Need camera advice for gun pics

[Deanimator]

Both Nikon and Canon make excellent digital SLR's. And to take quality digital photographs IMO you need an SLR (single lens reflex).

I would recommend a DSLR myself, but he said that cost was a factor, and there's no such thing as a cheap DSLR, although you can sometimes get deals on the discontinued Minoltas, which are now supported by Sony.

I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT(350D). I've used it to take a lot of gun pictures and am pretty satisfied with it.

One thing which I've learned very quickly about taking photos of guns with a DSLR is that lighting is critical. I didn't get really good pictures until I built myself a lightbox out of PVC pipe. Covered with cut up white plastic garbage bags and lit with two articulated lamps with neon bulbs, I get a nice soft light instead of the awful, harsh light I got with the built-in flash. If you go to http://www.smith-wessonforum.com
and do a search on "lightbox" or "new camera", you should find a link to plans for a lightbox using items you can get at any home improvement store.

Another essential is a tripod for taking pictures at low shutter speeds with available light.

If you want to see you you're SUPPOSED to take firearms pictures, Smith & Wesson Forum is the place to go.

 

[omahanew]

"I need to buy a digital camera to take some good quality pics of my guns. I wonder if someone could recommend anything?"

I have lots of camera gear but for simple shots I'd highly recommend the Canon SD900. It's a high quality (10MP) point and shoot that my local Office Depot has on sale for $299 ($399 + $100 instant rebate). It's my "carry anywhere" camera and it's excellent.

Which ever camera you get be sure to follow Rule Number One Of Computing:

RTFM (Read The F**king Manual)

Current cameras will do a lot, if you know which buttons to press.

 

[maynard93]

I've had an HP, a Toshiba, and a Canon A620 for use with Ebay. The Canon is by far the best of the 3. The HP was quirky and the Panasonic had nasty color shifts, generally to red, that had to be fixed on each pic. A real PITA. The canon has good a good macro mode and a 1gig SD card holds a gob of photos.

 

[LkWinnipesaukee]

What maynard is talking about ("color shifts") are called color casts. They usually can be adjusted on point and shoots (and I'm sure all DSLRs).

 

[M60]

When looking into DSLR's, the glass is where the money is spent. I have a Canon 350D (Rebel) body with the battery grip. That body and grip don't even come close to the cost of a quality piece of glass. A 70-200 f2.8 runs about $1100. A 24-70 f2.8 is about $1000. Ouch.

For some of my picts, check out m-mason.smugmug.com

Mark.

P.S. Friends don't let friends shoot Nikons.

 

[skud_dusty]

The biggest thing I've found with taking indoor pics, is lighting. Most point and shoots have a tiny little flash that is too direct, hence the overlit look. If you have lots of ambient light, put the camera on a tripod, and crank up the exposure time they look great.

These came out of my Canon PowerShot A550 with a cheapy tripod and the 3 60 watt lamps in my room:







Other than size changes, the only editing done with photoshop was an auto contrast/color adjustment. They were just a bit more vivid before hand. The p-shopping just toned them down a hair.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Speed

I would like a fast shutter speed for clay pigeon shots, etc.

Ahh.

You will be wanting something that can effectively do stop-motion.

The Canon Rebel XT series will do just fine for this. Good optical zoom, very low noise, excellent speed. Starting there, and moving upward, this line of cameras uses CMOS rather than CCD. It will do 3 frames per second. Stops helicopter rotors, almost freezes airplane props.

There may be something in the lower ranges that's fast enough but, if so, I haven't yet found it.

I have a Fuji S5000, which does excellent color and has good optical zoom, but which isn't nearly fast enough for anything in motion.

My next one will likely be a Canon.

Here are some samples from the Fuji:

 

[RubenZ]

First of ALL you DON't need a dSLR to do what you want to do. If your passing out small cards etc you Don't even need to get a HIGH mega pixel Camera.

Look into a Canon PowerShot G7 or something that you can attach an external flash too. That will be more than enough for your needs. You can even get one of their S3 IS models with IMAGE Stabilization.

 

[skud_dusty]

Took some more pics today, of course I have to post them

 

[JohnBT]

"P.S. Friends don't let friends shoot Nikons."

Does that mean I have to get rid of my Coolpix 2100? Maybe I'll move up to something with 3 of them megapixiethingies.

 

[Kentak]

Allow me to make a point.

Your first decision should be whether you want a camera without interchangeable lenses, or one that accepts interchangeable lens--a digital SLR (single lens reflex). The later allows you to build a whole system of lenses, flashes, and accessories. But, the camera and a *good* zoom lens will be much more costly than a good "point and shoot" with zoom lens. There are some *excellent* point and shoots that will take great pictures. You are pretty much limited to the on-board flash, but if the camera's lens is "fast" enough (doesn't need a huge amount of light) you can get good lighting effects using natural light from windows, household lamps, and white poster-board as reflectors. If you have a good chunk of money to spend on this endeavorer, however, the digital SLR and good "glass" will give you the most flexibility and expandability.

Good luck.

K

 

[Kentak]

I have a pretty basic Olympus digital point and shoot that I got about 5 years ago, so it's obviously not state of the art. When I want to get all artsy-fartsy, I use my nice Nikon film SLR, which, although about ten years old, is still quite sophisticated. I shoot color print film and take to to a local camera shop which will digitize the negatives and give me a CD back the same day, sometimes within an hour or so.

