New camera for Susan...

Camera buying hats on please. Susan's six year old Olly has done her spectacularly well, however she's starting to get frustrated with it and run into the particular problem of xD cards no longer being for sale.

(frankly I don't blame her for wanting to change, the LCD screen on the back in hilariously small!)

However, her requested specs look like she's going to struggle to find something:

Wants viewfinder
Would like articulated LCD screen, like on David's Nikon
Doesn't want anything bigger or heavier than the current camera
Lens to be about the same as the Olly - x10 optical
I imagine budget is not going to be above £200-£300, if that

Any ideas?

I'm hoping she might compromise on the viewfinder/articulated screen - which widens the choice massively.

Cheers - Tom

Edit: This is what she has now, I think.

Edit: Susan has said she'd be prepared to compromise on the size/weight if it meant she gets the eye-level viewfinder and vari-angle screen...although I don't think she's quite realised that could mean a camera the size of David's Nikon!

New galleries feature at DPReview

Sure you've probably noticed, but DPR offering free hosting space to users.

Opens Can of Worms

OK. Saw David at the weekend. He wants to replace his camera as the old one is broken. He is thinking about a DSLR. His concerns are

• It is small
• It works well in low-light

Not looking to spend much and not looking to get into photography (this will mainly support his historical lectures) I suggested he went to the nearest camera shop and handled the Nikon D3000 and Canon 450D. These - I think - are the entry level models. (I know the D40 was pretty small when I held one.) Not sure where the Canon 500D fits; is it a replacement for the 450D? The Nikon does ISO 3200; the 450D 1600 - but the 500D does 6400.

Any comments? (Without any flaming!)

Toby....

You mentioned you'd got a cheapish tablet recently - how are you getting on with it and anything to report on use?

(edit: or did you already tell us and I've completely forgotten?!)

Distorted thinking

Nothing to do with the current challenge - still "pre-visualising" on that one (i.e. very little idea of what to do and hoping something will occur soon!)

To fill the time, here is a photo I took while on holiday in Scotland this August. Thought it might be good for stock, but then wondered about the perspective problems caused by the wide angle - so had a play in Photoshop with the distortion correct filter and ended up with the second picture.

Interested in your views - was it a successful exercise? Is it worth going to the bother? Does the uncorrected image look too distorted to you? Does the new version look better?

50mm saves the day!

Firstly, I have a huge queue of photos needing sorting and processing, which include some shots from the party...which I will upload eventually!

Thought I'd post about photography at the Great British Beer Festival last week - which always proves to be the most challenging location photographically for me every year.

As you'll see from the first pic (for information really, it's technically messy!), it's a nightmare of not-very-bright mixed lighting (white balance is always fun), bad backgrounds, hot spots, high ceilings and nothing to bounce flash off.

Initially, I tried using the flash, but with no bounce opportunities, found I was getting harsh foregrounds and too much drop off in the backgrounds (second pic). Forced to use ISO 800 and a wide aperture anyway to try and balance everything a bit more - with the associated noise - I figured I might as well try some flash-free shooting with the 50mm...and got some much better shots - like the third pic.

Interestingly enough, having snooped on the file info for the shots taken by the pro on the first day, he took a very similar approach - no flash and ISO 1250...his shots with a Canon 1D3 and rather more expensive zoom lens were outstanding considering the difficulties.

16-85@16mm, 3s, f/22, ISO100



16-85@38mm, 1/50s, f/4,8, ISO800



50mm, 1/50s, f/2.5, ISO800

Sunsets, revisited

Not much going on around here at the moment,  so here goes. You were both very nice about a photo I put on Facebook a while back. This one, I think.

As a number of others liked it, I'm thinking of getting it enlarged for the wall. So a couple of questions.

1. Have either of you tried larger than A4 prints (obviously done via Photobox or similar). Any do's and don'ts? What about canvas prints?

2. Secondly, is this the best shot I took at the time (I took loads).  I think it is, compositionally, at least, but few more can be found in this gallery.

What do you think? (I have included 2 similar ones - xxx95 and 97 - not because I think they might be the best, but because I liked the contrast between using flash and not using a flash in this situation.

Sorry that they all include people. I took a few without, but I found that they didn't do anything for me. My taste, I guess; I know some are of the opinion that figures shouldn't be included in these shots. 

Sure you've both heard this as well - another wedding dilemma

Been asked to be "official" photog at a wedding next year. This won't be the first time I've done this, but this time is different as rather than being for close friends and/or family, is for a couple we went skiing with two years ago and since then have been little more than Facebook friends.

Not sure if this makes it more, or less stressful - and also not sure if I should do it, or find a polite way of backing out.

Currently trying to work out if they're asking me in a "definitely can't afford a pro, so it's you or no pics" type way, in which case I'll be happier doing it, or a "we're cheapskates and think we can get a bargain from you, but we'll be expecting pro quality" in which case, I'm tempted to run a mile!

Any similar experiences/advice/etc?

Here's something you might have heard ...

... someone says they need a better camera and can you, with your big, swanky bag of lenses and serious demeanor, help? One of Sarah's friends asked me this today. She has a Fujifilm 6mp compact with 3x optical zoom, about two years old; sure you know the kind of camera. She wants something better. I asked what the problem was.

1. She showed me a picture she'd taken of some leaves (oh, how I'm sick of looking at them!) on a branch where the camera has set exposure for the sky (most of the picture)  and the leaves were too dark.

2. "Missed pictures" and "blurred pictures" - I think she meant shutter lag. 

She showed me the Argos catalogue and said she needed more mega-pixels. I said she probably didn't. I don't think any compact will cure (significantly) the problems she is having. On the other hand, do I recommend a DSLR (which might cure some of them)?

She is a self-confessed technophobe. What do you say?