I know this has been done but Digital Camera recommendations..

goose3

I am thinking about buying something with possibly 5 megapixels.

I want one that will work good for the occasional coins I photograph and work even better for use as a general camera.

I had a pic developed one time from my Mavica FD and it sucked.

I am leaning towards the 699.00 sony CD mavica or I believe it was a 500.00 Nikon or Canon.

Sequitur

No matter what you decide to buy, make sure to read the reviews here. Great site.

Concerning a particular camera, be sure to at least look at the Olympus Camedia C-5050 Zoom. It meets your 5-megapixel criteria. More importantly, it has 2 macro settings (I believe they are called macro and supermacro) that are great for taking coin pictures.

But it also is a good all-around camera, too. It's relatively compact for a digital camera of this caliber, and has good presets for shooting portraits, outdoors, low light, etc. It takes clear, crisp pictures. Finally, it has two media storage bays (I use an xd card and a compact flash card together for 1 gig of storage).

goose3

Link To Sony

I don't know Much about them at all but I generally stick to Sony electronics. I currently have a FD Mavica and a camcorder and the batteries are interchangeable, which is a plus too.

I forgot to add that I would also like one that I can view the pics (on the camera) and delete them if I don't want them. If this doesn't propel the price into the stratosphere.

cosmicdebris

I second the Olympus C5050. This image was taken with it:

riches123

look more at the lens a big megapixels and a bad lens = bad pic.

wayneme

me to for the C-5050 i had a c-3000 and upgraded to the 5050 the batteries are aa and rechargeable
photo's are clear and sharp the price is on the low side for the 5 meg area but after owning a c 5050
i wouldn't care what the price was it's the photos
i sell horses & dogs mostly site on seen except for the photos the c-5050 fill's all areas horses dogs and coins

goose3

thanks to all so far!

CoinAddict

Steves-digicams is also a good site for reviews.

jdimmick

John,

I would recommend to focus on the lens quality, more so than the mega pixel. A camera with a good lens with 3.0 mega is better for coins than a okay lens and 5.0. With a 5.0 megapixel, youll have to size down the photo's anyway to use them in posting, auctions, etc.

I used to use the sony camera's as well, but I have found that the lens quality of the sony camera's are not as good as the nikon's or the olympus.


But I aint no photographer, so use this info with some caution!

MSD61

I'm not even posting a picture or tell what kind of camera I use out of being laughed off the planet....LOL!!! But here is an image from it:

mdwoods

Nikon, Olympus, or Sony. All make nice cameras.

goose3

any more comments/suggestions from the nite crew?

Dog97

I like my Nikkon 4300 cause it's small & I can throw it in my nail apron or pocket of my jacket and take it up on the roof with me or climb around in the trusses all day without it getting in the way. I like the zoom but all the controls & settings take a while to figure out. Makes good coin pictures too.

Here's a regular shot from on a roof


and one with zoom


and a coin

airplanenut

Nikon 4500--it doesn't need a copy stand since it has a swiveling lens (and thus needs a $5 mini tripod that can be taken anywhere)... the pictures rule:

Massive Picture Post Part 1
Massive Picture Post Part 2


All of the above pictures were taken 2/14

Jeremy

Halfsense

The Nikon Coolpix 3400 is 4 mega pixels, has a built-in macro (and you can attach other lens units to the camera if you wish), and sells for under $400 these days.

How good is the coin photography? With a two-week old camera (I was still learning to use), and about 60 seconds to do it in miserable, available light of a security room, I shot the first "raw" photo of the Walton specimen 1913 Liberty Head nickel in Baltimore last summer, just minutes after it was authenticated and placed back in Walton's custom-made lucite holder. The photo was shot with the built-in macro only. I could not use my supplimental macro lens because I could not get close enough to the coin without casting a shadow in the limited available light.

Here's a link to the photo: http://www.money.org/press/5thnickel.html

-donn-
Donn Pearlman

northcoin

Can you wait until May? PC Magazine (2/9/04 article) identifies the new Fujifilm Finepix A340 as a real winner. It has 4 megapixel and macro that lets you get up as close as four inches. It also has a video feature and a 3X Optical zoom. Best of all its list price is only $249 so it should be available for less than $200! ( I have the Fujifilm Finepix A310 with 3.1 megapixels which I like a lot.)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1522108,00.asp


For a photo taken with my current Fujifilm Finepix A310 go to the thread titled, "How much premium should a DPL " (use DPL as the search keyword). Photo is about 6 posts in on the first page:

http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=256602&highlight_key=y&keyword1=dpl

And here is a link to a more detailed description of the upcoming A340 from a foreign website:



Link to detailed description of Fujifilm Finepix A340 coming in May to USA

ElectricEye

Sony Cybershot P10

or for those who like the exotic:

Confirmed Kill Camera

SDCollector

Here's another vote for the Oly C-5050. It has an amazing lens. I have the Oly C-4000 and wish I would have bought the 5050. I believe the 5050 is going to be discontinued, so you should be able to get a good price.

MSD61

Kodak EasyShare CX4310 3.2 MP that is what I have....now go ahead and laugh...I've got broad shoulders for the likes of you..LOL!!!!

joeyuk

Can anyone comment on the Olympus C-5060?

SDCollector

<< <i>Can anyone comment on the Olympus C-5060? >>


I've been reading mixed reviews.

If you like a wide angle lense with longer zoom range, they you'll probably like the 5060. But the lens is much slower than the 5050 (i.e. the lens aperture on the 5060 f/2.8 is not as wide and therefore does not bring in as much light). The 5050 is/was a trend setting digital camera with it's f/1.8 lens. That is an amazingly fast lens for a digital "prosumer" camera. But it's very expensive to build a 1.8 zoom lense, so Oly went with a slower lense on the 5060 with a greater zoom range.

We U.S. consumers love zoom lenses. But personally I much prefer a fast lense (for low light). I could just kick myself for not buying the 5050. Instead I bought the c-4000 which is also excellent.

I guess you can see my recommendation coming...I would buy the 5050. However for coin photography, you can't go wrong with either.

cosmicdebris

I chose the 5050 over the 5060 for the exact reasons stated above. By the way They no longer make the 5050 so get one while you can still find one.

mgoodm3

A couple of points:

For me, I don't need a really fast big aperture lens. Most of what I shoot, I tend to use high aperture numbers and longer shutter speeds to get a good depth of focus. A good lens is still key.

My camera, a Nikon 5400 has only one complaint from me. The lens is pretty wide angle and thus you have to get really close to the coin to get it relatively big on the screen. That limits lighting options a bit. I don't know what other cameras out there do, they may all be similar, but there you go.

joeyuk

ttt

SDCollector

Well since this thread got back to the top, here's a coin pic I took with my Oly C-4000.

goose3

compare 5050 and 5060

if you compare the 5050 to the 5060 for my uses........mainly photos of my family, etc......with occasional coin photos. I still can use my mavica. the Oly would be mainly used for NON coin purposes.

would the lens really make that much of a difference for that?


I really like the idea of not having the AA rechargeable batteries like the 5060 has.


I'm still thinkin......

aem4162

i got a canon s400 4 mega pixel last year that i truly love. the image quality is fantastic. it's easy to learn and use (i'm a camera noob).

RNCHSN

I have the Fujifilm S5000, nice combination of high end options without a high end price. It can do most of what my wife's Nikon N70 film camera can do!