Buying a Camera

[pplater]

Im an amateur photographer looking to buy my first camera in about six months. I dont want to spend any more than $1K AUD on it.

At present, I like the fujifilm finepix 6.0.

what should I look for?

[Tim Falce]

A shop that sells the fujifilm finepix 6.0.
sorry, but you did ask

[Cougar]

I cant seem to find the camera that you are refering to?

google search gives me Fujifilm FinePix F700, but only because it is a 6 megapixel camera? i take it you are looking at a digital camera?

[pplater]

Yeah, that sounds right.

[Duffacus]

I would guess your talking about one of these;

F700

S5000

S7000

I have just bought the S5000, lovely peice of kit

[pplater]

Yep, the S5000 is what I'm after.
How is it treating you?

[billnchristy]

I own a Sony DSC-717...very happy with it.
heres my galleries (the first two taken with the sony)

http://www.pbase.com/billnchristy

[rdjones]

I have S602 which does the job pretty well. That has now been replaced by the S7000, which is a really nice bit of kit and bloke at work has one. IMO would spend the extra £150ish and get the S7000, as I think that it is a better camara and better suited to for Motor Sport pictures.

[Duffacus]

I haven't used the S5000 at a meeting yet but I have been practicing on it, our garden gets lots of birds in it because my parents feed them so they are what I have been practicing on! I had it on maz zoom on some photos and the quality is still excellent! It looses none of its quality what so ever. I've been very happy with it so far, I think either a S5000 or S7000 would suit you fine.

[Cougar]

Originally posted by rdjones
I have S602 which does the job pretty well. That has now been replaced by the S7000, which is a really nice bit of kit and bloke at work has one. IMO would spend the extra £150ish and get the S7000, as I think that it is a better camara and better suited to for Motor Sport pictures.

I dont want to go off topic here but I am looking to upgrade to the S7000 now as well! I currently have the 2800Z
Does anyone have/or think it is worth it getting the addon lense for telephoto? Pitty the S7000 doesnt have the 10X of the S5000.

Also rdjones? have you got any motorsport pics from your S7000 for me to look at?

Getting back to your question pplater, I considered the S5000 but IMO the 3megapixel is not a worthy upgrade from my 2 megapixel camera But still even my 2800Z gets great pics so the S5000 will deffinately be good value for money!

[rdjones]

Originally posted by Cougar21
I dont want to go off topic here but I am looking to upgrade to the S7000 now as well! I currently have the 2800Z
Does anyone have/or think it is worth it getting the addon lense for telephoto? Pitty the S7000 doesnt have the 10X of the S5000.

Also rdjones? have you got any motorsport pics from your S7000 for me to look at?

I can answer both questions here. As I say I have an S602, which the S7000 has replaced and I also have the telephoto lense. I would say yes it is worth getting one but do beware u do loss some pictures do loss some of there colour.

As I say the chap at work does have a S7000 and guess what he uses it for Motor Sport Photography. Sadly he has closed his website so I can't show u any pictures. Now we had chatted about them and we are both in agreement that you can't tell the difference between that and a DSLR, in he has even had one of the photos he has taken with it published in Motorsport News.

The other thing to remember the is that the S7000 has now been improved on too. Fuji have now brought out the S20 Now I havn't had a look at one these but if it is anything like the S602/7000 then it will do job.

[gi_gav]

This is off topic given pplater's stated budget, but i feel i should point out that there is a world of difference between a DSLR and either the S602 or the S7000.

[Cougar]

True I dont think you could compare a DSLR with a Prosumer camera. But I also do think in a amateur's hands (such as myself, beginner even!) a DSLR will be useless.

IMO the S5000 looks like a great camera! only negative for me is the 3megapixel.

I also dont quite understand the idea behind the S20? This seems to be the sam body as the S7000 but only a 3megapixel sensor? Can anyone explain the logic behind that?

[rdjones]

I have just been doing some digging about and I have just found some of my workmates photo's that I know where taken with the S7000.

Number 1

number 2

[gi_gav]

Cougar21 (and pplater), it might be worth looking at some of the other long zoom cameras - the Minolta Dimage Z2, and the Kodak 6490 chief among them.

The Minolta has a faster lens (in terms of aperture - better for low light and focusing) and a quicker shutter response (useful for catching fast subjects).

The Kodak just seems to be an excellent little camera, although i don't know how good it is for motorsport.

Have a look on the American site, http://www.photographyreview.com/reviewscrx.aspx - a very usful place for opinions.

