Please note
that this text was first written in 1999 with an update July
2000
January 2001 ,
A new page featuring the Olympus
E10
Buying a camera today is more of a
puzzle than ever and with the introduction of so many attractive
designer toys, is it a choice of pretty gadgets? Well that depends on
whether you want a handy pocket camera for snapshots or a tool for
making pictures.
For family snapshots, a 35mm
compact is the best buy with a better image quality and lower running
costs than the new APS format. The 35mm SLR ( single lens reflex ) is
still the choice for general photography with the widest backup of
film type, accessories and services of any format. For sheer image
quality, 6x7cm roll film remains king and is the choice of many
landscape and studio photographers.
But what about Digital Imaging?
Well there's no doubt that digital cameras are great fun and there is
no film cost or messing around in the dark with smelly chemicals, and
the result can be viewed within seconds. So what's the problem? Well,
compared with film they are not very good - the image sharpness of
their output can't match that of almost any precision film camera
made in the last 50 years. Digital Cameras on sale in 1999 deliver
half the image quality of a £100 35mm and cost up to ten times
the price, but like computers, you get much more performance for your
money each year. I guess we are only a few years away from the day
when an affordable digital camera can replace film.
Back in 1928, before the invention
of television or the electronic computer, E. Drummond Young wrote in
his book 'The Art of Photography':
"possibly in the future the
photographer may, when going out to photograph, take some sort of
wireless set instead of a camera, and wireless his exposures back to
the darkroom - who knows?"
Well, today the Press use digital
images that are downloaded from a camera to a portable computer and
then transmitted by a modem through a mobile phone back to the
office. But such outfits won't leave you with much change from
£10,000.
Digital cameras are increasingly
useful creative toys when matched with a good computer and printer,
but with price/performance improving with the introduction of each
new model they do not hold their value and therefore it makes no
sense to pay top prices.
We use a Ricoh RDC4300 (and a
Nikon 700) for pictures on this web site - it's now discontinued but
some are still around for about £250 and we can recommend it as
a good introduction to the medium, with design quality but also
problems that are common to much of this new breed. The Ricoh 4300
does not have a conventional viewfinder but does have a very good
miniature video screen, and that's OK unless you stand in bright
sunshine! The Ricoh does have a very useful range of manual controls
to override the auto settings for light balance, exposure and focus,
but you have no idea of the shutter speed or aperture, no accessory
shoe or socket for an external flash. The Ricoh is fitted with a
useful zoom lens that works brilliantly in macro mode but not so good
with distant shots and it has a really neat auto lens cover which all
cameras should have, but the zoom reverts to wide angle every time
you switch off. Ricoh have just introduced the RDC5000 which I have
been able to try out ( read on for more information ).
When buying a D.C. make sure you
bargain for a complete kit and don't find yourself paying for
essential components as extras - some dealers have been known to
strip down the standard package in order to create the illusion of a
discount price. The kit must include - rechargeable batteries (
Nickel H not Nickel Cad ) Battery Charger, Mains power Adapter, at
least 8meg of memory, Serial connecting lead, Video connecting lead,
Upload software and camera case.
Current Cameras worth considering
-
Nikon Coolpix 700 Kit at under
£300 - an ideal pocket camera
Olympus C-2500L a real SLR now
reduced by £400 to under £800
Ricoh RDC4300 at £300 or
less, and if you can afford more, the new RDC5300 (under £500)
or the Olympus C2000Z at under £550 (the nearest thing to a real
camera under £600), or Nikon Coolpix 950 Kit under £700.
It's worth noting that each time an upgrade arrives yesterday best
camera falls rapidly in price, and it's therefore worth waiting a few
months to see the market price for the newly introduced 3 mega pixel
cameras.
But that's not all - your PC
should be not less than a Pentium 120 with 64 meg of ram and a good
video card with at least 4 meg of video memory and a spare serial
port. If your PC serial port is being used by a mouse then you will
have to buy a PS/2 mouse. We use Net Scroll by Genius, which we sell
at £14.95. Alternatively, your memory card can be loaded into a
card reader which is much faster than downloading via a standard
serial cable. Several new cameras have the addition of the new high
speed USB port, but that only works on Win'98 or the latest Mac
systems.
Most cameras are designed to
upload to Windows'95,'98 or NT4 with photo software but you don't
need to splash out on a full version of Adobe Photoshop - several
cameras, scanners and printers are bundled with Photoshop LE, one of
the best deals being the Epson 1270 A3 printer with Photoshop5 LE.
The best budget software is U-Lead PhotoImpact 4, with more text and
web graphics creativity than Photoshop. New on the market is the
professional Satori PhotoXL V.3 which also has some features that
improve on the market leader.
