Digital camera NG ?

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person Mike <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn
more about the cameras.

rec.photo.digital??

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GSV Three Minds in a Can
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GSV Three Minds in a Can said:

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person Mike <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn
more about the cameras.

rec.photo.digital??

alt.photography is also very digitally biased

Brian

In Article <[email hidden]>,Mike

Quoted message said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn
more about the cameras.

They're mostly a PITA unfortunately. 90% trolling and nonsense.
Have a look at www.dpreview.com and www.luminous-landscape.com instead.

Or you could always just stay here :-)

Regards,
Richard G.

Richard G. said:

They're mostly a PITA unfortunately. 90% trolling and nonsense.
Have a look at www.dpreview.com and www.luminous-landscape.com instead.

dpreview.com has a good number of forums which I've found to be very
useful. Product reviews are also very comprehensive there.

--
Jonathan Stott
Canterbury Weather: http://www.canterburyweather.co.uk/
Reverse my e-mail address to reply by e-mail

On 13/10/05 19:20, in article [email hidden],

Mike said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn
more about the cameras.

Take my advice. Buy a good book instead - go to google or Amazon. There used
to be a really good book about SKR photography by John Heathcote (I think
that was his name). He has now morphed this into Digital Photography. A good
book like this will have all of the theory in it you need. People in
newsgroups are just too weird and opinionated! Get a good reference book.

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:20:36 +0100, Mike burbled:

Quoted message said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn more
about the cameras.

You probably don't need a NG - those are for *arguing* about cameras! ;-)

Just make a list of the facilities that you feel are the most important in
a camera for your required purpose. Then go shopping.

A couple of points:

Digitals are heavy on batteries. Budget for a decent charger and at least
one spare set of batteries. Get a camera that can also use Lithium
batteries - they are expensive but have a shelf life of 10+ years and will
work down to insanely cold temperatures. Very handy as standbys or for
winter outings below 0C, where other cells start to give up or lose
capacity.

Digital zoom isn't worth the paper that the glossy leaflet is printed on.
You can do a better job on the computer when you get back. If you want
zoom (recommended) then go for optical zoom up to 3x or 4x (you need a
tripod for any more than that).

Personally, I chose a camera for backpacking that would (more or less in
this order)
a) fit in a pocket easily (i.e. not bulky or a funny shape)
b) had optical zoom
c) ran off 2 AA cells (I like to standardise on AAs & 2 cells is less
bulky than 4)
d) had CF cards for storage (they are chunky enough not to
lose too easily!)
e) took reasonable pictures
f) had a screw tripod mount - just in case I wanted to use one

Note that I deliberately didn't choose it primarily for picture quality!
It is far more important to me that it is easy to carry. A bulky or heavy
camera would get left at home.

--
Mick
(no M$ software on here... :-) )
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Web: http://projectedsound.tk

Bitstring <BF74A2A0.465DD%andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk>, from
the wonderful person Andy Howell
<andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk.?.invalid> said

Quoted message said:

On 13/10/05 19:20, in article [email hidden],

Mike said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn
more about the cameras.

Take my advice. Buy a good book instead - go to google or Amazon. There used
to be a really good book about SKR photography by John Heathcote (I think
that was his name). He has now morphed this into Digital Photography. A good
book like this will have all of the theory in it you need. People in
newsgroups are just too weird and opinionated! Get a good reference book.

Trouble with reference books (on high tech stuff) is they date fast. If
you want actual modern equipment reviews you need Usenet, Forums, or web
pages .. a camera released yesterday won't be in any reference book for
probably a year or more (by which time it'll be obsolete).

Reference books are good for 'basic technology' (what's a CCD, how does
it work), or techniques.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person mick <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:20:36 +0100, Mike burbled:

Quoted message said:

Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn more
about the cameras.

You probably don't need a NG - those are for *arguing* about cameras! ;-)

Just make a list of the facilities that you feel are the most important in
a camera for your required purpose. Then go shopping.

A couple of points:

Digitals are heavy on batteries. Budget for a decent charger and at least
one spare set of batteries. Get a camera that can also use Lithium
batteries - they are expensive but have a shelf life of 10+ years and will
work down to insanely cold temperatures. Very handy as standbys or for
winter outings below 0C, where other cells start to give up or lose
capacity.

True.

Quoted message said:

Digital zoom isn't worth the paper that the glossy leaflet is printed on.
You can do a better job on the computer when you get back.

True

Quoted message said:

If you want
zoom (recommended) then go for optical zoom up to 3x or 4x (you need a
tripod for any more than that).

Nope, my Olympus UZ-2100 is hand-holdable at 10x zoom (see my website ..
www.quik.clara.co.uk, front page), but then it is image stabilized. It
is, however, WAY too big to tote around on an 'every trip' basis.

Quoted message said:

Personally, I chose a camera for backpacking that would (more or less in
this order)
a) fit in a pocket easily (i.e. not bulky or a funny shape)
b) had optical zoom
c) ran off 2 AA cells (I like to standardise on AAs & 2 cells is less
bulky than 4)
d) had CF cards for storage (they are chunky enough not to
lose too easily!)
e) took reasonable pictures
f) had a screw tripod mount - just in case I wanted to use one

Note that I deliberately didn't choose it primarily for picture quality!
It is far more important to me that it is easy to carry. A bulky or heavy
camera would get left at home.

