Will the Canon S30 take good product photos

HI Folks!

This is my first post although I have been to your board looking like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun. I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me? I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as .jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50 that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

for product shots i'd really recommed that you look into the G3... the S30 is fine for most shootings, but the problem is the flash... i've been very happy with the S30, but i don't think that it can take product pictures with that flash and make it look professional... if you don't want a G3, take a look at the G2 and a flash unit...

ronin100 said:

HI Folks!
This is my first post although I have been to your board looking
like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to
Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun.
I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme
closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics
and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but
not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of
collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of
our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and
they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very
nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they
were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me?
I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need
to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as
.jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I
really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50
that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

Click to expand...

Right. The S30 perhaps takes cleaner pics than any non-DSLR out there, but without the use of ext. flash, you may not get the results you want.

Code Monkey said:

ronin100 said:

HI Folks!
This is my first post although I have been to your board looking
like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to
Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun.
I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme
closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics
and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but
not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of
collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of
our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and
they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very
nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they
were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me?
I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need
to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as
.jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I
really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50
that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/agent2099

You don't really need more than a 1.3 megapixel camera for the items you want to do shots of. That's what this was taken with

http://www.passcal.nmt.edu/~bob/unlinked/basket.htm

Trouble is you can't find simple cameras like that anymore.

The trick is all in the lighting. For real cheap I use lights that you get at the hardware store that are just a socket with an on/off switch on the side that screws into an aluminium reflector. Then I use some light diffusion disks to keep the glare down. I've experimented with regular lamp bulbs, these new GE Reveal bulbs that are supposed to give less yellow light (I don't think they really work as well as they say they do), and those bluish grow lights. I also make use of the overhead florescent lights and try to shoot near a big widow with a southern exposure around midday if possible. It all depends on the effect that you are going for and the color of the stuff that you are taking pictures of. You just have to experiment and with digital it's easy.

Bob

Agent said:

Code Monkey said:

ronin100 said:

HI Folks!
This is my first post although I have been to your board looking
like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to
Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun.
I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme
closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics
and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but
not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of
collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of
our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and
they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very
nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they
were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me?
I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need
to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as
.jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I
really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50
that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/agent2099

Click to expand...

Hi Ronin,

I think the S30 would be more than adequate for your needs. Although some posters have mentioned the external flash issue, I don't think this should be a problem for two reasons:

First, if it turns out that you really need external flash, it can be done with an S30 using an adapter, and for less than buying the G3 that had been mentioned.

Secondly, if you are doing product shots, presumably you have complete environmental control. It's very easy, for example to set up a dual lighting system using nothing more than two flexible desk lamps arranged, generally speaking, on either side of your product. This and a tripod should eliminate the need for a flash.

Since you said your were going to be doing collectible dolls, I thought I'd post this pic of a small, (4-5 inches or so) figurine I had taken with my S30. Took a couple tries to get the depth of field I wanted, but I'm happy with the results. (Yes, I know it's not exactly a collectible.)

Best of luck in your decision.

Regards,
Brian

ronin100 said:

HI Folks!
This is my first post although I have been to your board looking
like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to
Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun.
I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme
closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics
and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but
not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of
collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of
our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and
they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very
nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they
were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me?
I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need
to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as
.jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I
really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50
that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Brian G. said:

Hi Ronin,

I think the S30 would be more than adequate for your needs.
Although some posters have mentioned the external flash issue, I
don't think this should be a problem for two reasons:

First, if it turns out that you really need external flash, it
can be done with an S30 using an adapter, and for less than buying
the G3 that had been mentioned.

Secondly, if you are doing product shots, presumably you have
complete environmental control. It's very easy, for example to set
up a dual lighting system using nothing more than two flexible desk
lamps arranged, generally speaking, on either side of your product.
This and a tripod should eliminate the need for a flash.

