First off, I know I still haven't done any more Ghibli posts. I watched Pom Poko tonight - it's a very much overlooked Ghibli offering due to the somewhat risque nature of the tanooki legends. But I digress... Over the years I've given several people advice on digital cameras. It's time to come clean to any of those that are reading that I really didn't know what I was talking about. A combination of factors has made me realise that it's time to upgrade from my current Minolta Dimage X20 - it has served me well, but it's just too limitng (only 2 megapixel and no control over aperture or shutter speed). After venturing into the photography forum on the DVDForums, (don't worry if you don't want to register, you can look at all the photos here) show that there are not only some very talented amateur photographers out there, but the average compact camera isn't going to cut it.
Canon have produced a very good guide to what all the options such as ISO, aperture and shutter speed actually do - you can find that here - although designed for dSLRs it's aplicable to all cameras. The final straw was this website where you can obtain 18"x12" for only £1 each (that's essentially a mini-poster). Of course, a 2MP image is going to get very blocky at that size.
After studying most of the DVDForums pictures, it became obvious that dSLR was the way to go. Unfortunately, at this point in my life I can't really justify spending £500 on a camera (and then more on lenses), so that remains a dream for the future. Instead I am left to decide between "prosumer" cameras
(ie the "superzoom" 10-12x optical zoom devices that resemble old-skool cameras) or an upgraded compact. The beauty of my X20 is that it fints excellently into my coat pocket (and I now take it everywhere with me). A lot of reviews mention cameras being "too big for pockets" but these mean trouser pockects and the like.
After my typical over-investigation I'm left with a number of candidates - all with pros and cons:
Ricoh Capilo R3 - has image stabilisation (ie the camera can detect hand shake and moves the lens accordingly to eliminate blurring aka magic) and an amazing 7x zoom (and it's smaller than the x20). Unfortunately it's blighted by high noise levels at higher ISOs (high ISOs make the sensor more sensitive so you don't need such a long exposure - ie at night). This would seem to rule this model out, but then I found this site where the camera has been locked to a low ISO and has produced some stunning pictures. Also doesn't seem to have full aperture/shutter controls.
Panasonic FX9 - again, has image stabilisation and a fantastic Leica lens, but once again, is seemingly let down by it's night time pictures. Also "only" has a 3x zoom.
Panasonic TZ1 - this is a bit more like it - although somewhat thicker than the FX 9, it retains the image stabilisation and has a 10x zoom! To early to tell if noise has been reduced, but doesn't seem to feature a manual mode.
Fuji F11 - has been getting rave reviews for it's noise reduction, allows shooting at previously unheard-of-in-compacts ISO1600 mode and has full manual controls. Unfortunately there's no image stabilisation and only a 3x zoom.
Casio EXz750 - Casio seems to be the average buyer's favourite at the moment - very small with a high megapixel rating. Full manual controls but no other stand out features.
Canon A620 - loads of people love this one; 4x zoom, a 2" fully movable LCD, the option to add "expensive" lenses for higher zooms and full controls. No image stabilisation though.
As always, I'm more confused than ever. I've managed to get over such things as large LCDs (it seems loads of 2.5" and over screens actually use the same resolution as much smaller screens leading to a large screen, but poor image) and high megapixel numbers (unless the sensor size increases, upping the MP value will actually introduce more noise). The deadline for a decision is early May as that's when I'm off to Japan, poster in hand, to attend the Fpi7 conference.
As you've probably noticed, some of my recent attempts at artistic pictures (some with the aid of Paintshop Pro) are scattered throughout this post. I don't feel any of them really captured what I saw, but I'd love some big prints of a couple of them. If you want any full res (1600x1200) shots, just ask...
Finally, here's a list of decent camera websites for those of you looking for info:
Photography Blog
Steve's-Digicams
DCresource
DPreview
Imaging resource
BIG EDIT
Of course, within 24 hours of me posting this, Canon have gone and announced over 30 new products, the one that catches my eye is the A700. Cheapish, all the features I want except image stabilisation. One to keep an eye on I feel...
EDIT #2
Now Ricoh have announced an R4 model. Thankfully all of these newer cameras are out over Easter so I should have time to read the reviews and decide.
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