What camera's...

M

Mirror Detailing

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
687
Reaction score
0
What camera's do you all use for taking your detailed pictures of your details. Looking at getting a Cannon Powershot SX20 IS next month! So just curious what everyone else uses!
 
I use a Cannon Power Shot S5IS, it's a great pre-DSLR camera to learn with and is going for around $200 on ebay. Point and shoot quality is great and once you learn the manual settings you can take some amazing pics. The best part is learning to use CHDK (Cannon Hacker Dev Kit... supposedly), it's a program made for Cannons. The program basically turns it into a DSLR allowing tons of customization and extra features, plus Cannon has recognized CHDK and deemed it non-destructive and non-warranty voiding! This camera also has a nice little following on Flickr.

You can take pics in "Super Macro" mode which lets you touch the lens to the subject, that's close!
IMG_1922.jpg


Hand held from inside a car at 35 mph, passing car is at 35 mph as well. Look at the wheels, car looks parked!
IMG_1576.jpg

Low light, med/high shutter speed and still can catch single drops of water
IMG_1579-1.jpg

Long exposures are fun to play with
IMG_0194.jpg


If your not already into Photography this is a great beginners camera. With CHDK it is comparable to many cameras 5X the price. That SX20 looks great though!
 
Last edited:
Holy crap, $200 thats a good price. The Powershot SX20IS goes for around $350 brand new!
 
Yeah low price and high quality but the S5IS is older and only 8MP, the SX20 is 12.1MP :drool:.
 
I just got for x-mas the Olympus Tough 8000.....water proof to 33ft and shock resistant from 6.6ft. Great to use at the shop in case it gets wet and pics are awesome, 12 MP, 3.6x optical wide zoom w/macro
 
I asked BB if they would be interested in matching Amazon's price and they couldn't. Oh well. What memory card do you have?
 
Anyone recommend a good camera from $250-350 that maybe I overlooked. That would be great for taking pictures of my details? Best I have seen is the Powershot SX20IS but cheapiest I am found it is around $375
 
We just got a Lumix DMC-Z23. Has a 12x zoom. I'm still learning to take pix but assume it's just as good as any other Point & Shoot. I has a lot of configurations. I got it off amazon. But I think Costco may have them with a case & memory card for like $250 or $241 on Amazon.

One problem I had was trying to take pix in bright sun as has been suggested but have found that's the one of the worst times to get good looking pix. Here's a good read.

Automobile/Motorcar Photography Tips by Curt Scott

I'm thinking about a DSLR as well. I found this website this morning.

Popular Digital Cameras and Gear
 
David Fermani said:
I asked BB if they would be interested in matching Amazon's price and they couldn't. Oh well. What memory card do you have?
Click to expand...

I'm not surprised BB wouldn't match Amazon. I figure with my Reward Zone silver membership the BB gift cert. I'll get back will help to match whatever lower price I might find.

I think I got the 8 gig card. I'll have to look as I can't remember. I just remember that whatever card I got would hold 100's of shots even shooting in RAW mode.

Mirror Detailing said:
Anyone recommend a good camera from $250-350 that maybe I overlooked. That would be great for taking pictures of my details? Best I have seen is the Powershot SX20IS but cheapiest I am found it is around $375
Click to expand...

Those little Canon point & shoot cameras (Powershot?) have served me REALLY well over the years.
 
I have a Canon Rebel XT DSLR. Anybody wanting a DSLR, it seems like the prices have really dropped on them.
 
Mirror Detailing said:
Anyone recommend a good camera from $250-350 that maybe I overlooked. That would be great for taking pictures of my details? Best I have seen is the Powershot SX20IS but cheapiest I am found it is around $375
Click to expand...
Let me hook you up. You have PM coming in a moment.
 
Mirror Detailing said:
What camera's do you all use for taking your detailed pictures of your details.
Click to expand...
Those that know me know that I am heavy into photography with equally heavy selection of gear at my disposal (and those that don't know me can check my reference in that regard starting with Tim Lingor of MOL fame that is also passionate photographer).

Still, when I want to take impressive pictures of car, especially car with polished paint, it is not my pro DSLR gear I reach for nor newer multi megapixel camera of any type but inexpensive "bridge" type camera of older generation.

Why?

First, such cameras have approximately four times bigger depth of field than common DSLR. Therefore more of your car/panel will be within focus and more of object is in focus the sharper picture of object will look. If you go to photography forums you will see common question from people that switched from such cameras to DSLR "why my pictures look softer now" (Nich Chapman went through same thing on MOL when he sold his non-DSLR and went Canon DSLR route).

Second, autofocusing on DSLRs works differently than autofocusing on non-DSLRs. As a result autofocusing on non-DSLRS does not work well for moving objects but it nails static objects, even those that are hard to nail (like low contrast/dark color objects) perfectly, which is important if you are around black cars a lot like I am.

Third, some older generation non-DSLR cameras use laser grid to assist in auto-focusing (think of grid similar to one used by high speed barcode scannners) which makes them autofocus dead on even in absolute dark, which no DSLR can do.

Last, but not least, more megapixels you cram on any camera mushier picture will be, so many newer cameras with many megapixels do not end up producing results as good as some old ones with less megapixels produced. After all, if you are displaying picture on HDTV that is still only 2 megapixels.
 
Last edited:
Dave, do you guys in FL pay sales tax on Amazon.com purchases. We get nailed the extra 8% here in NY. I suspect that you don't...........would love to buy bigger ticket items, like another dig. camera @ Amazon like you choice (as I need one too)..............but, the extra 36 bucks just turns me off. Always end up looking at other non-state tax sites.....just like Autogeek. (BTW, another excellent detailing product company is down the road in Albany.......their basic FedEx delivery arrives the following day here in Rochester..........but, there's that 'sales tax" to add to the order! Ugh....) :D

Thx. for the info, even if a bit of a side track.

See ya.
hellobye.gif


Bob

PS - keep the camera recommendations coming......I'd like to find the right one to buy, as well.

David Fermani said:
I just bought a Nikon D3000 from Amazon for $450 delivered to my door.
Click to expand...
 
I own a Nikon D40 and love it. It's a great beginners camera. I highly recommend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top