Phuket

Dodger · #1 16-07-2005, 07:38

Decided its time to buy a new digital camera, my existing ones about 5 years old and huge, made of plastic and generally was crap 3 years ago but for nostalgic (cheepskate) reasons have hung onto it. I would like to buy a small metal cased camera, quality pics not too complicated and good value. Flying out to los 17th july.

1. Which make/model would you recommend?
2. Best place to buy it? normally i would buy in BKK but not staying over there this time so choices to purchase are duty free in airport (bkk or heathrow), patong but where best or phuket town?
3. Approx cost expected?

Cheers

Coolhand · #2 16-07-2005, 08:36

I have a Sony; its small - the same size as packet of ciggies, metal casem 5mp. I brought it a couple of years ago - I think about £260. Canon Ixus is another very good model again about £200 for a 5mp camera.
If you have time have a look at www.novatech.co.uk its a computer mail order shop but also does digital cameras.

mandarin · #3 16-07-2005, 08:51

i just bought one, especially for my LOS visit

Sony T33, 5.1Meg very small and handy US$349
they have another one. Extra slim and that will fit into your wallet. Model T7 and that goes for $449. that also 5.1 Mega pix
Nikon and casio also have some very nice stuff. check it out.
I am sorry don't know about the prices in BKK. According to my friends they are expensive, because of the tax. if you need any latest prices let me know i will send a post.

Regards.

LivinLOS · #4 16-07-2005, 12:34

If I was buying a point and shoot (non SLR body) cam right now the Sony T7 would be my instant choice.. About 14500 in Pantip I understand.. About 18 down here in the Sony shop but might be able to deal on that elsewhere... Second choice would be amoung the Ixus range (model depends on how much vid / size you need).. Very good cams and superb firmware and lenses.. The Sony rules the cool and form factor the Ixus may well be a better cam at the expense of size..

I was faced with just this choice recently.. I realized that for me a cam need not be high rez (most of what I photgraphed at 2MP was downrezzed for the web) and I am not taking long range pics (which needs the better lens).. What I needed was a simple point and shoot that was ALWAYS with me.. I found that the Sony Ericsson K750 phone has what I needed.. Its a 2MP camera with LED light / flash.. It takes good enough pics to print and good enough night / bar shots.. After august I understand the sesor will be changed to a CCD instead of CMOS (or vice versa) which will improve it again...

Basically wanted an always with me cam so when ever I see 2 hot girls making out I can capture the moment (or blackmail my mates !!).. So far I am very pleased with it..

Will upload a snap or two so you can see quality..

tintin · #5 16-07-2005, 14:34

A phone is funny, but to have quality-prinsts I would go for the Ixus.

Small, very handy, does everything well! Myself I like a camera with some opening-settings, f.e portraits, but if you don't want to bother with that, it is an exellent choice.

Also new is the fujifinepix 10, who has a new style of chip, that makes it possible NOT to use your flash, because at higher iso's, there is much less noise. Also great if you want some bigger prints from your BG!

Only turn down, it is a bit bigger then the ixus, and you can only use a video-screento focus your object.

For prices, I heard that in Malesia you got better deals. The prices I saw in Thailand for camera's is not worth the effort! You better look at mistergooddeal, or kelkoo, that can tell you where you can find the best price with store-rating!

Dodger · #6 16-07-2005, 15:19

Thanks for the info guys

LivinLOS · #7 16-07-2005, 15:23

As promised some links to pics.. These will not be hosted forever just a week or so..

This is just some stuff on the phone in the last week.. None of them are 'stunning' quality and you really need to make sure you dont wobble your hand.. It needs a stable shot..

Gee on a Drunken afternoon in Valhalla prior to the current nightmare.. Noisy pic as flash enabled but not night mode..

http://soieasy.com/Cam/DSC00011.JPG

My fave Valhalla waitress (Mai / Mae).. also low light shot night mode enabled but no flash IIRC I was drunk and forgot to make all the settings just grab and shoot..

http://soieasy.com/Cam/DSC00017.JPG

Low light indoor shot..

http://soieasy.com/Cam/DSC00023.JPG

My current spinner outside.. High light and some washout..

http://soieasy.com/Cam/DSC00038.JPG

View from the rear of the house.. View over Patong

http://soieasy.com/Cam/DSC00042.JPG

All of these are just 'grap point and click' I have not yet mastered the white balance, light types etc or experimented with using it more seriously (theres a tonne of options inside the camera setup).. I only got it a few days back and have been a bit busy of late..

