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misstl Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 3 Location: UK	Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 12:46 pm    Post subject: Can anyone recommend a camera for architecture course plzz I'm looking for a decent camera for when I start my architecture course, what camera does everyone have and what kind of qualities/features shall I look for? Does the architecture course demand a really good camera? eg. v. high optical zoom / pixels etc? help! thanks!
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AP Joined: 31 Mar 2005 Posts: 580 Location: UK	Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 8:05 pm    Post subject: Am off to bed (it's late) so this is quick "stuff to consider etc" list Go 5MP minimum, that's quite enough for studio work, any more is "extra" and you'll end up running your camera on less a lot of the time to save memory card space, and make photoshopping easier on your computer's RAM later. 5MP can be printed to A3 easily, A1 without much issue. Beyond 5MP, the quality of the optics, the lens itself, and the CCD inside (the bit which does the job of the "film"), have more impact on the final picture quality than the "megapixels". Beyond 5MP, certainly beyond 7MP, there is a very real prospect of just seeing fuzziness in higher resolution, if the optics aren't resolving the image in high enough details to match. Imagine putting the Hubble telescope's sensor array behind a set of £50 binoculars - there are some cameras that in effect do just that. Get optical zoom, ignore digital zoom. 3x min, 5x is good. Anything over 5x requires a tripod, or a stabilised lens. Panasonic make some good cameras in their range with the latter as standard, if you think you want higher zooms for casual use (wish I had this!). Go to www.dpreview.com for detailed reviews. In particular, they have sample photos showing the details of the quality of the optics like this. Take these seriously, and compare your likely camera models. It's worth a half hour of your time. It's as good a way to get to know your camera as fiddling in the camera store with buttons. *If you look at those reviews, in particular check for purple fringing in areas of high contrast at high zoom (e.g. silhouetted trees/shadows on carvings), which is a real pain for architectural photography, since grey skies are particularly bad at causing it. A couple of years ago, canon models were known to suffer from it. Dpreview will see you right on stuff like that. Suggest working out what battery type you want. Lithium are far more practical, but if you run out whilst "on site" you're screwed. Look at digital SLRs, they're falling in price, but remember they're generally larger and more complex. They're either for you or not, but you don't want to wish you'd got one (or not) in a year's time. Consider if you want to add threaded filters for advanced photo work at a later date (e.g. long exposure blurred-people photos in daylight). If so, make sure the camera can take the lenses. That's all off the top of my head.
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misstl Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 3 Location: UK	Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:24 am    Post subject: thanks soo much that really helped!!
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AP Joined: 31 Mar 2005 Posts: 580 Location: UK	Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 1:15 pm    Post subject: You're welcome. Just to elaborate my point on purple-fringing, here's the wikipedia and depreview knowledgebase page on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_fringing http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/chromatic_aberration_01.htm Example. The Canon G5 / G series was the one I was recalling being particularly bad for it, but it's by know means the only one. That's why it's worth getting a camera you've read an exhaustive review on - quick reviews won't have tested the camera in all the different light condition. the website "steve's digicams" (google for that) is another very very reliable review site.
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misstl Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 3 Location: UK	Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:54 am    Post subject: Is it preferable for the camera to have wide angle lens? I have heard several people recommend it for architectural shots.
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jrhartley Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 88	Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:02 am    Post subject: Personally I'd invest in a dSLR, as you have a larger lens, you don't get the lag that you get on compact digitals. Regarding wide angle - well, if you can afford a 10.5mm lens, great, but most of us just use photomerge in photoshop to stitch lots of images together. So long as your careful (or ideally use a tripod), it works pretty well, esp. on CS3 with the new features on merging.
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keyserni Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 136 Location: Belfast, United Kingdom	Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:57 am    Post subject: Basically whatever camera you feel comfortable with. DSLR would be the best choice but you cant exactly carry it everywhere with you or point and click, I don't know how many shots I would have missed if I wasn't able to carry mine everywhere or wait 10 secs to set up the shot. I use a Samsung NV10 and before that I used a basic 4MP point and click and I never had any problems my friends Canon IXUS is also great. If I need an SLR I just go and borrow one from the Photo Labs.
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jrhartley Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 88	Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:27 am    Post subject: you guys are lucky being able to borrow that sort of kit. we are lucky to find a posi-drive screwdriver in our workshop, we dream of ever being able to borrow stuff like a dSLR or a camcorder!
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keyserni Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 136 Location: Belfast, United Kingdom	Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:38 am    Post subject: We are on the art campus so the facilities are great I can't think of anything we can't get our hands on, I've seen third years using the wood, metal and pottery workshops for their projects. One guy went to the fashion studios to get a canopy designed then to the textile people to get a fabric spec another etched all his plans into plaster instead of using paper.
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