Since you said your were going to be doing collectible dolls, I
thought I'd post this pic of a small, (4-5 inches or so) figurine I
had taken with my S30. Took a couple tries to get the depth of
field I wanted, but I'm happy with the results. (Yes, I know it's
not exactly a collectible.)

Best of luck in your decision.

Regards,
Brian

Click to expand...

Brian G. said:

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

--
Ron

That is an amazing shot Brian! If I could, with some practice, duplicate that quality of product photos I would be an extremely happy camper! Thanks all!

ronin100 said:

ronin100 said:

Since you said your were going to be doing collectible dolls, I
thought I'd post this pic of a small, (4-5 inches or so) figurine I
had taken with my S30. Took a couple tries to get the depth of
field I wanted, but I'm happy with the results. (Yes, I know it's
not exactly a collectible.)

Best of luck in your decision.

Regards,
Brian

Click to expand...

ronin100 said:

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Brian

Those are very beautiful phots at your gallery!! Did you happen to use an S30 for any of them?

Hello Ronin,

Thank you for your kind words regarding my gallery. As a matter of fact, all of those shots were taken with my S30. =) The extremely close macros were taken with close-up diopters attached via an adapter. (Out-of-the-box, the S30 close focuses down to about 3.9 inches.) The figurine shot I posted for you, though, was taken with the camera straight as it comes, with no add ons.

I really love this camera, and can't recommend it highly enough. I bought mine as a Canon refurbished model from B&H in November for $318.00, and I have been been having more fun with this camera than with all the others I have ever owned combined. (not that I owned all that many...)

Thanks again for your compliment, and best of luck on your camera decision. Post back and let us know what you chose.

Regards,
Brian

ronin100 said:

ronin100 said:

ronin100 said:

Since you said your were going to be doing collectible dolls, I
thought I'd post this pic of a small, (4-5 inches or so) figurine I
had taken with my S30. Took a couple tries to get the depth of
field I wanted, but I'm happy with the results. (Yes, I know it's
not exactly a collectible.)

Best of luck in your decision.

Regards,
Brian

Click to expand...

ronin100 said:

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Brian
Those are very beautiful phots at your gallery!! Did you happen to
use an S30 for any of them?

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Brian G. said:

Brian G. said:

Brian
Those are very beautiful phots at your gallery!! Did you happen to
use an S30 for any of them?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Brian,

I just was admiring your pics as I just bought an S30 for my wife. I am not too proud to admit that when I saw the letter from your dad, I cried. I am begging to know if he made it home. Either way, I am sure you are quite proud of him! I know I am.
Dave

http://www.pbase.com/dgsmithmd
10D, S30
Sigma 15-30
Canon 24-85
Sigma 28, 1.8
Canon 50, 1.8
Canon 85 1.8
Canon 70-200 2.8L

Hello Dave,

Thank you for stopping by my gallery and having a look at my pictures. I am glad you enjoyed them. After reading your post I took a look at your galleries - very nice! Your family is lovely, and your pictures great. The smiles are infectious. So how are you liking that 10D? When I finally get myself out of grad school I think I'm buying myself one of those.

I am happy to tell you that my father did, in fact, make it home. He was an Army officer in the 11th Armored Calvalry, and had lost about a quarter of his men in battle in the jungles of Vietnam. He had earned multiple decorations for bravery, heroism and valor, including the Bronze Star. (I think the Silver Star also, but I do not recall, to be honest.) Based on what he's been through, he considers himself very lucky to have made it back alive.

And yes, we are quite proud of him.

I will forward your post to him, as I'm sure it will make him happy. Again, thanks for taking the time both to visit my gallery, and to write.

Incidentally, I see from your "name" you are an MD. I was wondering in what field do you specialize?

Regards,
Brian

DGSmithMD said:

Brian,
I just was admiring your pics as I just bought an S30 for my wife.
I am not too proud to admit that when I saw the letter from your
dad, I cried. I am begging to know if he made it home. Either
way, I am sure you are quite proud of him! I know I am.
Dave

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Brian G. said:

Thank you for stopping by my gallery and having a look at my
pictures. I am glad you enjoyed them. After reading your post I
took a look at your galleries - very nice! Your family is lovely,
and your pictures great. The smiles are infectious. So how
are you liking that 10D? When I finally get myself out of grad
school I think I'm buying myself one of those.

