Posted: Wed 07/14/10 11:44 am Post subject: Fishing Cameras: What Are You Using Today?
Through the years there has been much technological advancement in the digital photo and video realms. Amazing to think that some of the first videos on this site were 160x120 resolution - because that is all that most users machines and internet connections could handle back then. Nowadays, there are as many options for still and video cameras as there are codecs and all those "fun" things. Anyway, just curious as to what folks are using these days .... I am currently using the SONY HDR-XR500V for both still shots and video. Some of the better features are the image stabilization and the GPS receiver which geo tags every shot and clip, which is great for archival and search purposes. Rather than naming files to find them in the future, I can simply search on a location in the world and it will pull up all of my media in that region .. saves a lot of time, if you have many years of content and data to deal manage. The camera handles low light very well too. Seems as though the software companies have made some progress with being able to fluidly and effeciently handle the "new" (not new anymore) AVCHD format, which is what this and many other HD cameras these days use (at least the low end HD electronics that can be purchased at most retail stores)
What are you using? Are people taking more video these days, due to ease of use? Or, are you mostly just taking still photos?
Still carrying the SLR = Nikon D40 around.
Although I am very happy with the SLR I would really have liked a multizoom lens - those are readily available but a tad expensive to put on my pretty vintage camera right now.
The other miss might be the lack of recording video.
I did buy a handycam standard definition that records on flash memory but was very dissapointed with the quality of the footage - never used the thing much. Off course Canon and Nikon both have SLR's that record video but what I figured from the reviews those cams are not really suited for that task.
I am currently considering buying one of those new compact camera's that provide wide angle - 20 x zoom - HD video recording etc.
Just have to find one that can carry a polarizer and then I am set, I might get one of the Panasonic mega zoom camera's.
Posted: Sun 07/18/10 6:34 pm Post subject: Cameras
Personally, I am still shooting stills. Not by choice all of the time, but due to a lack of a good video camera. What do you guys recommend for a good hand held HD Video camera? Waterproof is always a good option....
As for stills, I use 2 different cameras right now. I always carry my Olympus Stylus. It is waterproof, is 1o mp's, have 3 great Macro settings, under water wide angle lens, and under water macro mode, and shoots mediocre video. Great camera for about $300.
When conditions are good, I love to carry my Nikon D80. It is an amazing camera. I have only scratched the surface as to what it can actually do. It takes amazing photos all by itself, the only things I added were a UV filter, and a Polarizer. A great camera for boat days, but a little scary to carry when wade fishing. Speaking of which, what do you guys carry your cameras in when in the water or on foot. I keep my D80 in a Pelican Case all of the time, but is not ideal when wade fishing due to the weight of it.....since I am carrying a sling pack full of flies and way too much other crap, a striping basket, and a whole bunch of water due to the daytime temps in FL, the Pelican adds a whole bunch of extra weight. I have been looking at the Simms Roll Top backpack for a universal carry all.....it is waterproof. Any other suggestions?
After reading several reviews I was pondering about getting the Panasonic FZ38 or a Sony DCS HX-1.
From the reviews I concluded that the Panasonic was the better camera of the two allthough the features where more or less comparable.
In the end I opted to choose the Sony despite of the negative reviews about its capability to shoot decent pictures at low light conditions.
Since I shot most of my photographs during the times that there was much light I did not bother to much about the low light issue.
The choice for the Sony was also motivated by the fact that I still had two Memory sticks and two batteries of the SD Sony handycam I had purchased some time ago. The quality of the SD video from that cam was dissapointing in my book so I never used it that much.
It turned out however that the batteries would fit on the Sony DCS-HX1 so at least some items could be salvaged.
I have only made a few testshots with the camera but already have got some impressions about the use.
Having used a SLR most of the time I did like the handling of the camera.
What I did not like was the electronic viewfinder, it is just to small compared to what I was used with the SLR.
You can switch between LCD screen or the EVF so I guess I will have to get used to looking at the LCD to compose my pictures.
One thing I did like was the 20 times zoom capability, nice to have when you are out in the field and want to make a shot of wildlife.
Another thing I missed on the camera was the ability to use filters on the lens, most of these superzoom camera's do not have threads to mount them. The Sony also lacks this feature but I have learnd that there are adapters available.
I will try and get my hands on one of those adapters to at least be able to mount a polarizing filter.
I have not yet messed with the video option yet.
The reviews say its pretty decent but I have to test it for myself.
I will post some results when I use the camera on the next planned fishingtrip.
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