PHOTOGRAPHIC THREADS: camera queries, any photo tech stuff!

[Anthony Darby]

There's even a wee village called New York!

[ranunculus]

.....And I knew two carpenters from Doncaster called Rocky who were at their peak...........Enough, enough, let me away......

[Lesley Cox]

What? You're still here Cliff? You'll be home before you've gone at this rate

Whatever do you mean David? I've been 39 for the last 25 years

[Hans J]

Hi all ,

here are the first pics with my new digital camera ( Nikon D50 ) - it was much easier that I guess !
I got the camera yesterday .....and now I must learn a lot .....

Greetings
Hans

[Lesley Cox]

A very nice first batch Hans

[Hans J]

Hi Lesley ,

Thank you for the compliment

Here is a picture special for you :
Hemerocallis 'Apricot Angel'

Greetings
Hans

[mark smyth]

7 day shop are now have stock of Canon camera and accessories tax free from Guernsey
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?r=CB2&cat=1&type=1010&man=8&filterwords=eos+or+%22canon+ef%22&filterwordsalldb=1&go=SEARCH&comp=

[Susan Band]

Perth Group are planning to splash out on a digital projecter funded by a legacy left by one of our members.
The one I am looking at at present is the Canon LV-7260 Projector £692 +vat. My reasons are that it meets all our specs. and since Canon specialise in photo equipment I persume they are looking at it from this angle rather than home cinema/office perpective. It is the one most often stocked in Photography shops - is this a clue?
Has anyone had experience with this make/model good or bad?
susan

[Anthony Darby]

I have a Canon LV-S3 in my classroom. I think it is the oldest (and best) one the science dept in our school has. It is very good with zoom and freeze facilities.

[mark smyth]

I bought a new camera yesterday from 7 Day Shop. It's the 10 megapixel Canon Ixus 900Ti. £112 off recommended price
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_Camera/IXUS/Digital_IXUS_900_Ti/index.asp

[mark smyth]

Someone asked me tonight if I could give a lecture using moving images ie from a digital camcorder. Sounds like a great idea that while I'm blabbing the flower/s are 'live'.

The questions are
Can it be done?
What software do I need?
what else do I need?
Most important ....

Can you recommend a digital camcorder?

[TC]

Mark

I have been using a digital camcorder for about 6 years.  They are all much the same.  As with all things photographic it is safer to stick with the known manufacturers such as Sony, JVC and Canon.  There are two types of recording medium available-  mini DVD tapes and mini discs.  Of the two, the DVD tapes are probably better although not as convenient.
You would expect to pay about £400 for a top quality model.  The next step is to download the tape onto your PC.  An editing suite is required, Pinnacle is a simple suitable one.  Then you have to burn this to a DVD.  The software will probably be on your PC already,although DVD editing suites incorporate this.  Now we come to the expensive bit !!
You will need a projector and a laptop computer - we are talking about £400 minimum for a laptop and at least £500 for the projector.  So, you are talking about an outlay of nearly £1500.  Unless you are really serious about going into film making, I would forget it.  Another point I would make is that your PC has to be pretty powerful to cope with the demands of editing.  You are talking about 12Gb of storage space per 1 hour tape.  To work efficiently, you will need 1 Gb oF RAM to deal with the demands on the system and it can take up to 5 hours to complete the editing and burn it onto a disc.  You will be spending chunks of your life in front of a computer.
I have yet to burn a tape onto a disc as my computer keeps crashing under the demands placed on it.  From a more optimistic view, you can easily show the tapes on a standard TV.
I have used my camcorder to record my grandchildren and for recording wildlife in S. Africa, India, N.Zealand etc.
For every 1 hour of tape used, I could junk half of this as being jerky, out of focus or some other fault.  It requires a completely different technique to still photography.  It can look great when you get it right  -  I have recorded walks around Benmore, Branklyn, Kirstenbosch gardens and a few others that bring a feeling of immediacy but, in doing so, I saw nothing but a 1" screen most of the time I was there!

[mark smyth]

I have a projector and laptop. I see on Amazon there is now a camcorder with a 30GB hard drive inside

[TC]

Mark

I am sorry but I don't know much about the "newer" technologies in Digital camcorders.  All I can say from experience is that DVD tape mechanisms are fairly robust - hard drives are not.  They have to spin at impressive speeds and can easily be damaged by jolts and knocks.  I cannot see any real advantage of a 30Gb. disc in the field unless you want to continually record for a couple of hours non-stop, in which case your battery would probably give out. In the few articles I have read on mini disc DVD cameras the two minus points quoted were lesser picture quality than tape due to compression of detail and a lack of robustness with the recording mechanism.
I would suggest that you look at a few of the monthly magazines dedicated to camcorders and feel the water before making a possibly expensive mistake.
Regardless of the camera chosen, you will still need to edit the final results from the camcorder.  There is nothing more soul destroying than to sit through a film show of badly exposed, jerky and out of focus pictures.  As I said already, a good lot of your footage will be poor.  I think you would be amazed to know how much is filmed in the BBC Wildlife programs to give 1 hour of quality pictures.
However, don't be put off if you really want to do it.  When you get it right, it looks great.  I would put one caveat, films look good when there is movement and sound.  By and large, plants don't move.

[mark smyth]

7 Day Shop have some brilliant bargains in memory today that are too good to miss
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=6&type=0&man=0&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp=
SD 1GB from £6.50
SD 2GB from £11.50
CF 1GB from £7.25
CF 2GB from £12.50