Point & Shoot Camera Recommendations

Jill-O

Jill-O

All American Girl (all grown up)
Sep 11, 2009
522
0
0
Whinny For Me Farm in Spotsylvania, VA (USA)
www.whinny4me.com
Real Name
Jill
Can you folks recommend a decent point and shoot camera that can get clear pictures of fish?

I'm not looking for anything approaching artwork in my fish pictures, but clear would be a great step up!!!

My current camera is a Cannon S3 IS, which has served me really well (and still does) for horse photography. It's not top of the line but wasn't inexpensive, either. However, I have tried everything I know to try and I can't get it to take decent pictures of my fish or even really tanks.

The cost isn't really a concern, however, I just sincerely do not have the patience to fool with fancy settings. This is why I want "just" point and shoot.

I'd appreciate any guidance you all could give me!

Thanks,
Jill
 
The problem with any point and shoot camera (set to auto) is that you're asking the camera to think for you, and unfortunately it won't always choose the right answer for every circumstance. That being said, one of the key features of your new camera should be a very small shutter lag. Shutter lag is the time difference between when you depress the shutter button and the camera actually recording your scene (fish). The other thing you'll want your camera to have is good high ISO performance. Good fish tank shots are frequently done using nothing more than the tank's light, and to accomplish this the camera will need to be able to photograph using higher ISO settings, WITHOUT creating excessive graininess, or noise. I'd speak to someone at a local camera shop if you have one nearby and tell them the intended use of the camera.
Andy
 
I have a casio exilim 7.2 megapixel.

It's been a really nice point and shoot camera. It has a macro setting and you can set it to take a picture as soon as the button is pushed. To get a good tank picture I've had to use a tripod and one of the night settings. I think the pictures come out really good for a point and shoot. The picture in my avatar was taken with this camera.
 
blue2fyre said:
I have a casio exilim 7.2 megapixel.

It's been a really nice point and shoot camera. It has a macro setting and you can set it to take a picture as soon as the button is pushed. To get a good tank picture I've had to use a tripod and one of the night settings. I think the pictures come out really good for a point and shoot. The picture in my avatar was taken with this camera.
Click to expand...

I will look into this one! It would be a dream to capture a picture like you have in your avatar!!!
 
Remember some of my pics Jill?They were taken with a simple ole nikon cool pixl4.The real secret to good fish photgraphy is quantity of shots taken,the m ore you take the better your chances of getting those few really awesome shots.
 
If you can, set the camera to shutter priority. Also, increase the ISO.

Put as much light over the tank as you can

Then, increase the shutter speed as high as you can without the pictures coming out too dark
 
to be honest, i would go and get one of the new nikon's. A Nikon d40 is basically like a really nice point and shoot. It has a completely auto setting, with a ton of different programmed auto's.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40.htm
 
I'll just suggest that if you're just shooting in auto mode and not taking advantage of the ISO and shutter speed settings available to your camera, at least play around with them before moving onto a new camera. If need be, you can always use CHDK to unlock additional features and settings on a Canon.
 
I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ5. Bought it brand new, but the model is several years old. It has a macro setting, 5mp, and 12x optical zoom. Paid around $200 for it a couple years ago, works well enough for me. I'm not actually sure whether the shutter speed is adjustable manually, never got around to in-depth reading the book that came with the camera.
 
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