Digital v Non Digital (1 Viewer)

[abp]

Hi Guys

Again I need your help, the FujiS5500 will be out in september and will have a 10x optical zoom, of course there are Pros and Cons about Digital cameras. My other choice is the Canon 300v with a 28-90mm lens as well as a 75-300mm telephoto lens which also has its own Pros and Cons.

All I need it for is to photograph the birds on my feeders which are about 10 to 15ft away from the house. There would be problems as regards the batteries going quickly while waiting for the birds to appear, as regards to the Canon camera, the zoom lens goes up to 300mm, where the S5500 is equivalent to 37 - 370mm on a SLR camera.

I would be interested in what you guys would consider yourself, especially Andy Bright expert opnion

Look forward to hearing from you soon

Kindest Regards

Brian Pemberton

 

[Andy Bright]

Hi Brian, what do you want to do with the photos? If you just want 8x6 type prints or images for use on a computer monitor/web then I would suggest a digital with a 10x zoom. If you go the film route, you may struggle with just 300mm, though after the trouble of having the film developed and scanned for use on a computer you could crop to enlarge the image... before printing off the results.
As I say, your decision on camera will be down to your needs.

BTW: I am no expert on bird photography ... just that I have substantial experience on the method of digiscoping
Regards,
Andy

 

[Vectis Birder]

Speaking as someone who only has 35mm film SLRs at the moment, I would buy a digital camera with the best spec you can afford, and that includes megapixel size as well as lens focal length. This is because you can see the pictures "at source" and bin any that are not good enough, while with film you can waste time getting them processed and money if the results are bad.

 

[Elizabeth Bigg]

We've never regretted going digital - it's great to be able to shoot away, and delete all the rubbish when you're back home. We've not used a film camera since we bought our first digital one.

 

[Adey Baker]

I've recently had a film 'lost' at the processors - although there may have been some reasonable shots on it, thankfully there were no 'new' species, otherwise I'd be really upset!

Statistically, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later - if they were 99.99% efficient (which most of us can't claim to be!), they would still lose 1 in 10,000 films!

It's certainly something to bear in mind although digital isn't fool-proof. Memory cards can corrupt and it's always possible to delete something accidentally, but in that particular case it's down to yourself - you can't get frustrated with someone else's mistake.

 

[abp]

Digital v non digital

Hi Brian, what do you want to do with the photos? If you just want 8x6 type prints or images for use on a computer monitor/web then I would suggest a digital with a 10x zoom. If you go the film route, you may struggle with just 300mm, though after the trouble of having the film developed and scanned for use on a computer you could crop to enlarge the image... before printing off the results.
As I say, your decision on camera will be down to your needs.

BTW: I am no expert on bird photography ... just that I have substantial experience on the method of digiscoping
Regards,
Andy

Thanks Andy for your reply, Sadly I cannot afford to go down the digiscoping road I just want to photo the birds on the feeder, so they can assist me when when i make my recordings to send to the BTO.

Once again thanks Andy I will opt for the S5500 prehaps with a 1.5x converter

Kindest Regards

Brian Pemberton

 

[abp]

I've recently had a film 'lost' at the processors - although there may have been some reasonable shots on it, thankfully there were no 'new' species, otherwise I'd be really upset!

Statistically, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later - if they were 99.99% efficient (which most of us can't claim to be!), they would still lose 1 in 10,000 films!

It's certainly something to bear in mind although digital isn't fool-proof. Memory cards can corrupt and it's always possible to delete something accidentally, but in that particular case it's down to yourself - you can't get frustrated with someone else's mistake.

Thanks Adey I will bear your rely in mind

Kindest Regards

Brian Pemberton

 

[abp]

digital v non digital

We've never regretted going digital - it's great to be able to shoot away, and delete all the rubbish when you're back home. We've not used a film camera since we bought our first digital one.

Thanks again, Elizabeth

P.S Hope the heel is getting better

Kindest Regards

Brian Pemberton

 

[abp]

Digital v non digital

Speaking as someone who only has 35mm film SLRs at the moment, I would buy a digital camera with the best spec you can afford, and that includes megapixel size as well as lens focal length. This is because you can see the pictures "at source" and bin any that are not good enough, while with film you can waste time getting them processed and money if the results are bad.

Thanks for reply

Kindest Regards

Brian Pemberton

 

[nigelblake]

It's certainly something to bear in mind although digital isn't fool-proof. Memory cards can corrupt and it's always possible to delete something accidentally, but in that particular case it's down to yourself - you can't get frustrated with someone else's mistake.

