Anybody know about cameras?

P

PoorOldSpike

Guest
I've entered the Ostfront scale model competition-
http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgm...cial-FGM-Matrix-Games-Scale-Model-Competition

but I've just remembered I haven't got a proper camera to take highly-detailed close ups of my creation for the judges, it's just a cheap disposable cam with a fixed minimum focus of about 3 feet, so i'll have to buy a new one if the cost isn't too much.
I don't know anything about cams, but how much would one cost that'll focus down to about 6 inches?
What about digital cams, are they any good and can they do close ups?
Are there any other sorts of cameras out there?
 
Yes, they are good ! And a good one doesn't have to cost much. You can make very good close-ups (macro) with even a compact camera. You don't need a zillion pixel camera but it is already hard to get one with less then 10 megapixels. Older models with "only" 6 or 8 are by far sufficient and wil cost less. We've got a Panasonic Lumix. They make good digital camera's for a good price. But there are more good brands. Google for "steves digicams" great website about digital camera's. You should be able to buy what you need for a maximum of € 150,-
 
Don't know how you feel about ebay Spike, but here's a couple of UK sellers that are offering "Buy it now" digital cams for $40+/-. "Buy it now" means basically no farting around with an auction, just being able to buy it right away with Paypal.

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$37.97 The samsung camera (10 Mpixels) is refurbed with 12 month warrantee,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SAMSUNG-S1060-DIGITAL-CAMERA-10MP-5X-OPT-ZOOM-/280534563842?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item415129bc02

$39.99 The Kodak (8.2 Mpixels) New, never opened, in box

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KODAK-C140-8-2MP-DIGITAL-CAMERA-SILVER-DEAL-NEW-/350390027746?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item5194df85e2

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They're both top UK sellers, with 99%+ positive rating and 19-20 previous sales of the same item, so you can be pretty sure they're legit... The second seller has 850 of the same camera available, so that's pretty serious business. Plus the fact that they're UK sellers makes post that much easier, cheaper and faster for you.

This caught my eye in the description for the second camera, the Kodak:
20 scene modes including portrait, night portrait, landscape, night landscape, sport, snow, beach, text, backlight, museum/manner, fireworks, high ISO, children, flower, self-portrait, sunset, close up, candlelight and blur reduction.
Click to expand...

That sounds exactly like what you need... A preset "Close-up" button that automatically transmogrifies your camera for shooting at ultra close ranges... I got the same magic button with my cam, does the trick.

If I were you, I'd pay the extra 2 quid, and go for the Kodak.
 
Thanks guys but before buying off the net I might as well nip in town to see if the cam shops have got anything first, i'll stress to them i need one for tight close ups..:)
 
Okay thanks guys, I went in town and bought a General Electric GE A1250 for 70 GBP (108 USD), I could have got something cheaper but I went with the theory that more cash means there's more chance it's better. Now I've just got to work out what all the buttons and dials are for, ha ha..:)
(PS-I lurv Betty, a bird with brains!)

 
Looks pretty slick, should do the trick nicely.

Good point made in the vid though, make sure you select "Best" quality for your pics, plus use the "Close Up" scene or whatever it may be called..

Nice buy!
 
Yeah i've still got to find all the best buttons but in the meantime I just pointed it at my bookshelf, clicked the shutter and hoped for the best, it seems to have come out alright..:)

bookshelf.jpg
 
Yeah the zoom seems to work fine too, here's a pic I just took of 'Moffo', he's only 4 inches tall.. :) (remote gives an idea of scale)

mofo.jpg
 
Yeah they're miracles of micro-engineering, I'm amazed at how it auto-focuses and auto-apertures without needing any manual input, maybe it uses some kind of infra-red detector, I dunno.
And if I run my hand in front of it, I swear I can feel a slight warmth unless I'm imagining it (microwave radiation?), we're in spooky space age technology here..
I'm looking forward to testing it out in daylight and getting some nice longrange max-zoom sniper shots of unsuspecting women tourists on the seafront..
 
