Best camera choice ~<$500 - page 2 - General Chat - CHDK Forum
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Best camera choice ~<$500

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Offline shaltzman

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #10 on: 02 / December / 2009, 12:23:35 »
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Hello
these days, my powershot a590is finish his life because of the shutter button who stays in half position most part of time...It's not a problem with chdk...let's buy another "cheap" camera...!!!
I don't know which camera i have to choose, there's always a little bad things:
after a lot of searchings, 3 different cameras seems to be the best but:

-sx200 have the flash who goes out everytime (isn't it?) and i think it's not good, not robust. (but it's the only bad thing i see)
-s90 isn't  yet running with chdk...do you think it's coming soon (i don't know all the difficulties for that...is it sure that one day you find the chdk update???) (how can i help to create chdk on it if i buy one, without code experience?)
-a2100 isn't yet running with chdk (same pb that s90)
(-d10 could be fun too, waterproof...)

I'm sorry if these questions are trivial...but it's difficult to know for a newbie how you work guys to make a chdk firmware?
thx for your precious time spent
chdkly yours

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Offline reyalp

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #11 on: 02 / December / 2009, 17:25:18 »
Quote from: shaltzman on 02 / December / 2009, 12:23:35
I'm sorry if these questions are trivial...but it's difficult to know for a newbie how you work guys to make a chdk firmware?
thx for your precious time spent
chdkly yours
See http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#Q._My_camera_isn.27t_ported_yet._Is_a_port_planned_.3F_When_will_it_be_ready_.3F_How_can_I_help_.3F
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Offline rastetter

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #12 on: 02 / December / 2009, 23:50:23 »
From the options you have given me, and some other considerations I think I narrowed my options down (for now at least)

DSLR: I've decided they are too big, too bulky, too expensive, and have too many features I probably wont use.

SX10IS - Seems like my top pick for now. 10MP, 20x zoom, the right size, and CHDK works
SX20IS - I dont think CHDK works on this. but its the same as the sx10 but, 12.1MP, with 720p video, and its more $$
G9 - CHDK, 12.1MP, HDvideo, just not wide angle, and only 6X zoom.

The other SX series I elimated because of no viewfinder, or other things missing that the SX10 had... and the SX1 is just the SX10 with HD video... which seems like a waste for the price increase

So my questions for myself

Do I care about 20x Zoom?
My sd800 only has 3.8x zoom, I use it, but I imagine with 20x zoom you'd need a steady tripod to get a crisp shot. Any other problems with 20x zoom? cause it seems a bit excessive, but would be a neat feature to have

Do I care about HD video?
Also a neat feature to have... but its no deciding factor here. Most of my videos are just shenanigans, I'd much rather prefer higher frame rates for awesome slo-mos of [admin: avoid swearing please] blowing up. I also am ticked off by the fact that my low res videos take up a rediculous amount of space for there length, and Don't have the motivation to convert them to another format.

Wide angle?
I bought the sd800 over the sd850(i think), because my uncle suggested I look for something with wide angle. Any downsides to 28mm vs 35mm?

MegaPixels?
10.0, or 12.1... does 2.1 make THAT much of a difference? I assume yeah it does. My friends sd980? has ~14.4 pixels, and the detail it picks up upon zooming is pretty spectacular.

CHDK?
Yea I would probably miss messing around with HDR, 64 second night sky exposures, I've been meaning to attempt some lengthy timelapes. And theres a bunch of features I havent even touched yet.

So any input to help me to decide here would be appreciated. OR any other options to further complicate my decision would also be appreciated lol.

Thanks again,
Rastetter
« Last Edit: 02 / December / 2009, 23:53:25 by rastetter »
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Offline reyalp

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #13 on: 03 / December / 2009, 00:08:24 »
SX20 CHDK is not finished yet, but there is progress being made, including working builds http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,4348.255.html so there is a pretty good chance there will be a full version eventually.
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Offline Etilord

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #14 on: 03 / December / 2009, 02:18:03 »
To me it seems like you kind of already know the answers to everything you're asking.

BTW, I just found out that some very very lengthy timelapses are possible with the XSi. You can do intervalometer with canon's software + laptop, and you can hook your camera up with a power adapter. You need AC power I guess, but this means weeklong timelapses are possible, like a plant growing.

