posted
I'm looking into buying a digital camera for the business, and was wondering if any one has some suggestions on what kind to buy or certain features to make sure I make sure the camera has. I know it will be a great asset for my business but what are some ways that it has help your business? Thanks in advance!
-------------------- Inga Daniels Universal Design 2867 Iris Lane Hartland, Mi. 48353 unvrsldsign@aol.com Posts: 19 | From: Hartland, Michigan | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
You will have to buy what you can afford. The more you spend the better the camera. A decent camera can be had for under $200.
Advantages are no film. you can take pictures of all your sign work for your portfolio. You can take pictures of the customers building and superimpose your projected sign design onto the actual photo so the client can see what the finished job will look like.
You can take pictures of total strangers and have fun annoying them because they dont know who you are and why you are taking their picture.
And most of all they are fun instant gratification which is what we all want anyway.
-------------------- Bob Stephens Skywatch Signs Zephyrhills, FL
The features you get more or less depend on how much you want to spend. I would also suggest testing it at the store before you buy. You will have good luck with Adray in Dearborn or Troy or Camera Mart in Pontiac.
Marty
[ February 28, 2003, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Marty Engel ]
-------------------- Marty Engel Berkley, MI Hill Mountain Signworks LLC
marty@hillmountain.com 248-890-8265 Posts: 58 | From: Berkley, MI | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
I have an older Sony Mavaca 90 that is a 1.6 megapixel and it does "okay". I just purchased a Nikon Coolpix 5000 that is a 5.25 Megapixel and believe me, there is no comparison. The Nikon takes pictures that are unbelievable in sharpness. They can be blown up really large for digital printing on the Edge and still look great without any fuzziness. If you can spring for the price, I would definitely try for a 5 megapixel at least. One of the ways a digital camera has helped me is being able to shoot the front of a prospective customers business, put the photo in the computer and then design the sign to fit. Makes for one heck of a sales tool to be able to show the customer exactly how the new sign will look on the front of their shop. You'll find alot of other uses for the camera once you have it.
-------------------- Frisby Signs, Inc. El Dorado, Arkansas Posts: 902 | From: El Dorado, Arkansas, USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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There are a ton of digital cameras out there in every price range imaginable.
I talked to as many owners as I could and the site mentioned above is a great source of reviews.
I would kick tires at a couple of camera stores too as they generally are knowlegable.
After much research I bought a FUJI S602Z Pro. It was relatively compact, focused fast and had very good reviews. It wasn't at the very top end in terms of price by any means but it does everything I need from a digital camera & more.
It has replaced my conventional SLR camera, something my previous digital couldn't do.
So do your homework and then enjoy!
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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You might also try doing a search of past posts here. Click on the "search" tab above & you only have to go back as far as December 2002 to find a few good articles on the subject. Sorry if this seems rude but its not meant to be. A lot of good info was mentioned in them.
-------------------- Bill Cosharek Bill Cosharek Signs N.Huntingdon,Pa
bcosharek@juno.com Posts: 703 | From: N.Huntingdon, Pa, USA | Registered: Dec 1999
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i just bought a "kodak easy share" cx4200 2 megpix. for printing portfiolo pictures, email and web applications i have found it to be all that i need. also i bought an Epson stylus Photo 825 to print the pictures(4"x6" print) and this makes profesional quality print for my portfolio.
i have found that the quality of the paper is a also a key to printing your pictures. there are many to choose from.
if digital large format printing and high definition 8x10 are your disire, a 2 megpix camera is not for you. but the printer is awsome you should check into that...you can put the flash card right in the printer!
oh...i spent $300 on camera and printer...office depot.
chris
-------------------- "We have been making house calls since 1992"
Chris Lovelady Vital Signs
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS! Tallahassee, Florida Thomasville, Ga.
posted
I debated for the longest time whether I should buy a cheap camera for estimates or a good one. I got a Nikon 995 & I'm real happy with it. I've printed photos around 3'x2' without any editing or resampling or anything. I paid $400 something for it & around $600.00 total, with all the goodies (extra 128 meg cards & stuff) on ebay.
Good luck!
