Wha's a good and cheap camera to use?

[Yzalirk]

So, I'm looking to buy a camera for a pretty cheap price and can take nice and clear photos of some of my MOCs, any recommendations?

EDIT: Don't discriminate at me for misspelling "What's" in the thread name, I just noticed it!

Edited July 22, 2014 by Behemoth

[dr_spock]

What is your budget?

[Yzalirk]

I would say about $250 max.

I was thinking something like this but I have no idea if it's really good to get nice pictures like this by Wat Tambor.

[Andy D]

Unless you just want to buy a new camera, think about learning to use the camera on your phone. Most smartphones have very good camera Apps. Either use the one built in, or buy an app from the App Store.

Someone once said "The best camera is the one you have with you". So just take the time to really learn your smartphone's camera and save your money.

Andy D

[Yzalirk]

Unless you just want to buy a new camera, think about learning to use the camera on your phone. Most smartphones have very good camera Apps. Either use the one built in, or buy an app from the App Store.

Someone once said "The best camera is the one you have with you". So just take the time to really learn your smartphone's camera and save your money.

Andy D

Alright, but unlike most people, I do not own a smartphone. So what else would you recommend?

[Andy D]

Alright, but unlike most people, I do not own a smartphone. So what else would you recommend?

Sorry about that, rash assumption on my part.

But really, the Canon Powershot you found is a good camera, and within your price point.

Andy D

Edited July 22, 2014 by Andy D

[Yzalirk]

Sorry about that, rash assumption on my part.

But really, the Canon Powershot you found is a good camera, and within your price point.

Andy D

It's alright, you didn't know.

So since it's 1080p and full HD, I can get nice, crisp and clear pictures like the example I gave?

[Darth Dino]

Hi

dont worry much with your budget. But spent a part of it for lighting - thats making the picture!

Choose a cam where you can manually perform whitebalancing and setup all important values: ISO, AF, aperture and exposure time.

For the lighting: Every hardware store has ~300W halogene spotlights. You will need TWO to avoid shadowa in the image. You need some white, grey or black cardbord for the background.

Dino

[Legopicler]

For taking pictures of lego dioramas then a compact zoom camera like the canon power shot that you have linked to will do the job very nicely. Canon and Nikon are great brands but carry a slight premium. Panasonic and Fuji also make great compact zoom cameras, often at slightly lower price points- have a look at the Fujifilm finepix S series (26x optical zoom, close focussing on Amazon for $130).

If you have time to set the shot up, then a tripod makes getting close and steady, much easier. For close ups, I would rather have a cheap camera and a tripod than an expensive camera. An A3 piece of card to put under and behind the model makes for a nice clean background. I would also consider getting a reflector which are quite cheap but really useful bits of kit for giving subtle directional lighting.

Happy shopping.

[Bipin]

As Darth Dino said, the lighting makes the shot. On the other hand, unless you are going to be stitching iPhone photos together in Photoshop, you'll want a decent mirrorless or DSLR camera. Sony is the up and coming leader in the camera market; it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that Sony has made more innovations in the last decade than "Canikon" has in triple that time. Their sensors are great; phenomenal for the price. They are even working on ultra-compact cameras with curved sensors; long focal lengths without huge lenses, no one else is doing that!

To that end, I'd recommend you invest in the Sony A3000 mirrorless camera. It manifests the familiar appearance of a DSLR without its size, sensor aside. For about $270 the A3000 cuts corners, although not in image quality. Mostly in extra, often needless features. Despite being fairly compact and mirrorless, the A3000 hosts a 20.2 MP sensor at APS-C size, which is on par if not better than that of my own DSLR's; a Canon 650D. In fact, if I were to buy a camera now, I'd probably go with a Sony.Combine this with the fact that Sony sensors are renown for low noise at high ISO settings the inherently low vibration of a mirrorless system and you've got a camera that will perform well handheld and/or under poor lighting. That translates to quality photographs now, without the immediate need for studio lights/flash units.

