Which Camera do You Use?

[Webbo]

Thanks to this thread I now know what a bridge camera is and that I have owned one (Canon SX1) for the last 6 years. It seems to me that my bridge can do most things that a DSLR can although setting aperture, speed, and focus point is not quite so direct and may involve some subterfuge.

However, my thing is more towards cinema rather than stills and my particular Canon does excellent HD movies. Another great feature of the SX1 is the viewfinder that swivels and tilts through 270 degrees. This is great for getting track level movies or snaps. I don't think most DSLRs have such a feature.

Webbo

[Dorsetmike]

The Arax range includes tilt and shift  for most DSLRs and Sony NEX, at better prices -- scroll down, f2.835mm and f2.8 80mm or f2 50mm for NEX and Micro 4/3

http://araxfoto.com/lenses/

[MalcolmInN]

Gosh ! $$ and we must be talking microns of movement / tilt ?
Wasnt so bad with bellows and a quarto plate !

Cheaper and quicker to do it in CombinZ ?? and prob 3 or 4 clicks would do without all those 60sec exposure fiddlins.
Bit of daylight with a fill-in/reduced power/ &or/bounced flash works wonders

Any 'prize' model pics should be embeded in post for convinience of the reader but up with compression we should not put (for the best ones) so a link to your treasure in Dropbox or similar cloud can/should be included ? no ? Wherein you can choose suitable size and little compression to suit. ( over 50Mb may need a elfinsafety warning lol! )

[Webbo]

Thanks Mike

However, I don't think that what I mean by tilt and swivel is the same as what you mean. I can set my camera down on a surface, tilt the viewfinder screen up and focus etc. without having to grind my chin into the scenery. Does this make sense?

Webbo

[red_death]

Webbo that has been common on quite a few DSLRs for some time. I have the option of a normal viewfinder or an electronic viewfinder using the swivel display screen.

Cheers Mike

[Webbo]

Yup, understand that, Mike

But then what is the difference between what my bridge camera provides as an electronic version of what comes through the lens on its viewfinder and what a DSLR with an electronic viewfinder dishes up? Not a trick question, as I would honestly like to know.

Webbo

[d-a-n]

Yup, understand that, Mike

But then what is the difference between what my bridge camera provides as an electronic version of what comes through the lens on its viewfinder and what a DSLR with an electronic viewfinder dishes up? Not a trick question, as I would honestly like to know.

Webbo

Do you mean an optical viewfinder (OVF) on a DSLR vs an electronic viewfinder (EVF)?

I dislike EVFs, they aren't instant like an OVF and have lag; also, when the scene is too bright, or too dark they struggle to show things or by the time they've shown it, the moment has passed. I like that the OVF goes dark when a photo is taken, it's a useful failsafe in letting you know the shutter speed has dropped too low. Plus, it's just one more thing which could go wrong!

One solution is to use a tilt/shift lens, however unless you  were photographing
models and small objects professionally the cost would be prohibitive for the
odd shot of a loco on the forum, though they can be hired if you wanted to
record a large number of images over a few days. (about £50 for 3 days).

I completely forgot about Tilt-shift lenses - in all my time as a professional photographer though, I've never needed to use one and never lusted after one. I reckon they'd be quite formidable combined with an extension tube. They most certainly aren't to be confused with a tilting display though!

[Mr Sprue]

Just had a quick play with a few settings and took this picture on a white back ground using the cameras 'intelligent auto' mode.

[Agrippa]

ompletely forgot about Tilt-shift lenses - in all my time as a professional photographer though, I've never needed to use one and never lusted after one. I reckon they'd be quite formidable combined with an extension tube. They most certainly aren't to be confused with a tilting display though!

Absolutely not, I've got a Vivitar thing from Argos , about £18 has a tilting screen
which I didn't discover until I tried to change the battery and pulled the wrong tab.
Tilt shifts good for architectural shots, better to capture the image the way you want
it than trying to do digital manipulation. Must hit the ground with my Nikon F2
and a roll of Tri-X ! 

[MalcolmInN]

and a roll of Tri-X !

So I thought to type "You'll be lucky",
but before I did I googled and Lo! Amazon have it for £6/36,
well I nevver, push me over wivafevver
now where did I put my   d SLRs,
hmmmm,

[Agrippa]

£5 at  Calumet !  PS  not a lot of people know this but years ago
Boots Chemists sold their own B&W 125 asa film which was rumoured
to be FP4 at half  the price.

[MalcolmInN]

not a lot of people know this but years ago
Boots Chemists sold their own B&W 125 asa film which was rumoured
to be FP4 at half  the price.

You're right ! not a lot of peeps knew that and worse (from Boots point of view) not many of them believed it, so it didnt sell well, like a lot of their other stuff that they made out believe that was the beesknees, damn good stuf, clones, but they didnt leak enough to make peeps believe it

So shhhh dont tell anyone but here is a pic of my cloneSLR - Edixa Prismat TTL c1969 ex Boots Plymouth branch just before I took it off to Brazil and the rest of the world,, till 1995 when its shutter blind gave up the ghost !



