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I don't know anything off the top of my head that would do that, especially in the point and shoot realm, but I wonder if a security focused IP camera might work. Some of them seem pretty high quality and it seemed like they'd be well suited to 24/7 steaming.
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Feb 15, 2013 07:50
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My parents have a pretty basic P&S and they'd like something better for vacations as they're getting towards retirement. Some in-flight magazine showed dad a Sony DSC-RX100, which to me seems like something he'd never use 90% of, and is probably way too expensive for what he wants. Basically he wants something with a decent zoom, simple to control, and average-to-good low light. Basically he's never going to take this thing out of AUTO and there's no need for RAW support. Can someone recommend me a good traveller for him? Pretty much needs the following: Pocketable - Nothing thick like a G10/12 Simple - Doesn't need any manual controls/dials because he's never going to use them, and he'll get frustrated if he bumps some ring around the dial or near a button and throws things off. Good screen Decent-to-good low light Battery life - Doesn't need to be spectacular, just not awful. Budget isn't a big concern. He didn't seem bothered by the $650 price for the RX100, but I think he'd quickly realize he would have paid for a ton of extra controls he'll never use.
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Feb 15, 2013 15:41
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Honestly, the RX100 is a great camera and if he likes the look of it and doesn't mind the price, it'd be great. You aren't paying for the extra controls so much as the bigger than normal sensor (better low light) and generally nice construction. The manual controls aren't obtrusive at all. To me, the difference is probably worth the price even if he's not going to use manual controls. The bigger sensor and better low light sensitivity mean that it's going to make better pictures in general, especially in low light, than most cheaper point and shoots. The next level down that people would recommend is the Canon S90/95/100 series, which are also great. edit: I really want to emphasize what a fantastic little point and shoot the RX100 is. If it weren't for the price I'd recommend it to everyone. If the price isn't a problem, it'll serve your dad well and it will result in better pictures than many point and shoots thanks to the great sensor.
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Feb 15, 2013 17:12
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The higher end P&S cameras like that are usually a little smarter about proper exposure. Like for example, I let my girlfriend use my S90 to take to Disney World at night instead of her el cheapo camera. She only uses auto, and with her cheap camera ,she couldn't take night time picture of someone in front of the lit up castle. Either the castle was dark and the people weren't or the people were exposed and the castle was dark. The S90 was smart enough to fill flash on the people and properly expose the background. TL;DR: High end point and shoots aren't wasted on non-photographers.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:01
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They also react faster on the autofocus, have nicer screens, feel better in the hand, and a bunch of other stuff. I definitely sympathize with wanting to steer people away from spending money on things they don't need, but this is a case where the extra money will make a very noticeable difference in handling and the final photos even to a non-photographer.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:14
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Ok that's reassuring then. Thanks guys!
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Feb 15, 2013 18:26
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Only thing really lacking on the RX100 is zoom. It's mitigated somewhat by the high megapixel count; you can get away with crop-zooming a bit. As an example, here's a bunch of low-light pictures of New Order that I took from the back of a concert hall: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markosaar/sets/72157632754514074/ 
teethgrinder fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Feb 15, 2013 |
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Feb 15, 2013 18:43
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DJExile posted:Ok that's reassuring then. Thanks guys! The RX100 is completely awesome, but one little note that will be helpful for your father, as a non-photographer: Tell him to reduce the image size in camera to Small. It will still be large enough to print 8x10 photos, but his photos will look better out of the camera, and you won't have him trying to email you pictures that are 10 megabytes apiece, since one thing old people never do, is resize their photos. edit: Alternatively, you could set him up with an easy but good batch image resizer like FastStone. Use Lanczos 3 as the resizing algorithm. Costello Jello fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Feb 15, 2013 |
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Feb 15, 2013 18:48
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Cool Matty posted:Does anyone have any solid recommendations for such a camera? If a point and shoot isn't the best option, what should I be looking for, or at least where should I ask on SA for better ideas? Well, first, have you only tried lovely webcams in the past? Because you might be discounting the easiest choice too quickly. I have this webcam, and I think it works great. It has manual or autofocus, and really good low light streaming, for a webcam. It's also not expensive at all. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Widescreen-Calling-Recording-960-000764/dp/B006JH8T3S A GoPro Hero 3 is a wide angle, fixed lens video camera that has wifi streaming and good low light, but I'm not sure it will be able to handle being on 24/7 without overheating.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:52
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Costello Jello posted:Well, first, have you only tried lovely webcams in the past? Because you might be discounting the easiest choice too quickly. I have this webcam, and I think it works great. It has manual or autofocus, and really good low light streaming, for a webcam. It's also not expensive at all. Like I said, we already have a C920, we're looking for something a step up from that. We've also had issues with it/its drivers creating outrageous amounts of DPC latency. Thanks for the recommendation though on the GoPro, I'll have to look into whether it suits our needs.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:55
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Cool Matty posted:Like I said, we already have a C920, we're looking for something a step up from that. We've also had issues with it/its drivers creating outrageous amounts of DPC latency. Thanks for the recommendation though on the GoPro, I'll have to look into whether it suits our needs. Sorry, don't know how I skipped that. Honestly, if you want high quality, I can't think of anything that costs below $1000 dollars that is going to fit your needs. I've streamed with my Canon DSLR before, and an older used one would be inexpensive, but it was difficult to set-up, and running it 24/7 would unquestionably either burn the sensor up, or more likely just cause it to shut down to prevent overheating. You can look for a good low-light IP camera, but I don't know of any that are truly designed for good image quality, low-light, and decent frame rate.
