good, cheap, mac friendly, digital camera?

[jakeowen]

Hi everyone,
I used to take pictures of my apistos with an old SLR camera, and now I see alot of really nice digital pics, and I would like to upgrade.
I know absolutley nothing about digital cameras.
I need it to work with a macintosh.
I think I want interchangable lenses - Is this going to push the cost way up?
What features should I be looking for?
Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Jay

 

[cootwarm]

Hi Jay,

I'm not sure if you can get a digital camera that will beat(or even match) the quality of a picture taken by a 35mm SLR. If you can, it probably would be very expensive.

I haven't looked at any with interchangable lenses, but I was told they were available, but very expensive($1200+). I think he said that they even have some that adapt to 35mm lenses! I didn't look at any myself because I didn't want to spend more than $500 and all those had built in lenses.

8) The biggest advantage of course is that you can view them before printing. If need be, you could take thousands of pictures and you're bound to get some great shots.

:evil: The thing that frustrates me most about digital cameras, is a delay when pressing the shutter button for the camera to focus. Often, by the time the camera actually snaps the picture, things have changed. The fish as swam off or moved. The bird(or other critter) has moved. One day I got very close to an Osprey nest. Everytime the mother osprey left the nest, she would stand on the edge of the nest and spread her wings out to stretch. A really cool shot! But because of that delay, I didn't get a shot of it. I got a few good pictures, but missed that picture of her spreading her wings as wide as she could! :?

Now when I go out to take some wildlife photos, I bring both cameras. :wink:

So I guess bottom line is that until the really good digitals are more reasonably priced, I'll stick with my mediocre digital and my 35mm SLR. They make a good combination.

Michael

 

[jakeowen]

Thanks Mike,
I guess my main problem with SLR's is that if my fish is looking at me, his head is in focus, but the tail is out, Out of maybe hundreds of pics, I can never get a good one with the slr.
These are the best pics I have been able to get with the SLR.
I use a stand, and a remote switch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jakeowen/fish/male.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/jakeowen/fish/male2.jpg

As opposed to these;
http://www.rva.ne.jp/gallery/e_gallary_ap.html

This guy must be using a digital camera right?
This is the type of pics I would like to get.
Everything is in focus.
Can anyone help me get to this level?

Thanks again,
Jay

 

[Mike Wise]

It isn't necessarily the fault of the camera. If you can adjust the aperature (f/stop) then the problem is with the photographer. The depth of field isn't set deep enough. You don't need an SLR camera either. Just look at the photos on Randy Carey's web site. These were, until recently, all done with fixed lens digital cameras that had adjustable f/stops. As for the photos on Rayon Vert Aqua's web site, you are right. Yugi Sasaki uses a digital SLR. The trick is that both of these excellent photographers use off-the-camera flash, the smallest f/stop possible, a mobile camera (no tripod), and a lot of patience.