Photographers advice needed

[craigmason]

I do not know which digital camera to buy i have two to pick from i want it to take photo's at airshows

 

kodak Z650 Digital Camera

6.1 megapixels for unbelievable-quality prints up to 50 x 76 cm

10x optical zoom lens and 5x digital zoom (50x total zoom)

2.0 inch LCD to view and share your pictures with brilliance and clarity

Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon optical zoom lens allows you to zero in on your subject with exceptional crispness

Picture-enhancing features: on-camera cropping, digital red-eye reduction, and histogram

Multizone auto focus with AF assist light for low light focus

Auto option plus manual settings including selectable aperture and shutter priority

17 scene modes and 5 colour modes

Continuous VGA (640 x 480) video with MPEG-4 compression and audio

32 MB of internal memory and SD/MMC expansion card slot

 

or

 

 

fuji FinePix S5600

5th Generation Super CCD HR sensor

5.1 million effective pixels

10x optical zoom

Real Photo Technology and ISO 64 1600 sensitivity range

Anti-Blur Mode to minimise blurring from photographer and subject movement

High quality video recording at VGA and 30 frames per second

Rapid start-up time of 1.1 seconds and shutter lag of 0.01 seconds

Automatic pop-up flash

JPEG and RAW file format

Versatile manual functions including manual focus and exposure

xD-Picture Card" providing large storage capacity, lower power consumption and fast write speeds

1GB capacities currently available

[simondjuk]

Personally Id pick the first one. You can always expand the memory.

[Norbert]

Great reviews of both here:

 

http://www.cameras.co.uk/camera-reviews/kodak-easyshare-z650.cfm

http://www.cameras.co.uk/details/fuji-finepix-s5600.cfm

 

The Fuji comes out slightly better.

[Chumley]

If you're going to take pictures of aircraft in flight, you would benefit from proper image stabilisation. The Fuji anti-blur just selects a fast shutter speed for you, which may not be appropriate.

 

If you don't want to up your budget, I would look at something like a second hand Canon S2 or Panasonic FZ5.

 

If you can stretch to £250, look at the Canon S3 or the Panasonic FZ7.

 

Any of these will also give you 12x zoom (approx 430mm equivalent) which again might be helpful for flying aircraft. Whatever you do, dont use digital zoom - it will just degrade your shots. If you really need to crop and enlarge, you can do it much more effectively on a PC.

[mr chris]

I'd say fuji. It has almost no shutter lag (the delay between pressing the shutter and the picture actually being taken). It has a slightly lower resolution, but the claim of 50cmx70cm by the other one is completely unrealistic.

 

ISO 1600 is a benefit if you want to take "action" shots (such as fast moving planes), but you'll notice slight noise on the picture. RAW is also a benefit, as it doesn't use compression, and if you get a 1 gig memory card you'll still fit a couple of hundred shots on it.

[GrinderBloke]

As the airshow season has finished in the UK for this year, I suggest you wait until next spring before making the decision, 6 months is a long time in the fast moving digital camera world.

 

Grinder

[Chumley]

I'd say fuji....

 

ISO 1600 is a benefit if you want to take "action" shots (such as fast moving planes), but you'll notice slight noise on the picture.

 

Have you actually used this camera? At ISO 400 it's very noisy. At 800 or 1600 you might as well get your crayons out and sketch the scene yourself.

[Chumley]

As the airshow season has finished in the UK for this year, I suggest you wait until next spring before making the decision, 6 months is a long time in the fast moving digital camera world.

 

Grinder

 

Very true. Wait until March and then get a second hand S3

[Hjdary]

Go for the fuji....don't be swayed by the extra ccd size of the Kodak.

 

Mega pixle size is not everything

[tepbarnes]

if you can go for a canon