I have had an inkling to purchase a new camera for several years now but I have only thought about it seriously for the past two weeks. My current camera is a Kodak CX4300 which is in my opinion pretty hopeless unless you are just wanting to take holiday snaps. I think I would like to stay with Kodak but I am open to other manufacturers. I am after a versatile camera that takes good all round photos but also can take good macro photos. I would be willing to pay up to around £150.
When I was browsing the Kodak website their Z series cameras particularly caught my attention, is that the sort of camera I should be aiming for?

thanks

I can't give specific advice but you might want to look at Canon or Nikon. They seem to be leading the way with high quality gear and I imagine they would be worth investigating in your range.

Hello Lozzic,

read around this thread, there are some good suggestions there,
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=65841

I am a Canon guy for compact point-n-shoots. I currently own an SD800. It provides great macro shots and you can probably pick one up for less than what you want to spend. One of the main things to consider is memory cards. If you already have a bunch of memory cards in a particular format (SD, CF, Memory Stick...), you should probably look at a camera that uses the same type of memory. It will save you quite a bit if you don't have to purchase new memory.

My suggestion is to always try a camera before you buy it. It might look great on paper, but if you can't get used to the menus or there's something that will cause you to not enjoy using it, it's best to find out before you spend your money on it. Take a pen with you to the store and try some handheld macro shots. If it takes good photos like that, just think what you could do with a tripod a better lighting!

You might start to narrow down your search by visiting Digital Camera Product Reviews. They have very in-depth reviews.

Till yesterday I was using a Nikon Coolpix 4100 Point n Shoot...............started taking pics of pens and it seemed inadequate...........

Just bought a Canon 450D............that's the most I could afford (have to save for pen's u know).

I really like my Canon 5is, but david i has taken macros with his Sony T-70. Take a look.

Sure, you can go that way. Just check the specs to see if the macro focus gets close to 1:1 and it has a tripod mount socket on the bottom. It is also nice if the lens has provision to take screw on front diopter lens to focus closer.

I am not sure if any of the current Kodak digitals are oriented toward 1:1 MACRO, where the image focused on the sensor is its actual size. I think Kodak may be defining MACRO as a full frame rose. You might want to talk to some camera store people and hands on one before making a final decision.

Best of luck..........

p.s. Forgot to bring up the subject of how small and object do you want to shoot? The dealing with 1:1 was with the thought you might want to shoot nibs. If your going to shoot nothing smaller than, say a Parker Jotter, then you wouldn't need that level of close focusing.

Lozzic,

I have the Z612. It takes amazingly clear pics and has a fast shutter for stopping action but does not do well with low light levels. I just took some close-ups of a nib that needs attention and had to stand back and use telephoto.

Super camera. Not for macro. Good luck with your search.

Marvin

Thought about the V803? Seems to have gotten pretty good user reviews on DPReview, and Digital Camera Buyer gave it 4 stars and says that it "can't be beaten on price - as an entry level model, the quality of output is acceptable and the price is unbelieveable."

Never played with it before, but seems like it might be worth looking into?

Thanks for the links to review sites!




Ideally I would very much like to be able to shoot nibs and other very close details.



Thanks for the info, I guess that is not the camera for me. Also I think I may need a camera that does OK in low light levels since whenever I seem to take photos it is very dark, I guess the clouded over weather doesn't help with that. I will probably need to invest in lighting at some point...



Yes that looks interesting I shall look in to that.








The A series Canon cameras look interesting. According to this link http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012401...0a580a590is.asp the A470 has a super macro mode that can go up to 1cm from the object being shot, that seems to be better than the A580 and A590 IS cameras.

Judging from what you have said so far I would think that it would be well worth your time to investigate the Canon A series of digital cameras.

If you care to look at pdbase or flicker or other such picture posting sites I am sure you will find many representative samples of the work this series of cameras can do.

Best of luck................

hi,







regards
david

Oh my word! I totally gaffed the link! (Note to self: open fewer windows, jeesh.)

HERE is the link I'd meant to show you -- ah, but never mind. David has shown you already. But just for the record, THIS is what I wanted to show you (gah): HERE.

Edited: Checked the link. It works. Here is what David said about his macros: "These shots were done with Sony T-10 7.2MP. Has excellent close-in feature."

Sorry for the confusion!

lol I have been wondering for a while why that link didn't go to any pictures

Wow David i those macro pictures are brilliant, the T10 is definitely worth considering then. How do you find the camera to perform in other respects?

Some less close-in shots from the upcoming isaacson-erano near modern pen hoard website update....












At also shoots tolerable videos.

-d

Was playin' about with the T-10. About 1 minute of effort on these. I had to shrink the core images from native file to appear as they do here. Plenty more resolution in native file

regards

david
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16830111197

I just bought this Olympus last week.... and I am really enjoying it!

Thanks for posting all these pictures . I find it pretty amazing that a credit card sized camera can take pictures like this



I may be a little biased against Olympus because someone I know has one and I hate it. Having said that this camera you have shown me has good reviews and it says it has normal and super macro modes. Thanks for the info.