Suggestions for Still Camera?

I am thinking about getting a small megapixel Still camera. Igor's work with Stills has inspired me.
If you have an inexpensive still camera (not part of a camcorder) that you are happy with, let's hear about it. I realize there are various price ranges, but I am leaning towards a sub $500 model.
Steven

Steven,
My wife and I really enjoy her Canon PowerShot S230 Digital Elph.
It's a 3 megapixel model that is the size of a pack of cigarettes. Largest image dimensions are 2048x1536.
The optical zoom (I think it's a Zeiss lens) is the 35mm equivalent of a 35mm - 70mm lens. It has an LCD screen and an optical viewfinder that follows the zoom.
It uses CompactFlash media. It has multiple manual and semi-automatic modes and settings, including White Balance and +/- 2 EV exposure compensation. It has 2 light metering patterns and an extremely effective "intelligent" autofocus system. It can assist you with multiple shots if you want to stitch together a panorama or you can change to macro mode and photograph that huge bee on the flower, just before it stings you.
Etc.
So far, not having a longer telephoto lens capability hasn't been an issue at all. We still have my old pro Pentax LX film camera for the long shots. We've even switched to the Elph for our family portraits.
I never thought "convenience" would win out over "versatility", but it has. My wife takes the darn thing everywhere she goes. And the S230 isn't missing much in the versatility department, either.
Jeff
EDIT: I forgot to mention the price. We got ours for right at $400 from B&H.

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Looking for compatible camera

i also am in the market for a new camcorder that is compatible with my imac OS X system and FCE. i like the sony hdrsr1 but i'm not sure if it will work and i will be able to edit from this. does anyone know? should i just stick to mini dv and be safe in this case? does anyone have any suggestions for a camera that i could edit on this system with and still have it be a good quality camera as far as picture quality, priced under $1500?
imac g5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

the ADCHD codec isn't supported (yet) on Macs ... probably with some forthcoming QT update..?
actually, FCE supports miniDV devices only.. standard or HiDef ...
(ok, antique Digital8 too ... )
the 3ccd devices of Panasonic have an excellent reputation concerning pic quality ...

Suggestions for 808 PureView and Symbian Belle

Hi friends,
I am a proud owner of astounding (and worst marketed extra-ordinary device) 808 PureView. Biggest compliment to it is that it has replaced my SGS2. Yes, truly.
After using 808 for some time now I am quite happy but disappointed with certain things. Few things are so minor that I am surprised why Nokia removed it or didnt implement.
So here I am presenting a list of things which I would request Nokia to fix or implement. I will also request all of you here to add to the list so that Nokia gets a direct feedback and can improve the device and software. Thanks !
Camera:
1. Slow shutter speeds
2. Full resolution in various Scenes modes
3. Pics with AutoFlash mostly comes dark in edges in Indoors
4. Slightly faster Auto-Focus with soft shutter button
Gallery:
(I know about other thread but this is a consolidated list)
1. Batch functions (send, share)
2. Albums
3. Folders
4. Tabbed interface (All, Images, Videos)
5. Sort by Date, Name, Type, Size, Location, etc.
6. Send via NFC option (everybody does not read Manual )
7. Ability to trim parts of video (and to join parts, if possible)
Contacts:
1. Labels please !!!
2. Thumbnail view (atleast in Groups)(could be first-ever. Android has partial implementation)
3. Contacts with latest Social updates(tweets or Facebook activities) to come second-top after Favourites (convenient and another first)(switch on-off from Settings)
4. Additional Tab in Contact's view showing all communication with him/her (Calls, E-mails and Messages)
5. Another optional Tab showing his/her last 5 Social updates
Messaging:
1. Tabbed interface (Conversations/Folders/(optionally) E-Mails)
2. Forward icon alongside Reply icon
3. Individual Contact's SMS\Email tone (such a little but practical feature)
Telephony:
1. Detailed Call log (Settings>Extended View)
2. Video Call button
E-Mail:
1. E-Mail Popups (probably with Reply option)
2. Cleaner tabbed interface
3. Pinch-to-Zoom and Wrap function
4. Archive option in GMail mails
5. Go to next email after deleting and not the Inbox (its really annoying)
Videos:
1. Large Thumbnail option
2. Better support for Matroska (mkv)
3. Better subtitle support (black fonts???)
4. Options for Brightness and Contrast
Music Player:
1. Folders Tab
2. Editable equaliser
I again request to provide suggestions and I will add them in OP (with your name). Lets help Nokia make great OS and Product even better. And in my experience, they have always seriously listened to their customers and brought the improvements.
Good Luck !

