Software
Houzz Logo Print
ncrescue

Camera Suggestions?

19 years ago

Well, my native plant/gardener buddy has just suggested we give up gardening and take up nature photography due to the drought and so many dead or dying plants. I never bought a digital camera, so I am looking for suggestions for a GOOD one for a beginner. Don't want anything too cheap that will be outmoded in the long term, but I doubt I can start with too many bells and whistles. I would probably only use it to make shots I can post on the net or send to friends via email, not print out. Oh, I do know how to create PowerPoint presentations, so I may use photos for that. Suggestions, please.

Comments (7)

  • 19 years ago

    Well, I have an HP Photosmart M525 camera and companion baby printer (also have a big HP printer that will work w/it) Definitely easy to use, has lots of features I'm too dumb to use. My biggest complaint is with the size of the view screen, it is bigger on others. Also, it is very hard to do outdoor photos due to the glare on the small screen. Same small viewscreen is utilized for customization prompts. I can't help but wonder why, why .... if companies are determined to part us boomers with our money, why do they make their stuff so impossible to read with boomer eyes? Sorry, I digress ......

    When I plug the camera into the PC, the pics load both to HP Photosmart and the MS My Pictures places. Pretty good double jeopardy, but slows down my computer w/all the storage ...... guess this is where the online photo places like Snapfish, PhotoBucket and others come into play. I dunno!

    Lastly, to date while I have hundreds of pictures right here on my computer, I've been blocked in all directions from emailing or posting them. It just won't work. And, so far, none of my geek buddies have been able to figure it out either. Grrrrr .........

  • 19 years ago

    Many years ago, I was a manual SLR user. I looked around at digital SLRs. However, we also travel and I take one backpack and that's it. So, I didn't want a large camera for travel. I research everything ad nausem and decided to get a Canon PowerShot SD800IS Digital ELPH.

    I can't say enough good things about this camera! It's so tiny, it fits in my tiny purse. When I'm out in the garden, I keep it in my pocket to take photos of butterflies and such. I took it to Italy this summer and it was perfect. It has the ablility to "stitch" panoramic shots together.

    It has automatic, manual and "scene" settings (like foliage, indoors, snow, night, etc). It has macro focus and a great zoom.

    I bought it online from Abe's of Maine and they were super. They called me when they got my order to make sure I was getting the right camera, memory cards, etc. that suited my needs. I think it was around $400 or so.

    Go check out my photos and see if you like what you see.

    Here is a link that might be useful: photos

  • 19 years ago

    Great photos..and beautiful plants! Are they still that great without much rain? Seriously, that camera is one that I had looked at, but then someone recommended the Nikon CoolPix S50, which is even smaller. Lastly, a professional photographer friend recommended a Leica-d-lux, but it seems so complicated to me. I have six weeks before a major international trip, so I am still looking.

  • 19 years ago

    The garden is doing okay outside the fence where I planted deer-resistant, drought-tolerant plants. Inside the fence, it's the hottest and it looks pretty sad.

    I also used the camera in Tuscany this summer. Here's a link to those photos since you're going out of the country.

    Cameron

    Here is a link that might be useful: Tuscany blog

  • 19 years ago

    Your Italy photos and the accompanying text are great. Thanks for sharing. Sorry that some of your plants are going down. Gardeners always hope for the next year. My garden spaces are really just spots in the woods where I plant mostly natives; sesequently, they need little care. That's why I can travel as much as I do. This next trip is to Bhutan, with side stops in Bangkok and Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Want to get there before there are MacDonald's on every corner. As for Italy, I have been there once...liked Florence but loved Venice...would go there again. Concerning photography, the entire country is a wonderful locale. I am sure many people have visited your site and enjoyed it. Again, thanks.

  • 19 years ago

    My husband loves his Fujifilm Finepix F31. We've had about 4-5 different ones since digital cameras came out and this is his favorite. An early Kodak digital was a favorite of ours.

    I use a Canon PowerShot A610, but I'm not very good with it and I make him take any plant close-ups for me. I took this one with the Canon though:

    {{gwi:332363}}

    My sister has a Samsung and I think it is awful; lots of pictures come out blurry no matter who uses it!

  • 19 years ago

    I snapped this pic of a Red-banded Hairstreak in my garden yesterday. It's on the vitex in the butterfly garden. I used the macro focus and foliage setting:

    {{gwi:539043}}

Sponsored
High Point Cabinets
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars21 Reviews
Columbus' Experienced Custom Cabinet Builder | 4x Best of Houzz Winner