The A3000 is available at or near your requested price point, in varying conditions: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Interchangeable-Digital-20-1MP-18-55mm/dp/B00EH5UGR6 Alternatively, many of the Olympus Pen, Pentax and Fuji Micro Four Thirds cameras are good, although they don't match the quality of the aforementioned A3000. If I were you, I'd invest in the Sony A3000, a flash unit and reflector. I could even show you how to make a softbox for under $15 with PVC piping On the other hand, if you are crazy about quality, go pick up some film, a Mamiya RB67 and you're set. Those digital camera folks will have nothing on you and your medium format!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me over on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brickartisan/ I'd be happy to answer your camera-related questions.

[Yzalirk]

Hi

dont worry much with your budget. But spent a part of it for lighting - thats making the picture!

Choose a cam where you can manually perform whitebalancing and setup all important values: ISO, AF, aperture and exposure time.

For the lighting: Every hardware store has ~300W halogene spotlights. You will need TWO to avoid shadowa in the image. You need some white, grey or black cardbord for the background.

Dino

Okay, I'll try to get another lamp from WalMart sometime soon along with some good bulbs.

For taking pictures of lego dioramas then a compact zoom camera like the canon power shot that you have linked to will do the job very nicely. Canon and Nikon are great brands but carry a slight premium. Panasonic and Fuji also make great compact zoom cameras, often at slightly lower price points- have a look at the Fujifilm finepix S series (26x optical zoom, close focussing on Amazon for $130).

If you have time to set the shot up, then a tripod makes getting close and steady, much easier. For close ups, I would rather have a cheap camera and a tripod than an expensive camera. An A3 piece of card to put under and behind the model makes for a nice clean background. I would also consider getting a reflector which are quite cheap but really useful bits of kit for giving subtle directional lighting.

Happy shopping.

Alright, and do you have any examples of any MOCs taken with those cameras by any chance?

As Darth Dino said, the lighting makes the shot. On the other hand, unless you are going to be stitching iPhone photos together in Photoshop, you'll want a decent mirrorless or DSLR camera. Sony is the up and coming leader in the camera market; it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that Sony has made more innovations in the last decade than "Canikon" has in triple that time. Their sensors are great; phenomenal for the price. They are even working on ultra-compact cameras with curved sensors; long focal lengths without huge lenses, no one else is doing that!

To that end, I'd recommend you invest in the Sony A3000 mirrorless camera. It manifests the familiar appearance of a DSLR without its size, sensor aside. For about $270 the A3000 cuts corners, although not in image quality. Mostly in extra, often needless features. Despite being fairly compact and mirrorless, the A3000 hosts a 20.2 MP sensor at APS-C size, which is on par if not better than that of my own DSLR's; a Canon 650D. In fact, if I were to buy a camera now, I'd probably go with a Sony.Combine this with the fact that Sony sensors are renown for low noise at high ISO settings the inherently low vibration of a mirrorless system and you've got a camera that will perform well handheld and/or under poor lighting. That translates to quality photographs now, without the immediate need for studio lights/flash units.

The A3000 is available at or near your requested price point, in varying conditions: http://www.amazon.co...m/dp/B00EH5UGR6 Alternatively, many of the Olympus Pen, Pentax and Fuji Micro Four Thirds cameras are good, although they don't match the quality of the aforementioned A3000. If I were you, I'd invest in the Sony A3000, a flash unit and reflector. I could even show you how to make a softbox for under $15 with PVC piping On the other hand, if you are crazy about quality, go pick up some film, a Mamiya RB67 and you're set. Those digital camera folks will have nothing on you and your medium format!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me over on Flickr: https://www.flickr.c...s/brickartisan/ I'd be happy to answer your camera-related questions.

Okay, I might consider getting that instead and do you have any pictures of MOCs using that camera? Just so I can get a visual of what I'd be buying this for, of course.

[Bipin]

These aren't my own pictures, but they'll give you a taste of what you can expect with the A3000:

Besides immediate satisfaction, Sony is partnered with Carl Zeiss, which is amongst the best lens manufacturers in the world. They are up there with Voigtlander and Leica to an extent in terms of optical quality, which means you have the ability to invest in some excellent hardware down the road that won't require adapters and other "messy" workarounds. Even with the lens that comes packaged with the camera, you get pretty good results, certainly for one of this price range. If possible though, I would recommend switching out the kit lens for a prime lens (fixed focal length). This goes for whatever camera model you buy, sony or otherwise. You'll achieve better image quality, have a lighter lens and a faster lens. Of course, you won't have zoom, but that isn't too much of an issue for photographing LEGO. I myself only use a 50mm f/1.8 for photographing LEGO. On an APS-C sensor (like in the A3000) a 50mm lens is great. It is equivalent to 80mm; the perfect focal length for photographing models, both human and LEGO!

