Hi there
Thought I'd post in this area of the forum, as not certain where to go for advice....
About me:
Spend a long time (20 years) mucking about with a Canon AE-1 and a bag of lenses and enjoying it.
converted to Digital a couple of years ago, and love the freedom to snap wildly - as I now have small kids, and getting good pictures is more about (in my view) grabbing the moment, rather than portraiture.
So.....
I'm looking to upgrade my current compact digtal camera, and wonder what forum would be a good place to ask...The equipment forum looks to be focused on "real gear" not compact cameras.
I have one "dumb question" - what's the pay off between more megapixes and optical zoom?
i.e. Zoom allows me to get close and "crop out" what I don't want. Well I do the same on my PC, it just gets "grainy" if I crop too much, but more megapixes seem to allow me to "crop more". Am I understanding right?
I don't ever "print posters" so resolution in itself only needs to do the A4 thing.
But I guess that I'd like to be able to take a picture, crop out more than half of it, and still get a decent image at A4....
So I could stick with 3x Zoom and have a 10MP camera?
Some seem to suggest that the bigger MP can give quality problems?
Maybe I should go for 5-7x zoom and lower MP?
In my mind speed is off the essence so I'm thinking of big MP as then I don't miss the moment "zooming", but can crop the image later - just as if I had "zoomed in".....but I wonder if I'm missing something.
In general my needs are (based on shortcomings of existing gear)
1: small - so I can carry it everywhere
2: fast start up - so I don't miss things
3: Fast/accurate autofocus - so the picture is sharp
4: some kind of "fast shutter speed" mode - so I can freeze the darting kids
5: ability (high MP or Zoom??) to crop out the good bit of a rapidly clicked shot.
6: good picture quality (!!)
7: Optical viewfinder (maybe) LCDs seem to be rubbish in bight light.
I'm not bothered about what I think are gimmicks
- face/smile detection etc
- Big screens on the camera, tough screens, I always load photo's onto the PC so the LCD on the camera is not very "interesting" - but see note on optical viewfinder above.
I'n summary I want a camera in my pocket i can whip out and take photo's fast, without missing the moment while it starts up, and focuses etc.
The photo's are not blurred due to focus or motion.
The photo's are of generally good quality
I can get "just the good bits" either with optical zoom, of high MPs.
Where might I go for help?
Thanks
Kev.
Thought I'd post in this area of the forum, as not certain where to go for advice....
About me:
Spend a long time (20 years) mucking about with a Canon AE-1 and a bag of lenses and enjoying it.
converted to Digital a couple of years ago, and love the freedom to snap wildly - as I now have small kids, and getting good pictures is more about (in my view) grabbing the moment, rather than portraiture.
So.....
I'm looking to upgrade my current compact digtal camera, and wonder what forum would be a good place to ask...The equipment forum looks to be focused on "real gear" not compact cameras.
I have one "dumb question" - what's the pay off between more megapixes and optical zoom?
i.e. Zoom allows me to get close and "crop out" what I don't want. Well I do the same on my PC, it just gets "grainy" if I crop too much, but more megapixes seem to allow me to "crop more". Am I understanding right?
I don't ever "print posters" so resolution in itself only needs to do the A4 thing.
But I guess that I'd like to be able to take a picture, crop out more than half of it, and still get a decent image at A4....
So I could stick with 3x Zoom and have a 10MP camera?
Some seem to suggest that the bigger MP can give quality problems?
Maybe I should go for 5-7x zoom and lower MP?
In my mind speed is off the essence so I'm thinking of big MP as then I don't miss the moment "zooming", but can crop the image later - just as if I had "zoomed in".....but I wonder if I'm missing something.
In general my needs are (based on shortcomings of existing gear)
1: small - so I can carry it everywhere
2: fast start up - so I don't miss things
3: Fast/accurate autofocus - so the picture is sharp
4: some kind of "fast shutter speed" mode - so I can freeze the darting kids
5: ability (high MP or Zoom??) to crop out the good bit of a rapidly clicked shot.
6: good picture quality (!!)
7: Optical viewfinder (maybe) LCDs seem to be rubbish in bight light.
I'm not bothered about what I think are gimmicks
- face/smile detection etc
- Big screens on the camera, tough screens, I always load photo's onto the PC so the LCD on the camera is not very "interesting" - but see note on optical viewfinder above.
I'n summary I want a camera in my pocket i can whip out and take photo's fast, without missing the moment while it starts up, and focuses etc.
The photo's are not blurred due to focus or motion.
The photo's are of generally good quality
I can get "just the good bits" either with optical zoom, of high MPs.
Where might I go for help?
Thanks
Kev.