I am happy to tell you that my father did, in fact, make it home.
He was an Army officer in the 11th Armored Calvalry, and had lost
about a quarter of his men in battle in the jungles of Vietnam. He
had earned multiple decorations for bravery, heroism and valor,
including the Bronze Star. (I think the Silver Star also, but I do
not recall, to be honest.) Based on what he's been through, he
considers himself very lucky to have made it back alive.

And yes, we are quite proud of him.

I will forward your post to him, as I'm sure it will make him
happy. Again, thanks for taking the time both to visit my gallery,
and to write.

Incidentally, I see from your "name" you are an MD. I was
wondering in what field do you specialize?

Regards,
Brian

DGSmithMD said:

Brian,
I just was admiring your pics as I just bought an S30 for my wife.
I am not too proud to admit that when I saw the letter from your
dad, I cried. I am begging to know if he made it home. Either
way, I am sure you are quite proud of him! I know I am.
Dave

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

First of all, I'm glad your dad is alive and well. Thank you for your comments on my family, I truely am blessed.

I am a Cardiologist, but would rather be a photographer Doubt I could make much money at it though, so it will have to wait until my kids are grown. I love the 10D, even more than the D60. The pics are silky smooth, better autofocus, and more accurate colors than the D60. Some people like the more saturated color of the D60, but I prefer the 10D. I have to admit though that I am quite an amature and it is way more camera than what I need. But it is fun!
Dave

http://www.pbase.com/dgsmithmd
10D, S30
Sigma 15-30
Canon 24-85
Sigma 28, 1.8
Canon 50, 1.8
Canon 85 1.8
Canon 70-200 2.8L

DGSmithMD said:

Brian G. said:

Thank you for stopping by my gallery and having a look at my
pictures. I am glad you enjoyed them. After reading your post I
took a look at your galleries - very nice! Your family is lovely,
and your pictures great. The smiles are infectious. So how
are you liking that 10D? When I finally get myself out of grad
school I think I'm buying myself one of those.

I am happy to tell you that my father did, in fact, make it home.
He was an Army officer in the 11th Armored Calvalry, and had lost
about a quarter of his men in battle in the jungles of Vietnam. He
had earned multiple decorations for bravery, heroism and valor,
including the Bronze Star. (I think the Silver Star also, but I do
not recall, to be honest.) Based on what he's been through, he
considers himself very lucky to have made it back alive.

And yes, we are quite proud of him.

I will forward your post to him, as I'm sure it will make him
happy. Again, thanks for taking the time both to visit my gallery,
and to write.

Incidentally, I see from your "name" you are an MD. I was
wondering in what field do you specialize?

Regards,
Brian

DGSmithMD said:

Brian,
I just was admiring your pics as I just bought an S30 for my wife.
I am not too proud to admit that when I saw the letter from your
dad, I cried. I am begging to know if he made it home. Either
way, I am sure you are quite proud of him! I know I am.
Dave

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

First of all, I'm glad your dad is alive and well. Thank you for
your comments on my family, I truely am blessed.

I am a Cardiologist, but would rather be a photographer Doubt I
could make much money at it though, so it will have to wait until
my kids are grown. I love the 10D, even more than the D60. The
pics are silky smooth, better autofocus, and more accurate colors
than the D60. Some people like the more saturated color of the
D60, but I prefer the 10D. I have to admit though that I am quite
an amature and it is way more camera than what I need. But it is
fun!

Click to expand...

Having a 10D will not help "me" to take better pictures but the low noise high ISO alone is worth it. I may not get the 10D but am looking forward to the '20D'.

