Are Manufacturers Going Backwards?

[informativetoo]

I think that in a few years the prices for the DSLR cameras will have dropped enough to enter that market.

I've wondered about this. I would think that if improvements are made, that prices wouldn't really drop. :?: At least not far enough to fit within most everyones budget, that is.

[bob877]

I am a college student, and while I am cheap when it comes to food I'm looking at getting a digicam if for no other reason than the fact that I shoot about a roll of film a month now, and at about $10 a roll for film and processing, it adds up! Also, 3.2mp will do an 8x10 at 200 dpi (200dpi = 40000dpi^2; 80square inches* 40,000 dots per square inch gives you 3,200,000 pixels). 5 mp will only do 250 dpi for the same size (5 million pixels divided by 80 square inches gives 62500 dots per square inch, sqrt 62500 is exactly 250)

I and most of my fellow students, it seems, don't see the point in paying more for an extra 50 dpi (I'd rather put the money into better optics, for instance). Also, while more megapixels can mean bigger prints, I know that honestly I'm not going to get around to printing bigger than my normal printer can do (about an 8x10).

That having been said, most people I talk to seem to think that megapixels are all that matters and would rather have a *ugh* 5 megapixel gateway than a 3 megapixel Nikon, or Minolta, or what have you.

[jacksmart]

Wow, this topic did inspire lively discussion.
Thank you.
I would like to ask the gentlemen who have the Nikon
5700 and the Minolta A-1 a few questions:
1.) Does your camera function well when covering
sporting events? What I am interested in is shutter
lag. Does your camera allow rapid shooting?
2.) In comparsion to a 35mm SLR, how heavy is
your camera? One reason I like the digicams I use
is the fact that they don't break your back when you
cover a lengthy event.
3.) Do you use manual controls often? If so, how does
your camera perform manually?
I am also happy to find that I am not the only person
who notices that media cards play a part in the purchase
of a digicam.
I can feel for those who state that the economy and
individual situation play a role in the selection of a digicam.
I noticed this month's Popular Photography. In a Nikon ad
on the inside cover, lenses were advertised for the SLRs that
were mostly wide-angle. Why don't the manufacurers create
more zoom ranges to include say 27mm to 180?
Thanks for the lively discussion.
Jack

[gibsonpd3620]

Here is a link to where I shot some children during our church's indoor soccer league. These were some of the first pictures that I shot as soon as I received the camera.

The 5700 functions much better with manual controls rather than just a point and shoot. You have three definable user settings so that you can save them for different conditions. I have since shooting these pics how to use the best shot selector (BSS) and the continous shooting modes.

Our church's Upward Basketball program begins in February and I can wait to start using the camera now that I know more about it's operating abilities.

[eric s]

To me, the reasons for more resolution are:

Hopefully they pack the sensor more densly, i.e. more detail. Of course, too dense can lead to noise, so you can't get everything for free. I'll leave where that point is to their engineers.

More flexability in croping the picture for better composition.

Eric

[csd]

Jacksmarts
5700 and A1 question.
I've tried and researched the 5700, bought the A1. They are both great cameras in my opinion.

Q1.) Does your camera function well when covering
sporting events? What I am interested in is shutter
lag. Does your camera allow rapid shooting?
A1: Both allow rapid shooting. The reviews cover the shutter lags (see this site as well as dcresource and dpreview on both camera for details - I'm bad at remembering numbers - there are too many of them in the world).
Q2.) In comparsion to a 35mm SLR, how heavy is
your camera? One reason I like the digicams I use
is the fact that they don't break your back when you
cover a lengthy event.
A2: I believe they are lighter than your average SLR. Mine is WAY lighter than my SLR. Again - the reviews tell you the weights, and your SLR literature I'm sure tells you its weight. What I like about both the A1 and 5700 (and other digicams of this type) is that they feel like a "real" camera in your hand and yet are light enough to move around with. I remember getting neck-pain from my SLR slung around my neck when not being held - doesn't seem to happen with my A1.
3.) Do you use manual controls often? If so, how does
your camera perform manually?
I have used automatic modes a good part of the time but use manual setting for white-balance, ISO, shutter-speed, aperture on occasions. I never use the manual focus - the A1 has an EVF - I find it most difficult to manually focus with it or the LCD. I have found the autofocus to be excellent for most of what I have done. For sports shooting I sometimes use the continous-autofocus mode - Grab your kid (or fav sports player) in the crosshairs then hold the trigger half way until the movement is what you want then fire. This seems to work better than I thought it would (as long as the subject stays in your frame which seems to be the biggest challenge for me).
I think both are great cameras - it was a tough decision for me.

[mikemyers]

I'm not sure if the following is a typical answer, or whether I'm just thinking in a goofy way.....

....but compact flash cards seem to be a reasonably good standard. They're available all over, they're reliable, and you can get an inexpensive adapter to plug one into the "pcmcia" slot of any portable computer. If you drop one, it's unlikely to be damaged (don't try that with a Microdrive), and the contacts are protected inside the card, unlike the wafer-thin cards. Maybe I don't have a good enough reason for it, but I feel that I can "trust" them more. (The biggest problem I've ever had with one of my memory cards was with a "Smart Media" card - the file system got corrupted, but running "scan disk" fixed it. Of course my brother had a CF card that died, but it came from some brand-x company I never heard of.)


All other things being equal, I'd pick a camera that used a CF card before one that uses any of the other formats. My Olympus and Canon cameras use CF, as does the Nikon D2h.

[Red Viper]

Dude, I can't get enough zoom or resolution. Four megapixels is nice, but I shoot for a newspaper, and I want to be able to play something big enough to run two broadsheet pages. So far the biggest shot we've run is a dead-on one of the lead singer of Disturbed. We ran the story on the pic on the left side in the black space, white text. it was fucking awesome.

[gibsonpd3620]

Red Viper

Please clean up your language.

[jacksmart]

It is interesting how many folks are concerned about
resolution. Photo quality is an important issue.
What amazes me is that the quality of the point
and shoots are getting close to that of the SLRs.
The only thing is that these days, people want
compact, less bulky cameras and lenses. They
also want more wide-tele lens range. My major
concern is the photo quality. Regardless of the
number of lenses one has, there is always a
favorite one the photographer uses most of the
time.
I appreciate your input. Both the Nikon 5700
and the Minolta A-1 appear to be great cameras.
It will still require a lot of thinking to decide which
avenue to take, but both seem like sensational
cameras.
How about noise? Lots have been written about
both cameras and the noise factors. I know software
is available to remove that.
Thanks,
Jack