Camera help please.

[The Duke]

I love my Dslr but evet since I forgot its charger on the way to Spain (been back twice since) , and I realised how good the the Nexus 6p was, its rare it come out the draw. Weddings etc

Currently on the P20pro, and it’s night shots are just stupidly good.

The other year I was touring real Madrid ground, and the lighting inside their tour is terrible so I found it much easier using the 6p. I saved the dslr for that day. Gave up and just used it in good light.

Still for a wedding a dxlr is the best. Though my with has a small Sony cam (can’t recall it’s name) that is very good, with a good optical zoom in a very small package. Though she rarely gets that out these days.

[blacklion1725]

Duke I traded down the Panasonic Tz60 (3 versions behind PMs new one) to get one (Sony) that would fit in my pocket when on holiday. Its why I’ve never been arsed about phone cameras quality as I don’t really use them – anything important I like the proper camera with a proper zoom. The other thing that winds me up about top end phones is those that have superb cameras but no expandable storage (along with ridiculous premiums for moderate increases in cheap internal storage). 16GB iPhone can take great photos, but only about four! Lack of optical zoom kills the mobile as a serious camera for me. I remember that Nokia win-phone that was 40Mp so you could digital zoom in and throw the rest of the photo away.  In general though phone is for fun snaps or unexpected opportunities, camera is for photos to look at more than once. Great we all have choices with tech now – as most can find a solution to suit their needs. Before this thread came up I ordered (ebay) a Sony bridge (between compact and dlsr) camera for holiday this year with 63x optical zoom – not counting my chickens as have had some shocker  (all returned) purchases on ebay lately – if it is a winner will update here now PM is sorted.

[keith with the teef]

If you can still get ’em Sony RX100 version1

https://tinyurl.com/y28sjwss

 

[Dave Rice]

I found I was using the phone camera more and more because it was in my pocket, the spontaneity thing. But I won’t spend a lot of money on a phone purely to get a better camera. It doesn’t make sense financially nor for all the things you talked about. In the days of my SLR I learned what I could do with depth of field, shutter and aperture priority etc. Also there’s tricky lighting situations.

That’s why I decided I had to get a truly pocketable camera and The Lumix always came out top in the price range I can afford. Also I still wanted a tradition viewfinder as sometimes the screens aren’t appropriate. I knew I was sacrificing the flash but I did do some wedding photos for s-i-l’s second wedding and they are very happy with them.

[PlaneMan]

I took some photos today just after I put the tz90 away, the Mate 20 Pro is way quicker for spontaneous shots, especially when the double tap on the volume down button to take an instant photo option is in place. And it is instant, as far as I can tell.

 

[The Duke]

@BL I just looked up the wife’s camera, the sony DSCHX60, cost me £159 in 2015. Its small about 20mp and 30x optical zoom  And it has nfc transfer, so you can tap it againt your phone and and it auto transfers them  Over.

So for its time a great camera for the money. She doesn’t do video, but it’s probably only 1080p max. But that was never a concern.

It has an app store too, I bought the time lapse app, just to stest it out in a drive, and it worked well.bit never use it in anger. A great phone that fits in a pocket. I bet the newest is fantastic. As Sony is well ahead of thd pack in the camera world. Even beating cannon and nikon in the big boy space.

If I was after a point and shoot, I’d be looking at a 2017 Sony model, will be cheap and still amazing. The wife’s is great too. But as phones now do the majority, camera are being squeed out. The optical zoom on my P20p is decent. Give it 3 years, and it will be amazing.

The major plus for smart phone cameras is they are ideot proof, and you need zero knowalge. Open app, tap on subject (no matter the lighting now) and it will work it out for you, in 100th of a second.

It’s hard to get a blary photo out of any top end devive from the last 4 years. I bet the middle of the road cameras are amazing now. As I know the lowly moto g6 my girl has is more than adequate. Ant thats£130

(just had to buy a second one yesterday, as I broke my 7 year olds  On Sunday. On the plus side it could of been mine I broke. And 130 wouldn’t of replaced that! Still gutted, and the girl wasn’t pleased.

So I now own a G6 paly of my own with a cracked screen. May set it up as a camera, somewhere. Or see if I can bond a screen protected to it.

[blacklion1725]

Duke I think your wife’s camera is probably the same size as mine (HX90V) – easily fits in the pocket even in a soft pouch. I’ll always have use for a camera – the phone is fine for every day photos, ebay listings etc, but I don’t want a high end phone (for better pictures) with me all the time, so happy to take a camera when I know I’ll want better pictures……and I can’t see amobile with a 30x optical zoom any time soon – who knows though. Didn’t know about the app store – will see if it is supported on mine. I agree with Dave about the EVF – out in bright sunlight the screen can be next to useless. On my Sony it feels quite flimsy (as does the pop-up flash) but they must be reasonably sturdy to survive me using it.

[The Duke]

My wife’s hasn’t managed to break hers in 4 years. So that’s is more than a pass form me.

WWe have a vax (old school), as my wife Dan go though a couple of vacume a year. If it’s ele reonic she’ll break it, so we ended up on the vax train, as its modular in design, and all the parts are cheap and easy to get hold of. Our must be ten years old or more now. It’s not quite triggers broom, but getting there.

