point & Shoot

[Guest]

Hi People

i just wanted to know i only have use a point & shoot Camera we everybody have DSLR and other brands for that perfect shot.

what do people with the big expensive cameras think when they see somebody using a point & shoot?

just one of those stupid questions i wanted to ask

[Pete]

It's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it.

[pks1702]

Some very good photos taken with point and shoot Jonny.

I probably take more numbers of photo's with my Ixus p&s than I do with my DSLR.

They are not as flexible as a DSLR but if you want to take 'snaps' they are perfectly good.

Better to be taking photo's with a p&s than no photo's at all

[Guest]

I use a 10mp digital compact Jonny, when I'm not humping loads of gear around, and the quality is good enough for stock libraries. In answer to your question, I don't think anything negative about people using one - most photographers do from time to time. I can usually see if they know what they're doing with it though

Bruce

[Guest]

I use my P&S far more than I use my SLR. I don't think anything of it when I see people with P&S. I love my P&S and I've been eeking every last picture I can out of it even though it's been dropped and kicked, the casing's buckled and the pre-focus barely works. It's been through 5 years of abuse with me and it's still turning in great pics.

[Guest]

Hi Simon

i always though of them to be the poor mans choice as i have P&S not a flashy one but from the sound of things it not the case.

i will have to start taking more pics :-D :-D

Jonny

[pks1702]

i will have to start taking more pics :-D :-D

Exactly Jonny :

[newf]

Jonny I think it was Pete who had a P&S on the last ramble, have a look at his pictures somewhere on the thread and that should answer your question

Newf

[SteveO]

Does anyone still use good old 35mm film?

I'll get my coat now.........

Steve

[newf]

I reckon Bruce might answer that

[Guest]

Bruce does use film - but it isn't of the 35mm variety!

I got my first digital camera in late 2003 and it still takes the bulk of my pictures. I retained my 35mm SLR until the end of 2005. Late that year I got married on a hill top in a rainforest and a number of our family and friends came out to be there but the one thing we didn't organise (deliberately) was a photographer. Everyone, bar no-one, had a digital compact. The only film in use was in the three SLR's which came to the party - two of them belonging to people involved in the actual ceremony (me and my best man). The other one belonged to our friend Emma to whom I had entrusted the role of photographer. In the end, Emma was armed with three cameras; hers (with B&W film), mine (with colour film) and my digital compact and she snapped away ceaselessly throughout the initial gathering, the ceremony, the photo calls and the lunch which followed. As soon as we were released from our duties I wrestled my camera back and joined in. But it didn't stop with the wedding - most of those over there drifted back from the rainforest to civilisation over the days that followed and largely remained in the area for another week getting involved in the various activities before heading off to different parts of Australia.

When we all got back to the UK everyone set about swapping pics with each other and getting albums all made up - which was largely a a doddle. But Susan and I had to sort out the wedding pics. We got the initial 6x4's, picked out our favourites and set about making up albums for all members of the immediate family, some for ourselves and some for framing etc. The digital ones couldn't be simpler - copy to folder, burn to disc, give to Boots. But the film ones were a nightmare - the films had been through airport scanners so often they had been heavily degraded, organising the negatives for multiple prints of multiple shots, many with one a different print size from the next. We needed 10x8's, 7x5's and 6x4's. Boots did the best 7x5 and 6x4 but didn't offer 10x8 so those had to go to Jessops and since it was often the same pic, or a pic on the same negative we'd have to wait to get the neg back from Boots before taking round the corner to Jessops and getting it done again. I decided then and there that, for me, film had had its day and I bought my first dSLR the very next week.

[Guest]

Yes, I use film, but each shot is an individual 5"x4" sheet of Velvia 50. When scanned it's roughly equivalent to a 50-55 megapixel image, so it's pretty obvious why I use it (there are other reasons relating to being able to use camera movements to control the plane of focus, but I won't get all nerdy here ).

I don't know anyone who still uses 35mm film except occasionally. There's no good reason to use it when digital images can exceed the quality with far greater convenience and cost effectiveness. Having said that, Nikon brought out the F6 pro 35mm SLR last year, and they are selling them - but in small numbers.

Some photographers still use medium format film cameras, especially some portrait specialists who prefer the look of of film images, but they're a dying breed (most have gone over to medium format digital backs). Quite a lot of "fine art" landscapers still use 5x4" film, especially in the US (and there are a good number of us here too ), but most stock shooters who specialise in landscape have gone over to digital because they don't need any higher resolution than the high end pro DSLRs can give.

Off to the north Norfolk coast now for a weekend's shooting. To go back to Jonny's point, I've got 2 large photo backpacks with a DSLR and 5 lenses, and my 5x4 with 3 lenses, exposure meters, film and lots of odds and ends. Point and shoot - there are times when that's attractive ...