DGSmithMD said:

Dave

http://www.pbase.com/dgsmithmd
10D, S30
Sigma 15-30
Canon 24-85
Sigma 28, 1.8
Canon 50, 1.8
Canon 85 1.8
Canon 70-200 2.8L

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/domegolf2

Hi again Dave,

I can relate to your "but I'd rather be a photographer comment." I'm trying to finish up a PhD in Molecular Genetics/Micro, and I'm thinking I'd rather be a photographer also!

So you have the D60 as well? I have heard about the saturation "issue" regarding the 10D as compared to the D60. Is there really much difference in saturation between the two, or is it pretty subtle? Personally, I'd prefer accurate color also. If I want something else, I can always tweak in Photoshop. But I'd prefer the images to come out of the camera looking as close to how they actually were as possible.

Incidentally, (shameless plug for my gallery), I just posted another 14 or so images to my gallery in case you or anyone else would like to have a look. Feedback, both positive and negative, is always appreciated.

And speaking of galleries, please have your wife post some of her S30 shots. I see people posting their S45 (and now S50) shots all the time, but I would really like to see what others are doing with their S30s.

Thanks! Have a great evening.

Brian

DGSmithMD said:

First of all, I'm glad your dad is alive and well. Thank you for
your comments on my family, I truely am blessed.

I am a Cardiologist, but would rather be a photographer Doubt I
could make much money at it though, so it will have to wait until
my kids are grown. I love the 10D, even more than the D60. The
pics are silky smooth, better autofocus, and more accurate colors
than the D60. Some people like the more saturated color of the
D60, but I prefer the 10D. I have to admit though that I am quite
an amature and it is way more camera than what I need. But it is
fun!
Dave

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Brian G. said:

I can relate to your "but I'd rather be a photographer comment."
I'm trying to finish up a PhD in Molecular Genetics/Micro, and I'm
thinking I'd rather be a photographer also!

So you have the D60 as well? I have heard about the saturation
"issue" regarding the 10D as compared to the D60. Is there really
much difference in saturation between the two, or is it pretty
subtle? Personally, I'd prefer accurate color also. If I want
something else, I can always tweak in Photoshop. But I'd prefer
the images to come out of the camera looking as close to how they
actually were as possible.

Incidentally, (shameless plug for my gallery), I just posted
another 14 or so images to my gallery in case you or anyone else
would like to have a look. Feedback, both positive and negative,
is always appreciated.

And speaking of galleries, please have your wife post some of her
S30 shots. I see people posting their S45 (and now S50) shots all
the time, but I would really like to see what others are doing with
their S30s.

Thanks! Have a great evening.

Brian

DGSmithMD said:

First of all, I'm glad your dad is alive and well. Thank you for
your comments on my family, I truely am blessed.

I am a Cardiologist, but would rather be a photographer Doubt I
could make much money at it though, so it will have to wait until
my kids are grown. I love the 10D, even more than the D60. The
pics are silky smooth, better autofocus, and more accurate colors
than the D60. Some people like the more saturated color of the
D60, but I prefer the 10D. I have to admit though that I am quite
an amature and it is way more camera than what I need. But it is
fun!
Dave

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

--

I was wondering what I should purchase along with the S30? Neccessities like an extra battery and ??? Thank you all for your input! I would like to order today. I found one for $349 but don't know what I'll need. I want to load them into & edit if needed on my Dell PC Win 98 then load jpgs to my website. Thanks for helping a newbie, I love this forum and everyone's help!!!
Ron

For photo editing I use a shareware program ($25) called PolyView (www.polybytes.com). It's real quick and easy, but still does a lot. I originally bought it about 4 years ago because it ran quite quickly on my old 150MHz laptop. It runs real well at 2GHz.

Bob

ronin100 said:

Brian G. said:

I can relate to your "but I'd rather be a photographer comment."
I'm trying to finish up a PhD in Molecular Genetics/Micro, and I'm
thinking I'd rather be a photographer also!