Nokia thank you for last updates..the 808 is quite perfect now!!
Let's update some last suggestion for Nokia
Camera:
1. Slow shutter speeds / FULL Shutter priority mode (with flash and auto/manual ISO....i'm not able to use flash with high ISO and slow shutter speeds)
2. Full resolution or 12MP / 8MP resolution in various Scenes modes
3. Pics with AutoFlash mostly comes dark in edges in Indoors
4. Slightly faster Auto-Focus with soft shutter button
5. Flash EV Compensation
7. (Hardware) Image Stabilization with low light
8. better White Balance..more options..
9. square (1:1) and 3:2 modes
10. higher FPS available with low res videos
11. Camera noise fix, lots of digital noise on the right side of the screen (purple cast) when taking pics in darker conditions without flash, something is interfering..
12. nedd much better performance for the CAF in video mode, it doesn't work on FP2
13. Lumia photo tools / add-ons: Cinemagraph lens, Smart Shoot lens, Panorama lens, Bing vision..
Gallery:
1. Albums / Folders
2. Tabbed interface (All, Images, Videos)
3. Sort by Date, Name, Type, Size, Location, etc.
4. Send via NFC option (everybody does not read Manual )
5. Ability to trim parts of video (and to join parts, if possible...improve VideoPRO please..audio editing!)
6. Improve PHOTO Editing too, more controls (light/shadows, sharpness, fixed ratio for photo crop like 3:2 and 1:1, blur control..)
Contacts:
1. Labels please !!!
2. Thumbnail view (atleast in Groups)(could be first-ever. Android has partial implementation)
3. Contacts with latest Social updates(tweets or Facebook activities) to come second-top after Favourites (convenient and another first)(switch on-off from Settings)
4. Additional Tab in Contact's view showing all communication with him/her (Calls, E-mails and Messages)
5. Another optional Tab showing his/her last 5 Social updates
Messaging:
1. Tabbed interface (Conversations/Folders/(optionally) E-Mails)
2. Forward icon alongside Reply icon
3. Individual Contact's SMS\Email tone (such a little but practical feature)
4. More smart use of Words Suggestions in T9 Mode..priority for shorter words!
(in Italian...i want to write "ON" and i touch ONLY the 6 button two times, but sometimes it suggests "NO" and/or longer words like "ONLY","NOBODY","NOTHING"...but not "ON"!! (In Italian language, i don't know if it does the same in English!)
5. In conversation or with Whatsapp, in horizontal mode with QUERTY and Words Suggestions enabled, it's impossible to read the last messages during writing.
6. much smaller text option
7. in conversation view, the letter icon and the notification of a new message doesn't disapppear if you've only read the sms, without giving a reply! I suggest that a tap on the yellow letter icon on the right in conversation mode will change the sms status from unread to read
Telephony:
1. Detailed Call log (Settings>Extended View)
2. Video Call button
4. more notifications on notification bar
5. improve social network apps and connections between gallery / notification bar and them
E-Mail:
1. E-Mail Popups (probably with Reply option)
2. Cleaner tabbed interface
3. Pinch-to-Zoom and Wrap function
4. Archive option in GMail mails
5. Go to next email after deleting and not the Inbox (its really annoying)
6. Email notification like with missed calls or sms on the lockscreen.
Videos:
1. Large Thumbnail option
2. Better support for Matroska (mkv)
3. Better subtitle support (black fonts???)
4. Options for Brightness and Contrast
Music Player:
1. Folders Tab
2. Editable equaliser
LET'S GO!!

