Several people asked for a summary after my request for advice on digital
cameras recently. Here we go.
The main things I can say to anyone looking into buying one is to do your
homework and be very explicit in you own mind about what you want the camera
for as this will help determine the best models to look at. I wanted a
camera that would give good prints at about 4x6 to 5x7 inches on a 600 dpi
or 1200 dpi laser printer. Specifically they would be prints for CRM reports
and for 106 review forms for buildings and bridges. For this kind of work,
you need to look at 2 or 3 megapixel cameras (true pixels, not
interpolated). Obviously 3 is better than 2, which is the high end of what
are called by some prosumer cameras, not as good as professional cameras,
better than consumer models. Most 3 mp prosumer cameras now go for $800-1000
(as opposed to $2to $10k for really professional cameras).
Our camera would be used for very limited archaeological field work, mostly
small projects that wouldn't require taking a large number of pictures and
wouldn't endanger a $1k camrea. Also for building surveys, from a single
building to hundreds that we have to survey for highway projects. Lastly,
for artifact photos in the lab, largely for smaller projects where we don't
need slides or very high quality photographs. Again I see the advantage of
digital as being able to take a few photographs without using a roll of
film. For larger projects we will stick to film and a film scanner that can
do slides or negatives (what we do now).
I decided to go with a 3 mp camera. There are currently about 15 models to
choose from. Based on reviews and messages from listers, I focused quickly
on two of them, the Nikon Coolpix 990 and the Canon Powershot G1. Originally
I was leaning towards the 990 but finally decided on the G1 (haven't gotten
it yet, so I don't know if I made the right choice).
The main reason I chose the G1 is that it comes standard with certain
features that are extra on the 990. The 990 does have better lenses and
better macro capability, but these factors didn't outweigh other advantages
of the G1 for me.
G1 has a wireless remote standard, the 990 needs a remote cable costing
$120.
G1 has a very long-lasting battery pack and comes with a charger that
charges in the camera and doubles as an AC power supply for the camera. The
990 uses AA batteries but no charger is supplied and an AC power setup is
extra. The G1 battery is proprietary (a minus) but I ordered a second pack
for $60.
Both cameras use Compact Flash cards for storing pictures. The G1 also works
with the IBM microdrive. I haven't ordered one yet until I confirm it will
work with our older Mac laptop, but this appears to be the most
cost-effective media for megastorage for large building surveys. I'm looking
at getting a 340 mb drive or a 128 mb flash card (about $330 for the drive
vs $280 for the card).
The G1 has a raw format that takes up less space than the uncompressed TIF
used on the 990. Both will do JPG files as well, though JPG is not loseless
compression.
Several other notes:
Some people recommended Sony Mavica cameras that use floppy disks. I don't
think there are any 3 mp cameras in this series, though there is a new 2.1
mp one that uses CD-R media. I can't see using floppies when you are taking
a lot of pictures.
Some people wondered if digital photography would be acceptable to SHPOs for
NRHP review of buldings and bridges. At least here in Missouri it is. They
still require film for mitigation work, but will accept digital prints for
106 review work.
I used several sites for investigating cameras. Quick searches for cameras
in your price range and quality range can be made at sites like Yahoo
shopping. There are probably others, but the best site I found for detailed
info is dpreivew.com. They have galleries of sample images, very detailed
(too detailed for me sometimes) reviews of cameras, side-by-side
comparisons, and forums where you can ask questions of other users.
Mike Conner
|
