Camera zoom question

[KNERSIE]

Thanks alot Randi, that really helps.

[randiliana]

Thanks alot Randi, that really helps.

You're welcome.

[milkmaid]

If I were purchasing a camera, I would definitely go with one that had image stabilization. The camera I have now (Olympus SP-350) is great, but it doesn't have enough zoom, and even with low zoom, if the animal moves or I move - the pic is blurry. It takes amazing scenery pictures and with a bit of work I can get good action pics (ie my chariot race photos) but it's tough. My folks have a Canon with image stabilization and incredible zoom (like 12x with the option to go to 48x) and I get spoiled when I'm home for the summer and can use that one.

I'd also suggest getting a camera that can work well in low-light settings; some are designed to pull in extra light even in indoor and low light situations. Mine doesn't, which is frustrating; the Canon my folks have will do that.

Claire, can you find out which model it is, please?

Also is it a 12X optical with 4 X digital zoom? How far can you shoot to still have decent quality?

I looked through the pics on my computer... looks like it's a Canon Powershot S2 IS. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons2is/

How far, I don't know. I've never really thought about it. I mostly use it for portrait style pics from 20 yards or less since it takes really nice portrait pics, whereas I have a hard time doing that with my Olympus SP-350. I looked through the pics on my computer and came up with a couple that sort of show distance.

This is taken with the Canon at about 100 yards:


The blurred line at the bottom is a barbed wire fence that was about 20 feet in front of me.

Another pic with the Canon at 6:50am (ie wasn't trying for quality):


Pic with another camera to show distance... I was standing in approximately the same location for both pictures, and the wood fence in the background of this pic is the one the black cow is standing next to in the previous pic.


One more pic with the Canon, taken at about 20 feet. It wasn't at maximum zoom.

calf49_resized.jpg

[gimpyrancher]

Make it easy.

50mm equals 1X

400mm lense equals 8X

10 power binoculars have 1000mm lenses.

a 50X magnification is equal to a 5000mm lense.

The higher the power the less quality. But I can still read what brand of cigarettes you hold up at the higher powers if I use a steady base.

Hope this helps.

gimpyrancher

[KNERSIE]

Make it easy.

50mm equals 1X

400mm lense equals 8X

10 power binoculars have 1000mm lenses.

a 50X magnification is equal to a 5000mm lense.

The higher the power the less quality. But I can still read what brand of cigarettes you hold up at the higher powers if I use a steady base.

Hope this helps.

gimpyrancher

That part is easy enough to understand, what is the significance of the first number, ie 18-55 vs 36-108mm?

Can I assume a 70-300mm lens zooms equally powerfull to a 28-112 and to a X4 optical zoom for instance?

What exactly does the 4X digital zoom do in combination with say a 12X optical zoom?

[backhoeboogie]

I had the EOS 650 (35 mm) and all my lenses and toys fit the digital EOS. The wife bought me one for our 25th anniversary.

You can put the multipliers on, then the 400 mm zoom, and you have to have a tri-pod - no matter how steady you are. Bean bags help but it is extremely difficult. With just one multiplier and the 70 to 210 zoom, I had great mountain goats shots but they were still.

It is much easier to go to the highest pixels rating you have and zoom in on the picture via computer.

[dun]

Make it easy.

50mm equals 1X

400mm lense equals 8X

10 power binoculars have 1000mm lenses.

a 50X magnification is equal to a 5000mm lense.

The higher the power the less quality. But I can still read what brand of cigarettes you hold up at the higher powers if I use a steady base.

Hope this helps.

gimpyrancher

That part is easy enough to understand, what is the significance of the first number, ie 18-55 vs 36-108mm?

Can I assume a 70-300mm lens zooms equally powerfull to a 28-112 and to a X4 optical zoom for instance?

What exactly does the 4X digital zoom do in combination with say a 12X optical zoom?

