Digital cameras

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 which is great & I do take it skiing with me. However, as it is big & bulky we purchased the Lumix DMC-LZ7 earlier this year & have taken some cracking photos with it. I too would much rather have an optical viewfinder, but the camera was on offer at only £54.00 on the internet, so for that price I was happy to compromise.

Interesting to hear that people still use the view finder nowadays. The Somny Cybershot range all have view finders but you'd miss the 'good bits' of using teh LCD screen like the Subject Capture modes etc where the camera focuses in on what you've centred it on & adjusts the lens accordingly.

I dont think there are 'bad' digital cameras around anymore, just some better than others. And the golden rule with digital cameras: dont take 1 photo, take 5 or 6 for every shot you want and sort out the best later.

There are many, many digital compact cameras that are bad, In fact it's harder to buy a good one now than it ever has been. Digital SLR's area a bit different and they're generally all good though.

Two of the problems with using the LCD as a viewfinder are that it kills the batteries and it's not possible to see in high light. That they show what you're focussed on being an advantage is a bit dubious really, the nature of the lens on the camera means as long as it focussed, which it tells you with an audible signal, that's good enough. The only reason it starts to be a problem is where the depth of field is so woeful that it becomes an issue and the fact is that it's rare any digital compact is reliable beyond f8 anyway.

There's an illusion of quality from features and pixel counts that works in the market but doesn't tell you anything about quality. At first sight in a store it all looks great, loads of cameras with loads of features. The reality is the features are software and have low marginal cost to implement while the optical quality of most cameras is going steadily down. The first Kodak 2 mega pixel I had 10 years ago still has some of the best optics of any digital camera I've had.

As I pointed out above, the advent of cheap, good DSLR's has rather killed the premium compact market. Small sensors and high pixel counts don't mix, much over 5 and certainly 8 mega pixels doesn't add quality and the manufacturers know this but they carry on anyway, the illusion of features sells more units than quality does. Which means for us cameras are disposable and for the manufacturer customers are.

The truth of this abundantly clear, you only have to look at facebook or flickr and see the photo's people are posting and they're utterly terrible. If they serve the purpose of getting a snap and reminding people of a good trip that's great but it shouldn't disguise how truly awful some of the photo's are. It's not surprising that people are increasingly using their phones, it's easy to produce the same quality.

The A1000 I bought is a good example, had I taken that on a trip and returned with the images it produces I'd have been devastated, as it is I've not posted to my own blog for weeks as I've yet to get a good photo from it.

elgius wrote:Interesting to hear that people still use the view finder nowadays. The Somny Cybershot range all have view finders but you'd miss the 'good bits' of using teh LCD screen like the Subject Capture modes etc where the camera focuses in on what you've centred it on & adjusts the lens accordingly.

I dont think there are 'bad' digital cameras around anymore, just some better than others. And the golden rule with digital cameras: dont take 1 photo, take 5 or 6 for every shot you want and sort out the best later.

I need reading glasses..albeit not powerful ones and to focus on a screen at 3" is difficult ..and as ise says in high light you cant see it clearly anyway!
and don't you find that looking through a viewfinder that you are somehow more involved in the composition

daved wrote: don't you find that looking through a viewfinder that you are somehow more involved in the composition

personally yes, but I think it's all about target markets, I don't suppose most people compose their photo's really, looking at the results they don't seem to. If what they were looking at is in frame that's probably all the composition that's done.

I guess I’m in the minority, but I find it really difficult to take photos using a viewfinder. Now I’ve got an LCD display (the camera is Samsung, though haven't a clue which model) :roll: it’s great (except in really bright sunlight), though not sure my photos would stand up to a critique by anyone who knows what they’re talking about. I’m definitely of the point and click mentality and it seems to do the job just fine for holiday snaps. :D

Lynn_D wrote:I guess I’m in the minority, but I find it really difficult to take photos using a viewfinder. Now I’ve got an LCD display (the camera is Samsung, though haven't a clue which model) :roll: it’s great (except in really bright sunlight), though not sure my photos would stand up to a critique by anyone who knows what they’re talking about. I’m definitely of the point and click mentality and it seems to do the job just fine for holiday snaps. :D

My wife will take an age in composing her photos, I do not, Guess who's comes out better, correct mine, of cause Mrs W will not agree to that one :wink:

Ian Wickham wrote:
My wife will take an age in composing her photos, I do not, Guess who's comes out better, correct mine, of cause Mrs W will not agree to that one :wink:

Hehe I found that using the LCD screen & depressing the "take photo" button halfway means it works out everything it needs to and then when you fully depress the button it takes a great photo.
Also ALWAYS take 3 or 4 pics, never 1, they dont cost anything its just the old-fashioned habit of not taking too many cos you have to develop them.

Go for a Carl Zeis lens and keep snapping :)