So you have the D60 as well? I have heard about the saturation
"issue" regarding the 10D as compared to the D60. Is there really
much difference in saturation between the two, or is it pretty
subtle? Personally, I'd prefer accurate color also. If I want
something else, I can always tweak in Photoshop. But I'd prefer
the images to come out of the camera looking as close to how they
actually were as possible.

Incidentally, (shameless plug for my gallery), I just posted
another 14 or so images to my gallery in case you or anyone else
would like to have a look. Feedback, both positive and negative,
is always appreciated.

And speaking of galleries, please have your wife post some of her
S30 shots. I see people posting their S45 (and now S50) shots all
the time, but I would really like to see what others are doing with
their S30s.

Thanks! Have a great evening.

Brian

DGSmithMD said:

First of all, I'm glad your dad is alive and well. Thank you for
your comments on my family, I truely am blessed.

I am a Cardiologist, but would rather be a photographer Doubt I
could make much money at it though, so it will have to wait until
my kids are grown. I love the 10D, even more than the D60. The
pics are silky smooth, better autofocus, and more accurate colors
than the D60. Some people like the more saturated color of the
D60, but I prefer the 10D. I have to admit though that I am quite
an amature and it is way more camera than what I need. But it is
fun!
Dave

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

Click to expand...

--
I was wondering what I should purchase along with the S30?
Neccessities like an extra battery and ??? Thank you all for your
input! I would like to order today. I found one for $349 but
don't know what I'll need. I want to load them into & edit if
needed on my Dell PC Win 98 then load jpgs to my website. Thanks
for helping a newbie, I love this forum and everyone's help!!!
Ron

Click to expand...

Here in Toronto many stores are right now selling S50 and G2 (not G3) for exactly the same price, in which case the G2 is a better deal, I think.

James

ronin100 said:

HI Folks!
This is my first post although I have been to your board looking
like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to
Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun.
I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme
closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics
and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but
not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of
collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of
our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and
they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very
nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they
were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me?
I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need
to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as
.jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I
really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50
that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

Click to expand...

--
Canon PowerShot S3O and Olympus Camedia C-5O5O
http://jjin.instantlogic.com

Hi Ron,

I would definitely suggest getting an extra battery. They can be found on Ebay brand new for as little as $9-12.00. One company I've dealt with before and have had a postive experience with is called Eforcetrading. If you go to their website, they charge around $22.00 for the battery you need, but if you go to their Ebay store, the price is around the $12.00 I mentioned. The battery you need is called the NB-2L.

I'd also strongly recommend picking up a larger capacity compact flash card. I get by using a pair of 128meg cards. These will hold around 49 images each when shooting uncompressed Raw files. But how many images you'll get depends primarily on the size and compression level of your files. For example, that same 128 meg card will hold something like 1300 of the smalest, most compressed jpegs. Prices for compact flash have dropped tremendously in the last year, so you should be able to pick up what you need for not too much money.

If you want to get really creative, you can pick up an adapter made by CKC that will allow you to use any lenses or filters that have a 37mm thread. (Step up rings are also available to allow you to use larger ones.)
Write back if you want any more info.

Disclaimer- I have no connection to the companies I have mentioned in this post other than that I have dealt with them and had a positive experience.

Regards,
Brian

ronin100 said:

I was wondering what I should purchase along with the S30?
Neccessities like an extra battery and ??? Thank you all for your
input! I would like to order today. I found one for $349 but
don't know what I'll need. I want to load them into & edit if
needed on my Dell PC Win 98 then load jpgs to my website. Thanks
for helping a newbie, I love this forum and everyone's help!!!
Ron

Click to expand...

