Capturing images of your garden

For pictures to put on this site it's just plain quick and easy to use digital. I use my dh's Nikon coolpix2000. It gets the job done. We also have a Minolta Maxxum 300si with a couple zoom lenses to attach. It does not get used much any more but there will always be a place for it. Mari

we picked one out and got it!!! :)

its a sony DSC-P72 and we got a 128 memory stick!
im so happy!

Now to go read and play!

i also have a 35mm!

I used to swear by my Cannon 35mm until I bought my Sony Mavica FD91 several years ago. It stores photos on 3 1/2" floppy disks that can be veiwed on almost any computer and I can carry 10 in my shirt pocket. The 14x optical zoom allows me to get close-ups better than my 200mm telephoto lens on my 35mm camera did. It also gives my options to set exposure and focus manualy so I can get the effects that I want, sometimes the auto settings are not exactly what I want. Needless to say, the 35mm is gathering dust.

I just have my Polaroid PDC640 (reading that off the camera) that I bought a few years ago. It's fun just taking pictures and e-mailing them. Wish I could up grade and get zoom and stuff, but "poorgeorge".

I use a PhotoSmart 618 and love digital cameras but would love to have a new one that will do a lot more than this does.

I have the Canon Powershot A-70. Thank God it has great "auto" settings, I may never get around to learning about all the manual settings--but at least they will be there when I'm ready!

I love the instant download, so much easier to keep track of what's blooming and when. Simply great for storing my pics in the Journal!

I use a Cannon PowerShot A70. It was $299.99 at Circuit City. I love that store. Best Buy really turns me off as far as customer service goes and CC usually has the best price. The camera has every feature I was looking for and is VERY easy to use. A+

Davena

Sony Mavica FD71 and FD97 - and I"M so in love w/ digital that the world is all brand new again .......what fun! AND, I have discovered a creative side to myself in all of this, as the software for tweaking pictures is nearly as much fun as the camera itself.

Olympus Camedia C-700 10X

Olympus D-550 Zoom. My first digital camera. Love it cause it is so easy to use and I get instant gratification. Love being able to delete pictures I don't want and am having fun learning how to use editing features on computer. Still need to learn how to upload my pictures... but that is only a matter of time!

I have an old Canon AE-1. I've posted pix to other sites, and people have asked me "What kind of digital camera do you have, your pix are SO GOOD?". I would like a digital camera sometimes, but am not ready to spend the $$ to get the one I'd really like. I take my films into Shopko's one hour developing for the "picture right now" gratification. I showed a photo I had taken of one of my cats to a professional photographer who is also a cat lover, and the first thing she said was "Wow! That is a great photo. what kind of camera do you have?" I guess I'd almost consider one of those new Canon Eos Rebel cameras except for the fact that my lenses for the AE-1 aren't interchangable. :>(

I used an Olympus D 360 for the last three years..Loved it! It was only 1.3 mega pixels but it took great close-ups.
Recently I found an Olympus D-380 2 mega pixels, on sale for only $220.00 and bought it. The Camedia 4.02 software that came with it is so much fun..much better than the old Camedia software with the 360. Funny enough, I think the old 360 takes better close-ups of flowers than the new 380.

I have an Olympus C-2100uz (aka the "Uzi"). We had a Canon Rebel-G 35mm and several lenses, but after getting an Olympus C-2040z, we decided to sell them both and get the Uzi. I've never looked back. It has a 10x optical zoom with image stabilization, which allows you to take crisp shots in low light even without a tripod. The optics are excellent! We bought it factory refurbished on eBay since they're no longer manufactured by Olympus. I would get another one in a heartbeat. I'd like a higher megapixel camera so I could do bigger enlargements, but for almost everything I do, the C-2100 is excellent.

I use my Digital more than my regular camera. I have a Fuji FinePix 2400 and it does ok for me. I am not a real photographer and it is easy for me to use. Love to see my photos instantly and be able to post pics here and send to friends and relatives all over the world.