I am reading online that the different firmwares have differing quality.. Looks like I need to upgrade (actually downgrade) to the first release which has less blooming of whites and a 'shaper' recording of detail..

Lots of much better pics from the K750i and the K700 in this thread

http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...page=178&pp=15

I should also point out that as it takes Sony Mem Sticks its expandable (2GB at the moment but 4GB by christmas.. It has a really impressive MP3 player that has sound quality thats more than a toy.. So basically I now have IPOD / Basic cam / etc all in my phone.. I know its quality does not stack up against a dedicated cam but having it ALWAYS with you makes it so much more usable to me.. I never would take my other cam with me.. This is always in my pocket ready for that kodak moment !!!

tintin · #8 16-07-2005, 16:22

Nice to see your pictures LIL!

I think they are fair, but a real camera would still be better to bring back memories of Los. Handy it is though!

I hope to finally meet you in November or December, you are certainly one of the most interesting posters here!

LivinLOS · #9 16-07-2005, 16:33

Actually those exhibit a fair bit more noise than the earlier outdoor pics I took (but dodnt keep).. Looking at the thread I link on Howardforums is a better idea of what can be done with a bit more skill (and less drink)..

For a holiday I guess archival is more important and agree but having had a digi cam for about 3 - 4 years sine the origional ixus was launched I have probably printed only about 30 - 40 pics yet have emailed (downrezzed) and posted 100's.. Also just the fact of having an extra item to carry while out and about means I never had a cam for those moments !! A combo device suits my needs a lot better..

Just giving another point of view..

ancientmariner · #10 16-07-2005, 16:41

the kodak z700 and z740 are good cameras too with great zoom range and quality lens for around USD350 and they come with a free good quality photo printer for 4x6 prints. if you want a camera to look cool you buy a sony

LivinLOS · #11 16-07-2005, 17:04

Time between pictures can be a camera issue or a memory issue (slow memory)..

I have just bought a 1 Gig Mem stick for the Phone and made sure I got a 'high speed' duo pro.. Makes no difference with this application but if I want to use it for video in another device it makes a fair bit.

tintin · #12 16-07-2005, 17:05

Well some who saw me in Patong last year, saw me carry the heavy Nikon D 70 slr around!

I love this camera, but I am fed up with zize and weight!

If my wife has a good temper I will buy this:

http://home.fujifilm.com/products/digital/lineup/f10/

Here some samples :

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=14079942

Intreresting is that this camera has very low noise, comparable to SLR!

Wich means if you set the iso high, you have nice pictures, without flash, taken from the girls in the bars...

And....from the BM's of course!

ancientmariner · #13 16-07-2005, 17:12

tintin,

do you have problem focusing with you d70 at night or in low-light situation causing no focus lock? i use a n80 and have trouble focusing at night

tintin · #14 16-07-2005, 17:30

Well it all depends what you call "night"

In a dimmed -light situation, like MT-bar, every picture I took is sharp, using the flash!

You can see them in the photo-section of the forum.

Nicke · #15 16-07-2005, 17:34

I use D70 and have no problem at all to focus at night.

I also use Canon Ixus 40 as carry-around camera all the time. (16500 baht including 256 MB)

The pics from K750i looks really good in daytime, but the low light pics was bad, but thats was expected. You really need a real flash for such pictures.

If I needed a new phone I would go for K750i, it is a very nice phone, and I think Jonas will buy one any day. We were looking prices the other day, around 16,900 baht.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ancientmariner

tintin,

do you have problem focusing with you d70 at night or in low-light situation causing no focus lock? i use a n80 and have trouble focusing at night

Allybabba22 · #16 16-07-2005, 17:52

After chopping and changing my mind several times, I finally went for the Sony DSC-P200, Tried to put up loads of different links but computers is not my area, And fu*ked it up as usual

PS: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/ebayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW

LivinLOS · #17 16-07-2005, 18:08

Those low light shots were me drunk (not still hand) not using flash and / or night mode combo.. Also the FW in mine is not as good as some others for images and it shows compared to some of the superb (even night) pics in the thread linked.. You do need to watch for 'flaring' or solarization from low light but rumours of a CCD sensor being (quietly so as to to cuase a flood of returns) sensor are interesting.. CCD obviously being more the norm in point and shoot DP..

