Do I qualify to post here since I only have a Sony DSC F828?

Originally Posted by JohnC Do I qualify to post here since I only have a Sony DSC F828?

Great camera - If it is good enough for Michal Reichman, it is good enough!

Post away.......

Here is my first night shot with the 828. It was windy and the tripod wasn't 100% steady.

Originally Posted by JohnC Here is my first night shot with the 828. It was windy and the tripod wasn't 100% steady.

Nice image - but it was crooked and had buildings leaning back in perspective - is this any better?

Originally Posted by pathfinder Nice image - but it was crooked and had buildings leaning back in perspective - is this any better?

The poorer smoothness of the the color gradation in the sky in my modification of your image is due to the smaller kb size of my file than your original. I downsized your modified file and attached it for uploading rather than uploading to my smugmug site and then linking to it . That is to say - the jpg I uploaded directly to dgrin was smaller due to dgrins limit in file size for uploading as opposed to linking larger files from another web site.

But the image is straighter and no longer seems falling away I think.......

Ahh, looks better! Yeah, I'm totally new with cameras. I do know my tripod is junk. Where you mount the camera to that quick release platform, it sits to the side a bit. I guess a new one is in order ASAP!

I have a bid placed on Ebay for a Canon D30 SLR. Tell me what you guys think this is worth used; I don't want to bid more than it's worth.

D30 Digital SLR
BG-ED3 Grip + extra battery + E1 hand strap
Sigma 28-80 lens
Sigma 70-300 lens
Tamrac Backpack

Ebay link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3801357849&category=43 454&sspagename=STRK%3AMESSE%3AIT&rd=1

John, welcome aboard! You have a terrific camera. Andy, one of our moderators, has turned in some wonderful work using that camera. I don't know that you have to rush into buying a D30. Just my humble opinion.

Here are some of Andy's shots as posted elsewhere here (I notice that Andy keeps his ISO at 64, where the f828 doesn't make much noise in the image.)

So you don't think the Canon D30 is worth it to bid on? Crap, I laid a $400 bid. Guess I should hope to be out bid now.

Originally Posted by wxwax John, welcome aboard! You have a terrific camera. Andy, one of our moderators, has turned in some wonderful work using that camera. I don't know that you have to rush into buying a D30. Just my humble opinion. Here are some of Andy's shots as posted elsewhere here (I notice that Andy keeps his ISO at 64, where the f828 doesn't make much noise in the image.)

Those are some very nice photos! The 828 really shows life like colors! As soon as the weather permits, I'll make some new photos to post here.

Originally Posted by JohnC So you don't think the Canon D30 is worth it to bid on? Crap, I laid a $400 bid. Guess I should hope to be out bid now.

I hate to say it, but only you can decide that. The D30 will give you a lot of lens flexibility, the image probably won't be as noisy at higher ISO's, you'll have more exposure control than the f828 allows. Other stuff too, that I just don't know about.

For most uses, the f828 appears to be a ground-breaking camera. The biggest negative I've read of, is noisy images at higher ISO settings. But if you're computer comfortable, you can buy software like Noise Ninja to clean-up the images. I hear it works a treat. And the f828 makes a beautiful 8 megapixel image, has image stabilization, good zoom lens, and in the hands of an expert can make wonderful images. It's setting a new standard for prosumer cameras.

How are you planning to use the camera? Maybe that will help you decide what to do.

Oh, and by the way, I'm far from an expert. I'm parroting what I've read at a number of different sources. If you haven't already, check out this review to get a pro's impressions of the camera. And here's another really helpful professional review of the Sony.

Originally Posted by JohnC So you don't think the Canon D30 is worth it to bid on? Crap, I laid a $400 bid. Guess I should hope to be out bid now.

D30 is a fine camera. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canond30/

Canon really did made life difficult for themselves, they knew full well that they would be judged on success of the D30, they know how important the digital photography market has become and how a camera like the D30 could affect their reputation. An all Canon body, exposure system, electronics and imaging sensor plus the decision to use CMOS for the first time in a high resolution digital camera was a tough enough task, but to do all that at a price which would undercut the competition? Canon's engineers, designers and developers haven't let them down, the D30 WILL go down in history books as a very important camera, breaking a price barrier and opening up the digital SLR market (more so than Fujifilm's S1 Pro) to a new wave of users, both new and old. From the minute you pick up the D30 (it's amazing to think it's over 5 months since I first handled it) you get a feeling of quality you weren't expecting, so many times I've heard "oh, it feels better than I thought", sure it's not the "take on anything" Nikon D1 (nor was it promoted as such) but it's solid and very well built, cleverly thought out, intuitive controls make it easy for everything from point-and-shoot photography all the way to photo journalism. I have no doubt that we'll see professionals using the D30, despite this not being Canon's target market, the D30 really is that good. Lets talk about image quality, right from the first time I got to take samples home from a D30 shooting session (back in August) I was stunned and amazed at the purity of the images, they're so clean and smooth yet not lacking in detail, this grainless look goes well beyond film quality to a new arena of high quality "scene digitization" which captures every detail of the scene without any noise or stray artifacts. Colour rendition is very good as is pure resolution (as measured by our test charts). Operationally the camera is quick (at this price), no major quirks or "why did they put it there?", great battery life and support for the Microdrive means you'll be taking hundreds of images instead of worrying about how many rolls you have in the bag... The D30 is a very complete, very satisfying camera to use, and time after time you'll load up images and (straight out of the camera) be amazed... Isn't this what photography is all about? As you can see, I like the EOS-D30. A lot. Sure, there are things I'd like to see improved, the odd little niggle here and there, nothing that would change the photography experience itself. Value for money? Unbeatable (at the time of writing this review). I have no doubt that Canon will sell every single D30 they ever produce, the question is can they make enough of them? Highly Recommended

Originally Posted by JohnC Do I qualify to post here since I only have a Sony DSC F828?

Hi John, welcome to the forum. It's a fun place with lots of great information for newbies and everyone else. Don't be afraid to post lots of pictures, it's a great way to learn.

Lynn