Steve'sDigicams

milanikai · Mar 27, 2006, 6:51 AM

My CANON POWERSHOT AS50 was stolen and I need to get a new camera that takes great macro in low light situations with out using a flash. The canon worked ok with a mini tripod 1 out of 3 shots for sure turned out. Now I'm looking for something that has a better turn out ratio. Iv'e done research and tried out camera's with the new optical image stabalizer and think that extra feature could solve a lot of my problems. I just don't know what camera to buy.The PANASONIC DMC-FX9 has the feature and seems to work well but I'm more accustom to the Canon features and think I would prefer a compact canon with optical image stabalizer. What's your opinion ...does the optical image stabalizer really make a difference?Is the Panasonic the camera to buy?What canon would work?

vwmom · Mar 27, 2006, 3:27 PM

Consider the Canon A610 or the S2 IS.. The S2 has stabilization. Macro doesn't really require it in my experience. What are you taking photos of?

mtclimber · Mar 27, 2006, 3:32 PM

The upcoming Canon SD-700 will also have IS. Here is a link to the SD-700 homepage. So you can check out the specs.

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...;modelid=13019

MT

slipe · Mar 27, 2006, 11:42 PM

Optical stabilization won't help at all on your mini-tripod as long as you are using the self timer and not pushing the button to take the picture.

It does help a lot in general photography and would also help with macro shots when you aren't using a tripod in limited light.

You might want to look at a camera like the Fuji F10 or new F30 that lets you crank up the ISO and still get relatively low noise.

Another option might be a folded lens design that lets you use the flash with close macro shots. The Sony T9 is a folded lens design with both stabilization and better than average noise at ISO400.

Another option is a camera that lets you get a decent macro area zoomed out. That lets you get more natural light and also use the flash. You get less barrel distortion as well. The Canon S2 is very good at that. For something smaller and cheaper the Canon A620 is pretty good.

E.T · Mar 28, 2006, 4:04 AM

slipe wrote:

Quote:

Another option might be a folded lens design that lets you use the flash with close macro shots. The Sony T9 is a folded lens design...

I don't think folded lens design helps any because that itself doesn't change distance from lens to target... and because lens won't protrude that would actually mean even shorter camera to target distance.

Quote:

Another option is a camera that lets you get a decent macro area zoomed out. That lets you get more natural light and also use the flash. You get less barrel distortion as well. The Canon S2 is very good at that.

Actually S2's tele macro isn't really special, 3" wide frame area... even in macro mode minimum focusing distance in tele end is so long.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons2is/page5.asp

Best tele macro I've seen (haven't noticed better in Dpreviews macro tests) is in KonicaMinolta A2, A200 and previous models using same lens. (Minolta A1 and 7-serie)
In full tele (200mm) closest focusing distance is ~5" and it gives shot from ~5cm/2" wide area... actually own flash would work still quite well if target/angle isn't such that there would be direct reflections.
(lens won't block it flash)

(in this case lightsource was ~1x0.5 meter size window)

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Mar 27, 2006, 6:51 AM	#1
milanikai Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1	My CANON POWERSHOT AS50 was stolen and I need to get a new camera that takes great macro in low light situations with out using a flash. The canon worked ok with a mini tripod 1 out of 3 shots for sure turned out. Now I'm looking for something that has a better turn out ratio. Iv'e done research and tried out camera's with the new optical image stabalizer and think that extra feature could solve a lot of my problems. I just don't know what camera to buy.The PANASONIC DMC-FX9 has the feature and seems to work well but I'm more accustom to the Canon features and think I would prefer a compact canon with optical image stabalizer. What's your opinion ...does the optical image stabalizer really make a difference?Is the Panasonic the camera to buy?What canon would work?

Mar 27, 2006, 3:27 PM	#2
vwmom Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 589	Consider the Canon A610 or the S2 IS.. The S2 has stabilization. Macro doesn't really require it in my experience. What are you taking photos of?

Mar 27, 2006, 3:32 PM	#3
mtclimber Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oregon, USA Posts: 18,143	The upcoming Canon SD-700 will also have IS. Here is a link to the SD-700 homepage. So you can check out the specs. http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...;modelid=13019 MT

Mar 27, 2006, 11:42 PM	#4
slipe Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Indian Rocks Beach, FL Posts: 4,036	Optical stabilization won't help at all on your mini-tripod as long as you are using the self timer and not pushing the button to take the picture. It does help a lot in general photography and would also help with macro shots when you aren't using a tripod in limited light. You might want to look at a camera like the Fuji F10 or new F30 that lets you crank up the ISO and still get relatively low noise. Another option might be a folded lens design that lets you use the flash with close macro shots. The Sony T9 is a folded lens design with both stabilization and better than average noise at ISO400. Another option is a camera that lets you get a decent macro area zoomed out. That lets you get more natural light and also use the flash. You get less barrel distortion as well. The Canon S2 is very good at that. For something smaller and cheaper the Canon A620 is pretty good.