For printing, we use, sell and
recommend the Transotype range of special papers. This includes Quick
drying photo weight Glossy, many types of transparent and opaque
films, transfer papers and canvas. In addition, you will soon need
portable storage for your digital files in the form of a CD writer
and/or a LS120 drive. The new Panasonic is a very useful double speed
LS120, which means that it is ten times as fast as a conventional
floppy and has a capacity of 120 megabyte. There are some myths about
print quality and file size. Pixels are quoted by the million and dpi
(dots per inch) by the thousand as if huge files are essential, but
as in all things there is a lot more required to define quality than
just size. In theory, the lowest acceptable print resolution for
photographs should be 300 dpi and for 10x8 inch print that would
require a 24 megabyte file. But most digital cameras deliver images
of only 2 - 6 megabyte, and in practice we regularly use files with a
print image resolution of 140 dpi or less to achieve prints
comparable with conventional photographs. For web sites, a digital
camera is more than adequate because the standard screen image is 72
dpi with files rarely more than a quarter of a megabyte.
It's clear from the above that an
amateur photographer can never justify such an investment of cash or
learning time if the main use is holiday or family snaps. But if
you're looking for a truly creative new medium, digital imaging is
worth the effort providing you believe that making a good picture
requires more than just a sharp mirror-like image, and that leads on
to another debate.
Some recent digital pictures from
the RDC4300 -
(all these pictures have been
reduced to a fraction of their original size and definition to fit on
this page - but if you click on the image you will see a small
section of the original camera file).
December 21st 1998 at
North Shields Fish Quay - this .jpg file is unmodified apart
from a reduction in file size to make an image for this
page, the 'close up' is a small section of the original
file.
January 1999 interior of
a fob watch - using only the light from a 75 watt 'daylight
bulb', the macro capability of the Ricoh is hard to
beat.
April 1999 Newcastle High
Level Bridge - this is a composite made with 'Photoshop'
from two Ricoh images, the finished file is 8 meg (and
produces a satisfactory print on A3 paper).
Whitley Bay June 1999 -
this picture taken looking north west at sunset is pushing
the camera to the limit as digital 'noise' becomes a
problem.
Tasmanian Pacific
locomotive awaiting restoration at Tanfield Railway County
Durham 3rd July 1999.
Ricoh RDC4300 &
RDC 5000 Digital Cameras
Having the opportunity to compare
these two digital cameras has been educational. In theory, the new
camera, styled in satin chrome like a 35mm automatic, should outshine
the previous year's model with its larger and more sensitive CCD - a
million more pixels should deliver a much better 'professional
quality' picture (Ricoh publicity), but it does not. The picture from
the 5000 is better but you have to run tests to notice the difference
and it can generate noticeable JPEG artifacts.
Before I began this comparison, I
grumbled at many dealers about a perceived problem with digital
cameras - that having set up the manual settings on the camera they
were lost as everything defaulted to the auto presets when you switch
off to save batteries. No one attempted to suggest an answer but I
was delighted to discover a 'keep settings' mode when I read the
manual for the Ricoh 5000. However, on reading the manual for my
4300, I was embarrassed to discover that the old camera has this and
more. There are 2 Ricoh modes that every digital camera should
have:
'Keep settings' does just that -
for instance, I lock my camera at 'daylight' colour balance and .5 of
a stop underexposure, flash OFF.
'Display Power saving' - with the
5000 you can switch the LCD viewer on and off at will and leave the
camera ready to shoot. The 4300 has a display mode which shuts down
the display after the camera has been idle for a preset time -
pressing any button brings the camera back ready to shoot. This is a
very valuable standby function.
Lens - the 4300 wins in nearly all
departments - the zoom is wider and longer and the macro function
achieves greater magnification at a longer focusing distance.
The 5000 is marginally sharper but
there is noticeable pincushion distortion at the long end of the
zoom.
Viewfinder - The 4300 has one of
the best LCDs ever made, but it's difficult to see in bright light
-the 5000 has the welcome addition of a simple peephole optical
finder but a smaller LCD. The optical finder is not up to the job -
it is small and inaccurate. The Camera is supplied with a
smart-looking lens hood, but this seems to be a designer's
afterthought - it's easy to knock off and cuts out 20% of the optical
viewfinder.
Both cameras are fitted with an
excellent automatic lens cap, and the 5000 has the benefit of a neat
LCD cover linked to the power switch. A sun shade for the LCD would
improve both cameras.
The 4300 will record in an
uncompressed format to yield the best possible image from the camera
- the 5000 only records with JPEG compression that can deliver
noticeable artifacts .
The 5000 comes with a complete Arc
digital imaging software package, some of which could be fun. But the
PC camera utility (the programme that connects the camera to the
computer) is only a fraction of that supplied with the 4300. With the
4300 you can fully control the camera from your PC and write shots
directly to your hard disk. This almost undocumented facility turns
the 4300 into a miniature studio camera and a brilliant tool for
animation.
The 5000 has welcome video
features. With the 4300 you can output images to a UK standard TV but
the 5000 will also output to the USA standard and will record still
images directly from a video signal.
Both cameras have a built-in
flash, which I have not used, but neither have an accessory shoe or
an external flash connector. Nor can you fit a neck strap or use
filters. There is no indication or control over shutter speed or lens
aperture other than + - EV setting.