Advice on buying camera for stills and high speed video

Hello video pros,
I'm a music composer who occasionally dallies with some simple photographic and video work. I'm looking for some advice re picking up a camera to make some simple videos, but with the highest quality I can get with consumer grade gear.
I am pretty much ruling out consumer grade camcorders for two reasons: One is that I want to be able to shoot high quality stills and make stop motion videos from very high res stills. The other is that I don't need audio recording at all because the video will always be just to accompany music - simple music videos basically. So I'm much more interested in the recent mid range point-and-shoot bridge cameras with full HD video modes rather than camcorders - they seem to cover more realistically the range of things I want to do.
My main question is regarding shooting at higher frame rates than 30 fps. I'd like to shoot video at a minimum of 60 fps (or higher) to then playback at 25 fps to get that smooth, slightly dreamy motion effect. There are a few cameras out there that offer high speed video modes, but most are nothing more than a gimmick because the res is so low that the resulting video is unusable. However a few cameras now seem to hit a sweet spot, offering 60 fps recording at HD res, and also 120 fps at 640x480 which (at a pinch) is usable, at least for stuff destined for simple web use.
The cameras I've narrowed it down to so far seem to be the Nikon Coolpix P500, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 and possibly the Fujifilm HS20 EXR. I also was vaguely interested in the Casio Exilim HS cameras, but they seem to only offer high speed video modes that are pointless - 1000 fps at a completely useless low res, and 120 fps only at 640x480. The others I listed seem to offer at least 60 fps at some kind of HD res, so I'm assuming that with these cameras I could shoot decent looking video which would then play back with that slightly hyper real slow-mo effect when I import into FCP at 25 fps. Is this correct? Or is it the case that when they say HD video @ 60fps, it's some kind of interlaced mode which means you can't play back at a slower frame rate to get smooth slow motion?
The other thing I've noted is that all of these cameras do record HD video, but it's always compressed in H264 format. I understand that this puts a serious limitation on how much post-processing you can do to the video afterwards. Highly compressed video will begin to show image artefacts very quickly when you apply effects as opposed to higher quality (bigger file size) video compression. But I think I can live with that given that for the stuff I want to make, it will just be simply edited and only lightly graded. However, of the cameras I'm looking at, the Lumix also records in a format called AVCHD which (I think) does full HD at 17 Mbps. Does this mean that it's basic video quality is significantly better than the other choices? That said, from the specs it's unclear if it actually allows shooting at higher frame rates which you can slow down at playback.. the way it describes 60fps mode makes it sound like it's just interlacing so you don't actually get a higher number of images per second to then be able to play back at a lower frame rate. This for me might rule it out because I really want the creative effect of high speed video, even if it's only the subtle effect of 60 fps slowed down to 25.
So in summary, I'm looking for a camera capable of creative shooting (high quality stills to make stop motion videos, usable-quality HD video along with at least some degree of high speed video at a resolution that is still usable) to make interesting and artistic footage to accompany music. The destination medium is the web, so even though I'd like to get the best quality raw material to work with, the final destination is not exactly a cinema screen. As a pro in a related industry, I'm all too aware of the pointlessness of buying outlandishly over-specced gear that is far beyond your level of expertise. So I want to keep it simple and realistic, budget-wise, given the level I'm at. Nothing more than say $800 US. A seriously high end camera would be wasted on me, and I think it would be wiser to invest in useful accessories like a steadicam merlin and decent tripod rather than blow loads of cash on a camera far beyond my skill level.
Apologies for the long post, any and all advice would be very welcome and appreciated! And feel free to correct me if my assumptions are wrong, and suggest any gear that I should consider looking at.

Hi, thanks for your input. I'm aware of the fact that my question is a bit OT, but I'm just looking for input from people with more experience and broader information in this area than I have myself.. I know people are here to talk about FCP, but I'm betting many editors and film makers who work with FCP will have more insight in this area than I do.
I've been reading every review I can find at dpreview, and also am watching as many test video examples I can find on the internet, mostly on vimeo because the ones on youtube look pretty awful. I just am reaching out to get some actual experience and advice from people who might give me pointers on what to look out for.
As for 60fps not being fast enough, I know what you're saying. But for me, even 60 fps slowed down to 25 fps on playback is enough of an interesting effect, as long as the actual quality of the footage looks good to start off with. I like the subtle effect of slightly slower than real motion when it's real, bona-fide high frame rate slowed down. Artificially created slow-mo using plug ins looks cheesy to me, and the gimmicky super high frame rates of cameras like the casio exilim (where the resolution looks like a mobile phone video from ten years ago) are completely useless.
I've seen lots of examples on vimeo of stuff shot with DSLRs from Canon and Nikon at 60fps and then played back at 25 or 24, and it looks plenty nice enough for what I'm after. But am I kidding myself that I'd get anything near as nice with the price range I'm looking at?