[PlaneMan]

Had some time with it today and the phone app is actually very good. I can see some circumstances when it it would be easier to use the app than the touch screen or physical controls on the camera.

For quick opportunistic shots I’m still using my phone, that’s because I’m on crutches still and have to stop and get the TZ-90 out of my rucksack. With my phone it’s a one handed operation to grab it from my pocket and double tap the down volume button. For most people who keep it in a pocket and aren’t reliant on crutches I don’t think there’d be much in it.

I’d read reports of lag during startup but that was for the 70 and 80, there is almost no delay between pushing the power button and being ready to shoot. Less than a second IMO.

The more I use it the happier I am with it.

[blacklion1725]

Good stuff – if you look at how these hold their value I think it shows how good they are. I sold my TZ60 for very close to what I paid for it (it was a great deal) and the Sony HX90V (replaced my panasonic) still goes on Ebay for what I paid 18 months ago – maybe even higher. I think these compacts with a powerful zoom are a real sweet spot in the market.

[Tippon]

PlaneMan wrote:

I’d just take some shots and let google stitch them together.

I don’t trust Google Photos anymore, the results haven’t been very good. This was its attempt at a panorama, and Photoshop gave me something closer to Dave’s pictures.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TgzQhoSfSBCKhNBj6

The Duke wrote:

It’s hard to get a blary photo out of any top end devive from the last 4 years.

The camera on the Honor 9 gives blurred photos regularly. The app is awful. The minimum shutter speed that’s recommended for a camera held by hand is 1/25th of a second, and that’s assuming that you’ve got steady hands and the other settings won’t let you go higher. Anything slower than that and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get some blur. The Honor 9’s app generally sets the shutter speed to 1/17th of a second, even if the other settings give you plenty of wiggle room (e.g. it does that at ISO 100 and 200). Manually setting the shutter speed cures it instantly, and the other settings auto adjust to compensate, but then you can’t use the other features like burst mode. It’s very annoying.

[The Duke]

The honour brand is huawei budget line, so even the top honour of the day, is only really mid range. But their prices are great, for the kit.

Though I’m amazed The camera app is bad, as if it shares the same one as huawei pjones, it’s bloody brilliant. It’s the main reason I got Thr P20p, as I loved the app on the wife’s P9. It’s simple, but one click give you ALL the control one would ever want.

Though I do like the bone sock nexus/pixel camera. It has no bells or whistles at all, but always produces, Especally in bad light. I’ve not used it since my Pixel, but it can now be sideloaded on to alot of phones, and you get Thr power of the Google algorithm, which is one of The best.

I haven’t put it on my P20p as The pixel photo app only uses 1 or 2 lenses, (whatever Thr pixel 3 has), so it would potentially downgrade The P20p, probably taking away the 10x optical zoom. And given Thr P20p has even better low light than the pixel 1 and 2 (not 3), I don’t think I’d see any benifit. Especially as sidloading ports, usally ad a few quirks to The mix.

[PlaneMan]

Mum wanted some photos of her garden so I put the new camera to use, not really my thing but the zoom lens did help as I had no need to bend over or kneel on the floor.

Managed to get a few shots of her semi tame robin.

Really loving this little camera.

 

[Dave Rice]

Rock steady there Nolan. I love camera stabilisation ?

[PlaneMan]

Likewise Dave. ?

[PlaneMan]

I’ve now ordered a bridge camera, I love my little TZ90 but I was lured by the even better zoom of the Panasonic Z82.

Bagged one from Amazon, as new for £210.

As an aside the Integrated Autism Service in Penarth have 2 of my photos on one of their walls, both shot on the TZ90, that mum and I paid for as a thank you for all the help (past and future) that they supply. I’m chuffed that they thought them good enough to actually put in probably the most viewed location in the place. The plant was dumped by a cleaner doing her rounds and I had an appointment  so no chance for another shot.

[Dave Rice]

They’re nice. The beach shot you took is the lock screen wallpaper for my server.

[PlaneMan]

Thanks Dave.

Had a few minutes to try the new Z82 today, really impressed so far, even though I couldn’t get through all the settings to enable iZoom, the ‘SuperZoom’ feature. It’s a blend of optical and digital zoom which apparently enables the same result as a 120X optical zoom. I’ll wait and see.

Finally got the SuperZoom enabled, try and get some shots tomorrow.

Sully island this afternoon.

[Ed P]

I have a Panasonic Lumix GH5 purchased for a similar event. A brilliant camera – it leaves Canon choking in the dust on every count. BUT it has so many options it takes weeks to come to get to grips with them all. In the end I had to buy a book just to learn how to make full use of it. The other downside is of course size. It certainly cannot just be shoved into a pocket!

[Ed P]

“Finally got the SuperZoom enabled, try and get some shots tomorrow.”

The book I purchased said to ignore Superzoom on my Lumix, as it just takes the output from ‘ex Tele Conv’ and upsamples it. His (David Thorpe’s) advice was to turn the Zoom ring, shoot in Large, crop then upsample outside the camera. He said Superzoom was however of value in Movie mode.

If David Thorpe has done a book on your camera I recommend getting it.

[Author]

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