I have a camera buying question I was going to post to the subject NG but it
won't load for me. Is it down?

Sorry for the OT post but have decided to get a Fujifilm S6000 and have
found one for $310 OTD from B&H Photo Vidio. Other similarly priced sources
are Butterfly, H1, and Amazon. I won't deal with Amazon due to some issues
I've had with them in the past.

Anyway, do you have any comments on either the camera or the sources and
price?

TIA,

Butch

Butch Davis wrote:
I have a camera buying question I was going to post to the subject NG but it
won't load for me. Is it down?

Sorry for the OT post but have decided to get a Fujifilm S6000 and have
found one for $310 OTD from B&H Photo Vidio. Other similarly priced sources
are Butterfly, H1, and Amazon. I won't deal with Amazon due to some issues
I've had with them in the past.

Anyway, do you have any comments on either the camera or the sources and
price?

TIA,

Butch



I don't know anything about that camera, but B&H is a first-class
operation.

Thanks, Harry. That's good enough for me.

Butch
"HK" wrote in message
...
Butch Davis wrote:
I have a camera buying question I was going to post to the subject NG but
it won't load for me. Is it down?

Sorry for the OT post but have decided to get a Fujifilm S6000 and have
found one for $310 OTD from B&H Photo Vidio. Other similarly priced
sources are Butterfly, H1, and Amazon. I won't deal with Amazon due to
some issues I've had with them in the past.

Anyway, do you have any comments on either the camera or the sources and
price?

TIA,

Butch

I don't know anything about that camera, but B&H is a first-class
operation.

On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 13:31:01 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

Anyway, do you have any comments on either the camera or the sources and
price?

B&H is a great place to do business and very responsive.

I've also had great success with Adorama - another great camera site.

Out of curiosity, why not go with one of the new Nikon DSLRs?

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 13:31:01 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

Anyway, do you have any comments on either the camera or the sources and
price?

B&H is a great place to do business and very responsive.

I've also had great success with Adorama - another great camera site.

Out of curiosity, why not go with one of the new Nikon DSLRs?

It's a great question, and I suppose the most likely answer would be cash
outlay. The Nikon D40, which would be the closest match to the S6000 would
be about double the cost when equipped with a decent lens. However, I
believe it would be a much more robust camera with far greater expansion
possibilities and superior image quality. The S6000 does have a few
operational advantages to the D40, but in my opinion, they are far
outweighed by its limitations. Here's a snip from the conclusion of Steve's
Digicams' review of the S6000:

High-end digicams and low-end dSLR's have a great deal of overlap in terms
of functions and can be close in price. If you are weighing the S6000fd
versus a dSLR, you'll find that they have many similarities, including
standard zoom range, mechanical zoom ring, sensitivity range, and extensive
exposure and processing controls. But a dSLR offers better image quality
(especially at high sensitivity settings), the flexibility of
interchangeable lenses, more robust continuous shooting, superior support
for RAW images, faster AF, and the benefit of an eye-level optical
viewfinder. The S6000fd has its advantages, including high-quality VGA-sized
movies, intensified viewfinder image in dim lighting, menu operation and
image playback on its eye-level EVF, Intelligent Face Detection, built-in
macro/super macro modes and a lower price.

End quote.

But I'll also chime in with a thumbs up for B&H. They are a model for all
other online retailers to follow. You are more than safe when doing
commerce with them.

An excellent alternative to the S6000/D40 choice would be to find a good
used D70s body and appropriate lens. Same resolution as the S6000, but a
much more serious and capable camera, and could most likely be bought for
about the same money as an S6000. They're all over Craig's List. I
originally intended to put my D70 on Craig's list after I bought the D200,
but for what I could get for it, I'd just as soon keep it for a backup
camera.

Thanks guys, for the good advice. I know a dSLR, especially a Nikon would
be a superior performer. However, I just don't need all that superioity any
more. Now I just take pictures for fun and on a budget.

At $310 for the 6000 it's a no brainer for my needs. It's really more than
I need but at least I can pay for it and can pretend I'm back in the game.