[Yzalirk]

These aren't my own pictures, but they'll give you a taste of what you can expect with the A3000:

Besides immediate satisfaction, Sony is partnered with Carl Zeiss, which is amongst the best lens manufacturers in the world. They are up there with Voigtlander and Leica to an extent in terms of optical quality, which means you have the ability to invest in some excellent hardware down the road that won't require adapters and other "messy" workarounds. Even with the lens that comes packaged with the camera, you get pretty good results, certainly for one of this price range. If possible though, I would recommend switching out the kit lens for a prime lens (fixed focal length). This goes for whatever camera model you buy, sony or otherwise. You'll achieve better image quality, have a lighter lens and a faster lens. Of course, you won't have zoom, but that isn't too much of an issue for photographing LEGO. I myself only use a 50mm f/1.8 for photographing LEGO. On an APS-C sensor (like in the A3000) a 50mm lens is great. It is equivalent to 80mm; the perfect focal length for photographing models, both human and LEGO!

Those are some nice pictures! The first and last pictures look beautiful, I'll consider getting this hopefully soon or sometime during the holidays.

[BirdOPrey5]

Those sample pictures are nice- clearly the person taking them has some experience in photography, either professional or a hobby.

Here was a picture I took with a Sony Cybershot WX80/B- no tripod or fancy lighting used here, just a couple of pieces of oak tag paper and the camera flash.

Link since image is big: http://juotpics.com/pics/images/130DSC00008.jpg

I am happy with the camera. $149 on Amazon with a bundle that includes a case and extra battery.

[Yzalirk]

Those sample pictures are nice- clearly the person taking them has some experience in photography, either professional or a hobby.

Here was a picture I took with a Sony Cybershot WX80/B- no tripod or fancy lighting used here, just a couple of pieces of oak tag paper and the camera flash.

Link since image is big: http://juotpics.com/...130DSC00008.jpg

I am happy with the camera. $149 on Amazon with a bundle that includes a case and extra battery.

That's a pretty good picture too! I may go with what you have since it's pretty cheap and gets the job done for what I'll be using it for, thanks for sharing!

[JGW3000]

Again, as suggested above, spend some time and thought on lighting (check out Cowboy Studios, they have some budget lighting packages that work great), and pay attention to the background - an even, neutral colored , and continuous background works best, so no seams or harsh shadows are visible - I bought a roll of 60" wide, many feet long, white paper from Hobby Lobby to use as a continuous background, the width and length enables smooth curved transition from 'floor' to 'wall'.

@Bipin - those are great looking pictures - but you should provide the source to us, and/or give credit to the photographer. As a (well-almost) semi-pro product photographer myself, I can clearly see that these images were taken with multiple pieces of studio-grade lighting equipment, with careful use of lighting controls - such as softboxes, umbrellas, etc... I see good details in highlights and shadow area, no areas are either excessively blown-out or blocked-up, the shadow areas are all nicely diffused, depth of field manipulated for best effect, and in the last image, effective use of backlight and key lights - all the hallmark of a serious studio photographer - so well done to whoever made those images!

I'll add that with good lighting, high quality shots with handheld smartphone cameras or budget cameras are possible. My ~ $100 US camera, bought for vacations and under water use, works great on LEGO and similar sized objects - it is only when you need to manipulate depth of field, use selective focus, or control exposure that more expensive cameras are needed.

Edited July 24, 2014 by JGW3000

[Duq]

So since it's 1080p and full HD, I can get nice, crisp and clear pictures like the example I gave?

The 1080 full HD is about video, the megapixels tell you more about the photographs you can take. Having said that, pretty much everything you buy these days is 10Mp or more and that's more than enough for screen.

Don't get wowed by megazoom. You won't need it for Lego and those megazoom lenses on budget cameras often give less crispy images, especially in low light.

