For the past 7 years I have used one digital camera primarily and that is the SONY Cybershot DSC-S50, with 2.1 Megapixels. Back in it’s day it was a good spec camera and despite it’s inferior stats compared to todays offerings, I’ve got to say it’s rarely let me down. Having said that, I do think the time has come to put my SONY into semi-retirement and look for something newer, bigger and better.
I read this blog post today and I couldn’t agree more with the author. Taking a bunch of photos which look fab and wonderful on the little LCD screen, only to get home, upload them to the computer and realise that only one or two out of the fifty-seven I’ve taken look halfway decent. Aaargh, it’s so frustrating. I feel like going all the way back and having another go. This happened to me just last week. Before I continue, this is one of the pics I took that did turn out well.
It was a cold and windy night so I had difficulty keeping still while I attempted to take the shot. This resulted in lots of blurred photos but I was determined to get some good shots so I persisted. I came across a bit of a wall that I could rest the camera on and take some shots that way. I figured that since it was steadier I’d get far better results. I took this photo and on the camera’s LCD screen it looked awesome, almost in HD. I was happy. That was until I got home and viewed it on the big screen. Over exposed is the only way to describe this mess. The only way of assuring that the photos I do take are decent is to hook it up there and then to a laptop and check each image before I leave. Either that or I just fill up my MemoryStick taking photos of the same thing more than once on different settings so that I’ll at least get something out of it.
Over the past seven years I have bought other cameras yet surprisingly I let them go and favoured my old faithful. The first camera was a £300 Fuji 6MP. It took some quality shots but I had some difficulty with it’s settings and functions. I was quite a keen night photographer with my SONY and had become familiar with the exact setting I needed to take a crisp night shot. So, since the Fuji didn’t measure up in that department I sold it on some months later. A couple of years after that I bought an Olympus 8MP camera and I got on even worse with this. It took 2 AA batteries and unfortunately it took them, and took them and took them. I was only able to take around 10 shots before the batteries needed replacing. That wasn’t with me for long 
So, my main requirement for a replacement digital camera is Lithium rechargeable battery. Something over 5MP would be good. And since my SONY has not let me down I am quite keen on sticking with the same brand although I’m open to anything else. I’d love a DSLR at some point but it would probably take me a year to learn how to use it. Around the same amount of time it took me to finally get to grips with my Cybershot. I kid you not.
I won’t be in the market for a new digicam until the New Year which may possibly be the best time to buy, what with the sales and all. If you have any recommendations (or avoid-like-the-plagues) then as always I’d love to hear them.
28 Nov 07
9:53 pm
Thanks for the link and for reading my post. I suppose we just need to hang in there and continue to take photos. As a side note: I suppose this just encourages us to get better and shoot more - which is always a good thing.
28 Nov 07
10:01 pm
Hi Colin. You’re welcome. It was actually your blog entry that encouraged me to get writing about this, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while - so thank you! And yeah I guess the experiences (good and bad) all go towards helping us improve our photography skills. I know next time I go out shooting I will take more time and try out various settings to get more quality shots.
28 Nov 07
10:52 pm
I invested in a $20 tripod from Wal-Mart that has served me faithfully with night shots. I keep it in the trunk of my car. I would like to get a new camera as well. I am sort of looking at the Canon PowerShot G9. But if you like Sony, then you like Sony. I’ve never used one, as I am a Canon man.
On a side note, how did you do the rounded corners and reflection for the image you uploaded? Hmm?
28 Nov 07
11:07 pm
Hi Chris. I bought a Tripod but to be honest I didn’t use it very often. I definitely love SONY, but have been looking at some Nikon and Canon’s recently which weren’t priced too bad.
Ah, you want to know how I create those fancy images then, eh? It’s a secret. Nah, not really. I use Picturesque http://www.acqualia.com/picturesque/index.html I got it for around £7 earlier in the year when Cool OS X Apps had a good deal on. Cool little program. Definitely recommend for adding reflections and such
28 Nov 07
11:10 pm
Sam, you’re a doll. Thanks for the tip!
29 Nov 07
9:34 am
I’ve just got a Sony Cybershot DSC-W55 (http://flickr.com/cameras/sony/dsc-w55/) which is great although I haven’t been able to test it fully yet so far things are good.
29 Nov 07
3:50 pm
Cheers Adam, that looks like a good one. I have called Jessops up a few times to ask for some info on their SONY digicams and I couldn’t believe how much hatred the salesmen there have for SONY
I’ve spoken to at least 3 or 4 different people and they tried to do everything they could to put me off a SONY. Not sure what’s going on there at all but if a customer is interested in buying this brand from them then surely talking them out of it isn’t a good idea for business. Mind you, not that I’d buy one from them anyway as they are very overpriced.
29 Nov 07
9:46 pm
My camera is a Nikon Coolpix 7mp. These have been discontinued but I’d imagine the newer Nikon equivalent is just as good. However my main complaint is that I just have to rely on scene modes to control the shutter speed etc. whereas I believe you can do this manually on a cybershot.
I think if I bought another compact camera I’d go for a cybershot as I reckon you get more control with the settings on that. However I’ll probably wait until I can afford a Canon 400D or something like that.
29 Nov 07
10:40 pm
Thanks for letting me know about the Nikon Coolpix, Sarah. Funnily enough I saw a 5MP Coolpix a few weeks back for around £59 which I was tempted to buy as it was a good price. But, since you have a lack of control over the shutter speed I’m glad I didn’t now. That’s the thing I love about the Cybershot - I know the functions well now for night shots (that over exposed pic last week was totally my fault as I was in a hurry and didn’t check the correct settings) and I felt the Fuji and the Olympus totally lacked the control I was used to, hence the reason I always came back to the old faithful.
Since I won’t be buying for a couple of months I hope there’s some good deals going around in the sales for DSLR’s
30 Nov 07
9:45 pm
Sam, quite a few choices here. Hopefully that can help!
01 Dec 07
2:24 pm
Thanks Andrew
I received a mini brochure from Jessops today (photography chain of stores in the UK) and there are some pretty good deals in. I’ll have to explore each camera’s specs more but £150 for a 7MP Canon Ixus is a reasonable price. And there’s a Nikon DSLR in there for £260
But, with Christmas coming I mustn’t over exert my credit card on presents from me to me
03 Dec 07
1:01 am
I’ve had a Sony P200 cybershot 7.1mp for a couple of years now and I’ve been pretty happy with the photos it produces.
03 Dec 07
4:58 pm
Ive been using canon ixus at work for a while, despite one getting nicked the fact they came with rechargable batterys and a dock sold me.
03 Dec 07
5:48 pm
Forget pocket sized and jump in head first into the world of DSLRs. The Nikon D40 takes awesome photos, is incredibly light and modestly priced. Set it to auto and away you go, feel more adventurous set it to full manual and mess on. I’m on my 3rd Nikon camera, now using the D80, not because they’ve broken just because I can’t help myself and they are super user friendly.
05 Dec 07
5:35 pm
Ta for the recommendations, fellas.
I’d quite like to get a DSLR and be done with it. The Nikon’s do sound pretty good. I will have a good look around in the new year sales for one of those.