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Photography Question

Persephone

14:49 / 14.10.02

My bosses are requesting that I look into getting a digital camera with a wide-angle lens. We do decorative painting & need to take pictures inside people's homes. I know that 50mm is normal, and less than that is wide... but how wide should I be looking for here? Less than 35mm?

The Strobe

17:45 / 14.10.02

Well, wide for a 35mm camera usually means about <35mm.

Thing is, lens size is dependant on film (or CCD) size. So lens sizes for a real 35mm camera don't apply to digital cameras, which have tiny CCDs compared to the back of a 35mm camera.

That said, most digital cameras are quite wide simply beacuse they're snap-cameras - in the same way compacts start wide angle, and the zoom ones just go to far less wide angles (rather than starting tele and widening out).

Pop down to a Jessops or the like and ask to try some out, for advice etc - I don't have any digicam lens size examples on hand.

Persephone

19:24 / 14.10.02

Thank you, Paleface... that gave me just enough to go on, those people at the camera store terrify me. At least I was doing fine until I asked about getting a tripod for my own sweet little camera, and got laughed at. Only he-man cameras need apply for tripods, I guess.

Saint Keggers

21:10 / 14.10.02

If your going to be using digital I'd suggest getting a tripod. When I switched from film to digital I was amazed (horrified) at how much more sensitive digital is to slight movement. I had to do the whole B.A.S.S. (breath, aim, sight, shoot) that they teach you in the army in order to have blurfree pics. A 40$ tripod took care of that little problem.

The Apple-Picker

21:13 / 14.10.02

At least I was doing fine until I asked about getting a tripod for my own sweet little camera, and got laughed at. Only he-man cameras need apply for tripods, I guess.

Aw! Sweet Persephone looking for a sweet tripod... those jerks! You should have unleashed the Bisquick Wrath of Persephone upon them.

Persephone

23:18 / 14.10.02

But it was not bisquick wrath, it was bisquick hysteria...

how much more sensitive digital is to slight movement

So I'm not crazy!? Or I am, but I'm right about this! Geez, I just took about three hundred pictures at a benefit & seven of them came out unblurry enough to use; thank God it was a volunteer thing! It really is a good camera. You should see the picture that Husb took of the spider that lives on our roof, you can see all of its eyes...

Thank you. Validated now.

Turk

00:03 / 15.10.02

Yeah the blurring can sometimes depend upon the flash setting of your digital camera. Specifically if the flash is turned off in semi-low light conditions, most digital cameras tend to artificially brighten the image (in low-light if the flash is off) and therein occurs the blurring. If you can overcome the embarassment of flashing left right and centre, you should be fine.
If you call this a nuance it sounds much nicer.

Turk

00:07 / 15.10.02

NB, when I say flashing left right and centre, I mean using that particular function on your camera.

Turk

01:57 / 16.10.02

By the way, if you want truly knowledgeable advice you might want to try the forum at Steves-Digicams.com.

Persephone

02:08 / 16.10.02

Thanks much, D. Yes, you guessed right... I was trying to get away without using flash. I'll check out those forums, too.

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