Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Derrek]

My parents sent a Pentax 35mm in the mail along with clothes and other stuff.

Was your friend from Canada? My Canadian friend gets about 50 percent of her packages checked by immigration. I have only had 2 shipped to me via US Mail slow-boat, and neither has been checked.

I still about passed out when I heard my parents sent the camera that way, and never expected to see it. It came, and I wasn't taxed.

It's hit and miss.

[Seoul Newfie]

He was indeed Canadian.

I don't think it was sent snail mail though.

[shortie]

I am thinking about getting a digital camera. I was wondering if you could suggest a cam. I know about digital cams and I'm a computer person, but since I've been to Korea, I've been a little out of it. I also was into photography (SLR cam and developed my own pictures). However, with a digital cam, I'll probably use it as a point and shoot most of the time, but I would like to occassionally take pictures in manual mode and do some artsy stuff. I don't want to spend a fortune. I was thinking it'll probably set me back $300-400, maybe 400-500 with the extra battery and more memory. I'm going to go back to the States in the summer, is it better that I wait? If not... I rather get it now, so I have a new toy to play with.

[rok_the-boat]

I am presently writing a book (marital arts) and taking lotsa pics for it. The publisher insisted I use my 35mm SLR (Canon AE1) - I need b/w pics. He later back-tracked somewhat and said I could use 35mm colour (because the Korean b/w photos come out crap - they just don't seem to be set up for it - another story), and then said a digital might be OK if I use a 5.0 mega pixel one. To me, 5.0 mega seems a bit much since I am sure the pics would be OK for book printing at far less that 5.0 mega. Personally, I think the publisher (UK) is not fully set up to deal with digital and so prefers to stick with what he knows. So, if I go digital for book pics, how many mega pixels is sensible? What camera should I go for? I have tried taking pics in the dojo / dojang but the places are awful - bad light / bad lines / bad reflections / mirrors / dirty walls / creased plastic tatami etc. wherever you go. I am now going to redo everything outside. What would be agood camera? Pref one with b/w function, and movie capability (for a later project).

[The Lemon]

[Derrek]

[rok_the-boat]

One thing that puts me off digital, at least thus far, is that 1 year later my model of choice may well be junk, and five years later software will probably no longer work. My current camera is nearly 25 years old and still takes great pics - its just geting so expensive though - film / dev.

By the way, does anyone know how scanned prints from a 35mm compare with say a 5.0 mega camera? I have the Epson Perfection 1670 (it scans negs too).

[The Lemon]

Rather than look at the resolution of the scan, you should look at the "resolution" (or more correctly, detail) that 35mm film is capable of. You can find plenty of discussions on the subject on the rec.photo.digital newsgroup, but the conventional answer is that 35mm film is good from somewhere between 7 and 14 million pixels, depending on how it's being counted. The new consumer digital SLRs, at 6.2+mp, are for all intents and purposes the equal of 35mm. Though the bodies are 5x more expensive.

The reason for the limitation is the film grain, which becomes painfully obvious on blowing-up just as pixels are when enlarging digital images.

I understand what you're saying about the early obsolesence of all tech equipment, including digital cameras. But if a digicam takes pictures that are pleasing to you now, and you take care of it, the images from the camera should still be aesthetically pleasing 10 years from now.

All music from the 1960s was recorded with laughably prehistoric equipment. It still sounds good. And modern studios still use much of it precisely because it still sounds good.

[wylde]

[ishiii]

http://www.dpreview.com/
this is another great site for looking at what ya want to buy.

[tokki]

I refuse to get a digital cam. They are just not real cameras IMO. even the high quality ones over 6 mega pixels are still pretty shite compared to a top end SLR. I have a Canon SLR camera, cost me nearly a grand, but its absolutely awsome, and way better than any toy dika. Thats what digital camera are you know, toys.

[ulsanchris]

I would reccomend the Canon powershot A70 or A80. They both have manual controls, such as shutter speed and apperature. They also have film speeds of 50, 100, 200, 400. They also take 4 AA batteries, which means if you forgot to charge your batteries you can still buy some and sanp some pics. Which is impossible with digicams that have dedicated batteries. Although if you dont' get rechargeables included with the camera it costs a lot to buy to sets of batteries and the charger. Worth it though in the long run. The A70 takes 3.2 mega pixels while hte A80 takes 4 megs and has better shutter lag. I would go for the A80 even though it costs around 100,000 more.

I read somewhere that the digital rating for regular film SLRs is between 7 and 14 mega pixels. I guess the large gap takes into account poorer quality cameras and lenses. Maybe flim speeds.
The latest Canon SLR takes around 11 or 12 mega pixel pictures.

[popper1976]

[Derrek]

[OiGirl]