You really can't get EVERYTHING in one camera. It seems to me like you're trying to balance portability, cost, quality, video, and CHDK.

The way I see it is that I still have my SD870 when I want portability, video, or CHDK. And I'll have my XSi when I want quality, more control, speed, etc.

To me 28mm feels more natural than 35mm, especially indoors with people in the picture.

I never missed a viewfinder on the SD870.

Megapixels: look into if that particular sensor is noisy or not, a 10 Megapixel sensor can be better than a 12 megapixel if that sensor is noisier.

Hang on to CHDK if you can. You have no idea how frequently I visit the DSLR CHDK development part of the forum.....
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Offline yvesson

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #15 on: 03 / December / 2009, 05:42:37 »
Quote from: mattkime on 29 / November / 2009, 14:39:48
reyalp - what is the best camera, optics wise, supported by chdk? is it the G9?

Hej,
It is very hard to tell.
SX10 IS and others with the same optics have a brilliant x20 zoom, but x20 means it can't be as good as a good x4 or such.

So prolly the G's have the best optics, so G9 is surely one of the best, especially because it doesn't have a wide angle, which are harder to make for smaller sensors.
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Offline rastetter

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #16 on: 03 / December / 2009, 10:24:35 »
Thanks again everyone. Yeah It seems like I do know the answers to most of my questions, but just need a lllitttlee bit more to decide.

Gonna compare photo quality and try to find a g9 and a SX10 at a store. So I can check out the zoom, compare build quality/comfort, compare wide angle to regular, etc..
I would really miss chdk, so if its going to be months till the SX20 has it, forget that.

viewfinder is something I may have to reconsider... I THINK I use it from time to time when its hard to see the LCD, or when I'm saving battery life. but it feels kinda unnatural

« Last Edit: 03 / December / 2009, 17:09:45 by rastetter »
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Offline NewbieToobie

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #17 on: 04 / December / 2009, 08:15:49 »
For anyone that automatically thinks a DSLR will always be better than a CHDK camera, they need to read these pages.

SX10's 20x zoom has higher image quality and resolution than a 3x DSLR zoom lens
Canon G10 goes head to head with a medium format Hasselblad H2 on high-quality 13"x19" prints.
Canon G9 and G11 beats the new Canon 7D

The idea that a P&S camera is somehow automatically the lesser camera no longer holds true.

« Last Edit: 04 / December / 2009, 08:22:27 by NewbieToobie »
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Offline barret

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #18 on: 10 / December / 2009, 02:57:04 »
Quote
For anyone that automatically thinks a DSLR will always be better than a CHDK camera, they need to read these pages.

SX10's 20x zoom has higher image quality and resolution than a 3x DSLR zoom lens
Canon G10 goes head to head with a medium format Hasselblad H2 on high-quality 13"x19" prints.
Canon G9 and G11 beats the new Canon 7D
thanks for the info... i knew PS cameras were not so bad, but better than DSLR? wow.

anyway, as for the zoom question, yeah 20x zoom is fun. 4x or 6x is not. so, if you plan for example to shoot some moon pics without having to assemle some telescope setup - go for zoom. i have s3 with 12x zoom, and it's really useful. 20x would be even better.
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Offline rastetter

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Re: Best camera choice ~<$500
« Reply #19 on: 30 / January / 2010, 15:52:28 »
I decided to go with the SX200, I love it so far, no complaints. Its a little bad in low light conditions, but what camera isnt. I dunno how to compare it lol.

I love the 12X zoom, and I love how oversized the lens looks... how the **** does it fit in there? It amazes everyone I show lol. Takes great pictures, except zoomed in, w/e noise filter they use makes a kind of blurry appearance. I gotta play around with RAW, after learning more about it. I like AV and TV priority modes, full manual mode, and manual focus. My SD800 didnt have any of that.

Its well built, I dislike the flash popping up all the time, but thats no biggy... apparently that made some people very angry. Also I have 3 batteries and 2 chargers now.

I asked this in another topic, is taking long long timelapses bad for the CCD? I used my old camera for a NY to FL timelapse (in the making now), and it handled it perfectly 10,400 pics. Surely at 200,000 total pics theres gotta be some degradation no? (prob Nothing my untrained eyes would notice though. )
Plus mechanical wear and tear, but I would minimize that by using full manual mode.
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