point and shoot camera recommendations

[wfsteadman]

Folks,
There are lots of reviews on the Internet about Point and Shoot cameras and I currently have a Canon PowerShot 580 that does the trick to this point, but it is getting old and having issues so I wanted to see if any of you are using sub $200.00 Point and Shoot cameras for taking photos of your pens and turned objects and if so what model do you use and how well do they do and would you recommend it

THANKS
Wally

 

[Skie_M]

Using a Casio Exilim 14.1 Megapixel camera ... I bought it at a pawn shop for 80 dollars.

I decided to get a better flash card for it ... came with a 2 GB, I put a 16 GB micro in it with an adapter.

Everything on the camera works perfectly .... zoom, video record, mode change, flash, and the camera's extending lens also retracts perfectly when the camera is turned back off... nice slim package approx 2.5 inches high, 4 inches long, 1 inch thick (turned off, turned on the lens extends another inch and a half or so).


The images are MASSIVE and highly detailed ... I normally resize them to 900x650 pix before I import them here, or cut/clip just the part of the image I want.

A recent pic I uploaded:

Taken outside on a sunny day, on a folding table with a light blue microfiber towel for the background.

 

[eharri446]

You can get a Nikon at WALMART for around $100.00.

 

[lyonsacc]

You need to do a "search" on the IAP for threads be "Sylvanite" (Eric Rasmussen). He has started a handful or more of very detailed threads about pen photography. Here is a link to one of them http://www.penturners.org/forum/f24/photography-basics-why-use-light-tent-121808/

 

[Culprit]

I recommend the Canon PowerShot SX410-IS on the Walmart website for $199. If you ever exhaust the capabilities of that camera, you can install a free firmware hack to make the camera shoot RAW and open up even more control. The firmware hack loads on your card and makes the camera dual bootable so you can use the factory or hacked firmware anytime you want.

Or, if you have a modern smart phone, you can get great results by putting it on a tripod, and using a free or cheap HDR app. We had a thread on it a couple years ago you can probably find pretty easily.

Disclaimer I have had two Canon PowerShot series cameras in the past and two of their DSLRs, but haven't used this exact model that I'm recommending. But from what I know of the company and their technology, it will do more than you can ask of it.

 

[Culprit]

Here's a link to the thread I was talking about:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f24/iphone-5-camera-hdr-116030/

 

[Sylvanite]

Just about any modern digital camera is capable of taking decent pen photos, provided it has a minimum level of controls. What's behind the camera is much more important than what's inside it. Even point-and-shoot models can work well in aperture-priority or manual exposure modes.

Check out http://www.penturners.org/forum/f24/pen-photography-putting-concept-into-practice-128555/ which shows how I used a $70 point-and-shoot camera to take a pen photo. Also look at http://www.penturners.org/forum/f24/photography-basics-composition-125808/. Some of the pen photos I posted there were taken with the same $70 camera, and others with a $1500 DSLR. See if you can tell which pictures were taken with which camera.

The IAP library article http://content.penturners.org/library/techniques/pen_photog.pdf sums up these and other threads on pen photography if you want more information.

Regards,
Eric

 

[bmachin]

This advice may already be in Eric's articles, but I would get myself to Walmart, Sams, Costco, Best Buy, your local camera store, or any other place where you can actually handle a powered up version of any camera that you might consider.

FWIW,
Bill