The 4300 uses 'ideal format',
which is preferred by most picture makers - it fits well on the video
screen and makes best use of the lens coverage. Ricoh clearly
consider that its market believes that real cameras are 35mm format,
and have reverted to the wasteful 2x3 format.
Both cameras are outstanding
examples of modern technology and will deliver pictures far better
than many snaps from high street one-hour photo shops, without having
to pay for film or developing. Both Cameras come with unusually good
manuals and the 5000 even has an introductory video.
It's therefore a pity that Ricoh's
design team has lost the plot - it looks like a real camera but it's
less of a modern photographer's tool.
The 4300 is out of production and
with its rare virtues could well become a collectors item - no other
digital camera under £600 has such a good macro lens or control
from a computer to enable long sessions of time lapse and animation.
The 5000 could have been a rival to the acclaimed Nikon 950 but has
failed to build on the design strengths of its predecessor.
If you have £400 to spend on
a digital camera kit, then my choice would be the Nikon 700 with its
fine viewfinder and superior image quality. It uses the same image
electronics as the £700 Nikon 950. OK, you are stuck with a
fixed focal length of medium wide angle and no Macro. But you can
custom programme and lock the user settings of the camera, and you do
get 16 meg of memory and a copy of Photoshop5 LE, a battery charger
and a mains adapter. Plus that ideal format and option of
uncompressed recording mode. But best of all, it's small,
unpretentious, easy to hold and finished in black.
For around £550, the only
real photographer's camera must be the Olympus C-2000 with a fine
lens and user control of the shutter and aperture settings, and that
essential option of an uncompressed recording. Its direct vision
viewfinder is one of the best and the lens accepts external filters
and the camera has a flash cable socket. It's good enough to replace
a 35mm for general publicity and documentary work, and if you
normally get through more than two films a week it could pay for
itself in saved materials and time before the guarantee runs out!
Just a pity that its finish is not all black. However its new 3 mega
pixel upgrade, the C3030Z , is all black.
Of the latest bunch ( May 2000 ) I
would be very happy with the Nikon 990 but £850 for the basic
camera without the essential rechargeable batteries or mains adapter
is a bit mean.
Last October, Nikon launch their
much heralded Nikon D1 SLR, which will use any Nikon 35mm SLR lens
made since 1960. The new CCD is 2/3rds the size of a 35mm still
frame, making a 50mm standard lens deliver a picture with the same
view as a 75mm on a film SLR. Provisionally priced at £3,600
(without lens) it's aimed at the Press and Commercial photography
market and as such undercuts the price of Kodak's offering by
£7,000.
The launch of the D1 has
overshadowed Minolta's new RD3000 SLR, based on its Vectis range of
lenses. This completely new and very compact system offers the
photographer complete control of an image of nearly 2.7mega pixels,
but at a price of £2,999 and 99 pence it won't be competitive
with Nikon unless it can deliver a noticeably better performance.
Mike Tilley, 12th August '99
revised May 2000
Update - the Nikon D1 is still
top and in short supply - the Nikon 700 Premium Kit has recently been
advertised at under £300. An update of the Olympus 2000 the 2020
will now shoot video clips - price about
£500.
A whole new group of 3
megapixel cameras are about to hit the market , but don't confuse
quantity with quality.
Of current ' pocket' cameras
the choice is between the Olympus 3300 and the Nikon 990 but if your
desire something tiny check out the Canon S20 or the Fuji MX4700.
Fuji have announced new image
sensing technology to achieve 'improved quality', their second camera
to use this new sensor will be a modified Nikon SLR due out this
summer at about £2,500. The FinePix S1 Pro will use a
controversial new CCD
' Instead of square photodiodes
as used in conventional cameras, the Super CCD has octagonal
photodiodes and pixels in an interwoven pattern that dramatically
increases the effective resolution' ( Fuji leaflet )
The question yet to answered is
why should they use interpolation to create a file of 6.1 million
pixels if this design 'dramatically increases the effective
resolution? after all the ideal digital camera should achieve the
highest resolution in the smallest file possible.
New this Summer is a welcome
upgrade of the Olympus C2500 SLR the very high spec Olympus E10 with
fixed zoom lens and Canon have a fine new EOS SLR the D30 which
accepts their range of 35mm autofocus lenses . Contax have announced
a complete new film and digital system the Contax N1 range is
launched with a 35 mm autofocus SLR with an optional LCD viewfinder
to preview your shots in black& white or colour. This will be
followed next summer with a full frame 6 megapxel camera body
accepting 35mm and 645 lenses. No doubt Nikon, Canon and Olympus will
be launching equally high resolution cameras next season.
With the introduction of full
frame genuine 6 megapixel cameras, digital image capture will match
film for most applications and the rapid obsolescence of hardware
will slow to a more acceptable rate of change.
Mike, July15th,
2000
December 2000, Olympus E10 now on test -
for resultsclick
New "watercolour" inkjet Papers
are now in stock and available in single sheets -
click
here
