Best Coolpix for HD and low light too?
in [Digital Cameras]
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From: Jane Galt on 17 Jun 2010 16:33 "Neil Harrington" <nobody(a)homehere.net> wrote : > > "Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message > news:Xns9D9A1096BC232JaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >> "Neil Harrington" <nobody(a)homehere.net> wrote : >> >>> >>> "Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message >>> news:Xns9D9687834354EJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >>>> I'd like to consider a newer purse sized Coolpix. I have the 4500 >>>> which is nice, but not exactly purse sized. >>>> >>>> I like to do a bit of low-light shooting without flash, so it looks >>>> like the >>>> S8000 isnt up to that, though the 10x optical zoom sounds nice. >>>> >>>> I enjoy mostly scenery and non-flash shots of our shoulder pet birds. >>>> >>>> My purse cam is now a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S750 but the image quality >>>> isnt as >>>> nice as the Coolpix. I suspect Nikon makes better quality lenses? >>>> >>>> So suggestions? >>>> >>>> I need to keep this in the under $300 street price range. >>> >>> Of the current crop of Coolpixes, the S640 looks about the best for >>> your purposes. Its lens is a relatively fast f/2.7 at the short end >>> and it also has Nikon's "4-way VR" -- both of which will help in >>> low-light shooting. The "4-way VR" is actually a combination of >>> optional features and includes Nikon's exclusive Best Shot Selector >>> feature, by itself a big help in low-light shooting (BSS lets you hold >>> the shutter release down for up to 10 shots, then saves the sharpest >>> one; since slow-shutter-speed shots usually vary a lot in sharpness, >>> this helps a great deal). Also part of the "4-way VR" is the camera's >>> offering auto ISO settings up to 6400 -- great for low light, though >>> at the cost of increased noise. I have found high-ISO settings very >>> useful in Coolpixes despite the increased noise, but I may be more >>> tolerant of noise in photos than some other people. >>> >>> I don't have that particular model myself so can't speak about it from >>> experience, but I do have a gaggle of other relatively recent >>> Coolpixes and have consistently fine results from them all. The S640 >>> has a MSRP of $219.95, so street price should certainly be no more >>> than that. And it is very compact -- no problem at all for your purse, >>> you could carry two or three there if you wanted to. >> >> Before coming back here to see this, I've been loking around, and am >> very tempted by the Powershot SD4000IS now, except for the price. Whew. >> Then the >> Coolpix S8000 is PHAT too. <sigh> What to do, what to do.... > > Buy one of each? :-) ROFLMAO If only... > The S8000's lens is just over 2/3 stop slower (f/3.5 vs f/2.7 of the > S640), which gives the S640 a slight advantage in low-light shooting, > all else being equal. Also the S8000 does not have quite the wide-angle > capability of the S640 (30mm equiv. vs 28mm), which might be of some > importance to you since you've mentioned your interest in scenery. These > are reasons I suggested the S640 as being perhaps the best choice for > your purposes. The S640 doesnt get such great reviews on Amazon, though not many reviews there. Dont see anything about high def stills or movies either. Most of what I want to do is either scenery or my pet birds, or combinations thereof. ( I take one of my parrots out for walks in parks, on a leash ) I'd also wish for a polarizing filter for any of these but am not sure if they can do that. Makes a big diff in scenic shots. Frankly I'd love a $3000 Nikon DSLR but it's like with guns. They say that the smaller gun you can carry is better than the bigger gun that you have to wind up leaving at home. Same with this. If it fits my purse, I have it in a snap. <pun> If it's baggage, I probably would leave it at home most of the time, then I'd miss something like that video of Congressman ( Thug ) Bob Etheridge if I saw something like that going on. :-) > Yes, the 10x zoom is nice, provided it works well. I had (very briefly) > a Coolpix S10 which also had a 10x zoom, nice lens except for its > horribly unreliable autofocus at the longer focal lengths, which made it > practically useless. I promptly returned it for that reason, the only > Coolpix I have ever returned. Of course that doesn't mean the S8000 has > a similar problem, but it did tend to make me leery of superzoom lenses > in very small cameras. > > Other than that, the S8000 has what advantages? It's a 14-megapixel > camera instead of the S640's 12, but the 12 is already cramming far too > many pixels into such a tiny sensor as far as I'm concerned. I have > Coolpixes in 8, 10, 12 and 14 megapixels -- and I routinely set them all > to 5 megapixels. The Great Megapixel Race serves no purpose as far as I > can see except to help manufacturers sell more cameras to people who > think their pictures aren't sharp because they don't have enough > megapixels. True. Well now that I have a HD 24" LCD monitor ( Asus VK246H ) and HDTV at home, I'm really enjoying true HD, so it would be awesome to be able to take full HD photos and video and see them on these at home, even as wallpaper. -- - Jane Galt