True .. unless you already know you want to take photos when you leave
home (like someplace you've been before, or if you are going out to
stalk wildlife .. in which case even toting a real tripod is not
impossible (although they make lousy walking poles).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 10:45:59 +0100, GSV Three Minds in a Can burbled:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Trouble with reference books (on high tech stuff) is they date fast. If
you want actual modern equipment reviews you need Usenet, Forums, or web
pages .. a camera released yesterday won't be in any reference book for
probably a year or more (by which time it'll be obsolete).

Reference books are good for 'basic technology' (what's a CCD, how does it
work), or techniques.

Very true.

If the OP wants a good, general purpose digital photography book I can
recommend "digital photographer's handbook" by Tom Ang, ISBN 0-7513-3679-3.
It has a cover price of 25 quid, but should be available for less - a
revised edition has just been released and that will probably still be 25
notes. It covers just about all aspects of digital photography, including
photo processing on the PC.

--
Mick
(no M$ software on here... :-) )
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Web: http://projectedsound.tk

Jonathan Stott said:

Richard G. said:

They're mostly a PITA unfortunately. 90% trolling and nonsense.
Have a look at www.dpreview.com and www.luminous-landscape.com instead.

dpreview.com has a good number of forums which I've found to be very
useful. Product reviews are also very comprehensive there.

Seconded. Luminous Landscape is also a fine site, you may also want to look
at www.photo.net

mick said:

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 10:45:59 +0100, GSV Three Minds in a Can burbled:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Trouble with reference books (on high tech stuff) is they date fast. If
you want actual modern equipment reviews you need Usenet, Forums, or web
pages .. a camera released yesterday won't be in any reference book for
probably a year or more (by which time it'll be obsolete).

Reference books are good for 'basic technology' (what's a CCD, how does it
work), or techniques.

Very true.

If the OP wants a good, general purpose digital photography book I can
recommend "digital photographer's handbook" by Tom Ang, ISBN 0-7513-3679-3.
It has a cover price of 25 quid, but should be available for less - a
revised edition has just been released and that will probably still be 25
notes. It covers just about all aspects of digital photography, including
photo processing on the PC.

I'll make an odd suggestion - get The Negative by Ansel Adams and read that
too - a main library should have it as it is a film only book and probably
not worth buying. It does explain the Zone system and is invaluable for
teaching how to expose images and these are just as relevant to a digital
camera as they are to an emulsion film camera.

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:08:02 +0100, Richard G. <[email hidden]>
wrote:

... >In Article <[email hidden]>,Mike
... ><[email hidden]> wrote:
... >
... >>Can some nice person reccomend a good digital NG, as I want to learn
... >>more about the cameras.
... >
... >They're mostly a PITA unfortunately. 90% trolling and nonsense.
... >Have a look at www.dpreview.com and www.luminous-landscape.com instead.
... >
... >Or you could always just stay here :-)
... >
... >Regards,
... >Richard G.

Well to be honest I have been lurking here since 1994 and used to be
quite prolific with my contributions ... even a bit of walking related
poetry!

Mike

On 14/10/05 10:45, in article [email hidden], "GSV Three

Minds in a Can said:

Trouble with reference books (on high tech stuff) is they date fast. If
you want actual modern equipment reviews you need Usenet, Forums, or web
pages .. a camera released yesterday won't be in any reference book for
probably a year or more (by which time it'll be obsolete).

You DON'T want something that focuses on technology. You do want something
that properly explains photographic techniques and exposure. These should
never go out of date!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

Bitstring <BF77EE74.4665D%andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk>, from
the wonderful person Andy Howell
<andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk.?.invalid> said

Quoted message said:

On 14/10/05 10:45, in article [email hidden], "GSV Three

Minds in a Can said:

Trouble with reference books (on high tech stuff) is they date fast. If
you want actual modern equipment reviews you need Usenet, Forums, or web
pages .. a camera released yesterday won't be in any reference book for
probably a year or more (by which time it'll be obsolete).

You DON'T want something that focuses on technology. You do want something
that properly explains photographic techniques and exposure. These should
never go out of date!

How do you know what I, or the OP, want?? If I'm reading camera reviews
that blather on about digital zoom, dark currents, and anti-aliasing,
it's actually quite handy to have a reference that tells you what they
are.

Yes, a photographic techniques book is useful too, but more so after
you've bought a camera. And the techniques haven't changed much from
film days (unless we are talking digital processing techniques).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 12:22:54 +0100, GSV Three Minds in a Can burbled:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

How do you know what I, or the OP, want?? If I'm reading camera reviews
that blather on about digital zoom, dark currents, and anti-aliasing, it's
actually quite handy to have a reference that tells you what they are.

The OP didn't actually specify what he wanted apart from the name of a
suitable newsgroup!

Quoted message said:

Yes, a photographic techniques book is useful too, but more so after
you've bought a camera. And the techniques haven't changed much from film
days (unless we are talking digital processing techniques).

Can I get away with being so OT? ;-)

Erm... maybe... A digital camera techniques book can be handy in choosing
an initial camera. As a minimum a book will tend to point out the basic
issues of restricted flash power, short battery life, large depth of field
and digital vs. optical zoom. This will help in choosing the right camera.

OTOH camera reviews of any kind are often almost meaningless to a newcomer
to photography. Even if the potential owner has experience of film
cameras, digital cameras are sufficiently different to be almost a
different device which, confusingly, has some functions in common with the
device that they know.

Of course, you can always take a photography book along on the next
walk/camping trip... (Oh look! It went back on topic all by itself!)

--
Mick
(no M$ software on here... :-) )
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Web: http://projectedsound.tk

GSV Three Minds in a Can said:

How do you know what I, or the OP, want??

One of the meanings of 'want' is as a synonym for 'need' ;-p

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