Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rNS]

I know there is a FAQ about this but some of it seems a bit out of date................I basically want to get a digital camera in Korea soonish but........

Just a few Q's because I dont know that much about them. Firstly can anyone recommend a decent one around 500,000 or less mainly for internet pics but some printed out (so should it be 3Mpixels+ ???), also if anyone could recommend a place to get it at yongsan or namdemun (someone said they have cheaper imports somewhere there??) or wherever that would be very helpful.........

Thanks guys..

[Bug juice]

Get a Canon Power Shot A75 or a better version. Swiss James, me and Fierce Invalid all have them.

Good camera and around 300,000 or under.

[Derrek]

The Canon A400 is just cool!

It's small, only between 270,000 and 300,000 won, and 3.2 Megapixels. It has a zoom lens and takes fabulous photos inside and outside.

An absolute jem.

3 Mega is all you need for anything 8x10 size or below anyway.


http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/a400.html

[danielcraig]

Whatever you get, make sure it has an optical zoom (not just a digital zoom). The first time you need it, you'll thank me.

[justagirl]

I can't see much of a difference between the Cannon A75 and the Cannon A400. I looked on the reviews that site Derrek gave and they seem to be virtually identical except for the design.

We're looking at getting a digital in the next month. If someone knows, could you recommend one over the other and tell me why? Thanks!

[Derrek]

The A400 is a newer model, and will have a bit better internals, but both are nice. The A75 is a year or more old. The zoom on the A75 will be better, but the internal focus software is not as good, and some have complained about it not always being perfect (it's hard for such a system to be perfect every time anyway). The zoom on the A400 is a 2x optical zoom, as well as some additional digital zoom. I forget how much the A75 zooms.

The A-400 is more convenient to carry in, say, a purse. Also a bit easier to use, I think. If you put the A75 in Auto mode, it is easy too.

The A-400 takes 2 batteries, and the A75 takes 4. So you'll change batteries quicker with the A-400, but I always recommend rechargables anyway. So the A-400 is going to be lighter and more mobile. I think the A400 also uses the newer SD memory media, which is smaller and faster. Not sure.

Middle-line Kodak cameras are nice, too, but just be sure you get a memory card with your camera. Their photo quality isn't as good as Canon, but it's still very good. Both Canon and Kodak do well with indoor lighting, which is something that most earlier Nikons really sucked at (never buy a cheaper Coolpix version!).

If you scroll down the page of the link I posted above in my other message, you'll see a size comparison vs. the A85, which looks the same as the A75 on the outside. That site also reviews the A75 model, and has sample photos of the same objects for direct comparisons.

And a note about zooms....

I have owned lots of cameras, and call me crazy, but for cadid "spur of the moment shots" of kids, I recommend people get a solid fixed-foxus camera (Canon A300) that will not have to focus. Focusing takes time, and is always dependent on the image. A fixed-focus lens is excellent for candid shots of kids. Actually, I was a little sad to see them move to a zoom with the A400. You can still find A300s without the zoom, though.

Fixed-focus cameras are the only way to to in such situations, in my book -- as long as they are at least 3 meg. Also, they are much faster, and easily hidden when you're trying to snap that candid sexy shot of your girlfriend when she's not expecting it.

[agraham]

Derrick's got it well in hand, but I'm just gonna give my expereince of shopping from a few months ago:

I went with the A70. If I'd had more money at the time I would have gone with the A80. You can the A75 and A80 and the A400 side by side here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_a400%2Ccanon_a75%2Ccanon_a80&show=all
As you can see the A75 has zoom and takes four batteries instead of two. I have taken a few hundred pictures by now, and only charged the batteries two or three times.

Zoom is absolutely indispensible. Check out this picture I took of North Korea with the A70:
http://www.agraham.ca/korea/images/seoul0206_north_korea600.jpg
There's an NK flag in the picture just above and to the left of the centre guy's head. See it? Well it was clearly visible with the naked eye, but even with maximum optical zoom of 3X you can just barely make it out. Without zoom I would have no picture at all.

Also the A70/75/80 has fully manual control of focus, exposure time, F stops, ISO, flash intensity, etc. That stuff my not be important to you, but I like to fool around with stuff like that, so for me it's a toy.

Links I found useful:
See the cameras that have the features you want:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
An inexpensive camera store that gets good reviews for service; use to compare with Korean prices:
http://www.beachcamera.com
Choosing the best batteries:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
Choosing the best memory:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007
Useful software:
http://www.valsphotography.co.uk/information/Useful_Software.html

[Derrek]

I want to add that the A75 has a ton more "manual" settings if you want to get into artsy photography like night-shooting of lights, etc. To see some of my night photos done on my Canon S30, go to my site at www.seoulstream.com and click on the "Favorite pics" link on the left. You can do that same stuff with an A75 or A80, but not the A400. Those pics were done with exposures between 7 and 14 seconds, I think.

The reason for this is because the A400 has a maximum exposure of 1 second. More than plenty for every situation unless you plan to get artsy with night shooting as I did. Anything above 1/5th of a second you need a tripod anyway! Your hands shake too much to blur the image otherwise.

The A-400 is more of a carry-with-ease "point and shoot" camera that takes stunning pics, with just a few extra gadgets thrown in. If you don't plan on doing this sort of thing, then don't bother. I see that the zoom on the A75 is a mere 3x compared to 2.2x for the A400, so it's up to you.

By the way, I always tell people not to shoot with the LCD on that much. It saves batteries SOOOOoo much not having it going. Just turn it on to go thru your pics, then off again.

[Derrek]

Oh, I forgot to add that with either camera, you should budget to buy an extra 128meg memory card.

That will run maybe 50,000 to 60,000 won, I think.

You'll need it.

[eamo]

I got the Casio QV-R40 (it's the R-50 now) at Yongsan and I'm constantly amazed at how good a camera it is. Pay around 400,000.

[Thunndarr]

I'd like to chime in on Canons as well. I've got a two year old A40, and it's still one of the best electronics purchases I've ever made. Even my older model is still easy to use with a ton of features that you can get into if you feel the need. It's been an excellent and reliable camera.

[Derrek]

So what did you get?

[Zed]

I'm probably going to be myself one this week. This thread has been very helpful. Anything changed much in the past 3 months?

[Zed]

[Demophobe]

Optical is good, digital is crap. Optical kind of moves you closer to the subject without sacrificing quality, digital crops and resizes the area...severe loss of quality quickly ensues...like blowing up a picture in photoshop....degradation, digitization, blurring...