From: tony cooper on 17 Jun 2010 16:34 On Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:06:48 -0500, Jane Galt <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote: >tony cooper <tony_cooper213(a)earthlink.net> wrote : > >> On Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:50:08 +0100, "David J Taylor" >><david-taylor(a)blueyonder.co.uk.invalid> wrote: >> >>>"Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message >>>news:Xns9D9A179C458ABJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >>>> Looking some more, the S90 is also tempting, so it's between the >>>> >>>> S90 $350 >>>> S8000 $250 >>>> and SD4000IS $350 >>>> >>>> It would stretch the budget for the more expensive two ( $350 street >>>> price ) >>>> if it would bring $100 more joy to my shooting, but what's a credit >card >>>> for? >>>> :) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> - Jane Galt >>> >>>If you're paying that much you might as well get a DSLR - the larger >>>sensor will make for better low-light performance. >>> >> Jane specified in her first post that she wanted a "purse-sized" >> camera. No dslr is truly purse-sized. >> >> I can see why someone wants a pocket-sized or purse-sized camera to >> carry around. There are times you want to have a camera available but >> not carry around a large dslr. > >Exactly. I'd love to have a nice Nikon DSLR, so I could have a polarizing >lens and all, but it IS for my purse and I already have a bunch of stuff in >there, including the XD-45 ACP, so it's already pretty full and slightly >heavy. ;-) I just hope you remember to draw the right one out of your purse when you want to shoot something. -- Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
From: Jane Galt on 17 Jun 2010 20:11 tony cooper <tony_cooper213(a)earthlink.net> wrote : >>Exactly. I'd love to have a nice Nikon DSLR, so I could have a >>polarizing lens and all, but it IS for my purse and I already have a >>bunch of stuff in there, including the XD-45 ACP, so it's already pretty >>full and slightly heavy. ;-) > > I just hope you remember to draw the right one out of your purse when > you want to shoot something. Yes, the appropriate one for the task at hand. :) When you choose to carry, it's not the kind of thing you take lightly, or "forget". -- - Jane Galt
From: David J Taylor on 18 Jun 2010 03:24 "Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message news:Xns9D9A941408A5BJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... [] > True. Well now that I have a HD 24" LCD monitor ( Asus VK246H ) and HDTV > at > home, I'm really enjoying true HD, so it would be awesome to be able to > take full HD photos and video and see them on these at home, even as > wallpaper. You do know that "full HD", and your monitor, are only about 2MP, I presume? Cheers, David
From: Peter on 18 Jun 2010 07:05
"Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message news:Xns9D9A921EB901FJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... > "Neil Harrington" <nobody(a)homehere.net> wrote : > >> >> "Jane Galt" <Jane_G(a)gulch.xyz> wrote in message >> news:Xns9D9A179C458ABJaneGgulchxyz(a)216.196.97.142... >>> Looking some more, the S90 is also tempting, so it's between the >>> >>> S90 $350 >>> S8000 $250 >>> and SD4000IS $350 >>> >>> It would stretch the budget for the more expensive two ( $350 street >>> price ) >>> if it would bring $100 more joy to my shooting, but what's a credit >>> card for? >>> :) >> >> The two Canons you mention look sort of interesting, though if I were >> buying a Powershot I'd go the extra $100 for a G11. > > I mentioned that I could spring the extra from the $250 price of the S8000 > to the SD4000IS. Now you're talking $450. :) Creeping price here. LOL > >> I don't know if >> you'd consider the G11 purse sized, however. > > > Not so much? > > > I looked up the S90, the S8000 and the SD4000IS: > > > S90 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.2 6.2 OZ. > S8000 4.1 x 2.3 x 1.1 6.5 OZ. > SD4000IS 3.9 x 2.1 x .9 6.1 OZ. > > G11 4.4 x 3 x 1.9 12.5 OZ. > > <sigh> The purse IS kinda big already, to hold the size and weight of the > XD-45 ACP and the 14 rounds of JHP. Hmmm.... > > Is the G11 THAT much better than the other 3? > ( thinking this is gonna cost me more... ) > > At what point will I need to start moving other stuff out of the purse to > make room for it? > > I like the size of the Cyber-Shot DSC-S750 that I have in there now. It's > in a little hard shell case. It just doesn't take very sharp pictures, and > after all, what's a camera for if not that? Oh and the video it takes are > tiny. And I love the idea of taking HD stills and video... > > IOW I want a new purse camera for my birthday. :-) > Happy birthday. Since it will be your only xx birthday ever, get the G11. -- Peter |