Haven't been out yet but I just took these 2 shots of a calm dawn breaking from my window, I wouldn't clutter up this forum with them except for the fact that some people might be considering buying a digicam to get pics at air displays, tank rallies and beer festivals etc, so this shows what digicams can do and I'm quite impressed.
The cam seems to realise I'm not a photography expert and it makes most of the adjustments for me, bless it's little computerised heart..:)
(PS- the big grey building in the left foreground is The Island House where the Pilgrim Fathers spent the night before setting sail to take over America)

No zoom-
no-zoom.jpg








Full zoom-
fullnormzoom.jpg







This one below is not a new pic, it's simply a portion of the pic above which I cut out and enlarged with the Irfanview imaging prog to take the zoom one step further.
(I'll have a crack at the full moon next time it puts in an appearance)
Irfan-zoom.jpg
 
Von Reich said:
What I'm really amazed of is your view.
I was stationed in Germany and I love to travel. I used every 3 or 4 day vacation to visit European cities.
Being from the U.S.... the fact that you live this kind of place everyday is amazing to me.
Click to expand...

Regrettably the photos above give a false impression of peace and serenity and I'm sure many people who visit the area to soak up the olde worlde tranquility are disappointed to find there's so much noise and bustle from heavy traffic and hordes of tourists that they can't think straight, it's as bad as Trafalgar Square!

This is how the area was in the past, not a tourist coach in sight..:)
The blue arrow indicates my place, or to be more exact the place that stood there before my place was built on the spot. At one time it used to be an old inn called The Welchman's Arms.
(PS- note the seagulls bobbing on the water, they're the forebears of the 3 airborne ones in my no-zoom pic above)

PilgFathersmyplace.jpg
 
Tested it out today,hot sultry Plymouth Saturday afternoon-
Ply-westHoe.jpg
 
More tests-

The one on the right'll have to give up smoking or she's got no chance with me..

plyP.jpg





Her on the left could do with a boob job but the other one is just my type, homely, cuddly, with a pelvis a guy could get lost in forever and I bet she can cook, I'd invite her back to my place to do us a fry-up if I was 30 years younger..
plyN.jpg






She's more my age group but I dunno what she sees in him, no real man wears a silver chain round his neck..
plyJ.jpg






Not a bad selection here but it's a pity blondes ain't got no brains..
Plydial.jpg
 
Fantastic panoramic first shot, but you might be weirding out those tourists.:eek:hwell:

Case in point, I think the lady in the foreground is flipping you the bird. :)

Plydial.jpg
 
Mikey said:
..I think the lady in the foreground is flipping you the bird. :)
Click to expand...

Drat I missed that, but it just goes to show what i said about blondes not having any brains, I mean no dame in their right mind would give me the brushoff and miss out on what I can offer her; eg a trip on the Orient Express, weekend breaks in Paris, Caribbean cruises etc, as well as quiet evenings at home together doing the exciting things men and women do such as scrabble, monopoly, ludo, snakes and ladders..
 
hedgehog(FGM) said:
I would say with the views from your Flat you don't need to go on Holiday, Lovely place to live..
I bought a touch screen camera, looks good, problem is taking pictures in the open on a Bright day, if there is know view finder you can't see what you are taking..
Click to expand...

Yeah I had the same problem, the bright sun made the LCD viewfinder screen hard to see, I'd much prefer an oldfashioned viewfinder that you can look through, you'd think they'd build one in so people can have the choice of which viewfinder to use, but I think the digicam manufacturers are obsessed with making their cams as small as possible and a proper viewfinder would mean making the cam bigger.
Personally I wouldn't mind a slightly bigger cam, they're too small and poncey anyway.
Plymouth's okay to live in but there's no glorious sandy beach, just useless rocks, so if I want a proper beach I'd have to go somewhere abroad but I hate travelling and haven't even been out of Plymouth for 5 years.
 
Here is a tip for you. When you are taking pictures of your miniatures or small objects, use peace of white paper as background, like on this picture:
photo-tips-1.jpg
 
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