[Guest]

wow you fellas know your stuff

Jonny :-D

[Guest]

There are quite a few reviews of P&S cameras here:

http://www.ephotozine.com/reviews

[Pete]

There are quite a few reviews of P&S cameras here:

http://www.ephotozine.com/reviews

A nice site, my camera got a good review, http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Samsung-L210

[Guest]

Interesting that the test shots are taken on a river.

[teadaemon]

It's only in the last month that I've progressed beyond what could be considered a fairly standard (probably low-end these days, but a good deal when I bought it in 2005) digital compact, 8MP with a 7.5mm-22.5mm lens (an Acer CR-8530, to be specific). It was good enough to take this picture, which I have printed out at 12"x8"; ready and waiting to be mounted, framed, and put up on the wall of our new house:

I've recently (within the last month) upgraded to a Fuji Finepix s9600 (second hand, but less than 1000 pictures taken, off eBay with a decent case for £160), as for quite a while I've felt that I've been limited in what I can do by the capabilities of my camera. Although it's by no means as capable as even an entry-level dSLR, it's got enough bells and whistles to keep me occupied for quite a while, and takes some very good pictures indeed. Heartily recommended for anyone who likes photography but doesn't want the expense or hassle of a dSLR outfit. (I will be getting a dSLR, but I can't afford one for a while, so this will have to do me in the meantime).

[Guest]

Looks like a nice pic. I am presently looking at P&S shoots for two different purposes one simple yet effective for my button-phobic wife and the other with a bit more bite to replace my 5 year old Sony V1 which has been dropped / kicked / drowned one too many times is starting to feel the effects.

So far, I have to say, I am finding there to be too much choice, if there is such a thing!

[pks1702]

So far, I have to say, I am finding there to be too much choice, if there is such a thing!

Have a look here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/

[Guest]

Have a look here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/

Cunning! I have some reading material. Ta muchly!

[Guest]

Had a read through that DPReview write up and I have to say I am fairly surprised at the results, though having studied the example pics they post I agree with the conclusions (I often don't on that site but anyway).

Having shelled out a reasonable amount for a Sony compact 5 years back I have always enjoyed the excellent performance it has offered. But then I had (have) a top of the range prosumer cam. Both of my parents and my sister-in-law ended up getting lower level Sony's and they were dreadful - over saturated punchy colours, soft, smooth over-processed JPEG's. Ugh, I wouldn't have touched one if you paid me. Maybe they learned something in the years that followed because their entry into that list looks to be a good little camera and the pictures are far superior to some of the others. With a whole bunch of Sony MS already (our camcorder also uses them) it could be quite a good option for us. Must found out more about that Panasonic though - I keep hearing good things about Panasonic.

[teadaemon]

Nice pic TeaDaemon - Looks suspiciously like Fort Augustus to me!

It is indeed, we had a week on the Caledonian Canal for our honeymoon - it was very pleasant, but not somewhere I'd go back to again, as we didn't get very much sailing done (being in the bottom of a valley meant that the wind was always either dead astern or dead ahead, and in our case we had headwinds all week, so only got to sail when we made a special effort to go out on to one of the Lochs).

[pks1702]

More reading material

http://www.digicamreview.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/cameras_dig2008.html

[Guest]

Review of the Panasonic G1: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/panasonic-g1.shtml

[teadaemon]

Interesting... So did we! I can imagine wind being a problem. We had a cruiser (also from West Highland Sailing) but we did see a few yachts about and they didn't seem to be making a great deal of progress...

The wind was definitely a problem - if I were designing a pleasure yacht for the Caledonian Canal, I'd consider giving it a square sail, as there's no point in a more weatherly rig (in all probability it'd end up with a balanced lugsail, as I doubt that even I could be quite that antiquarian in my sensibilities). It'd also have an electric engine, to save bow-hauling it through the staircase locks (n.b. normal engines need to be switched off in the staircase locks to avoid giving everyone on the boats CO poisoning).

I did enjoy the week in Scotland, and it has to be said that the Caledonian Canal is by far the nicest bit of BW-controlled water I've boated on (though the Monmouth & Brecon Canal is also very pleasant, at least when it's in water). Having toilet/shower/laundry blocks at most of the free moorings (with keys available for free to every licenced boat) was an unusual (and very pleasant) change to the Broads, and I thought that the floating pontoon moorings worked very well, and could find a use on certain parts of the Broads as an alternative to piled bankside moorings - I know I'd prefer to wake up to a view of a reed bed next to my cabin window rather than a grotty bit of steel piling.