Under Big C it was 16700 about a week or so ago.. Assume it to be 16500 now..

Just waiting for a real 3.5 mm headphone jack accessory so I can use conventional cans instead of the Sony earbuds and for the w800 sony ericsson walkman firmware to leak public (people have it but I dont yet).. The W800 isnt even out yet but the K750i will already do the W800 FW and has the same hardware !!!

LivinLOS · #18 16-07-2005, 18:12

Ohh and one of the 'optional accessories' is a clip on flash for the bottom of the phone.. Though that ruins the 'take anywhere always' aspect for me...

koarl · #19 16-07-2005, 18:20

Some People buy a Camera, the other one buy Nikon! :-)

void · #20 16-07-2005, 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicke

I also use Canon Ixus 40 as carry-around camera all the time.

I am also a Canon fan, and purchased a Canon Ixus 700 (SD500 in North America). 7.1 Mega Pixel, and 3x optical zoom in March this year, before my April Thailand trip.

One thing I learned, which has already been pointed out on this thread, is the extra Mega Pixels, is not necessarily a great thing to get. I find to take advantage of having more mega pixels requires a steadier hand, and more care in ensuring the camera's auto focus worked properly. This is something an SLR does automatically, but these small very portable cameras are not as great at.

A good friend has a Canon Ixus 40, and we compared it to the Ixus 700. Not a heck of a lot of difference, other than the Mega Pixels, and I having seen his camera, and played with it next to mine, I personally think the Ixus 40 is a very good buy.

My only complaint is these small cameras are getting so small, its hard to hold them steady to take a really sharp image. But one doesn't go for a small camera, to get a really sharp image. One goes for a small camera to be able to take it most places, and whip it out at the spur of the moment.

I am curious about the progress being made in some of the mobile phone digital cameras. I played with one of those mentioned in this thread, and I didn't like it. It was great outdoors, on a sunny day. But indoors in a hotel room, or in a bar at night, and I found the flash far too weak, and the mobile phone camera's capability to compensate for the weak flash inadequate.

But everyone's taste in photos differ. I have some friends who refuse to go for a small digital, and insist on sticking with the superior image quality of their SLR. Of course they pay a lot more, have to lug around a big camera, and they miss a lot of the images that those of us with small cameras can get. ....

Damnn, ... this post ended up being much much longer than I intended. My apologies for the soap box smattering of subjective observations.

tintin · #21 16-07-2005, 18:45

Void, what you say is absolutely true.

The more pixels do not justify the turndown of higher pixelisation and noise!
It is convenient though if you have a photo-album with some larger prints.

Now, why I want to buy the fuji 10, is because they have a new sensor.
The big difference between slr and compact is not only the lens, but the noise issue...

Indeed with a compact-camera, too many pixels on a small sensor. Noise becomes unbearable at higher iso"s.

The fuji is the first camera that can compete with slr in this matter. I have seen wonderfull pictures taken with it. Any good camera will have too much pixels to put on the net straight away, recompression (very simple) is always necessary, except if you want quality for photo-sites.

The canon's are great little cameras, but for the noise issue, believe me for the moment that Fuji is the only way to go.

Wich doesn't mean it doesn't has some other disadvantages like purple frinking in some situations! But it is so sharp, that I am afraid, that i will leave my Nikon D 70 home next time!

gregor200 · #22 16-07-2005, 19:08

I use a Ixus (first model) for 5 years now. No problem with sand (shutter), temperature etc. Very fast response and robust case.

LivinLOS · #23 16-07-2005, 19:56

Thought as I had a few mins I would play with the low light options (and some experiments with the solarize tool and burst mode shooting etc)..

Here are 4 pics in low after sunset dusk.. In the full rez pics there appears to be less noise than the downrezzed ones which is kinda odd to me.. Also now very keen to get the firmware changes as that sorts a lot of the noise issue out..

A quick spin through Photoshop CS2 and these would be ok for web bits..

This was very low light no flash but night mode..

LivinLOS · #24 16-07-2005, 20:02

First 2 are just variations on distance and flash.. Getting very dark at this point..

Then I did 3 pics of same approx subject using normal, night modem, night mode and flash (should have doen a normal with flash thinking about it).. On the last one I didnt have a steady hand it appears..

The flash also has a light for the autofocus / red eye reduction and then a 'flash' for the shot.. Didnt suss that before.. Really going to have to learn how the manual white balance / sensitivity works..