begginer q's about digital cameras with wide angle

[ronitgla]

Hello,

I need to buy a camera that would help me take pictures of large furniture from a close distance. and in my budget range I found these two cameras

Lense 25-300mm. -
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ6 or


Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 or



lense 26-676mm - Olympus SP-590 UZ


Basically I would go for a panasonic only for the size and the great reviews, but if there is such a big difference in performance from the different size of their lenses, then I would go for the olympus as I need good photos.


Could someone give me a hint? I have no idea about lenses or how to pick a camera based on the wide angle needs....

Thank you !

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

You can check the stats of most digital cameras HERE

The angle of view is related to the focal length of the lens...shorter is wider. For these digital cameras, the way they list the lens view is to convert it to '35mm equivalent'. So when it says, "25-300mm" they mean that it's equivalent to 25-300mm on a 35mm (film) camera.

Now, since you want a wide angle view, you may want to look for a camera with a shorter focal length on the wide end of the zoom. 25-26mm is OK...but you may be able to find something wider.

Also, another alternative would be to get a wide angle adapter for whatever camera you choose. It's a lens that attaches to the front of the camera's lens and give it a wider view. The problem with these is that they hurt the image quality....so it's up to you to decide if the benefits are worth the loss.

 

[epp_b]

A 25mm or 26mm equivalent is a reasonably wide angle, but not ultra wide. For the same price, however, you can get a Nikon D40 (digital SLR) with a kit lens that goes pretty much just as wide.

I assume you'll be taking pictures indoors. With a point and shoot, you'll either get crappy lighting from the built-in flash or lots of noise in your photos.

 

[DScience]

Get the D40!

 

[Dwig]

A 25mm or 26mm equivalent is a reasonably wide angle, but not ultra wide. For the same price, however, you can get a Nikon D40 (digital SLR) with a kit lens that goes pretty much just as wide...

"Pretty much", "not quite", and "hard to compare"

The kit lens on the D40 is more like a 27-28mm equivalent at its wide end. A noticable bit less wide than the 25 and 26mm equival mentioned by the OP and the 24mm equivalent available on some other digicams (e.g. Panasonic LX-3) but the image aspect ratio of the D40 (2:3) is wider than many digicams though less so than the 16:9 found is some.

Comparing the FOV of the common digicam with that of a DSLR (other than m4/3 format) and 35mm film is somewhat difficult. The "ugly secret" that all camera manufactures hide with mentioning these focal length equivalents is that the image formats are not the same shape. Comparing angular coverage results in different equivalent FL's when comparing horizontal coverage, vertical coverage, and diagonal coverage. The industry standard is to compare diagonal coverage and to not mention the other two because is gets too confusing.

But confusing or not, it is important. A common digicam or m4/3 format DSLR with a 24mm equivalent wide angle and held horizontal photographing, say, a long sofa will have to shoot from about 10-15% greater distance than an APS-c format DSLR with a 24mm equivalent. Thats because the image shape of the common digicam and the m4/3 DSLR is squarer than the APS-c image. There are exceptions to this rule. The above mentioned Panasonic LX-3 and some others offer 2:3 aspect ration and/or 16:9 in addition to the common 4:5. APS-c "crop sensor" DSLRs and "full frame" DSLRs and SLRs shoot a 2:3 aspect ratio.

 

[epp_b]

The kit lens on the D40 is more like a 27-28mm equivalent at its wide end. A noticable bit less wide than the 25 and 26mm

The difference between 25mm and 27mm is only 7%. The D40, he will at least have the option for an ultrawide if it's necessary.

 

[Dwig]

The difference between 25mm and 27mm is only 7%. The D40, he will at least have the option for an ultrawide if it's necessary.

True, the FOV difference is small but there. The option for an ultrawide is also significant, but to take advantage of it you have to spend twice as much making it no longer a comparable purchase.

 

[ronitgla]

Thank you all for your suggestions !

most of the terms you used i did not understand sorry...

But what I could figure out is that the

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 has even a wider angle based on the images sizes on the 16:9 Aspect Ratio (is that the way I should be looking at the specs for the kind of pictures I want to take?)

so the 24mm lense takes wider pictures than the 25 / 26 mm lense?

sorry to sound so ignorant but I have never had specific needs if photography till now.

Thank you !