I played around with the digital zoom. All it did was make the image larger and less clear. Went back to just the optical and have learned to live with a little smaller image.

[KNERSIE]

I am very slow in making up my mind, but went and tested some cameras today. Tested the following cameras today:
Kodak Z1012 10mp 12X zoom, wasn't impressed at all, as soon as the background got a little busy (in the mall) the autofocus was useless.

Olympus with 9.1mp 20X zoom (can't remember the model) was very impressed with camera, great image stabiliser and very good autofocus under the same conditions where the Kodak failed miserably

Fujifilm Finepix S8100fd with 9.1mp and 18X zoom, impressed me and is quite affordable, also tested the S1500fd with 10mp and 12X zoom and there was very little difference between the two except for price.

The surprise package was the Sony Cybershot DSC H50 with 10mp(I think?) and 15X zoom. Just by going with what I could see on the LCD I don't see any difference between the 15 X zoom of the Sony compared to the 18X of the Fuji.

Still haven't had a Canon to test, but according to everyone I spoke with the SX10 IS looks like it might be the camera for livestock and even wildlife photos.

If anyone has any experience with any of these cameras please comment.

[randiliana]

Mine is a Sony cybershot DSC-H7, the one I had before was a Sony cybershot DSC-S40, not much zoom in the old one but it still took great photos. I really like the Sony cameras. I haven't had anything to do with othe models though, so I could be a bit biased.

[IluvABbeef]

As you know I have a Fuji S1000fd with a 12x optical zoom and I think 10.0 mp (its been a while since I've used it). I think that S1500fd is probably an upgrade from what I have or a different model. I've been able to take a good number of wildlife photos with it (if you count birds at the bird feeder as wildlife; plus a few deer), and they've turned out pretty good. But the colour when they are uploaded might be different than from other cameras.

A little tid-bit that I learned from reading one book on cameras was the difference in colour-scheme or something like that between Fuji and I think Canon...Fuji was more based on the blues and greens and Canon more to reds and yellows. I can't remember exactly so don't quote me on it.

I know Fuji is great for flowers and plants, but Canon might be your best bet for taking wildlife photos, Knersie. And that's from viewing other professional photographers' photos of their wildlife shots, and they had used a Canon to get the quality photos that they're able to sell. I'm not too familar with Sony, only I've heard that they aren't the greatest for cameras compared with Canon, Kodak and Fujifilm. But that could be just me being biased....

[BeefmasterB]

I had the EOS 650 (35 mm) and all my lenses and toys fit the digital EOS. The wife bought me one for our 25th anniversary.

You can put the multipliers on, then the 400 mm zoom, and you have to have a tri-pod - no matter how steady you are. Bean bags help but it is extremely difficult. With just one multiplier and the 70 to 210 zoom, I had great mountain goats shots but they were still.

It is much easier to go to the highest pixels rating you have and zoom in on the picture via computer.

This is all good info!! A tripod is a must with the longer lenses even with image stabilization. I can still fit my older Canon lenses onto the newer digital Rebel but there's no autofocus. And there are various multipliers to choose from so it's hard to go wrong. The Canon Digital Rebel also has the ability to manually tinker with the settings. The following was taken with the Canon Rebel XTi EOS using a Canon EFS 18-55mm lens:

[KNERSIE]

I think that S1500fd is probably an upgrade from what I have or a different model.

The S1500fd has image stabiliser that the S1000fd don't have.

[IluvABbeef]

I think that S1500fd is probably an upgrade from what I have or a different model.

The S1500fd has image stabiliser that the S1000fd don't have.

Ah okay I see...so then other than that both cameras should be pretty much the same or similar.

[KNERSIE]

I think that S1500fd is probably an upgrade from what I have or a different model.

The S1500fd has image stabiliser that the S1000fd don't have.

Ah okay I see...so then other than that both cameras should be pretty much the same or similar.

I didn't go over the specs with a fine tooth comb, but at first glance it seems the only difference is the image stabiliser.