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Feb 15, 2013 19:14
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Costello Jello posted:The RX100 is completely awesome, but one little note that will be helpful for your father, as a non-photographer: Tell him to reduce the image size in camera to Small. It will still be large enough to print 8x10 photos, but his photos will look better out of the camera, and you won't have him trying to email you pictures that are 10 megabytes apiece, since one thing old people never do, is resize their photos. That's a really good thought, thanks. He usually just gives me the card and tells me to go get prints, but that'd help him out if he wants to email them around.
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Feb 15, 2013 20:13
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Cool Matty posted:I have an unusual question for this thread: I'm looking for something that's a step up from a webcam for video purposes. I remember a few years back that many point and shoot cameras could be used as a webcam, but trying to find out what models these days have this feature is nearly impossible. If any camera does have this feature, they sure as hell don't advertise it. Can't help you there, but you guys did a fantastic job this year, even if the webcam wasn't ideal.
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Feb 16, 2013 00:06
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Thanks, I think I'm going to give up on point and shoot cams for this. I've heard from others that they won't really stand up to extended recording anyway. I'll ask the DSLR video guys for advice and see if they know of anything. Might just have to suck it up and wait until we can put enough cash together for a real (expensive) solution.
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Feb 16, 2013 02:02
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After much deliberation I'm thinking of getting a Fuji XF-1 but want to know how the battery charger (bc50b) works, specifically: Does it plug into the mains? Does it plug into the camera or do I put the battery into it? And also: Would I be as well grabbing a mains charger off the Fujifilm website?
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Feb 16, 2013 21:37
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The RX100 just got here and holy poo poo I can see why it's so well-reviewed. This thing is tits on toast.
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Feb 26, 2013 04:19
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Now just try ever going back to your Olympus gear  After taking pictures at one event with both the RX100 & an E-PL2 (the older sensor) I just haven't touched the Pen since.
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Feb 26, 2013 06:16
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DJExile posted:The RX100 just got here and holy poo poo I can see why it's so well-reviewed. This thing is tits on toast. It really is isn't it. I'm almost glad I flooded my last camera, since it meant I ended up with this. I still miss having a viewfinder, but if that's what I had to sacrifice to get the rest of it, so be it. 
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Feb 26, 2013 10:23
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I haven't had a chance to do much with the RX100 yet other than just goof around at my house and point it at my catte. One gripe I do have is having to go through a bunch of menus to change basic poo poo like ISO speed and W/B. Then again, my dad isn't going to care about that so hey. Also yesterday heard from a friend, "Hey, do you want your G12 back?" I loaned her that thing like 3 months ago and honestly I totally forgot I even owned it. I don't know what that says about me. 
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Feb 28, 2013 17:20
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Ever since I started shooting RAW a few years ago it's never even occurred to me to set white balance on a camera. Anyway, if you hit Fn a couple of times, you get a quick ISO menu mapped to the dial, and one more time for white balance. edit: you can customise what comes up on the Fn button from the second screen of the gear-shaped menu.
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Feb 28, 2013 18:17
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DJExile posted:I haven't had a chance to do much with the RX100 yet other than just goof around at my house and point it at my catte. One gripe I do have is having to go through a bunch of menus to change basic poo poo like ISO speed and W/B. Then again, my dad isn't going to care about that so hey. Most of the functions you can bind to the "cursor" keys, or just stick them one click away behind the FN button. Only now after a few months of use am I starting to get a better idea of how I'm using it and customising it to put the functions I use most in quick reach and the rest a bit further away. I love this camera.