Taken from out of my special memorabilia toy cupboard just a few mo. ago 'specially for you and photo by a vintage (7y old !) Panasonic FZ18 
(^bridge, cant be ar*%$eD to carry bagfulls of lenses about no more )

EDIT :
Oh, ps, if you wonder why I still have it ? I intended to convert it into a pinhole camera , , ,
but roundtuits , , ,

[Webbo]

Do you mean an optical viewfinder (OVF) on a DSLR vs an electronic viewfinder (EVF)?

I dislike EVFs, they aren't instant like an OVF and have lag; also, when the scene is too bright, or too dark they struggle to show things or by the time they've shown it, the moment has passed. I like that the OVF goes dark when a photo is taken, it's a useful failsafe in letting you know the shutter speed has dropped too low. Plus, it's just one more thing which could go wrong!

I completely forgot about Tilt-shift lenses - in all my time as a professional photographer though, I've never needed to use one and never lusted after one. I reckon they'd be quite formidable combined with an extension tube. They most certainly aren't to be confused with a tilting display though!

I totally agree that OVFs are superior particularly if one is using manual focus. My only experience with SLRs was with my old Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 from decades ago. You could to check on the depth of field directly by pressing a button on the lens side which would stop down the lens to what it would be when the shutter was activated. The OM-1 was totally manual and I'd like to have one still if it were digital imaging instead of film. 

Eye level photography is easy along the sides of a layout, but not easy to compose and focus away from the edge where getting your eyeball right behind the camera is just about impossible. This is where the tilting/swivelling electronic viewfinders come in handy.

Webbo   

[d-a-n]

Tilt shifts good for architectural shots, better to capture the image the way you want
it than trying to do digital manipulation. Must hit the ground with my Nikon F2
and a roll of Tri-X !

I know of another wedding photographer who occasionally breaks out the tilt shift at weddings for this purpose although I could never get on with the time it takes to set a shot up the way I work though! You should break out the F2 - they are a lovely machine and film isn't that expensive. It's summertime and the light is right!!

£5 at  Calumet !  PS  not a lot of people know this but years ago
Boots Chemists sold their own B&W 125 asa film which was rumoured
to be FP4 at half  the price.

If it were the case, it was probably edge cut film, much like the film sold under the Lomography film brand today.

not a lot of people know this but years ago
Boots Chemists sold their own B&W 125 asa film which was rumoured
to be FP4 at half  the price.

here is a pic of my cloneSLR - Edixa Prismat TTL c1969 ex Boots Plymouth branch just before I took it off to Brazil and the rest of the world,, till 1995 when its shutter blind gave up the ghost !



Taken from out of my special memorabilia toy cupboard just a few mo. ago 'specially for you and photo by a vintage (7y old !) Panasonic FZ18 
(^bridge, cant be ar*%$eD to carry bagfulls of lenses about no more )

Thanks for sharing this beauty!

I totally agree that OVFs are superior particularly if one is using manual focus. My only experience with SLRs was with my old Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 from decades ago. You could to check on the depth of field directly by pressing a button on the lens side which would stop down the lens to what it would be when the shutter was activated. The OM-1 was totally manual and I'd like to have one still if it were digital imaging instead of film.

OMs are great machines, I like the build, lightness and the quirk of having both shutter speed and aperture control on the lens barrel

As you can tell, I love film and shoot all my serious personal stuff on it. I currently circulate between three cameras in particular:

Olympus Trip 35



Canon F-1 and an EOS 1-N - the 1-N has it's own non-work prime lens set but I can drag it out for weddings where I can then use it with the more substantial L-series lenses.



My girlfriend is ace as she lets me have part of the fridge just for film!



If you pick your battles, and aren't bothered about convenience, film beats digital every time.

http://danbarlowphotography.co.uk/index.php/why-i-still-shoot-film/

[DELETED]

Just set my Fuji S5700 up to make this monstrosity.

[smg id=27156]

The shutter wouldn't allow me below 4 seconds and the smallest aperture was f/13.6 although this one was at f/6.8 because of the lack of shutter ability. Using a focus-recompose technique helped to keep the front in focus but as you can see, the focus is dropping off by the tender. This greater depth of field marginally beats the crop sensor DSLR but that's where the victory ends.
This was shot at 100 ISO and I can already see signs of chroma noise.
The colour rendered is poor and the lack of control over white balance only hinders proper colour management.
The lens just isn't very sharp.
I think I'll stick to my 7D, L series lenses and the ability to shoot models in RAW over this Fisher Price toy camera for the sake of a little softness further back when focusing at the minimum focus distance.

Nowt wrong with that pic on my screen at all