Korean Job Discussion Forums

[vox]

In 2004 I went and got my first digi-cam, a good starter's camera for a song (Nikkon 3200) in the electronics district in Seoul (can no longer remember where). The guy gave me peporo sticks, a few bottles of vita-drinks, some little congratulatory ceremony, popped a little paper-roll party-popper, and clinked my vita-drink glass, all over the counter. I really felt initiated into something.

Anyway, the camera has been great but my composition skills have improved a lot and I think I'm ready to move onto a camera with more than 3.2megapixel power. And I'm wondering 1) what that stabilizer feature in new cameras is called in Korean (where it keeps the picture steady if you move, reducing out-of-focus smudge); 2) if you can choose an object in a digicam picture to have sharp focus on, at the expense of other things in the picture.

I'm at the beginning end of my homework on next-step-up cameras, but since the market can only be Seoul I'd gratefully receive constructive suggestions from this forum on good camera models to look at buying, and where in the Seoul area.

Thanks!

[jinju]

[rich76]

I'd guess that a DSLR is not quite what you are ready for, however there are some excellent DSLR-type cameras available that are the next step up from a compact camera.
Particularly, look at the Fuji S9100 and Samsung Pro815. These cameras are excellent quality and have fixed lens ranging from 28mm-300mm. The sensor and the lenses are not as good as good as a DSLR but they are much cheaper and really the difference isn't noticible except in certain conditions. You can buy one at Yongsan market for about 600,000 won.

[Darkness]

dont mean to hijack this thread....but! lol

I'm buying a SLR camera before I leave canada, can i get cheap lenses in korea? I was told electronics are not really cheaper there...

Get and SLR!!

[vox]

thanks folks,

I think the Fuji looks like the best so far at 9mpixels. It's anti-camera shake is a scene setting called anti-blur (I thought it would universally apply, guess it doesn't) but the memory card is a paltry 16mb!

My Nikkon Coolpix has a 256 mb card that came with it. Are these memory cards very different from each other? I wonder if I could plug in my Nikkon coolpix memory card into a new slr camera?

[ttompatz]

[The Lemon]

Card prices are collapsing fast! 40,000w gets you 2GB now.

[rocklee]

If you want to try your hand at DSLR, you should take a look at the Canon Kiss/XT or Nikon D50/D70s as a starter.

If you don't want to go that far then there is the panasonic which looks like a DSLR but is still a prosumer camera, ie. very easy to use. The Leica lens on it are very good. Nikon also sell some very nice prosumer cameras (coolpix) which has some of the best LCD screens I've ever seen.

[The Lemon]

Here's the thing about D-SLRs. There are at least five D-70s owned by teachers at my school. During the big school events, they all come out and it's like a Nikon convention. They've got great lenses to go with them, flashy tripods - serious gear. There's another guy with a Canon Rebel - same thing applies.

Their photos suck. Bad color, strange focusing, severe exposure problems.

Those cameras are capable of taking amazing pictures - far beyond what my camera could ever contemplate. But they're so complicated for a newbie, they're also capable of taking disastrous pictures. And none of those guys have had the time or motivation to learn to use what they have. This is combined with a serious amount of expendable income which makes it possible for them to blow thousands of dollars on gear they don't understand. If it was me, I'd learn the camera inside and out, just to get my money's worth. They're not me.

My cheesy HP 8x zoom camera ended up taking most of the pictures for the school yearbook, though those guys submitted hundreds of pictures to the editor of the various events.

Recommending a D-SLR should come with the caveat that you need to invest quite a bit of time into experimentation and learning to use the tool. Those guys would have been better off buying a decent prosumer camera.

[Missile Command Kid]

No, lenses are *not* cheaper here than they are back home. If you've got some time before you leave, I'd strongly recommend ordering from B&H Photo and Video in New York. I know you said you're from Canada, but so am I, and their prices for lenses beat pretty much any Canadian company I looked at. I'm kicking myself for not picking up a Nikon 12-24 DX lens before I left for SK, as it's several hundred dollars more expensive here.

I bought my Nikon D50 from http://www.camera-warehouse.ca/ - great price at the time, free shipping, no PST. No PST alone can save you $50-75, depending on what kind of camera you're buying. Free shipping is icing on the cake.

DSLR cameras are pretty easy to figure out, but one of the most underrated aspects of any photographer's tool kids (for newbies, anyway) is a decent tripod. Sure, a DSLR can take great shots during the day, but at night or in low light conditions it's impossible to take good pictures without a tripod.

[indytrucks]

[hepcat]

I have to disagree with those on this thread that say you "need" a DSLR. There are professionals, even, who have only used fixed lens cameras for major assignments. DSLRs are "needed" for studio, sports and wildlife photography, and other even more specialized WORK. "Want" is another matter. If you like to buy and play with lots of lenses and accessories, that's great. But it's a hobby, a very expensive hobby.
If you want quality at a good price, I'd recommend my three main cameras:

1) Sony DSC-R1 - It's not perfect but, "if you can live within its 24-120mm effective focal length range, the combination of lens and camera can't be equalled for less than three or four times its selling price of $999. [actually, it now goes for under 800,000 won] Easily a Dave's Pick, we'd like to see a quicker shutter response, faster shot to shot speed, and especially a larger buffer memory, but there's literally nothing on the market that can touch it for optical quality for less than $3,000 or so. (For camera and lenses combined.)"
quoted from: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/R1/R1A13.HTM

I love that camera. The lens--good lord!

2) Canon A640 -- I love this camera , too. I've had it for about 3 weeks (it was just released) and I couldn't be happier with it as an outdoor shooter, take anywhere camera. Sharp lens, great macro, flip/twist screen, fast operation, fantastic color/exposure, 10 MP. Full manual or auto controls. I've already shot some of my all-time favorite shots with it.

3) Fuji F30 -- I bought this in the late spring. It's my low-light take anywhere shooter. Sharp lens, industry-leading sensor. The A640 is grainy above 400 iso, but the Fuji goes to 1600 iso very smoothly. It has no full manual control, and the exposure outdoors is trickier than the Canon, but I'll be keeping this camera for years for all kinds of low-light purposes (indoor people shots, markets at night). Very well-built and tremendous battery life.

[Callan]

You should consider also that you might want to grow into the camera. If you get a camera that does what you can do now, there you go. But if you get a camera that can do all that and more, then you have someplace to go.

I recommend a DSLR if you are ready to do some reading and figure it out. You can sit on the "Auto" mode for a while until your ready to fly and you've got the old camera to fall back on. With a DSLR it isn't "Darn, I wish I could get that shot" its "I wonder HOW I get that shot". And cards being as cheap as they are, you can take 20 shots of the same thing making little adjustments and really see what changes. There's really nothing better to learn with.

The fixed-lens jobbies that were mentioned could be good as well. But I'd make sure the lens was spot on before I bought one. You don't want to be stuck with slow glass.

That said, if you just want to point and shoot...then get a point and shoot.

[Callan]

Oh, and check this site out : http://www.dpreview.com/


I strongly recommend doing some reading (well, some more reading) before dropping the cash.

[The Lemon]