camera

[ryanharvey1993]

ok well been trying to decided what camera to get, and it comes down to these two, want to make sure it is the right one for me, anyone got pictures taken by either of these cameras to compare. I am not sure what to choose so would like to here your opinions

Canon Powershot G10 | Camera-Warehouse
Olympus SP-590 | Camera-Warehouse

 

[Kitah]

Personally, if it were me, I'd go for the olympus (if it really does have 26x optical zoom) because 12MP is HEAPS (mines 7.1) and the optical zoom is fantastic for wildlife photography, whereas a measly 5x optical does practically nothing for me.

Have you had a look at fuji finepix cameras? Cheaper, better optical than the canon (15x), great cameras (at least based on the experience with my old one), if you have a problem it gets fixed quickly (again, at least mine did) and take good photos. Good manual capabilities if your after those, too. heres a link to one on the camera warehouse site you seem to be looking at FujiFilm Finepix S2000 HD | Camera-Warehouse

Heres a link if you want to see some pictures taken with an older model (S5700, 7.1mp, 10x optical). The majority of the pics in this gallery are taken with this camera/by me, and you can get a good idea of its macro capabilities etc. in the insects + arachnids and the reptiles + amphibians folders down the left side
- xshadowxv's Gallery


Edit;
another reason for me to steer clear from the canon is that it has its own rechargable battery; I LOVE having just standard AA batteries in my camera; it takes 4, but I use energizer rechargeables and I can run a full day taking photos (e.g. at australia zoo), with over 1500-2000 photos taken on one set of batteries. Also, if ever your somewhere and run out of batteries, you can simply buy more (a lot of zoos etc all sell batteries for cams now)

 

[ryanharvey1993]

wow those pics are amazing, i am considering that now too lol

 

[Kitah]

Sorry to make the choice harder It is a really great camera, fantastic all-rounder. I particularly love the macro and manual options on it. flash is pretty darned impressive too; takes great pics of herps in the dark if you've got a torch to let the camera focus properly.

If you have any q's just ask here or shoot me a PM. goodluck with your decision!

couple of macro piccies with the S5700 (old model)
see the dust on this little blind snake;

Little gecko (about 60mm long)

 

[ryanharvey1993]

lol that puts my blind snake pics to real shame, also been reding about RAW a lot, what is that at how does it work? is it hard to use?

 

[Kitah]

To be honest I've never used it, but I have a friend whose studing a media type course and did photography; just asked her, she said you need certain programs to utilise these files properly, and she rekons its not that hard (I know you can edit/play with them in photoshop)... I noticed though, that when taking photos and saving them as RAW files, the camera is extremely slow etc, so if you're taking photos of a wild bird or reptile, you may be lucky to get one shot lol. They also take up a LOT more space.

My camera does not have the option of taking RAW files, but even if I could I seriously doubt I'd use it; I take lots of pictures very rapidly, so it'd slow me down, and I can edit photos without it anyway. I think its more for the top end photographers?

 

[ryanharvey1993]

ok canon is no longer an option down to the last 2

 

[ryanharvey1993]

the zoom and wideangle are usefull, I take pics of landscapes aswell as animals from distances, but the other one with good macro would be great for all those fiddly little skinks and stuff

 

[ravan]

wow, shadow, the pic of the gecko paw is fantastic!

i have an olympus, it works great, and i like it.
so i vote olympus..

 

[method]

You'd be kidding yourself if you didn't get the G10 over the Olympus. If your serious about getting into photography and want some of the best features you can get from a point and shoot that come close to an entry level dslr definatley go with the G10 or even an older G9.

The semi-slr type cameras are definatley good, and are much easier to use then the proffesional point and shoot canon cameras and from the box without much knowledge on the two you would get better photos with the Olympus but like I said if you want to really get into your photography and are willing to be patient and do lots of reading the results will be closer to that to a true dslr then your other "semi-slr" type cameras.

That being said the G10 isn't a beginner camera so just make sure your ready to jump on the learning curve before you start getting the best results from it.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

im hopeless with cameras and stuff i just want a basic one i can take good pics with

 

[method]

Then go the Olympus, you'll be jumping in the deep (shallow) end if you know nothing about cameras and go for the G10.

 

[Kitah]

Ryanharvey, I can't give too much advice on either the canon or the olympus as I haven't used them (so you'd be best to listen to Method for those), but based on the fuji it is extremely user friendly (and I mean that), though later if you did want to expand a bit more, play with aperture, shutter speeds, alter flash etc it does also have those capabilities.

To be honest though, 99% of the time I use it on a general point and shoot basis, just sticking it into macro or super macro when needed, turning flash on or off, and thats basically it. I usually have the camera on "auto" (so simple!) and only switch it to a programmed setting, or sometimes to manual shutter speed to get cool night time photos or 'misty' looking waterfalls etc.

I'm gonna stop now before it sounds like I'm employed by fuji (I'm not, lol)

 

[method]

I'd go with shadow and say that if you do end up picking from an Olympus and Fuji semi-slr, I would personally go the Fuji route, they seem to have a real niche in that catagory and they have a nice big lineup to choose from.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

ok thanks guys. I will probably get the cheapest of the 2 as they both sound great, thanks.

 

[ozzieimages]

Ryan
I believe the G10 is an awesome camera, I would just like to suggest if you are bying a new camera why don't you start with an entry level Digital SLR this way you can but the lenses that suit the type of photography you want to specialize in.

Of the two that you are thinking of bying I would get the G10. It seems to have all you would need for great reptile photography.

I know professional wedding photographers who carry a G10 as a back up in emergancies.

Barry
PS I don't use point and shoot cameras so this is just my opinion..

 

[JasonL]

Ryan, most of the decent point and shoots can pull off great pics, I started with an Olympus, if you look in my album, the "Photo's of Interest" all the Bali photo's, frog, lacey, water dragon and the Burtons pics was taken with a $500 buck 4 meg Olympus, it was about $1000 bucks back in the day, but dropped to $500... as most point and shoots get quickly outdated... The Cannon G series is rated at the benchmark amongst most photographers... forget about massive zoom, it's really not needed. Saying that, if you plan on spending $900 plus... then you may want to think about a cheap SLR.. though you will have to spend another $1000+ on lenses and external flash ect down the track, but it will get you by for a while... that if you want to get right into photography, if not, stick with the point and shoot.

 

[slim6y]

Also with 26x zoom - even though it's the worlds largest zoom on a point and shoot - unless you have surgeons hands the shake at 26x will be significant.

However on saying that I fully recommend the Oly and same as Jason - I started off on a 3.2 mega pix Oly with 10x zoom (and a further 10x digital which is crap anyway). And I got some AWESOME shots with that. And the fact it can go from macro (and very good at it) to that zoom - it's a big advantage over many other cameras.

And plus oly's always have some pretty nifty features too.

Good luck. Looking forward to seeing the outcomes.

PS - below link takes you to a site where most of my SLR photos are.... but....

This shot was taken on my 3.2 mega pix Oly

As was:

and:

But because most of my new photos are SLR I haven't put many of my old ones on that site - but hope that gives you enough back ground and gives you a good direction - I still recommend the Oly!