Senior Contributing Editors:
Jesus Diaz
| AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan | AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci | Twitter
Sean Fallon | Twitter
Jack Loftus | Twitter
John Herrman | Twitter
Dan Nosowitz
Chris Mascari
Danny Allen | Twitter
Rosa Golijan | Twitter
Chris Jacob
@Kaiser-Machead: Edited semi angry post about usefulness of MobileMe for people like me. Reeeeeeetracted cause it wasn't necessary and was mainly referring to it against the usefulness of the card, and not the storage space combo as a whole (which is still different, but still more useful together than the card itself).
I will soon be stashing stuff all over the net in free storage so I can move into a new computer and then redownload it all back onto the new one. I know that isnt efficient, but its free. :)
@Curves: What are you using? I've got one of the free Dropbox accounts and it's pretty awesome but I only have 2GB of space. I was stoked when I heard about Goggle dropping their prices on storage before I found out it's just used as an add on to gmail and picasa accounts. Have you looked into any of the other services? How do they stack up?
@ninjamurf: I have limited free storage at Google, MSN and Yahoo, all of which I keep e mail accounts at, as well as a pay photo site that can store a lot of pics, and a lot of them are still on the card in the camera. I am re-thinking this, though, and considering a portable hard drive, since I am finding myself on the move a lot more lately between 2 or 3 work computers and 2 or 3 at home. I have never had any problems with the on line storage though, and have a lot of "stuff" stashed here and there.
@Curves: A portable USB harddrive would be worth the time and effort saved without one. Otherwise you'd have to worry about connection speeds and constant Internet access too.
I have a Olympus E510. It's an older camera, but it also feels pretty solid and takes some nice shots. I know that olympus doesn't really have the same support as Canon and Nikon, but I found that for a first DSLR, it's not too shabby. Pentax makes some really nice cameras as well, as I have played around with my brothers a little. Now neither of these have the 1080p video ( in fact neither of them have video), but for someone that is interested in cameras and amateur photography, these are decent options if you are looking at getting into amateur photography...
I'd love to play with a DSLR, but I just can't justify it... I know how to set the manual settings, but for the cost of the cheapest one here, I could get a Sony DSC-WX1 that does great night shots, automatic panoramas, and most importantly, it's small enough I could have it on me when I need to take a picture.
I'm not coming out against DSLR or anything, but for my uses... they're just so huge I'd never have it with me, and the price is so high I couldn't buy one for non-professional use.
@fuchikoma: Heh, I've noticed that too about cameras. I can never be arsed to bring it with me. (I have a Panasonic-something-or-the-other better than your average compact camera but not as good as a DSLR making it pretty big, but not too big)
@fuchikoma: most of us DSLR users have a P&S to go along. I take both on vacations, and the PS still gets plenty of use. But when you start looking at pictures from your trip when you get home, the DSLR advantages are quite clear and makes me wonder why I didnt lug the better camera around that day.
But yes, the new Sony WX1 is quite amazing in low light and panoramics... havent seen 100% crops side by side tho, I just toyed with one at a friends house.
@irfan: That would be ideal... but I'm not a photographer, so I'm afraid I can only drop $400 on a camera every 5 years or so.
To me, I'd get a DSLR for more artistic effects like depth of field, very long exposures, bokeh, or HDR, but a while back a friend and I were comparing our cameras - he had some kind of 7MP Olympus DSLR and I had a 7MP Sony DSC-P150. In extreme darkness you could see the sensor noise on my camera, and he could just set a very long exposure, so that was a clear win for him if we were printing hi-res posters or competing in a photo competition.
But ultimately, while he's very happy with it because he does make use of all the features, when we compare ordinary shots, his camera's pics look 3-5% better, but his camera cost about 220% as much before lenses. I'd love to have all the manual features he does, but I just can't pay that when I take about 50 shots a year and keep about half that many...
@fuchikoma: plain and simple, if youre only taking 50 shots a year then a DSLR makes no sense... neither does a $400 point and shoot. Id just get a year old model of a Canon PowerShot SDXXX for maybe $200 and call it a day.
If you're talking about "new cameras still sold in some capacity", I think the rock-bottom priced but best image quality cameras are the Canon 450D (xsi) and the Nikon D40.
The Nikon D3000 is a D60 with an idiot guide, and the D60 is a D40 with a rangefinder and a few more megapixels... no big deal.
The Canon 450D retains better high ISO quality than the 500D (t1i) in some respects. The T1i's main draw is the video and slightly improved (in my opinion) ergonomics, but the 450D is a hell of a lot cheaper.
@NewbiusMaximus: You've just laid out the internal conversation I've been having over the last week trying to make the decision which one to get. Well, except I dallied a bit with the idea of a micro 4/3. I like the idea of a small camera for convenience but the lenses are few and rather expensive to justify for a beginner like me.
@FigNinja: I would like a m4/3 camera too, but again, they are out of most price ranges. I think that the Nikon D40 is already rather small, same with the Rebel XS (which is another great choice). If you prefer something small but gives great pictures, a Nikon D40 or a Rebel XS with a 50mm prime lens (I prefer a 35mm myself but the 50mm is cheaper), is pretty compact, very inexpensive, yet produces high quality images. The 50mm f/1.8 "teaches" you how to be a good photographer as well... namely how to abuse depth of field and how to zoom using your feet =D
@NewbiusMaximus: Yeah. I was definitely planning on the 50mm. It seems just the thing to learn on and I need a pretty fast lens for the conditions I'm shooting in. I was thinking of going with a used body, maybe a couple models back.
12/08/09
But the eye-fi is tempting.
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
Ha! As if Google doesn't already know (including your signature and voice print)
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/04/09
12/04/09
12/04/09
12/04/09
12/04/09
It's not bigger than your head. I can still see traces of an albino with his hair on fire.
12/01/09
11/27/09
11/26/09
11/26/09
I'm not coming out against DSLR or anything, but for my uses... they're just so huge I'd never have it with me, and the price is so high I couldn't buy one for non-professional use.
11/26/09
11/26/09
11/26/09
But yes, the new Sony WX1 is quite amazing in low light and panoramics... havent seen 100% crops side by side tho, I just toyed with one at a friends house.
11/26/09
To me, I'd get a DSLR for more artistic effects like depth of field, very long exposures, bokeh, or HDR, but a while back a friend and I were comparing our cameras - he had some kind of 7MP Olympus DSLR and I had a 7MP Sony DSC-P150. In extreme darkness you could see the sensor noise on my camera, and he could just set a very long exposure, so that was a clear win for him if we were printing hi-res posters or competing in a photo competition.
But ultimately, while he's very happy with it because he does make use of all the features, when we compare ordinary shots, his camera's pics look 3-5% better, but his camera cost about 220% as much before lenses. I'd love to have all the manual features he does, but I just can't pay that when I take about 50 shots a year and keep about half that many...
11/28/09
11/26/09
The Nikon D3000 is a D60 with an idiot guide, and the D60 is a D40 with a rangefinder and a few more megapixels... no big deal.
The Canon 450D retains better high ISO quality than the 500D (t1i) in some respects. The T1i's main draw is the video and slightly improved (in my opinion) ergonomics, but the 450D is a hell of a lot cheaper.
11/26/09
11/26/09
11/27/09
11/26/09