Off topic but I can not find a site for photography.
Intend to buy a new digital camera,
question is 1. buy the maximum pixels and ignore the optical zoom or
2. go for the average pixels with the maximum zoom.
Any opinions?


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Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

In message
ilgate.org, Maurice
Hood writes
Off topic but I can not find a site for photography.
Intend to buy a new digital camera,
question is 1. buy the maximum pixels and ignore the optical zoom or
2. go for the average pixels with the maximum zoom.
Any opinions?

It depends on what you want to use the camera for. If it's for
snapshots, then a 2Mpx is sufficient. If you want to (even occasionally)
print 8x10s (or even 10x12s) then you should be looking at 5Mpx or
higher.

IMO the issue regarding zoom on digital still cameras is the same as
that on video camcorders. High zoom settings do need the camera to be
tripod mounted.

Where I've found an issue with digital still cameras, is the wide angle
end of the zoom range (no matter how great the available zoom range is).
This is one of the of the several reasons why I went for the Sony F88
which allowed me to buy a matched 0.5 wide-angle attachment. This camera
also gave me 5.1Mpx, allowing me to print out to A4 while keeping the
image razor-sharp.

--
Tony Morgan

"Maurice Hood" wrote in message
news:a6f11b417b57375ab813114bdaa937fb.126261@mygat e.mailgate.org...
Off topic but I can not find a site for photography.
Intend to buy a new digital camera, snip

Strange enough, if you read the Charter, discussion of digital
photography (more to the point, equipment) is more on topic than any
discussions regarding DVD's !...

Such was the master mind (not) who wrote and RFD the creation of the
group.

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 19:04:59 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Off topic but I can not find a site for photography.
Intend to buy a new digital camera,
question is 1. buy the maximum pixels and ignore the optical zoom or
2. go for the average pixels with the maximum zoom.
Any opinions?

Lots of pixels are good. An optical zoom is good. It isn't an
either/or.

In message , Laurence Payne
writes
On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 19:04:59 +0000 (UTC), "Maurice Hood"
wrote:

Off topic but I can not find a site for photography.
Intend to buy a new digital camera,
question is 1. buy the maximum pixels and ignore the optical zoom or
2. go for the average pixels with the maximum zoom.
Any opinions?

Lots of pixels are good. An optical zoom is good. It isn't an
either/or.

It usually is if someone is buying on a budget. I'd suggest that most
people are.
--
Tony Morgan

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 22:20:50 +0100, Tony Morgan
wrote:

Lots of pixels are good. An optical zoom is good. It isn't an
either/or.

It usually is if someone is buying on a budget. I'd suggest that most
people are.

So which would you suggest he goes for?

"Laurence Payne" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 22:20:50 +0100, Tony Morgan
wrote:

Lots of pixels are good. An optical zoom is good. It isn't an
either/or.

It usually is if someone is buying on a budget. I'd suggest that most
people are.

So which would you suggest he goes for?

Canon a 95 While there still around at about £200

In message , Laurence Payne
writes
On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 22:20:50 +0100, Tony Morgan
wrote:

Lots of pixels are good. An optical zoom is good. It isn't an
either/or.

It usually is if someone is buying on a budget. I'd suggest that most
people are.

So which would you suggest he goes for?

As I've already pointed out - it depends on what he wants to use the
camera for, snapshots or large prints.
--
Tony Morgan

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 23:41:36 +0100, Tony Morgan
wrote:

So which would you suggest he goes for?

As I've already pointed out - it depends on what he wants to use the
camera for, snapshots or large prints.

I mean which fixed focal-length high pixel camera, which low pixel
camera with an excellent optical zoom?

In message , Laurence Payne
writes
On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 23:41:36 +0100, Tony Morgan
wrote:

So which would you suggest he goes for?

As I've already pointed out - it depends on what he wants to use the
camera for, snapshots or large prints.

I mean which fixed focal-length high pixel camera,

AFAIK there is no such digital camera. Again AFAIK all high-pixel
digital cameras have at least a 3x zoom. But the ones with high-pixel
and the higher zoom ranges carry a not inconsiderable cost premium. They
also tend to be larger in size.

which low pixel
camera with an excellent optical zoom?

If you mean "high" by "excellent" then again, AFAIK there is no such
digital camera (at least of those currently available).

If you do know different then I'll stand corrected.

There are good (objective) reviews of most digital still cameras on the
market he
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/allreviews.php
and he
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

IMO there are other factors to consider. Size; I'm already humping about
a camcorder so I wanted something that will go in my breast pocket. I
also wanted something that my wife could pick up and immediately use
without knowing about shutter speed, aperture, focussing etc - but which
would allow me have a reasonable amount of overrides from the "fully
auto" mode. Another factor for me was the use of memory stick since I
already have a number of these collected for my camcorder. One thing
digital camera purchasers sometimes fail to consider is the need to buy
(expensive) memory devices. The higher the camera pixels, the more it
costs - especially if you want to take your digital camera away with you
on holiday.

I'm not evading your questions Laurence, just making the point that
there are a *lot" of factors to consider other than the pixel/zoom
issue.

--
Tony Morgan
http://www.camcord.info