Digital camera question

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by bajaed, Jun 30, 2021.

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  1. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I need to take some pictures of building projects for a brochure and print ad. Are there any inexpensive ($200-$400) cameras that can do a good job or does one need to spend over a thousand for one?
     
  2. Mister Charlie

    Mister Charlie "Music Is The Doctor Of My Soul " - Doobie Bros.

    Location:
    Aromas, CA USA
    I just bought a Kodak digital camera (PIXPRO AZ421) on Amazon for around $150, takes great photos and can be point and shoot or used as a real camera with manual settings.
     
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  3. townsend

    townsend Senior Member

    Location:
    Ridgway, CO
    Even the digital cameras in most cellphones take very good pictures.
     
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  4. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    Read the users manual of a traditional point & shoot and DSLR camera to convince you a cellphone camera is the way to go.

    I use a DSLR and it took so much time to familiarize myself with the menu and all the buttons and what they do. I'm still learning new stuff from refreshing my memory reading my camera's User's Manual. It's ridiculously complicated.
     
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  5. Exotiki

    Exotiki The Future Ain’t What It Use To Be

    Location:
    Canada
    When you say brochure, I'm assuming it's a triple-fold roughly A4 size? And a print ad like a magazine, newspaper, or flyer? If so practically any smartphone from the last 5 years from Apple or Samsung will be more than adequate.
     
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  6. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Full page magazine print ad and 8.5 x 11 brochure.
     
  7. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Pro photographer here. Are you shooting interior or exterior?

    Standard procedure for interior architectural and real estate photography is to lock the camera down on a sturdy tripod and do three exposures, then blend them in photoshop (or the equivalent). This is because you're exposing for highlights, shadows and midtones, and the highlights are generally too bright to render effectively without losing the shadow detail and vice versa. Wide angle lens is essential.

    If it's just exteriors, you MIGHT be able to use a newer cell phone. The critical thing here is time of day, once again because of lighting. Getting even light with a good sky and good building features can be tricky (and probably not good at midday unless you specifically want deep shadows). The trouble with cell phone cameras is the tiny sensor and the lack of dynamic range, even with the HDR turned on. The small sensor can result in a lot of noise if you have to brighten the shadows, and an 8.5x11 print ad is about as far as you really want to push it before you start seeing resolution issues.

    If you're going to be doing a lot of this, I would recommend a starter DSLR with a wide angle lens and a good tripod. The Nikon D3500 is one I've recommended for years, and everybody who's bought one on my suggestion has been happy with it. The D5600 is another, slightly more expensive option.
     
  8. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    It's just exteriors for now. Shouldn't be too tough. I'm going to shoot with a cellphone and a borrowed camera (not sure what it is yet) and see how they turn out. Will buy something if needed.
     
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  9. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    DSLRs do not need to be complicated, they all have full-auto modes. You can use all the settings and manual modes when you want, but in full-auto mode you're already beyond any cell phone camera.
    For publication, a good cell phone camera could be used well by an experienced photographer, but that would be a special proof of concept case. Nobody shoots full page bleed photos with a cell phone camera.

    Name that borrowed camera for comments and comparisons up and down from it.
     
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  10. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I will as soon as I know.
     
  11. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Ok I have a Nikon Coolpix P500 and a Nikon BM-7 w multiple lenses.

    Thoughts?
     
  12. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    The P500, for me, would be irritating to use. Irritating to zoom and frame and focus, irritating to shoot because of too much shutter lag. Pretty good pics after the irritations. Try it first to have the relief of using:

    The BM-7 must actually be the D80. Fine camera, 15 years old model and still OK. Set it on auto, try the 18-55 lens first if you have that, to get used to it all before trying other lenses or settings. Nonzoom lenses are sharper but Nikon brand zooms are superb (except the 18-55 which is the basic starter lens, it is OK, but not superb). Search for Nikon D80 reviews to read experts' pros and cons while describing its use. Despite any cons noted it was and is a fine model of its type. Here is a "throwback" comment review to start, which links to a full original review.
    Throwback Thursday: the Nikon D80
     
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  13. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Thanks, I'll try both. The 18-55 is on the camera and a zoom is in the bag. I had a Nikon SLR film camera for years but I've never used a nicer digital camera, just Samsung cellphones.
     