Now all I have to decide is what software and printer to get. Probably a
$20 to $40 disc and a photo printer for around $200.

Butch
"RG" wrote in message
...

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 13:31:01 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

Anyway, do you have any comments on either the camera or the sources and
price?

B&H is a great place to do business and very responsive.

I've also had great success with Adorama - another great camera site.

Out of curiosity, why not go with one of the new Nikon DSLRs?

It's a great question, and I suppose the most likely answer would be cash
outlay. The Nikon D40, which would be the closest match to the S6000
would be about double the cost when equipped with a decent lens. However,
I believe it would be a much more robust camera with far greater expansion
possibilities and superior image quality. The S6000 does have a few
operational advantages to the D40, but in my opinion, they are far
outweighed by its limitations. Here's a snip from the conclusion of
Steve's Digicams' review of the S6000:

High-end digicams and low-end dSLR's have a great deal of overlap in terms
of functions and can be close in price. If you are weighing the S6000fd
versus a dSLR, you'll find that they have many similarities, including
standard zoom range, mechanical zoom ring, sensitivity range, and
extensive exposure and processing controls. But a dSLR offers better image
quality (especially at high sensitivity settings), the flexibility of
interchangeable lenses, more robust continuous shooting, superior support
for RAW images, faster AF, and the benefit of an eye-level optical
viewfinder. The S6000fd has its advantages, including high-quality
VGA-sized movies, intensified viewfinder image in dim lighting, menu
operation and image playback on its eye-level EVF, Intelligent Face
Detection, built-in macro/super macro modes and a lower price.

End quote.

But I'll also chime in with a thumbs up for B&H. They are a model for all
other online retailers to follow. You are more than safe when doing
commerce with them.

An excellent alternative to the S6000/D40 choice would be to find a good
used D70s body and appropriate lens. Same resolution as the S6000, but a
much more serious and capable camera, and could most likely be bought for
about the same money as an S6000. They're all over Craig's List. I
originally intended to put my D70 on Craig's list after I bought the D200,
but for what I could get for it, I'd just as soon keep it for a backup
camera.

"Butch Davis" wrote in message
nk.net...

Now all I have to decide is what software and printer to get. Probably a
$20 to $40 disc and a photo printer for around $200.


I have some thoughts on that, as well. Adobe's Photoshop is the gold
standard when it comes to photo editing software, and that's not likely to
change any time soon. Since there is a considerable investment in time to
get your digital editing skillset up to speed, it should be invested in
software that is likely to remain relevant for a long time to come. Also,
there is no shortage of reference and tutorial books as well as free
web-based tutorials for Photoshop. This is one of those times that cruising
in the mainstream has its rewards. The bad news is that Photoshop sells for
about twice what you're about to spend on your camera. The good news is
that Photoshop has a little brother called Photoshop Elements, that has
about 85% of the photo editing power of the full-blown version, uses the
same tools and concepts as the big dog, and has almost as many books and
tutorials available. It lists for $99, but can be found on sale for as low
as $50. It's just what you need and want, there's no reason to buy any more
or less. The current version is version 5, and it's the one you want. It
is a significant upgrade from prior versions.

When I bought my first digital camera seven years ago, I also thought that
I'd want to print my own prints. I purchased a wide-carriage Epson Stylus
Photo 1270, and a bunch of the special glossy papers to go with it. As it
turned out, I found out that I really didn't do as much printing as I
thought I would. Most photo viewing and sharing was done digitally, on a
display of some sort. It's the digital paradigm versus the film paradigm.
Although the quality of my home-grown prints were unbelievably good, they
were in fact a PIA to produce. I learned that it was sooo much easier and
more cost effective to upload the digital files to a local professional
color lab and let them print them as needed. You don't need to use a pro
lab, there are likely a number of other local choices in your area as well,
such as Costco, Walgreens, Wal-Mart and others. I junked the Epson ink jet
for a color laser, which for non-photo printing is so much easier to live
with than a temperamental ink jet. I'd hold off on the photo printer and
try outsourcing your printing and see if that doesn't meet your needs.