Donna

I'm a film gal myself. I learned on my dad's old Pentax. 30 years old with screw on mounts, no flash, no light meter. Safe to say I learned the hard way, but I learned. My DH has a digital that is invaluable for the pics to post on Daves. But I like photography as an art form and I prefer my Canon Rebel2000 for that. Photoshop is great and all, but I enjoy the challenge of taking the perfect picture without the doctoring and all. I have the standard 28-80 lense for the Canon and I recently got a 50mm macro and a bunch of filters and closeup lenses for it. Now if I could stop watering my yard long enough to play with it I'd be in heaven! lol

I use an Olympus D230 zoom and it goes everywhere with me! I would never be without it. I have had it just over a year and must have taken somewhere in the region of 4000 photographs, try taking that many with an instamatic and it would cost you a fortune! :)

a pentax 35mm with a built in zoom...because its the one I have!

I have an old Minolta SRT101, vintage 1970s camera that weighs about a ton (2 tons with the zoom lens on it) and a Minolta Freedom Zoom 150 I bought in 2000 when we took a cruisetour to Alaska. I love the old camera for closeups and detailed photos. I have a lot of flexibility with it but I don't always get it focused completely--that's the peril of the OLD 35 MM manual cameras. The Freedom one is generally better for people, animals, and landscape type shots that are a little further away. I hate the Freedom's autofocus. I have had the perfect shot if only the autofocus hadn't focused on the wrong thing! GRRRR...

I will say that I'm sick of waiting for pix to be developed and then scanning them in besides so I can share them. Takes too much time. We are going to get a digital soon, but want to get a really nice one with 5-6 megapixels and a digital and optical zoom, preferably one with interchangeable lenses. Problem is those cost about $1500.

I'm an engineer and professional scientific/industrial photographer. Digital photography has become a wonderful tool for me for both vocation and hobby. I use professional equipment, Nikon D1x and D100, but you can get very good results using the prosumer equipment. For the most part, the photos on the site are quite good. The biggest fault I see is that many of the photos are too "busy". Try to make your image as simple as possible and eliminate objects that don't need to be in the picture. One way to do this is use a white of black card behind the subject. Also, avoid straight-on shots of flowers. It makes it hard to see the depth and scale of the flower. Instead, take the picture from slightly from the side and show a partial profile. If you are interested, some of my older photos are at http://www.woodlandsphoto.org/gcarlson/index.html
Good luck!

Welcome to DG, geotekds!

I have both digital and 35mm cameras: a Panasonic SD4090 digital and an Olympus 35mm. The Panasonic does only 1.4 megapixel which gives decent .JPG images. It lacks a macro focus and tends to take very flat (as opposed to contrasty) images; it is also a big, heavy camera. However, like the Sony Mavica it can use a hi-density 1.2Mb floppy, or (what we bought it for) a 120MB SuperDisk -- unparalleled storage for the cost of a $6 disk that has the exact same measurements of a standard floppy disk. I never have to 'switch out' memory sticks, and the SuperDisk needs no special uploading hardware/software: our PC has a SuperDisk drive and reads the disk just like a standard floppy for instant accessibility.

For really sharp, clear pictures, 35mm film still can't be beaten unless you're willing to spend $2K on a digital, which I unfortunately can't afford to. Film also gives a better color rendition, I think.

They're both useful, just in different ways.

I use a Sony Mavica. I can do so much with it, make my own brochures, business cards, email pics to family far, far away. When I bought mine, they were twice the price they are now, but I feel I've had my money's worth. I like it because I can just pop the disk out of my camera and into my computer without any adapters or anything.

I use a 35 mm Olympus. I get clear images with true colors. I've never been happey with the quality of the computer printed images vs a decent 35 mm photo.

Now, I disagree about not being able to get sharp, clear pictures with a digicam for under $2k. Olympus' optics, for instance, are terrific and some of the Oly pictures I've seen in galleries are incredible. Not to go off topic! I get so much better a result with digital than I ever did with film, partly because I didn't know the nuances of film shooting like I should have. The ability to instantly see errors in my manual settings, allowing me to re-shoot right then, is invaluable to me.