The above holds me over until I win the lottery.

K

 

[jetman]

I have an older 3.2 MP Olympus point and shoot type camera. I use a tri-pod in outdoor natural lighting, and get fairly good results. Here are a few of mine, while definitely not professional material, but not too bad for a fixed lense cheapo camera.

 

[Framptonator]

Finally, a question I can answer with some confidence! A lot of guys have already pretty much hit it on the head, but just to add my two cents, I would suggest the Fuji Finepix s5700, or maybe the Panasonic TZ1 or LZ6-- All of which have plenty of zoom (10x, 10x, and 6x, respectively). The Fuji 5700 is great for speed and is also a 7.1 Megapixel camera, which is probably as good as you would ever need. I work at a local camera store, and we go through those like nobody's business. The 5700 runs about $229-$249, but it's worth every penny. I pick it up and play with it at work whenever I get a chance.

 

[RubenZ]

If you want an older camera that GIVES EXCELLENT Pics and Close-ups. Look for any Olympus 2100UZ It is Awesome. Not high in the Megapixel count but it has beautiful Images Quality.

 

[gunfighter48]

I just bought a Canon S3 IS for $239.00 from "thedigitalnerds.com". 6MP, 12X zoom, image stabilization, many many features. Do a search on google and you will find loads of good reviews.

Take a look:
http://www.thedigitalnerds.com/product.asp?productid=1101B001&tab=1

 

[blondebombshell]

i have some pictures i took with my fuji finepix f20 from this past weekend at the range,(which i am currently uploading so i can post them.) i got the clay pigeons in many of the shots only trick is you got to get yor timing right, and got to be in the right spot to get shooter and clay in at the same time. i was standing about 10 feet behind the thrower and pretty much every shot i took from there i got both the shooter and the clay in.

 

[blondebombshell]

this are some of the pics i took there are to many to try to upload that this time. but here is a few i will share right now

 

[Oleg Volk]

Gun photography is more about the light than it is about the camera.

 

[Wild Deuce]

Oleg should know ....

I think I could have taken these with just about any decent digital SLR or even a decent point-and-shoot (with manual settings). The hardest work was setting up the lighting. Yes, you will need a decent camera and lens as well as a tripod. If you intend to take images beyaond breaking clays. You'll also have to think of some decent strobes OR get really creative with your lighting set-ups using household items.

(Taken with a Nikon D100)

 

[35Rem]

Got a Kodak Z612 I like.
12x optical zoom, 8x digital, image stabilization, pretty important at this high of magnification.
Fun camera.

 

[Oleg Volk]

Wild Deuce,

Very nice image. Curious about your lighting set-up.

I normally use studio or portable flash, but 500W halogen shop lights work almost as well for still life and cost only $7 each.

 

[Wild Deuce]

Oleg,

For the Wilson Combat M4: The rifle was suspended by two electrical wires. One was twisted into a "J" and held the barrel. One was twisted into a ring and placed into the collapsible stock. Both wires were cloned out in PS. The electrical wires were wrapped around a Little Giant ladder that was suspended horizontally from a window ledge to a utility ladder. The Little Giant had a soft box sitting on it (about 12 inches above the rifle). The rest of the lighting was a generic light kit consisting of another soft box (just in front and below the rifle) and two spots. One spot was behind and above the rifle to the right (aimed at the top of the collapsible stock). One spot was behind and above the rifle to the left (aimed at the top of the barrel). I used a handheld flash (aimed at the bottom of the barrel) to fire off the whole thing as well as several small white reflectors for fill. The background was a blue blanket that was suspended from a rope (held in place by clothes pins) that was tied from a window to my gun safe.

The SA 1911 was a similar set up minus the spots. Just used the handheld flash (diffused and aimed directly at the pistol at half stop under) to fire off the overhead softbox and two large white cards to fill the frontstrap/muzzle and the grip safety/hammer areas.

The pictures below were all taken without the assistance of flash. The Taurus PT145 was lit with a simple table lamp and 60 watt bulb. I used cardboard to block and control the light fall off plus one white card for fill in the shadow areas. The Kimber Gold Combat was taken with natural light from a curtained window on a cloudy day. Cardboard was once again used to control the light.

 

[brighamr]

got one

This pic is from my trip. The camera I got was the Z612, and it will be the range bag camera. I plan on a Canon Rebel XT in the near future...
I tried taking a few of my XD, but I really need to learn some more about lighting, or maybe just practice a bit more.

 

[P12]

Canon Powershot A630.

Just bought one from Target a few weeks ago. $229.00 before tax.

You buy a kit to add filters and lenses. (I don't have those yet)

This camera is great. The zoom isn't that great but the marco is un-believable. It will focus at about 1 inch from the subject. It will take a wonderful picture of a chip in your windshield.

Shudder lag time is about .03 seconds. The display will rotate and swing out from the side of the camera. You can set it on the floor, rotate the display so you can see what your shooting without having to lay your head on the floor also to see the display.

I'm sold on this bad boy. For the casual picture that turns out great, it's hard to beat.