-------------------- Felix Marcano PuertoRicoSigns.Com Luquillo, PR
Work hard, party like a tourist! Posts: 2274 | From: Luquillo, Puerto Rico, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Here's my take on it. I have a 3.4 C-3000 Olympus, which is great. I don't take it with me everywhere, because someone else is going to think it is great too. In otherwords, I can't leave it in my truck... I'm going to buy a used camera to take shots with, that I can afford to loose, and one that I will just leave under the seat in my truck. It will be one that uses the same storage source so they will interchange. Snapshots of projects, really don't need over 1 megapixal at the most. The reason I choose used, is because their are a lot of much better used cameras out their for the same dollar as bad new ones. An Olympus D500, can probably be found for 100.00 on Ebay. Great Camera and nice zoom, and one that I owned for 3 years. Whatever you choose zoom is a must (optical). Good luck, Jack
-------------------- "Don't change horses in midstream, unless you spot one with longer legs" bronzeo oti Jack Davis 1410 Main St Joplin, MO 64801 www.imagemakerart.com jack@imagemakerart.com Posts: 1549 | From: Joplin, MO | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I bought my Digital Camera over 4 years ago, It's a kodak dc 260, at the time I paid over $1,300 for it, cause it was the best at the time, simply put. I can not begin to tell you how this camera has helped my business... from Taking photos of Customers Trucks, downloading them into GA 6.2, (Still Waiting for Omega to be able to do this) And then designing the graphics and lettering jobs on the actual vehicle is worth the price of Admission, you don't have to have an expensive camera to do even that. Then showing the Customer, a print of his or her vehicle, lettered is simply the best Marketing tool there is. Then when you go to do the job you have an exact print of the finished job for Guidance.
have used it for taking photos of Products, like bags of chips, Meals, soft drinks, My own Hands, you name it, For brochures for customers, and for digital printing on the Edge. All I can say is Buy one and you will not be dissapointed.
[ March 01, 2003, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: Neil D. Butler ]
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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I have a question that I thought I'd ask in your post if you don't mind.
Lots of megapixels translates into sharper pictures, which is good to digital printing and such, but doesn't that also make pix files that are just too large to use on the net or a web page? Do all cameras have a second setting for a lower resolution? I saw one that has a setting for email. If you only have a high pixel setting, can the pix be resampled to send electronically, without necessarily making the picture itself smaller?
I am also hunting the right camera, and hope some of these questions can help my decision. Several people have told me I'm better off with a camera that takes a regular size floppy disc. And what about batteries?...some must be better than others in that department....?
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Jeff I believe that most cameras today offer multiple image size settings. Mine will take photos from 640x480 pixels all the way up to 2304x1712.
Every user review I could find on this camera was 5 stars. The thing I love most about this camera is its size. I carry it everywhere with me. No need to leave it somewhere else and worry about losing it or having it stolen.
-------------------- Bob Stephens Skywatch Signs Zephyrhills, FL
posted
I just purchased an Olympus C-4000 4 Megapixel. The reviews were pretty good, has a lot of features found on more expensive cameras. It only comes with a 16 meg SmartMedia card so I picked up a 128 meg card to go with it. I guess I have no excuse for not getting my pic here with my name.
-------------------- Dan Vanderknaap Atlantic Autographics Scoudouc NB Posts: 43 | From: Moncton,New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Dec 1998
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posted
I take my pictures at the same resolution regardless of their final use. A good picture is a good picture and I don't want to limit its final use so I always take at fairly high resolution.
If it is to be used on the web I resize it and its resolution for that purpose. I use Adobe Photoshop which is the perfect program for this. Corel Photopaint would also be perfect as would a host of other photo manipulating programs.
Battery life varies with each camera greatly. THe site mentioned above in the first couple of posts has comparisons for each camera.
Batterylife, quickness of the camera, and low light capabilities, and quality of pictures were key factors in my choice of cameras.
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
For the graphical use, it's useful to have a camera that directly record the files in TIFF file format.
Many low cost models only saves in JPEG, meaning you loose quality for translations (JPEG is a compressed file format used to save space on the camera memory. TIFF is a professional file format that take more space in memory but is not modify). If your goal is to print some files, care of it. JPEG sky are for example commonly delivered with some bending.
A good sample (excepted perhaps the apparent fragility) are the Olympus C-320 model, which save in TIFF for a low price.
-------------------- Philippe JACQUES info@magisign.com
Take a look at our NCS MagiSign plug-in for Adobe Illustrator : Posts: 185 | From: Ottignies Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium | Registered: Mar 1999
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