Which camera?

[icklebush]

Do compact cameras have depth of field? If so, which is the better one to buy? Ideally to take close ups (not flowers!).

Would appreciate any useful advise.

Thanks.

[Loz]

I've not done serious photography since school, but IIRC you can only control depth of field if you can control the aperture, which is beyond most compact cameras.

[maxxi]

I have a basic Samsung compact which has a macro and super macro feature which most compacts have - looks like this-

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ8eoCTh7lYMcsXHSbz8WLmOY5j4mhQbW5N8EE3U8aagQdBQFQa

the super macro being same icon with a circle around it These settings enable close up shots - even of flowers.

[mockney piers]

My Olympus EP-1 has aperture control and a passable DOF, it's macro mode is actually pretty good.

It's an older model around ?250-300 so you may have to hunt around as the new EP-3 is over seven hundred quid!!

[womanofdulwich]

i think my cannon lexus has this it is a small compact and i think about ?150.

[Annette Curtain]

icklebush Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Do compact cameras have depth of field? If so,

> which is the better one to buy? Ideally to take

> close ups (not flowers!).

>

> Would appreciate any useful advise.

>

> Thanks.

Well not generally in the usual mechanical sense. However, they do have a range of pre-settings, like landscape, portrait, macro etc.

I've had a S20 Pro Fuji FinePix for years & literally shot/used it to death ( 12,000 + images ).It's been an absolutely brilliant piece of kit in all its modes & i'm getting it repaired for very little. I've used it professionally in my work & as a general all round camera. ( I studied textiles and printmaking & photography was a large part of that )

I think the best thing to do is buy a camera that feels right for you at the right price. I've met people who go out and spend an absolute fortune on a top of the range Nikon and are petrified of taking the thing out anywhere. A camera is an image making tool & it needs to work for you. Don't get swept up on all the gee-gaaws only to never use or understand them.

The technology has also developed at such a pace that even the less expensive cameras like this Fuji have features and resolution ( 16 mega pixels...wow ) that were very expensive or not even possible until recently.

Finally it's worth setting up a project with your new camera and working through the instruction manual feature-by-feature. It's only then will the camera feel dead right to use.

Have fun though & show us the results when you get some.

Nette(tu)