srapson

<p>Hi all, hope this is the correct forum for this.<br>

Wondering if anyone has suggestions for a P&S that can take a bit of a beating but still has decent image quality.<br>

I do a lot of backpacking and for most of my trips my SLR isn't an option. I've killed a couple P&S (most recently a G7) cameras taking them along on bruising, and sometimes wet, trips. So looking for something that might last a bit longer.<br>

Thanks!<br>

Sam</p>

Went out today to shoot a local mountain bike race and was having a hell of a

time getting well exposed shots in some very contrasty light.

 

Basically a very bright sunny day, taking shots in the woods, so intermixed

shadows and sunspots. I shot primarily with my on camera flash, underexposing

the meter's reading by about a stop.

 

What I got was OK, but generally had the highlights blownout... an example

attached.

 

So, suggestions? I'm fairly new to this so anything helps.

I'm relatively new to photo.net and just now starting to submit my photos for

critique. I've run into a large number of bugs and finally figured out the

solution, figured I'd pass it on. Here's my laundry list of bugs:

 

-Uploaded photos sometimes don't appear in my gallery.

-Photos that my workspace says have comments don't appear to have them

-The photo count for my portfolio doesn't match the actual number of pictures

you have

-Changes to a photo's info don't seem to hold

 

For the layman, the solution. If a page is not displaying as expected hold down

shift and click refresh. This forces your browser to get the most recent version

of the page, which has fixed these problems for me.

 

For the developers, basically these all seem to be cache issues. Just about

every page on the site is getting cached (for me, running Firefox 2.0 and

Windows) and doesn't change until the cache expires or, as above, you force a

reload.

 

One bug that still is holding for me is particularly odd. My girlfriend created

an account the other day and uploaded this photo:

http://www.photo.net/photo/6831253. It's under her account & name

and appears in her portfolio. However, when I click on the "Single Photos" link

on my page it also appears in my portfolio, *despite the individual picture

still having her name on it*. Even more odd, if I instead click "Manage my

portfolio" then "View all" my portfolio appears correctly, ie just with my photos.

 

Anyway, that's my contribution to bug hunting, hope it helps.

 

Sam

Thanks for the help, I'll see what I can come up with at the store.

Ilkka- the thing I'm talking about isn't really a tripod so much as it's just somewhere to mount my camera. It's $15, has three 4 inch plastic legs and a tiny ball head. Primarily it would be used for self portraits or to slightly extend my shutter speed options, a tiny step past hand-held but super light (2oz) and cheap. Maybe not worth it, the guy at the shop suggested it, said he uses it for his P&S while hiking.

So... if I was going to get a tripod, what's your suggestion? Thom's "cheap" option is $600, do I wait and spring for that?

 

Bad news is I'm guessing I'll have to exchange this, not get a refund, so I may be limited to this store's inventory. The fast prime lens came to mind b/c it's in my range & gets a lot of talking up on this site. Also it's been the holidays around here so I've had lots of indoors shots.

my wish list got mixed up... again:

 

flash

 

fast prime lens (thinking 50mm f/1.8)

 

VR telephoto zoom (like the Nikkor 55-200 VR)

 

a macro lens (for my gf, who loves the tiny stuff)

 

wide-angle lens (for big 'ol landscapes)

Thanks for the response... so a Q for the peanut gallery:

 

If I'm going to go backpacking is my only choice a heavy (6-8lbs?) tripod? That makes my ultralight backpacking sole cringe as my total weight is usually in the 20lb range.

 

By Bruce's suggestion I'd need to put a lot more money into a tripod, something I'm not ready to do yet... so do I forgo it in favor of something else? Things that are on my eventual wish list:

 

flash

fast prime lens (thinking 50mm f/1.8)

VR telephoto zoom (like the Nikkor 55-200 VR)

a macro lens (for my gf, who loves the tiny stuff)

wide-angle lens (for big 'ol landscapes)

 

I've got about $150 to play with, plus some flexibility from my own cash. The tripod is from a small camera shop that's a little on the pricey side, though not horrid.

Just bought my first SLR (Nikon D40) after many years of point n' shoot and am

starting to invest myself (and some money) in photography. As an early x-mas

present I just received a tripod, the Velbon UltraMaxi SF

(http://www.velbon-tripod.com/ultra_maxi.htm), which pulls in at about 1.6

pounds, 13 inches folded up, with a max height of 48 inches. It comes with a

stock ball and socket head, the PH-343.

 

So, I have one week before I leave the country and I have to decide if this is

the correct tripod for me. I'm looking for advice... I shoot a lot of

landscapes, some sports, some photo-journalist style portraits and am interested

in expanding my borders a little. I frequently backpack and will be (probably)

taking my camera with me, though I'm not sure if a tripod will be worth the

weight to me.

 

I have been considering returning this and buying two things... a super simple,

tiny plastic 2oz tripod to take on backpacking trips and a heavier (3 lb),

taller (~65 inch) tripod for at-home use / backpacking trips dedicated

exclusively to photography.

 

I like the small size and weight of my current gift, but will the relatively

short max height on my current tripod feel very limiting? ...or should I forgo

the tripod, cash it in and purchase something else (I currently only have the

kit 18-55mm, f/3.5-5.6, lens)

Also, as side notes, I don't think the Sigma 18-200 or the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 will operate on the D40.

 

Which brings up a small side topic, am I screwing myself by limiting myself to AF-S and Sigma HSM lenses?

The $365, is a refurbished ebay auction buynow price. I've been mostly looking on ebay, though only at well-reviewed camera sellers (like Cameta).

 

I'm currently (briefly) in the US, but I travel extensively and live in New Zealand right now. I'm realizing this should have been mentioned before, there's a decent possibility that I will be backpacking (both in the traveling and hiking sense) with this camera so size, convenience and total weight are of some concern.

 

This also makes warranties a fairly minor issue to me as it seems they usually only apply to the US.

Sorry, the lens listing didn't split out how I expected...

 

18-55 f/3.5-5.6 - standard d40 kit lens

 

18-70 f/3.5-4.5 - kit lens for D80, sharper and faster than the d40 kit lens

 

18-135 f/3.5-5.6 - wider range of zooms, sharper and faster than the d40 kit lens

Hi,

I'm a newbie to SLRs and photography as art, mostly point n' shoot memory

recording till now, but have found a passion for photography and want to step up

in the camera world. I'm about to buy a d40 and am trying to decide which lens

to get with it... Currently I'm looking at these Nikkor AF-S lenses:

 

18-55 f/3.5-5.6 - standard d40 kit lens

18-70 f/3.5-4.5 - kit lens for D80, sharper and faster than the d40 kit lens

18-135 f/3.5-5.6 - wider range of zooms, sharper and faster than the d40 kit lens

 

The kit prices for these (including a 4GB mem card & case) are $470, $615 and

$655, respectively. Or the body + mem card + case is $365 and I can go for some

other lens.

 

The AF-S VR 18-200 is well reviewed, but out of my price range. It's also been

suggested that a fast 50mm prime lens might be a good choice...

 

I'll be shooting primarily outdoors, mostly landscapes with some sports and and

some other errata mixed in. For the time being this will be my only lens, but I

have aspirations of eventually (in the semi-distant future) purchasing

additional lenses (wide-angle and telephoto come to mind).

 

So... suggestions? Thoughts on my current picks or votes on prime vs. zoom?

 

Sam