I love 35mm
I have a Leica3g, very old but what qaulity. I use it with a Hector telephoto.
Have an Olypus om10. Great camera.
A Nikon with many lenses
And one of my favorites is a very old Fujica.
I do have a digital. I'm from the old school I guess! As I love all the above.
Sandy

geo,
Sometimes the flowers do not come out the true color when pics are snapped.
Any suggestions on how to get a more true color?

Thanks
a

Because direct sunlight is too contrasty to take good flower pictures, it is best to shoot them in the shade (either natural or man made), or on a slightly overcast day. The downside to this is that the light tends to be bluish (cool). If you use a film camera, use an 81A or 81b filter. Skylight filters help, but they are not quite strong enough for full shade. Be sure to remove the filter when you use a fill flash. If you use digital, set the color balance to cloudy. Avoid using auto color balance on your digital camera. If you are using print film, the problem may be the person or machine doing the printing. There's no easy solution to this except to take the print back, and show the operator what you want.

Also, on some digitals, you can adjust the color tone warmer or cooler in a separate setting.

We have a Sony DSC-P71, 3.2 megapix, 3.0 zoom. I don't know much about camera's in general and so we bought one that was simple to use. Picture's of grandkids, flowers, and vacation are of upmost importance. We are still learning about the features of the camera after 7 months. I really like the instant knowledge of picture, bad, just reshoot.

I have Canon PowerShot G3, Really good camera to me. Have everything what I need...:)

Have a digital Nikon 995, love it!

We have a digital Sony Cyber-shot, 3.2 mega pixels. I like it because I can view the picture right away and see if I need to take it again. I also like being able to transfer to the computer and group the pictures. I'm not much of a photographer (yet) so I just do it for the fun of it!

I use a Pentax IQZoom735 and own a digital that I have not mastered. My favorite picture is of my white clematis on the mailbox with 7-8 inch blooms. Last year I counted 75 blossoms at one time.

Yipee! I think I figured out how to post a picture finally! Here it is. This was taken with my Olympus Camedia D-550 Zoom. I am very new at picture taking but this camera has been a breeze to use and I don't think the picture quality is too bad either!

Good for you, MissCee!!!! Nice pic! What are the blue flowers?

I use my old Pentax K1000 that I bought in '76. I love it but wouldn't turn down a digital if it were offered to me. Sometimes I sneak my son's digital camera which is just an entry level model. It takes great close-ups but lousy distance photos. Right now I'm saving up for a digital movie camera to take "films" of my son's various musical endeavors. After recovering from that purchase, I'll think about a digital camera. Oh, yeah. I'd like a laptop as well. So many toys and so little cash....

Mine is an Olympus C-3000 Zoom with 3.3 megapixels.
It's soooo simple to use and then get my pictures onto the computer quickly!
It was a bit pricey (with tax, warranty, and all accessories incl. bag, tripod, etc. it was $700), but WELL worth the money, I think!
It doesn't burn up batteries like our old Casio did (UGH!) and since you can choose the pixel size of the images you store, you can use one media card for MANY pictures!!! I have yet to buy a second one, even on vacation!

Celia, the blue flowers are Delphinium. This picture was taken after I had already cut back a lot of stalks that had gone to seed. They were much taller earlier in the year. I've had Delphiniums only since living in Montana. They like the cooler weather. They don't look so nice now, however, since we've had the intense hot weather for so long. But they do come back every year. I can change the pixel size on my camera so I take pictures at higher a resolution and then reduce the image size within my editing program. I was told that I would maintain clearer quality that way. This picture was resized to 400x400. Don't really know much about it but it seems to work fine.

Use a Kodak DX3600 digital. I can take as many pictures of Grandbabies and Flowers as I want, and print the best ones. It is very easy with one touch of the dock they load on the computer, or I can insert my memory card into my HP printer if I don't want them on my hard drive. I have all the lenses for it, but don't use them, just grab it a snap. Quick gratification!! Fun to play with the pics in the winter! Legit