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Feb 28, 2013 18:28
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Yeah, in the grand scheme it's a very minor gripe. How's the battery life? Battery itself doesn't seem that large.
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Feb 28, 2013 18:42
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There are a couple buttons which have not that useful default settings. I changed mine around a bit from the default and very rarely need to go into the menus now. White balance, exposure comp, iso, continuous shooting speed, and a few more are all mapped out to buttons. Edit: battery life seems pretty good to me, but I never use flash and don't really need great battery life. DPReview always tests out how many shots you can get if you want more specifics.
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Feb 28, 2013 18:56
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So as someone who is going to be shooting a lot of sceneries and macro shots of flowers and insects in the Arizona area, which camera would you guys recommend between the Canon S100 and S95? I'd prefer Canon but I'm open to suggestions for anything else within that price range.
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Mar 1, 2013 01:48
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DJExile posted:Yeah, in the grand scheme it's a very minor gripe. How's the battery life? Battery itself doesn't seem that large. I haven't gone and spent hours and hours in a row shooting with it, but I've never had it run out in the middle of doing something. I typically go days between charging it up.
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Mar 4, 2013 01:07
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I got an S100, I pointed and shot
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Mar 4, 2013 06:33
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danucleus posted:So as someone who is going to be shooting a lot of sceneries and macro shots of flowers and insects in the Arizona area, which camera would you guys recommend between the Canon S100 and S95? I'd prefer Canon but I'm open to suggestions for anything else within that price range. Both are equally great for landscape, but for macro shots the S range can be frustrating. The autofocus often has difficulty at very short range, and the lens has a 3-5 cm focal distance at widest angle. You can work around it, but it's definitely not the best tool for the job.
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Mar 4, 2013 17:15
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I've done a search but only found a couple of brief mentions so apologies if this has been answered. My girlfriend is after a new camera and for the budget we have we like the Lumix DMC TZ30EB-K. A couple of friends have recommended Lumix too. It's mostly for holidays and casual use, she wants something portable and that will give good results out of the box so to speak, i.e. without needing to adjust too much. Any reason not to go with this? We had a play with it in store and it seemed nice with a decent zoom.
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Mar 4, 2013 21:03
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My girlfriend's sister recently had a kid and now she understandably wants a camera after noticing that her Android smartphone takes terrible pictures. We've already established that a DSLR would be a bit too bulky for her, she wants mobility, fast AF (baby pics!) and good IQ. Is the Sony RX100 still king of the hill amongst P&S cameras? I have one myself and I'm very satisfied, but maybe something new has come out in the meantime - or maybe a successor to the RX100 is already on the horizon? Also, she seemed interested in small interchangeable lens cameras as well, which I'm not very knowledgeable about. What would be THE device to recommend from amongst the current MFT/NEX/whatever devices? I'd probably steer her towards either the RX100 (if she's happy with a P&S) or some awesome intercheangeable lens thingy. Good idea or not?
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Mar 11, 2013 14:09
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Wengy posted:My girlfriend's sister recently had a kid and now she understandably wants a camera after noticing that her Android smartphone takes terrible pictures. We've already established that a DSLR would be a bit too bulky for her, she wants mobility, fast AF (baby pics!) and good IQ. Is the Sony RX100 still king of the hill amongst P&S cameras? I have one myself and I'm very satisfied, but maybe something new has come out in the meantime - or maybe a successor to the RX100 is already on the horizon? Also, she seemed interested in small interchangeable lens cameras as well, which I'm not very knowledgeable about. What would be THE device to recommend from amongst the current MFT/NEX/whatever devices? I'd probably steer her towards either the RX100 (if she's happy with a P&S) or some awesome intercheangeable lens thingy. Good idea or not? The RX100 is awesome, and it's only been out for six months - Sony may decide not to make a successor, either, depending on sales of this model. It is unlikely to be a wrong decision. If you were looking at a larger ILC, the NEX line is a really good option.