The S6000 is an interesting choice, and you could certainly do worse. It
has a very versatile and reasonably fast lens, along with image
stabilization. Before I bought my D70, I considered a Panasonic Super Zoom,
which is essentially identical in concept to the S6000. The deal killer for
me back then on the Panasonic was the Electronic View Finder (EVF). The EVF
is essentially a tiny eye-level LCD screen that you look at to compose your
photos. Unfortunately they have a wicked delay to them, and a very
artificial feel to them versus looking through a nice TTL optical view
finder. It was a deal killer for me then and would be today on the S6000 as
well. The whole point of that purchase was to get back to a camera that
handled and responded in the same way that my film SLRs did but in a digital
format. The EVF broke that familiar feel I had always enjoyed with my film
SLRs. The DSLR kept it very much in tact. If you're coming from a 35mm
film SLR background, I don't think you'll like the EVF (Evil View Finder).

At any rate, you will most certainly enjoy the transformation from film to
digital, no matter what camera you end up with. The combination of a
digital camera, digital editing software, and the internet has made
photography much more engaging and satisfying than film photography ever was
for me. Enjoy.

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:03:29 GMT, "RG" wrote:

At any rate, you will most certainly enjoy the transformation from film to
digital, no matter what camera you end up with. The combination of a
digital camera, digital editing software, and the internet has made
photography much more engaging and satisfying than film photography ever was
for me. Enjoy.

I agree with one exception.

Paint Shop Pro by Corel is more than adequate editing software. The
full boat version is $99 and does what Photoshop does only
differently. If you are just starting off editing digital photos, PSP
is probably the way to go - most bang for the buck. Photoshop
Elements is nice, but it's not comparable to the complete version of
PSP. It's only limitation is that is doesn't handle all versions of
RAW and you wouldn't be shooting in RAW anyway.

I think Eisboch uses Paint Shop Pro - maybe he can chime in.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:03:29 GMT, "RG" wrote:

I agree with one exception.

Paint Shop Pro by Corel is more than adequate editing software. The
full boat version is $99 and does what Photoshop does only
differently. If you are just starting off editing digital photos, PSP
is probably the way to go - most bang for the buck. Photoshop
Elements is nice, but it's not comparable to the complete version of
PSP. It's only limitation is that is doesn't handle all versions of
RAW and you wouldn't be shooting in RAW anyway.


He might. The S6000 does have raw capability. I remember many years ago
using CorelDRAW. It was the king of graphic programs in its day. Then
Corel bought WordPerfect, and they've been steamrolled into a second-tier
software company by the likes of Microsoft and Adobe ever since. When it
comes to buying software, I'm a firm believer in hitching your wagon to the
horse most likely to remain pulling for the long run. Especially if you're
starting from scratch in a particular genre. So for me, the issue isn't so
much about whether PSP is capable, I have no reason to believe it is not.
Rather the issue for me is how much third party support is offered in the
form of books, magazine articles and online tutorials. I've bought a number
of such books over the years, and have taken advantage of web-based
instructional aides as well and have found them invaluable. I also subscribe
to several digital photography magazines as. All their how-two articles
seem to assume Photoshop speak, and it's really not too surprising, given
the market share of Adobe's products. So, I would advise a guy just
starting out in photo editing software to hitch his wagon to Adobe. And
besides, Corel is Canadian, which is reason enough to avoid them.

On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:39:18 GMT, "RG" wrote:

And besides, Corel is Canadian, which is reason enough to
avoid them.

Intersting take - I gather your not familiar with the history of PSP.

It was the original digital photo manipulation software. In fact,
many of the features of what eventually became Adobe Photoshop were
lifted almost directly from PSP. It's been around since 1992 and is
cross platform for Mac and Windows.

And it's still the only software available under $100 that handles
both vector and raster manipulation.

It's every bit as capable as Adobe and in some ways, better.