What camera do you use yourself?

[reddragdiva]

I've amended Diva's Photo Guide for Pubs and Clubs with all your helpful comments — feel free to reread. Now I'd like to know what you use. This applies to everyone from people who don't know or care about camera geekery to those who put on an EOS-30D before their underwear!

Please expand on your answer in a comment as you wish. Also, if you'd like to particularly praise or rant about a given model or make, please do so.

[Poll #743011]

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I am very tempted to sneak into work and play about with Semper on some photos :D except I only know b&w stuff on it.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Not actually drunken goths in clubs, but drunken geeks at parties seems near enough optically speaking.

[reddragdiva]

Probably a bit more light and less cleavage, but the principle is the same.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Also used for sober goths at clubs when I find any ...

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

I really hate my Olympus. Horrible user interface, makes taking pictures of anything hard.

[weatherpixie.livejournal.com]

I take pictures of gigs. Things I make. Drunk people in pubs (I'm not a gothist). Stuff and things.

[vampwillow]

Used for getting photos for web usage of people/places for politics, etc. websites. 4Meg pixels is plenty to source that sort of thing (and some have been used in print too). If I need *really* good pics then I go back to wet work and use the one in the icon ...

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Other - bedroom. *cough*

I originally chose the FinePix for Linux compatibility, and also because I'd heard they produced better pics than the same resolution cameras from other leading manufacturers, which I've since confirmed by observation. I'm told it's something to do with a hexagonal layout of the CCD (?).

[reddragdiva]

Yeah, the Super CCD - it has two sensors per cell. Also, the array is at 45° to the usual array. This leads to small confusion as it'll e.g. put out 6MP photos even though the sensor is 3.1MP.

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

Why didn't you put an option for taking photos of people, other than drunk goths?
Why put an option for "outdoors", but not "indoors"?
Macro photography?
Architecture?
Electron-microscopy? :)
Abstract?
Wildlife?
Glamour/Modelling/Porn?
Portraiture?
and so on..

[reddragdiva]

"Other (expand in comment)" trolls for comments nicely IMO!

[kineticfactory.livejournal.com]

I'd have ticked '#1' without the 'drunk goths' (I'm another non-goth(ist)). I do a lot of photography at gigs, hence my griping about low-light performance. I've noticed that the CCD and/or optics on my PowerShot A620 are somewhat worse at this than that on my old PowerShot G2 was (being smaller, obviously, has something to do with it).

Other than that, various "arty" (or wanky, depending on how you look at it) things involving manual focus, aperture control, camera angles, plays of light and such. Which is one of the reasons I got a PowerShot and not an Ixus or something with less manual control. Not to mention the occasional bit of stickers/graffiti/stencil art from time to time.

I recently bought an EOS 300D digital SLR and a wide-angle lens for it, and have been using that. It has the disadvantage of being considerably larger (you can't carry a DSLR in your pocket as a matter of course for when the inspiration hits you, whereas the A620 literally lives in my jacket pocket), though the image quality is much better. I usually take it specifically on excursions (which can be as minor as a long walk through the streets).

One disadvantage I've found with SLRs, from a gig-photography point of view, is the difficulty in aiming overhead. With a camera with a foldout LCD screen, you can hold it overhead and aim through the screen. I would like to see a camera of that sort which took standard SLR lenses.

[roxy-lou.livejournal.com]

Got a bit trigger happy, here is the link xx http://roxy-lou.livejournal.com/15605.html#cutid1

[reddragdiva]

Hah! See what I mean? You can take a zillion shots and it costs you NOTHING.

I would never have thought I needed a whole 1GB card for my Ixus 50, then I took three-quarters of a gig of photos in one evening on Friday ... most are rubbish and will never be used, but so what? They cost me NOTHING and I have some really nice ones in there.

[shamus9999.livejournal.com]

You should make LJ mood icons out of those.

[karen2205]

Where does 'I have a camera that uses film' go?

I don't use mine very often - mainly for sight-seeing things, sometimes at camp, sometimes at 'events' where a group shot is posed and the pile of cameras is lined up so that everyone gets a copy of the same shot.

I'm intending to get a digital camera at some point, tis not a very high priority though.

[reddragdiva]

I know nothing about film cameras and never did do so well with them, so can't speak to that at all. I'm sure there are people reading this who could ...

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

On a different poll? :)

I have a film camera as well, and I actually use it more these days, because the batteries go flat much less often, and it's much harder to accidentally delete all your photos.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

I mainly use my camera to catch friends randomly, take photos of myself when requested or there is a reason to, take photos of things at work, etc. Though the most use comes when I go to shows like CES and take photos of all the gadgets.

I got this Coolpix 5200 free from TiVo, and free is good. It is 5.1 megapixels with a 3x optical zoom. It has a number of special modes, etc - but I pretty much always use the default mode. The only thing I think I've made use of is Macro when taking close-up photos of things at tradeshows.

[bramsmits.livejournal.com]

usage professional / other: documentation of equipment and situations, and pics for advertisements (parts, electronics, vehicles).

The Nikon D70s is a delight to work with. Logical controls for someone used to SLRs, feels more solid than its Canon competitors, and really speeds up workflow. Excellent battery life too (400+ pics usually).

The Canon S20 is a pretty solid older p&s that's small (and by now valueless) enough to take with me where I might not want to take the Nikon.

Low light performance is usually not an issue for me, most of what I do is either in daylight, well lit indoor situations, or no issue with flashing the heck out of it. I do need to buy some more flashes in the not too distant future.

[realtan-dannan.livejournal.com]

Can I point a camera at it? I'll probably try and photo it then.

Haven't brought the camera to B-Movie. Yet.

[reddragdiva]

I wonder if this B-Movie will see more photographers than subjects.

[jagwap.livejournal.com]

My Panasonic Lumix FX7 has image stabilization, which when using for club/gig shots is astounding. You can take down to 1/4 sec exposures without flash if you have a steady hand and the only blurring is down to the movement of the subject (disco!). For a tiny compact with a small lens this is quite an achievement. Other brands are beginning to do this feature, but as Panasonic pioneered it, the reviews keep saying they're the best at it.

Add the fact that unless marketing bollix has been used, Leica were involved in the lens, who could ask for more. Well to be honest the battery life is pants, but the successor model fixed that: FX8, and FX9 with widescreen ccd (want one!)

A friend recently picked up a FX8 for £180. I wouldn't be annoyed as I have a spare battery for my old thing, but his is black!

[reddragdiva]

Ah, good! I was hoping for a Panasonic user. Panasonic are trying very hard to be taken seriously at the moment, so are making some very nice toys.

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

I use mine to take pictures for Wikipedia, and have done experimental stuff.