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Need New Camera! Which One? (1 Viewer)

balkantrek

Well-known member
Looking for a bit of general advice from the many experienced photographers on the site.

I work as a mountain guide, and have for the last few years been very happy with my Canon PowerShot A80, taking some nice landscapes and some nice general nature shots (flowers, butterflies, amphibians etc). As a mountain guide, a compact digital camera comes in handy because I am already burdened down with a giant rucksack. Also, because I am guiding others, my job is to show them the beautiful landscapes and point out the birds and other fauna and flora, so they can get good shots...I come at the back of the queue when everyone is lining up to snap something, so I wouldn't get much chance to fiddle around with changing lenses or setting up tripods.

I also do nature-orientated travel writing, and have just got two new commissions, one to contribute a monthly article to a magazine, and the other to write a new book. I have received the author's guidelines from the publisher and they say they want digital photos to be 6 mega pixels or higher. They also state: "Files should be immediately converted to TIFF in PhotoShop and converted to 300dpi. This will produce a file of approximately 17–18 MB in size."

So big question is what camera would you advise for general wildlife and landscape photography? To summarize my requirements:

1. Type: Good quality digital comapct
2. Budget: up to £350
3. Megapixels: 6 or more
4. Subjects to be photographed: Landscapes/habitats, flowers, butterflies, reptiles & amphibians, plus birds and mammals when I get a chance
5. Quality: pictures need to be high enough quality for use in a book

I have read through various camera reviews on-line and discussions on this forum, and I am rather drawn towards the CanonPowershot S3 IS. Do those of you who own one, or know about these things, think this would be suitable...or any other suggestions?

Many Thanks
 
Hi,
I think a superzoom compact camera is definitely what you need, many users may give you further advice on various makes/models (Panasonic Lumix, Fuji, etc) ... In my (small) experience I used a S1 IS and was very satisfied with it!
PROs: Very fine colours, good image quality, easy to use, light and small to handle;
CONs: no RAW format; shutterlag; just a bit difficult to focus on close subjects in poor light (now the macro function in the S3 will resolve this I think),
Everything else was really OK ... being able to use AA batteries was another plus.
I guess the new S3 should be much better .. browse the gallery searching for S3 pictures and you'll find some good examples of what this camera can do
Cheers,
Max
 
Canon S3 IS

I bought one late last year and I've been very happy with it. I think it would be good for your purposes.

The only problems I've noted are:
1. The lens cap supplied with the camera falls off easily.
2. As with most/all digital cameras, the controls are small and grouped tightly together. So it is fairly easy to change a setting by mistake.
3. There is shutter lag; this is a bit of a problem when photographing e.g., birds in flight.

Good luck!

Jeff
 
Worth having a look at the new Panasonic FZ50 (?), it's a great camera and does have the option to shoot in RAW if you ever want to.
 
I can't argue with the Canon S3, especially at the cost, nor the FZ50 which is a cracker, but, the one I've got a eye on is the new Sony H9, not yet had the chance to play with it, so I can't compare with the other two.
 
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