In article ,
Abrasha wrote:
Grant Erwin wrote:

I'm looking for precise model suggestions from actual owners, NOT
general suggestions like "nikon rocks" or "have you tried sony" or
"google on reviews". There are about a trillion review sites but it's a
whole boatload of work to sort through them all and I'm hoping one of
you has a camera, knows what I'm talking about, likes their camera,
knows it's still currently available, and is willing to post the exact
model number.

Thanks!


I just shot the bottom two pictures at
http://www.abrasha.com/misc/heater_536.htm with my trusted Canon S400 a
few minutes ago, from a distance of about 4". They are not great,
because they were shot quickly and hand held. Take a look.

The following pictures were all taken with the same camera, with the
help of a tripod. And I could not shoot them from very close. I shot
at about 12 - 24" distance and zoomed in. the images were then cropped.

http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/rin...ire%20ring.htm
http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/rin...ned_ring_6.htm
http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/rin...ned_ring_5.htm
http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/rin...et%20bands.htm
http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/rin...it%20bands.htm
http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/pen...20pendants.htm
http://www.abrasha.com/slideshow/jud...udic%20era.htm

I love that little camera, but as with all cameras it has it's pluses
and minuses.

It's a great point and shoot camera, that I can take with me everywhere
I go, because I can hang it on my belt in it's own pouch. The newer
ones are even smaller.

One of the down sides is, that I cannot set aperture or exposure
priority. It's mostly automatic, with only minor exposure adjustment
possibilities. I have been able to work around that, but it is rather
clumsy. And the flash, like with all digital cameras this size, sucks.

My three main priorities at the time I bought the camera, we small,
small, small. I really wanted a very small camera that I can take with
me at all times. At the time, this was one of the smallest and best
cameras around.

Your choices today are much broader. I still think Canon has great
little cameras. They continue to be top rated.

If close up is really important though, you are most likely going to
have to get a decent SLR camera, either with a fixed lens or replaceable
ones.

I know you don't like reviews, but I do suggest you check out
dpreview.com. He has fantastic in depth reviews as well as great forums.


For closeup work with a tripod a camera with a good LCD screen (2
inches or more) may be better than a consumer grade SLR as these don't
show 100% of the frame in the eyepeice and it may be easier to view
the LCD. I find I can't look thru the optical finder half the time
when it's positioned where I want it in the tripod.

I guess some cameras have always-on LCD displays which would make
setup and positioning nice. dSLRs don't do this. I've never played
with one and I expect they suck batteries.

--
a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m

Don't blame me. I voted for Gore.