Complementary still camera to use with my camcorder for use on my mutimedia projects

Hi, I use a Canon XA10 camcorder for my movie work. The XA10 also has an impressive still photo image capability, but I also need a smaller sized still camera for capturing stills without gathering the attention like camcorders sometimes do. So I need a smaller point-and-shoot for this kind of still work, but with similar capabilities (e.g.. excellent image quality, colour quality, point focus, depth of field, etc) offered by my XA10. What would a suggested choice for a small still camera to complement my great XA10?
Many thanks!

Did your search find this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Endoscope-Borescope-Inspection-Camera/product-r eviews/B004ZWFOEQ
I don't have it and am suspicious of how well a $20 inspection camera will function, but it was the very first one I found with a review from a Mac user.
Be sure to read the review written by "Paul Manning"...

I cannot send an email from my iPad 2? No problem receiving, why does this happen? Have tried the suggestions for setting up email and after doing the sync mail through iTunes receiving worked great but still cannot send? Any help would be great

I cannot send an email from my iPad 2? No problem receiving, why does this happen? Have tried the suggestions for setting up email and after doing the sync mail through iTunes receiving worked great but still cannot send? Any help would be great!

The fact that you can receive means you have a valid e mail address, and have established the connection to the incoming server, so all of that works. Since the send does not work, that means your outgoing server is rejecting whatever settings you used formthe outgoing set up. Try them again.
Google your particular isp, and ipad and many times you will find the exact settings needed for your isp. Or tell us here, and soneone else may be on the same isp. Some mail services need you to change a port, or have a unique name for the outgoing server.
Kep trying.

I am trying to get ios 4.3 softeware update for iPad1. When I plug in my iPad to my PC, mu PC tinks that it is a digital Still Camera and will not go any further.

I am trying to get ios 4.3 software update for my iPad 1. Have downlosded Itunes and apple softwareupdates to my PC, but when I plug in my iPad the computer thinks it is a digital still camera. how do I get my PC to reconize that it is an iPad

Must point out that this is the first time I have ever tryed to update my iPad, other than when I got it started at the store where I abought it.
This is what is happening to me. the PC is on and I have3 the Itunes on the screen but as soon as I plug in my iPad my PC seems to think that it is a digital still camera and emediatly starts suting down as it seems to think the iPad(digital camera) is going to harm my PC. PC will not go anyfurther than a warning screen and I have to then shut it down unplug the iPad and start again. HELP please

Iphone 5- Won't show up in itunes. Error message " Device drivr software was not successfully installed. Please consult with your device manufacturer for assistance getting this device installed. Digital Still Camera- Failed" HELP!

Error message " Device driver software was not successfully installed. Please consult with your device manufacturer for assistance getting this device installed. Digital Still Camera- Failed" HELP!

Hi, I was able to reformat my iPod and that worked. I read it on one of the threads and I am copy pasting the method below:
I opened the "My Computer" window and right-clicked on my ipod, and then selected "Format". I select "Yes" to format since I don't have anything on the nano to delete anymore.
I then Eject my nano from the computer and did a restart while the nano is disconnected from the computer.
Once Windows finish loading I reconnect the USB to the nano(back of computer) which automatically pulls up iTune. It asked me to name the new ipod detected and created a playlist for that specific ipod name.
Pasted from <http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1050784&tstart=15>
Thanks!

HD video from still cameras for editing in FCE

Can anyone provide insight into my questions of the different hd recording formats for conversion to edit in FCE? Meaning, still cameras that shoot HD range from avi, mpeg4, h.264, motion jpeg and avchd lite. Is one of these better to use than the others? Is there significant quality loss after conversion? And are all conversion programs the same or is one better than the next? Thank you,
Bill

All those formats are designed for delivery, meaning shoot it then watch it.
To edit in FCE all HD footqage including HDV will be converted to AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec).
Which converter works best on what is like saying how long is a piece of string. My answer is, "double the length of half of it".
The thing is until you know specifics it's pretty much guessing or user opinion.
Regards AVCHD Lite: I believe it works on the latest iMovie directly. You could confirm that in the iMovie forum from users there.
This app is free, works well and covers a lot of bases:
http://www.squared5.com/
Al

HT4061 I have video clips from a stills camera on my computer. When I sync my iPad to my computer and ask for the photo files to be transferred (including videos) it does not transfer them

I have video clips from a stills camera on my computer mixed in with still pictures in various files. When I sync my iPad to the computer and ask for the files to be transferred to the iPad the video clips are not included (even when I tick the box to include videos). How do I rectify this.

