what kind of camera should I have.

I got to thinking about this after seeing all those granny fuzzy UFO pictures, surely there has to be a good photographer here at ATS that could recommend equipment?

Now I'm still old school shooting with a Minolta Maxxum... I have been thinking of upgrading to digital maybe a Sony as they interchange with the somewhat large collection of Maxxum lenses...

But lets say I planed on a UFO safari? Yes price is an object so what kids of consumer grade camera/lens combo... video or still or both should I be looking for??? Plus acc of course?

I have figured something out over the last few years about UFO's and I think I'll call it "Jim's Laws of UFO's".

Law 1. No matter how good of a camera setup you have, you will never get to it in time to get a good picture of a UFO.

Law 2. If you do manage to get to it in time, it will either be out of film or have a dead battery.

Law 3. If you do get to it in time and if it does have film or a charged battery, you will identify what the object is by looking at it in the view finder.

reply to post by DaddyBare


In terms of budget consumer DSLRs there's very little crap out there. But I have a few observations.

If you're photographing in poor light you want the fastest lens (with the lowest F-numer) you can afford, plus the largest sensor size you can afford. The larger the sensor the less the sensor pixels need to be amplified, so in combination with a fast lens, there'll be a less noise, better signal quality etc.

Some top-end consumer compacts, such as the Canon G11 and S90, Olympus EP-1 (sort-of consumer - rangefinder & unlike the Canons has interchangeable lens), have sensor sizes somewhere between DSLRs and regular digital compacts. So they're kind of a trade-off between the two. Focus speed is an issue on most non DSLRs.

Although some of the cheaper Canon compacts used to offer near manual controls, exposure compensation and the like, but, in their wisdom (I think it's dumb) they've removed a lot of the manual stuff from the newest cheaper models.

It's also worth checking actual objectively measured performance at DxOMark, a camera benchmarking site (inc Sony):

www.dxomark.com...

They measure low light performance etc. Although they don't test lenses, so without a fast lens low light shots will be limited to high ISOs regardless of an expensive camera.

Also, check lens compatibility, some budget DSLRs are less compatible by design, or may limit some older lenses to manual focus. I don't have a problem with manual focus, but it's something to bear in mind.

I use the following when looking up many lenses (inc. Sony lenses):

www.photozone.de...

It really comes down to checking out things like DxOMark and then going for the best bang for buck. Given you've got Sony compatible lenses, it sounds like the Sony route, unless you put them on E-Bay and put it towards another brand.

But there really aren't that many bad DSLR cameras out there. Including older models, one back from the latest. Losing a megapixel or two isn't that bad, and (if checked out on DxOMark) often there isn't that much of a performance boost buying the latest.

They're a little hard to find, but if you can, get a stereo film camera. Two lenses approximately as far apart as your eyes, able to take two simultaneous photos to produce a 3-D effect upon viewing. Very helpful in determining size and distance. Much harder to convincingly fake.

reply to post by 2000 Yards


To be honest I am... and always will be... a film fan... however day by day its getting harder and harder to buy film... try walking into a Walgreen's these days to pick up a roll of 120/220 in B&W... Sadly it's time to give up on film and boldly step into the twenty first century

Hi all, I have never done any video at night and was wondering if there is a general rule of thumb as regards settings on a camcorder?
At present I have a Sony hdr SR10E. Will this be any good?
Any tips at all?
Thanks for any help.
mrix

I can highly recommend the canon S5 or S10. Reason: excellent zooming capabilities plus it's the only digital and video camera below the 1,500 dollar mark that actually records movies in full stereo sound. Its high ISO performance in low light isn't up to par with a regular DSLR of course, but still highly usable. Please stay away from Sony though - brrrrr!

For "on the spot" shooting in the presence of a subject (animals, UFOS, etc). Switch the focus to manual and zoom it out all the way - if they're far I mean. Keeping the focus on Auto (regardless of the camera) will almost inevitably result in blurred pix.

[edit on 10/26/2009 by nethawk]