fastest digital camera?

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mike - 21 Jun 2004 22:40 GMT

Hello

I take pictures of dogs at the local animal shelter and then post them
onto petfinder.org. The final jpeg pictures are 10K in size.

I was wondering if there were any digital camera out there that would
allow me to take the picture faster. Lots of times the dog moves so
quick, he is blurry or out of the frame. And then I have to wait 3
seconds tot ake the next picture.

Thanks so much,

Mike

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Lionel - 23 Jun 2004 09:51 GMT

>Hello
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>I was wondering if there were any digital camera out there that would
>allow me to take the picture faster.

Yes, but they cover a pretty wide range of prices, from a few hundred
dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. If you have a price range in
mind, you should be able to find something suitable from the reviews at
<www.dpreview.com>. But you may well be able to get good results with
your current camera, so don't go shopping until you've given it another
try. :)

> Lots of times the dog moves so
>quick, he is blurry or out of the frame. And then I have to wait 3
>seconds tot ake the next picture.

If you're not concerned about the artistic quality of the shots, (I'm
assuming that you just want clear pictures that will help owners
identify their pets), try switching your current camera out of full-auto
(AKA "Dummy mode" ;), into shutter priority ('Tv' on a Canon mode dial),
& turn on the flash. A shutter speed of around 1/125 or faster should
give you clear photos fairly easily.
If you're using one of the Canon digitals, & you post the model number,
I can probably give you more specific advice.

>Thanks so much,

My pleasure Mike. Please let us know how you go.

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zeitgeist - 24 Jun 2004 07:24 GMT

> I take pictures of dogs at the local animal shelter and then post them
> onto petfinder.org. The final jpeg pictures are 10K in size.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> quick, he is blurry or out of the frame. And then I have to wait 3
> seconds tot ake the next picture.

If you are talking about the lag between shutter press and image capture,
that is the main drawback to consumer cameras. Cameras that cost as much
as a good used car can give you near film like capture experience.

set the shot up and lock exposure and most importantly, focus. then get the
animal's attention. have assistants wrangle the creatures while you deal
with the equipment. things that work for me, imitate a puppy, whimper like
one, that works for several takes, yummy treats held off camera gets the dog
to look up in a decent profile and usually you can get them to sit for that
treat.

one possible problem is the cameras tend to use a prefocus flash or LED
illumination that freaks the poor creatures out. I can't get a decent image
of my dog if he has any inkling I"m aiming that evil wicked soul stealing
box at him.

use of an external shoe flash can remove some of that, it the flash uses
infrared focus assist, some thing like that, maybe the see the infrared too.

so, you could go to an old film camera and scan the images, or remember that
no matter how many times it takes to finally get a good shot of the pet,
failures can be deleted again and again at no paper and film cost.

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Jeroen Wenting - 26 Jun 2004 04:42 GMT

The fastest (and highest quality short of $10000 or more) digital camera is
currently the Nikon D2h.
Cost is only about $3500 for the body plus whatever you decide to spend on
lenses.

> Hello
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Mike

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Mr 645 - 26 Jun 2004 20:23 GMT

<<<The fastest (and highest quality short of $10000 or more) digital camera is
currently the Nikon D2h.
Cost is only about $3500 for the body plus whatever you decide to spend on
lenses.>>>

The Canon EOS-1d mkII is also about the same speed, but a little more expensive
at $4495.

You may want to look for older, used professional cameras. The old Kodak
DCS-520 selles for under $1000 used these days. 3.5 fps and 5.7MB files.

Jon

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mike - 27 Jun 2004 08:04 GMT

I have a bunch of nikon lenses, so I wouldn't mind get an older Nikon,
I just wish there was to take a small picture to begin with.

thanks

Mike

> <<<The fastest (and highest quality short of $10000 or more) digital camera is
> currently the Nikon D2h.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Jon

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Mike G. - 30 Jun 2004 02:09 GMT

Still don't know what price range you're looking at, but if $1300 (plus
cost of cf card) is a possibility, check out the new Nikon D70 digital
SLR at sites such as DCReview, DCResource, etc. Has ISO range 200 -
1600, NO shutter lag, 3 frames per second, 'shutter' speed to 1/8000
second (if enough light). Depending on the vintage of yor Nikon glass,
if it is F-mount (probably is if newer than 50 years), it will work to
at least some degree, usually at least as manual focus, manual metering
in Aperature priority mode on the camera. Note that crop factor is 1.5,
so your 80-200 zoom becomes 120-300 with digital CCD about 2/3 the size
of 35mm film frame.

> I have a bunch of nikon lenses, so I wouldn't mind get an older Nikon,
> I just wish there was to take a small picture to begin with.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>>
>>Jon

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