A camera I would recommend is the Canon Powershot S110. I've got the S95 myself, S110 is a newer version. It's a handy size, has lots of controls and takes pretty good pictures.

Have a look in my Flickr stream; most of my pictures are taken with this camera. The others are taken with a Canon SX20 (big bulky and with a big zoom) and older pictures were taken with a Canon SX110IS. Nice camera but it broke a few times.

Another essential accessory for taking crisp pictures of Lego is a tripod. Use a 2 second timer on the camera and put it on a tripod. You'll be amazed what a difference that makes form hand-held shots. My tripod is the small version of the Gorillapod:

This bendy little devil is ideal for placing in and around Lego models.

[Bipin]

Links to the above photographs can be found here:

There's more quality Sony A3000 content where those came from, so I'd encourage you to look around. If you do invest in a compact digital/mirrorless camera, I would suggest that it has interchangeable lenses regardless of the brand you chose, and that you start off with a prime (fixed focal length). Now, not to make this a self plug or anything, but in regards to lighting, this is what I had created with velvet as a backdrop, three IKEA lamps, a bed sheet as a diffuser and an upside down IKEA coffee table to form the vertical members of my softbox structure:

First and foremost, you need to have enough money set aside for the bare minimum of lighting essentials. Once you have enough allocated to that, you should spend the rest on a body and a lens.

[jonwil]

You cant go wrong with the Canon stuff right from the point & shoot all the way to the pro level DSLRs.

Never used a Sony DSLR before but I have used a Sony Cyber-Shot Point & Shoot and it was a piece of junk (which is why I bought a Canon to replace it)

[dr_spock]

I think the power shot 510 you're looking at will work within your budget. You should consider getting a tripod too if you don't already have one.

Shot this with a Canon on a tripod in a dark room with a table arm light overhead and the LEGO light brick.

buzz droid par dr_spock_888, sur Flickr

[Bipin]

You cant go wrong with the Canon stuff right from the point & shoot all the way to the pro level DSLRs.

Never used a Sony DSLR before but I have used a Sony Cyber-Shot Point & Shoot and it was a piece of junk (which is why I bought a Canon to replace it)

How old was your camera? Sony has really innovated within the last several years with their sensors; their flagship model the A7 is widely considered one of the best, if not the best of 2013. As good as Canon is (I shoot Canon myself) they just haven't done anything too innovative within the last five or so years; their "prosumer" line for instance, has been stuck at 18 MP on APS-C for the longest time. If I were to buy a camera now, I'd probably chose a Sony over my current Canon. Another good brand to check out besides Sony is Sigma. Their Foveon sensors are phenomenal compared to the typical Bayer counterparts found in nearly all consumer cameras. It's a bit pricier, but worth checking out.

[JGW3000]

Bipin - I'd suggest not using the black background, as the tires and shadow areas merge with it; otherwise, looks great

Edited July 25, 2014 by JGW3000

[Paul B Technic]

As has been posted above, the camera matters less than knowing how to use it and get the best results from it. Take the time to learn the basic rules of photography and you will be able to produce photos that really stand out.

[Bipin]

Bipin - I'd suggest not using the black background, as the tires and shadow areas merge with it; otherwise, looks great

While the black background wasn't ideal, I found the white one just didn't work for this model. I did try it, but I found the yellow didn't quite "pop" against white; diffused, even lighting didn't look too nice , and the way in which I wanted the shadows looked good on the model, but not on the background. I think if I were to shoot this again, I'd go for shooting it on some sort of concrete surface, as opposed to a studio setting, or a different coloured background.

Speaking of lighting and background, I would suggest Behemoth that you invest in something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-40-x-40cm-Photo-Studio-Light-Shooting-Tent-Cube-Soft-Box-4-Backdrops-/200928232031?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec841825f

For $14 you can't go wrong. Even if you don't have flash units, using lamps, as previously suggested by myself and others would still work well. Since you are shooting still objects, you can use a longer exposure so long as the camera is on a tripod and timer or cable release. As JGW said, Cowboy Studios is good. Yongnuo also makes inexpensive, but good quality lighting equipment that is worth checking out. I personally know a wedding photographer who uses their flash units and has seldom, if ever had problems with them.