spotterjoe From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2010, 19 posts, RR: 0 Posted (11 months 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 3935 times:
Hi
I am looking to buy my first camera for plane spotting (up till now I have just been a rego taker) and have found a good price for a Fujifilm Finepix S2950. However i have a few questions about it:
The camera has 18x optical zoom. Is that good? All other enthusiasts seem to talk about zoom in mm (eg. 200mm lense) so what does 18x zoom translate into? Do I have to buy a seperate lense to stick on the front of it? Lastly, without meaning to be intrusive, what would you guys say is a good price to spend on a decent camera?
JakTrax From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2005, 4735 posts, RR: 8 Reply 1, posted (11 months 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 3923 times:
Hi,
What camera you need depends on what quality of photos you want to take and whether or not you see longevity in the hobby. Of course it's no good spending a couple of hundred pounds on something you find you outgrow fairly quickly, so it's always beneficial to look to the future. If you intend the hobby to be long-lasting, will a compact point-and-shoot give you the quality and control you need in, say, two years time?
It will no doubt be fine for starting out with, but perhaps it'd make more sense to spend that extra £50-£100 on a DSLR, which will allow your photography to grow?
18x optical zoom just means that the subject is magnified 18 times. Such super-zooms typically start at around the 24mm wide-angle 35mm equivalent and go through to over 400mm. Personally I don't trust lenses that have that great a power - jack of all trades, master of none syndrome I think.
Lastlly, the lens is built in, so you don't need any separate lens. But that's the lens you're stuck with.
Epten From Macedonia, joined Sep 2007, 139 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (11 months 23 hours ago) and read 3710 times:
That's not a good camera for plane spotting, except perhaps in rare ideal photo conditions. The optical zoom information is more-or-less meaningless without the corresponding F number which - in this case - I suspect is not so good. The sensor is probably super-noisy too.
My advice would be not to buy the camera, save some extra cash and buy ANY second-hand DSLR.
g38 From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 209 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (11 months 18 hours ago) and read 3682 times:
Get a DSLR. A point and shoot will work, but you pretty much have to limit yourself to static shots, and then only in perfect conditions. A DSLR will make your life much easier, and give youmuch greater versatility.
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