though...JT
I used to work right beside it.
Consider carefully, look at the point/shoot first, you may find what you need that works for you. look also at the memory card type, if you've already got one type you might stick with that type, otherwise you're buying a diferent memory card.Lenses aint cheap! some brands like tamron and sigma have decent lenses at a lower price than propriatary brands.look through the viewfinder at its widest setting at the store to see what you can see (if there is no literature handy)Once you go into SLR world, there is no turning back.
be careful and hope you find something that works well for you.__________________________
Judo Chop!
One of the best websites in existence is http://www.dpreview.com
totally devoted to digital cameras. When I bought my Sony (along with a close-up/wide-angle), I knew things about the camera from that website that were even beyond the manual that came with it.
BTW, no advertising....very straight up.
Just a thought...if you or anyone else is interested in buying my camera its just like BRAND NEW!! Because I had to have the laser thingy fixed but they went over the entire camera and replaced almost everything about a month ago.I still have the check list with what they did if anyone is really interested. I think thats just how they do things at Olympus. Anyway, its a pretty expensive camera I think...was when I bought it but its too big for my purposes w/too many functions. I can't just put it in my pocket easily.
Its the Olympus-C5050. I'd sell it for $250 which would include shipping.
Just a random thought...no biggie. All the functions might serve someone a whole lot better'n me cause I never use them at all.
You can Google it further if you want...duh....but heres one review I randomly took from pcworld cause everyone's heard of them.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,109012-page,1/article.html
"i say to foobytor have a sit down ask him whats going on inside and please try to keep up . the rest will register with him..... and you never know the human spirit is an amazing resilient entity"alias
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
While I have a Nikon digital SLR for my own use, but it's out of your price range.
I did just buy my daughter a Canon digital ELF, the SD800. Two of the reasons that I bought it were:
1) it has a wider angle lense than most digitals.
2) The flash is a little more robust than most digitals.
It takes fabulous snaps, it's controls are quite intuitive, and it takes decent video as well.
Without a doubt I recommend going digital over film. While you may have some up front costs, the camera will pay for itself for the cost of 30-40 rolls of film and processing.
Digital? You can snap and delete to your heart's content until you get the quality shot that you want.
The 800 was about $350. Look at the specs for the 700 as well. I've bought on-line through B&H and Ritz. Both are good companies. Canon just came out with a 900, so the 800 may be less expensive now.
Consider getting a 2GB card. They can be had on the cheap. Look at Amazon as well.
Mongo
Mine is a cheapie, a Fujifilm FinePix E510. I had wanted the same as you, one that would do wideangle. In Googling for the feature, I found some reviews on digitals that had the feature, which is a gotta-have if you are in real estate.
Here's a sample shot:
View Image
I've decided to give up on the digital camera upgrade
cycle and just get a high end cell phone. My current
phone has a good lens and a 5 megapixel camera. If I
need a wider angle than it can do, I'll just put it in
video mode. It shoots DVD quality video.
Just one less thing to carry around, one less gadget
to keep operational.