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm

James with C-5050 said:

James

ronin100 said:

HI Folks!
This is my first post although I have been to your board looking
like a kid in a candy shop for quite a while. I am newbie to
Digital but am a good 35mm point & shoot amateur just for fun.
I've used my old Olympus 35mm zoom w/auto-focus for extreme
closeups and for delayed timer stuff on a tripod for family pics
and can read and understand a limited amount of techie stuff but
not too much please! I have a need for some product shots of
collectible dolls, teddy bears and other similar items for one of
our new websites. I have read some posts on a different forum and
they all agreed that the Canon S30 was inexpensive and took very
nice product shots. I saw samples and they were excellent but they
were close-ups of small jewelry items. Will this work out for me?
I learn well but really don't want "major headaches" editing (need
to be able to work with them on pc) and load them to my site as
.jpg or .gif files. Please advise, all comments welcome and I
really don't want to spend the dough for a G3 or was it the S50
that Gateway messed up the other day wow what a deal!
--
Ron

Click to expand...

--
Canon PowerShot S3O and Olympus Camedia C-5O5O
http://jjin.instantlogic.com

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Hi Again!

I guess I'm a tireless researcher (that's half the fun) and I have come up with some great prices on a G3. One website had them for $549 + 27 shipping. A yahoo store with no domain name has them for $508 29 shipping. That's only $200 and $150 more respectively than the S30 which won't budge in price. I am considering the longer battery life and larger CF size and goodies that come with the G3 also. It will take better product shots than the S30 right? I figure I won't have to buy an extra battery right off also. I also wondered why people are paying more on eBay auctions for the S series and the G3 than I can find them on the net by searching all over. Plus they're paying WAY excessive shipping and the auctioneers (unless actual businesses) are not accepting any form of credit card other than options that send them cash and remove them from the loop of credit card protection if a problem arises. I just can't understand it. I saw people buying G3's for $100 & more than what these websites have them for?? That's not a deal? But the business at hand is that I like the S30 a lot and love it's it's size but the G3 looks really cool for an extra 150-200 dollars. Can I use it or is the learning curve to steep?

Stupid Question: When a CF Card is full does it download and re-use or throw away?...I know, I know
--
Ron

No no. CF cards are just like a floppy disk, except much larger capacity. If you have a Windows computer and a CF card reader, for example, the CF card shows up as a (removable) disk drive. You can just drag and drop the files/folders on the card on to your computer. Then you put the card back into the camera and erase the pictures or reformat the card with the camera. You're then good to go again. You don't have to wait until the card is full to download the pictures.

ronin100 said:

Stupid Question: When a CF Card is full does it download and re-use
or throw away?...I know, I know
--
Ron

Click to expand...

ronin100 said:

Hi Again!
I guess I'm a tireless researcher (that's half the fun) and I have
come up with some great prices on a G3. One website had them for
$549 + 27 shipping. A yahoo store with no domain name has them for
$508 29 shipping. That's only $200 and $150 more respectively than
the S30 which won't budge in price. I am considering the longer
battery life and larger CF size and goodies that come with the G3
also. It will take better product shots than the S30 right?

Click to expand...

Hi again Ron- I would be very wary of internet deals that sound too good to be true, especially with digital cameras. Check out resellerratings.com and similar sites to see how others feel about the companies from which you're thinking of buying.

As for the G3 taking better shots than the S30, I would argue that it probably would not, in your case. As I think about the two cameras, the main benefit of a camera like the G3 as compared to the S30 is that it will be able to get you a shot under a wider range of circumstances, due to things like a slightly faster lens, supposedly better autofocusing, having an extra megapixel to allow more cropping but still produce quality prints, etc. But as I had mentioned in an earlier post to you, if you are doing product shots, you should have complete environmental control, obviating the need for such improvements. And it should also be mentioned that the S30 is considered the lowest-noise consumer camera on the market by many. Now having said all that, I still think the G3 is an excellent camera, and if the price difference really is not much and pocketability is not an issue, I might buy that one.

ronin100 said:

Stupid Question: When a CF Card is full does it download and re-use
or throw away?...I know, I know

Click to expand...

Nope, you just delete the images off the card and re-use. Gottas love recycling!

Regards,
Brian

--
Brian
Gallery: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/spiritmist/My%20Web%20Gallery/index.htm