Little Red 22 Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 I'm looking for a point and shoot digital camera that will take decent aerial photos. Prefer small,light,and fast. Currently using a Canon Powershot A590 that is inadequate. What should I get? Don't have time to shop. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindicated0721 Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 I'm looking for a point and shoot digital camera that will take decent aerial photos. Prefer small,light,and fast. Currently using a Canon Powershot A590 that is inadequate. What should I get? Don't have time to shop. Susie "small light and fast"...three words that every camera customer wants, but just like "great sounding, small, wireless speakers" for home theater customers, it doesn't quite work that way. I suggest compromising a little but with the small and going with the Canon G11. It is still fairly small while still getting many features of an DSLR. Also with an easy switch to panoramic mode you can take sweet aerial photos. And the Digic 4 processor is the fastest you'll find for a point and shoot. Also has one of the best optical stabilizers to keep the shot steady. Only downfall is a small zoom (5x optical). Fairly pricey though, retails at $499.99, but if you are looking for a real good camera it is worth it. If you are looking to spend a little less and still get a great camera, look into the Sony HX5V, twice the zoom (10x optical) its smaller and still takes fairly good pics with just slightly less features. retails at $349.99 Hope this helps a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Red 22 Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Thanks, great info! And just what I was hoping to learn from posting on VR. $500 is on the low end of what I was expecting to spend, so that's nice. Figured it would be more like $700-$1000, which is more than I like to spend for an unknown. Have found that using more zoom doesn't seem to produce sharp images, actually the greater the zoom the more fuzzy with my Powershot. Just want to be able to shoot from my R22 without rocking the ship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindicated0721 Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Just stay in optical zoom and it should not get fuzzy.. Even with the best cameras if you go past the optical zoom and go in to digital zoom it will begin to get fuzzy. Hence why you want a camera with good amounts of optical zoom. Your current power shot only has 4x optical zoom which isn't very much at all so you are probably often going into digital zoom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAWg134 Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 I've had good luck with the Sony DSC-T series of point-and-shoot. Can be operated totally one-handed (albeit right-handed), provides very decent image stabilization, possesses remarkably little optical distortion at the edges, and features fantastic resolution coupled with accurate autofocus capability to ensure crisp, clear photos. The drawbacks? Not too many. It's limited to 4x optical zoom, although the Carl Zeiss lens system provides superb performance up to that limit. The color rendering is slightly blue, but no worse than most CCD cameras and actually much better than several very popular and more expensive digital SLRs. If you're shooting from the air, then you'll need to compensate for the blueish tinge due to atmospheric haze regardless. Using Photoshop, I typically wind up reducing blue and cyan by approximately 2% - 3% apiece for midrange and highlights and 3% to 5% for shadows on aerial photos over terra firma and a bit more over water. That's based upon roughly 1,000 to 1,500 AGL. I keep my Sony DSC-T9 in a camera pouch designed to wear on a belt and attach it to the shoulder harness so it's always readily available for those once-in-a-lifetime shots. Typically, I can secure the collective wtih friction, switch the left hand to the cyclic, remove the camera from the pouch, open the cover, take the photo (or two), return the camera to the pouch, secure the velcro cover, and switch hands back where they belong in less than 10 seconds. I've had my camera since 2006, so obviously it's an obsolete model. Current pricing for the Sony DSC-T90 or DSC-T900 is approximately $300. Add in the pouch, an extra battery (or two) along with a higher-capacity memory stick and you're looking at around $400 total online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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