[Duffacus]

Well the S5000 got me some great results on photos at Oulton Park, very sharp and high quality, I would recommend the S5000 to anyone.

[mcurtis26]

I was surprised at the price of the S5000, especially when I saw the quality of your photos Duffacus, it seems fantastic value.

[Duffacus]

Apparently the camera was in the £350 region around Christmas time but has since come down in price. I saw a few people with this camera at Silverstone for the BTCC races and when I decided to take another look into the camera it had come down in price so it was an offer I certainly couldn't miss. I bought it ready for Oulton and I was really pleased with the results. The camera really is fantastic value and the quality is very high.

[jdellis]

Originally posted by gi_gav
The Kodak just seems to be an excellent little camera, although i don't know how good it is for motorsport.

I picked up a DX6490 after getting bit by the digital bug with a Nikon 2100 (in which I'd had 2 break in under 6 months).

I'm still learning, but the 10X zoom lens makes it easier to get decent shots from the spectator's perspective.

Vintage Pics from Mid-Ohio

My biggest gripe is that it uses a dock for a charger, which isn't the most compact arrangement to pack for the hotel room.

-jde

[rdjones]

I am now looking to upgrade from my S602 and I think it is time to go for a DSLR. I have had a look at a Nikon D70 and Canon D300 as these are both just within my price range but, IMO they just look at bit cheap. I would really like Canon D10 but I can't quite afford one

With this in mine I have had a look at 2nd hand prices and I have discovered that you can get a Canon D30 for about £450, Canon D60 for about £550 and a Nikon D100 for about £650. I am sure between now and the end of the season (when I planning to make the switch) that price will come down. But I am not sure which of three to go for has anyone got any thought.

[gi_gav]

The 300d (in my opinion, as i know plenty of people that love it) isn't worth the money. The D70 definitely is, so i wouldn't write it off at all for the construction.

Of the rest, the D100 is possibly the best constructed, but is still very expensive considering the D70, brand new, isn't too much more.

The D60 has some significant improvements over the D30, but has some serious issues with parts supply should anything go wrong.

The D30, by all accounts, is still a seriously good camera. In terms of features, it blows away the 300D. Don't get caught up too much with simply counting megapixels - the D30 is a direct predecessor of the utterly wonderful 10D and is still highly rated today. It's also seriously good value as a 2nd hand buy.

My first choice (bear in mind that I'm a Canon loyalist ) would be the Nikon D70. After that, I think you'd be best served by a D30 and spend the difference on getting a better lens, as it's the photographer and the glass (in that order) that make the real difference as far as i'm concerned.

[rdjones]

Thanks for that. I have been speaking to a fellow forum member about this one last night and she also agreed that the D30 is the best of lot and having done a little bit more reseach into this subject last I am now in agreement with you.

As for the D70 as I have heard about 1 or 2 stories about people having problems. So this is putting me off, but a chap at work has just order one so I will have a look at his before writing it off completly.

But I think it will be a D30, its just a case of finding one at the right price.

[macdaddy]

Sounds like y'all have some really nice cameras! You wanna talk "amateur"? I just bought a standard, run-of-the-mill HP 3MP and I'm more than happy with it. Under $200. Certainly not meant for motorsport photography, but for how many races I actually get to attend, it fits my needs perfectly. (Mostly pictures of the kids).

[gi_gav]

ok, although i do work for them occasionally, i would recommend Jessops second hand listings - www.jessops.com/used

D30s appear on there quite often and you can have an extensive look over it, as well as having a 12 month warranty.

I don't think i'm too biased here as i couldn't really give a damn about the company's fortunes, just that the price is similar to buying privately only with some extra benefits.

Happy hunting though!

[BigRed450]

Well folks Last year I shot Moto X with a Fuji S602, quite a capable camera IMO. Wonderful camera for its price and probably the best for sports in the prosumer class, but it does take skill and photography knowledge to get the best out of all these cameras of this type. This year I have moved on to a Canon 10D and good L glass. Why Canon you ask? Very simple my friends, when you buy DSLR you are buying into a system not just a camera body and IMHO Canon has better glass and also a better selection. I also prefer the CMOS sensor. You buy the best lenses you can afford and then you can upgrade camera bodies as you grow into the system.
The Nikon D70 may very well be a better built camera then the Canon 300D, but where do you grow from D70? The inferior, but better built D100 or D1X or maybe the 4mp D2H? They don't even make a verticle battery grip for the D70. This is just my opinion BTW I am not Canon biased as I have used Pentax film cameras for many years and still prefer them for film. I just see Canon as the best future for what I want...