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Mar 11, 2013 15:20
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Wengy posted:My girlfriend's sister recently had a kid and now she understandably wants a camera after noticing that her Android smartphone takes terrible pictures. We've already established that a DSLR would be a bit too bulky for her, she wants mobility, fast AF (baby pics!) and good IQ. Is the Sony RX100 still king of the hill amongst P&S cameras? I have one myself and I'm very satisfied, but maybe something new has come out in the meantime - or maybe a successor to the RX100 is already on the horizon? Also, she seemed interested in small interchangeable lens cameras as well, which I'm not very knowledgeable about. What would be THE device to recommend from amongst the current MFT/NEX/whatever devices? I'd probably steer her towards either the RX100 (if she's happy with a P&S) or some awesome intercheangeable lens thingy. Good idea or not? The Olympus OM-D is a fantastic mirrorless system but it is not cheap. Somewhere around $899 for the body. There are recent PEN system bodies that are still very good, however. The RX100 isn't cheap either but it's a phenomenal P&S. You could lend her yours to see how she likes it before she drops the money. Provided of course, the kid doesn't get a hold of it and think it's a toy 
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Mar 11, 2013 15:54
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Awesome, the OM-D looks great. I'll let her play with my RX100 and have a look at the OM-D in the store and then she can make an informed decision 
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Mar 11, 2013 16:12
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Hey guys, I'm looking for a point and shoot < $100. I bought some canon about a year ago for $80 and it stopped working very soon after so I am sort of disenchanted with them. Any other recommendations? Looking into the Olympus VG-160 which can be had for $80. This is just a bang-around camera. Want it to use SDHC cards and have at least 3x optical zoom.
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Mar 26, 2013 01:37
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I'm looking for something in the $200 range. Our 7 year old Canon A540 is not cutting the mustard any more. The biggest thing I'm looking for is quick response time when you hit the shutter button (little kids...). What would you fine folks recommend?
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Apr 3, 2013 01:01
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choobs posted:I'm looking for something in the $200 range. Our 7 year old Canon A540 is not cutting the mustard any more. The biggest thing I'm looking for is quick response time when you hit the shutter button (little kids...). Sedatives for the kids. Really though, just get another Canon P&S closest to your price point. 7 years is like a century in digital camera development terms. My dad went from some ancient Olympus point and shoot to a Canon S110 and he is totally blown away by it and can't believe he didn't think of upgrading sooner. Granted, the S110 is quite a ways out of your price range, but even the lower end cameras today are miles away better. Another thing would be to work on your technique like pre-focusing before taking the shot which will speed up things considerably when you do hit that decisive moment. Just don't get sucked in by things like massive zoom ratios. Yeah, it's great you've got a 40x zoom lens, but if it's blurry and slow, it won't do you any good. Look for a lens with a minimum aperture of f/2.8 or lower. HPL fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Apr 4, 2013 |
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Apr 4, 2013 17:50
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Thanks for the advice!
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Apr 4, 2013 21:18
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I will be out of the country a lot over the next year and I'm reluctant to drag my DSLR gear around the Andes / East Africa, so I'm looking to pick up a rugged P&S that won't explode if I drop it down a streambed or whatever. A fellow dorkroomer recommended I grab the Olympus Stylus TG-2 or the Pentax WG-3. Anybody have any experience with these, or even better any sample pictures?
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Apr 5, 2013 03:39
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Stew Man Chew posted:I will be out of the country a lot over the next year and I'm reluctant to drag my DSLR gear around the Andes / East Africa, so I'm looking to pick up a rugged P&S that won't explode if I drop it down a streambed or whatever. I have the tough TG1 and can post some shots from that when I get home tonight. It bears mentioning that it does not really have any manual controls and does not have RAW support. I don't knower if that's changed on the TG-2. I di know it's built like a brick shithouse though and an f/2.0 lens is amazing to have compared to the very slow lenses other tough cameras had.
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Apr 5, 2013 14:26
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DJExile posted:I have the tough TG1 and can post some shots from that when I get home tonight. It bears mentioning that it does not really have any manual controls and does not have RAW support. I don't knower if that's changed on the TG-2. I di know it's built like a brick shithouse though and an f/2.0 lens is amazing to have compared to the very slow lenses other tough cameras had. To be fair the Pentax has an f/2.0 lens too. Also it's got a barometer and a loving built in ringlight for macro  e. It sounds like the TG-2 has very similar specs overall, apart from the lower resolution. Crazy. Dr. Despair fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 16:25
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I'm looking for a basic point-and-shoot for my mother, who is the worst photographer known to man. Ideally it would have one big TAKE PIXOR button and no settings readily available for her to break. The camera version of this thing, really: I can throw maybe $300 at this.
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Apr 5, 2013 16:38
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