This is less of a problem now as there is some very good image recovery software that can even get images back from a corrupt or formatted memory card, most Lexar 40X cards are supplied with such software free, just install it to your pc before using it in the camera.

 

[Adey Baker]

This is less of a problem now as there is some very good image recovery software that can even get images back from a corrupt or formatted memory card, most Lexar 40X cards are supplied with such software free, just install it to your pc before using it in the camera.

Nigel,

Touch wood, I've never had need for this - yet! I did once press the 'Format' button on the camera without realising quite what I was doing, but luckily there were no important images on the card!

I think one potential problem with digital is if you burn photos onto a CD-R (especially a cheap one) and then have difficulty reading them on a different computer.

Most of my photos are on CDs and I have no problems with the vast majority but there's a couple of CDs from one particular maker that won't read on my son's laptop.

On a practical note, I have to say that I have very rarely ever needed to search out an old 35mm negative to make a re-print so, for the amateur, storage of digital files may not be something to worry yourself to sleep about - obviously this doesn't apply to anyone who may wish to sell his images at any time in the future, in which case your method of storing them twice over would definitely help to get a good night's sleep!

 

[Andy Bright]

To give you some idea of the reliability of memory cards (compactflash at any rate), I have been been using them since 1999 and have taken at least 250,000 photos since then (Lexar cards).... never have I had a corrupted image in that time.

Proabably helps that I haven't changed cameras often but I'm still using some very old cards. And as Nigel says, Lexar Image Recovery and other software can do wonders if something does go wrong.

I know, I'm practically asking for trouble

 

[nigelblake]

Just on a side note, one of my IBM microdrives has been through a full 'cottons' wash, spin and tumble dry cycle in my washing machine, I was going to bin it, but as it possibly had images on it I dried it for 2 further days above a storage heater, very much not expecting it to work, It did, and I still use it now, only as a spare mostly but I was stunned at this.

 

[Jay Turberville]

I've had a problem once and I think it was my fault in how I was dealing with a parallel port CF reader. I have made it a policy to not view images from the CF card while in the reader. I copy all images to the hard drive immediately and review from there. I also reformat the card in the camera after each use. After implementing these changes, I have not yet lost an image due to media problems.

My mother accidently erased a bunch of images from her SD card and I was able to find very inexpensive software online (around $10 US) that allowed me to recover most of the images.

These solid state cards cannot have light leaks. If you drop your camera off a cliff and it shatters, there is a fair chance that the CF card will survive. A film camera with an accidently opened back is likely to ruin most of the images.

All in all, digital is very reliable and easy to handle.

 

[John Malloy]

I think the main advantage of digital is that you can be quite confident that you have got the shot you want at the time of taking the image. As an old film SLR user, I used to have to wait for the processing to be done first before knowing if I got the shot - now I can leave a site happy (or not!) that I've got the shot I want.

In addition, I do not have to rely on the film processor to produce the print I want - now I shoot in .RAW, process the image on my PC to my own preferred settings and print the ones I want printed.

John

 

[Vectis Birder]

Well, having now taken the digital plunge this lunchtime (no more heavy 35mm stuff, and no more d&p costs and waits - although I did have a couple of mixed feelings as I had that stuff years), and having loaded the first shots (of my dog) onto my computer I can say go for it!

 

[Wompoo Dove]

Hi folks:

One thing that was never discussed is how digital images can be shown to groups... I used to enjoy showing my 35mm slides to friends and family. I still have yet to take the digital plunge. I am concerned how I would project images at the same quality as my old 35mm scenario... Anyone have experience projecting their digital images to groups at bird gatherings etc.? How do they compare to 35mm slide projection?

Thanks this site is amazing and people are so helpful!

Don

 

[RAH]

I attended a talk recently where a guy used a digital projector (connected to a laptop computer) and showed regular computer images up on a projection screen. It looked great. I was VERY surprised how good it looked - sharp, saturated, etc. Just like a 35mm slide show. Only downside is that digital projectors are pretty expensive - at least $500, I think.

 

[Keith Reeder]

One alternative which will work if you're not talking to very large groups, is to display the digital images on an ordinary TV screen (larger the better, obviously).

I've been very pleasantly surprised by how good images look on my TV at home doing this.

And an aside, BF member Alan G has suggested that this might be an effective way to review images at the end of a day's shooting when on holiday, in order to minimise the need to buy more and more storage and/or portable HDD doohickeys to download your images to (assuming you've got a suitable TV in your hotel room of course...)

 

[Wompoo Dove]

Thanks for your comments folks... If anyone knows could you recommend a good digital camcorder for my upcoming trip to Africa? It would be preferably under 1000.00 US and of course shoot sharp images for bird detail. thanks!

Don