Olympus C3030 2048 * 1536, 722k
Nikon 990 2048 * 1536, 496k
Nikon 5700 2560 * 1920, 311k
Nikon 5700 2560 * 1920, 655k

Modellen en fotografie

Nederlandstalige versie van de pagina (the table of content is at the end of the page)

Olympus Camedia C3030

I also worked with an Olympus Camedia C 3030. This camera has the looks of a normal film camera and take very beautiful pictures. Very correct color rendering, highly detailled pictures, the complete kit (with rechargeable batteries, charger and a second memory card) was really a bargain. People who didn't like the sometimes weird digital look of some cameras opted for this one.

Nikon Coolpix 990

I used my Nikon Coolpix 990 for some two years, taking at least 12.000 pictures. The 990 is a newer version of the 950 with a higher pixel count and more robust electronics. The 950 is well known to lock up when the battery voltage drops because of high current drain.
There are a wide angle and teleconverters available, and they fit both the 950 and the 990. I recommend the use of these Nikon lenses. The 3X teleconverter has a very large front lens, so there is actually more light hitting the sensor when using the tele, than without it (use it to increase the shutter speed and reduce motion blur). Normal cameras need to have more light when in tele-mode than in wide mode.

Action pictures

Some people say you can't use digital photography for action pictures. This is partially true, because in the first place all digital camaras do have a shutter lag that is more important than the one of a film camera. In the second place, the latent picture has to be written to the memory card, and that is a relatively slow process. Saving a picture takes roughly 3 seconds, and that is a longer time than the motor drive of a film camera.
Both problems can be reduced by using prefocussing (aiming at an object located the same distance of your main subject and half-pressing the shutter). You can also use manual focus. Most high grade cameras have some 'motor drive' setting (quite a misnomer, since there is no motor to drive the film). In this setting, the camera will take pictures as long you keep the shutter pressed and as long as there is room in the buffer. The buffer is some fast memory in the camera used for temporary picture storage while the data is being transfered to the much slower memory card. How much pictures you will be able to take depends on the size of the buffer. Some digicams are locked (no operation possible) while writing to the memory card. While in continuous shooting mode, all settings are locked to the value used by the first picture.

Nikon Coolpix 5700

The camera that is most ideal for action shooting is the nikon Coolpix 5700. It has also an incredible 8X optical zoom. For action photography i mostly use the high compression level (basic quality), because the more compressed pictures will be written faster to the card. Picture deterioration is minimal, as you can see on the picture on your left. The camera has a buffer of some 10 (?) frames, so you can continuously take pictures, and the writing is done while the camera is iddle. Even in full action, the camera never stopped responding because of a full buffer.
This camera has a very complete set of features, and you can create user sets: this are self-defined sets, in witch you can pre-adjust anything you like, and the switching from one set to the other is done in less than a second. I have one set for indoor photography (without flash, but with white balance adjusted to the condition of the studio), one for action, and so on.
Bad things with this camera: uses proprietary lithium ion cells (and the battery low indication will pop up after some 50 to 100 pictures, but you will be able to take another 50 to 100 pictures before shut down). You are warned well in advance! Secondly, in manual focus, the camera don't give any distance indication like the Nikon 990. There is a 'focus confirmation' setting in witch the picture is artificially sharpened (only in the viewer) to facilitate in-focus jugement, but i would like a normal metric indication too. And can't hide the camera in my 501 anymore.
The 'optical viewfinder' of this camera is actually a smaller version of the LCD backpanel, because the high zoom values make it impossible to correctly track the right picture. Is this a bad thing? Working with videocameras for a long time, i'm quite used to it. Of course they don't give you all the information in a picture because of their very low resolution, but it can be used to check afterwards if the picture is correctly exposed, if the color is correct, ... but not is the focus is OK. Nice feature: the quick review mode (play back of the last picture) lets you walk through the last pictures, zoom in, and will immediately revert to record-ready when half-pressing the shutter.
The LCD viewfinder is a good thing when taking night shots: the light intensity is artificially increased, so you are able to aim your camera. The increased sensitivity is obtained by using a lower refresh rate, resulting in a high level of motion blur.

You can't actually compare the last picture on this page with the corresponding picture from the Sony DSC- 505V: one year has passed, this picture is taken before noon and there are more clouds (the horizon is also unsharp) and is taken from an higer location. Welcome to Oostende, Belgium anyway.
More pictures of Oostende (and France, Brussels, ...) are available on my home server: pictures.

JVC GC-S5 Hardware Showing your pictures	Sony DSC-F505 Digital vs. Chemical Compression	Nikon Coolpix 950 Resolution Sony DSC-F505V Batteries	Olympus Camedia C3030 Nikon Coolpix 990 Action pictures Nikon Coolpix 5700	Sony DSC-F707 vs. Nikon Coolpix 5700	Nightshots ON4CHL
Nikon 5700 vs. Sony 707 vs. Nikon 990 Nikon 5700 features	Comparing the Sony DSC-F828 Nikon 5700 Canon 300D	Sony DSC-F828 Nikon 5700 Nightshots and flashlights	Comparing the Sony DSC-F828 and Canon 300D	Portrait photography with the Sony DSC-F828 and Canon 300D	Modellen fotograferen