How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer

Hi. I Paid for an add to be taken the screen but when transported it again the ad still came. Problem is that it was in the place of page 1 of my document. So only pg 2,3

hi. I paid for an ad to be removed from my document & then when I transported it, the add still came & it was in the place of page 1 of my document. So am missing page 1. Please help GaylenHenry

For what did you pay?

I am putting together a proposal for a Final Cut Pro Workstation to use with a tapeless HD camera. Can anyone suggest the best camera (in the 5-10,000 dollar range) ? What hardware and software should I include in the package?

I am putting together a proposal for a Final Cut Pro Workstation to use with a tapeless HD camera. Can anyone suggest the best camera (in the 5-10,000 dollar range) ? What hardware and software should I include in the package?

This is quite an open suggestion, but here are some ideas which might get you started. There are good HD cameras in your price range from Sony, Panasonic and Canon (and maybe other manufacturers). Tapeless formats vary. I have only worked with Sony XDCAM which seems pretty good to me. File sizes for material shot at 35MBS are not too huge and, with the free Sony transfer and conversion programme, are easy to bring into the computer via USB direct from the camera or from a fairly inexpensive converter. The Sony XDCAM EX3 can produce results well up to broadcast quality.
As to hardware, you'll need a powerful MAC - iMac, Macbook Pro or MacPro with 4GB or more of RAM and a good video card. Softwarewise, FCPX is quite a bit cheaper than FC Studio 3 and of course it's 64bit and can make better use of multi-core machines than FCP7. It's also designed to handle HD formats with less hassle than FCP7 and is matched to the latest versions of Motion and Compressor. But you'd probably be wise to search reviews of FCPX before you make your choice - it has some issues.
A good HD monitor will be essential and, for colour correction etc, you may want to consider a second monitor or HD TV foe editing. ( A MacPro is generally the best machine to connect a second monitor to).
This should give you a good editing system, but there are many other things you could add (Photoshop, professional sound monitors, etc)
Hope this helps a bit.
Jonathan

I recently purchased a refurbed iMac with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. It came with iMovie ver. 9.0.5 installed. I do allot with iMovie and iDVD and would like to get a camcorder to add movie clips. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably pri

I recently purchased a refurbed iMac with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. It came with iMovie ver. 9.0.5 installed. I do allot with iMovie and iDVD and would like to get a camcorder to add movie clips. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably price camcorder that would work with my setup?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I recently purchased a refurbed iMac with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. It came with iMovie ver. 9.0.5 installed. I do allot with iMovie and iDVD and would like to get a camcorder to add movie clips. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably price camcorder that would work with my setup?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

TS1389 I have tried all of the suggestions and still keeps asking me to authorize my computer for only a few songs that I have purchased.... HELP???!!!

I have tried all of the suggestions and still keeps asking me to authorize my computer for only a few songs that I have purchased.... HELP???!!!

Delete and redownload them if doing so is free in your country.
(69918)

LabVIEW toolkit for digital still camera - PTP protocol based

Dear List,
Just to let you know that a LabVIeW toolkit for PTP
(picture transfer protocol)camera is available. PTP is
the new standard for still imaging devices such as
still camera and scanner, it does not require camera
vendor extra special drivers (unlike Twain)and it's OS
independant, thus being supported widely in modern
high resolution digital still cameras. Interested
people can check out this link:
http://www.hytekautomation.com/Products/PTPCam.html
Irene
=====
Irene He
[email protected]
www.hytekautomation.com
www.geocities.com/irene_he

Hello rbergs,
I apologize for just now responding to your post below but I would like to redirect you to a different resource that will be able to provide the necessary support for using the LabVIEW Interface for Arduino toolkit. Currently, this toolkit is only supported by posts on ni.com/arduino forum. If you have any additional questions regarding the LabVIEW environment specifically, please feel free to post any additional questions in this discussion forum.
Wes W
Application Engineering
National Instruments
www.ni.com/support

Suggestions for Still Camera?

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