Digi Camera Recommendations

[Cappy]

I'm in the market for a new digicam and need one that will take good pictures of MiniMates.

Mini Myte, Dockingbay97, Silver Jet, Donny B; I've seen clean, crisp close-ups from you guys and am wondering what make and model of camera you're using. Ivan, I'm particularly impressed with the good results you've achieved even with funky low-light effects.

Any input from any one? (Oh yeah, Mrs Cappy says the camera is for family photos, too. Go figure... )

[Ivan]

I use a Canon Digital Rebel XT. It's a few years old now and has been replaced by the XTi. Like the XTi and other Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras, it allows you to change lenses. That way I can go from macro work (shooting Minimates), to wide angle (landscape) with the same camera. When I purchased it a couple years ago, I think it cost around $900 with the kit lens. Now that there is a new model, you can find it for under $500 for the body only. Additional lenses run from $100 to $400, with specialized ones ranging much, much higher. Nice thing about the lenses is that they will work on the pro bodies out there and probably any future bodies that Canon produces.

What I like about SLRs is the complete control you have. You can set shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash compensation, etc. or you can leave it in fully automatic mode and let the camera make the decisions. In most of the low light stuff I do, I stop the aperture down to get as much of the scene in focus as possible. But with a small aperture you need to have the shutter open longer to get enough light on the sensor. That means a tripod.

This is probably overkill for what you need. But I've been out of the point-and-shoot market for a while and I don't know what's available. But I know that if you want to shoot Minimates, look for a camera with macro capabilities. This allows you to focus on objects that are closer to the camera.

I've been into photography longer than toys, so I could go on and on but I think that's a good place to stop. I'm happy to answer any other questions I can.

[blacksun1520]

I have a Kodak Easyshare Z740 and it takes awesome pics, great at close ups. It was around $250-300, has a 10X zoom and has a 5 megapixel max resolution. I can email you some pics if you want for examples, as I'm not sure if I should post 1+ meg photos here right now, considering the bandwidth issue. PM me if you want. I plan on getting my collection pics up very soon also.

BS

[MINI_MYTE]

I'm in the market for a new digicam and need one that will take good pictures of MiniMates.

Mini Myte, Dockingbay97, Silver Jet, Donny B; I've seen clean, crisp close-ups from you guys and am wondering what make and model of camera you're using. Ivan, I'm particularly impressed with the good results you've achieved even with funky low-light effects.

Any input from any one? (Oh yeah, Mrs Cappy says the camera is for family photos, too. Go figure... )

I use a Fuji Finepix camera (my second one now). But to be honest, I like to take my pics (of my customs) outside, using natural light. I'm still trying to figure out how to take studio quality pics indoors without using a flash. So if anybody has a tip for me (IRON-COW) let me know. Thanks.