  14. CDV

    CDV Forum Resident

    A smartphone has wide-angle camera, which is usually what one wants when making photos of buildings. Smartphones can have HDR and auto-bracketing, just use an appropriate app. Yeah, image looks grainy in low light, also barrel distortion may be noticeable. And just because it is a smartphone does not mean you should not use a tripod. There are movies shot on a smartphone, so it is a usable tool.

    18-55 kit lens is slow, especially when zoomed in. In low light the image will not necessarily look better than from a smartphone. It allows for some shallow DOF compared to a smartphone, but shallow DOF is usually not needed for architectural photos.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2021
  15. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    The other lens is a Nikor AF 70-300.

    Also I made a stupid mistake. Bm-7 is the screen cover. The camera is a D80.
     
  16. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I have a question here and would like improve my indoor light on digital photography. I am currently using 2-LED Daylight bulb "with 100 watt equivalent" not using any flash. I really the daylight color if possible I want to use the same light effect but I'm not sure what wattage do I need to upgrade. This is just strictly indoor just like what you see. Any input would be great.
    Right now the 2 light bulb is 3 to 3.5 feet away from the model.
    Thanks,

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    I'ld suggest 5000K BR40 daylight spot flood LED brands Cree or Hyperikon. Both are rated to over 1000 lumens with the Cree at 1750 Lumens as indicated on the box. I hope you're shooting Raw so you can quickly edit white balance because cooked jpeg is pretty difficult to maintain consistency shot to shot making editing cumbersome.

    Below are screen grabs of the color and quantity of light they give off at the same time show you the differences in white balance. The shot of the over the sink light in my kitchen is a Walmart LED flotube with its greenish yellow neutral white. You can see clicking for R=G=B neutral white is going to give inconsistent results made more difficult shooting jpegs but it's doable. I've had to edit white balance on jpegs but it isn't fun.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2021
  18. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Okay great so your suggesting I use an LED flood light of 120-150 watt equivalent (neutral white) instead of this light that I'm using which is only 100 watt equivalent (daylight)?
    Thanks for the quick reply. I could use the help.


    [​IMG]
     
  19. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    Yeah, I have similar LED bulbs in your posted pic but they just don't put out a lot of light.

    I'ld go with the Crees which I bought at Home Depot. They will fit in the fixture in your set up. I'm assuming this is for photographing still objects which you can use a tripod and shoot at lower shutter speeds if the light isn't enough.

    I shot all those shots pictured above hand held. They're all sharp as a tack. I'ld suggest you not mix daylight from that pictured window with any artificial bulb as fill light due to the spectrum differences that not only throw off white balance but also saturation/hue. The camera is just a machine that electronically records with UV/IR/RGGB filtered light and real window daylight's color gamut is too big to compensate with mixed lighting.
     
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  20. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Okay that's all great information and thank you so much. I will look for this local and get it today. If you can kindly double check if this is the right model. Ill be leaving in a an hour and Ill locate one .
    BR40-120W-P1-50K-E26-U1
    Cree Lighting® PRO Series BR40 Lamp | BR40 Series | 23W | 5000K | Dimmable
     
  21. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
  22. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
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  23. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA

    They don't have one available close to me which is zip 97132. Ill order the same thing you got and pick it up at home depot.
     
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  24. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    I have a Nikon Coolpix 530 and it is very slow to respond when I push the buttons. Does this mean I should replace the chargeable battery? Are the generic looking batteries on Amazon safe to buy or will they explode in my face?
     
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  25. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    what is the battery series or size?
    I can tell you whats a real good ones in NMHI
     
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