little questions about my 1st new camera

manofwow · Jan 27, 2012

hi guys

am too new to this really

i was thinking alot why the hell i depend on my mobile camera that is really limited in options and still the quality not good.

i just made a little search and bought today finePix av250 and a 16GB SDHC

i didnt use it yet only in the store to try it

so my questions are:

is it good for a beginner like me or ....

and is it really worth buying?

my last question is :

i noticed that this camera can record video in HD 720p but with maximum time 9min i think also other modes have limit too.

and am pretty sure that the 16gb can hold a video much bigger than this.

so does this depend on the digital camera type or not?

because i read that the only way to get a camera records depending on memory size only are camcoders is that right?

Thanks in advance

UPDATED

while i was shooting a video when i expose the camera to light pink vertical lines appear while recording but the cam is fine,also the SDHC stopped working in it(card not initialized) i reformatted it in the pc and everything went fine.

i went to the store and told them that and told them to replace it but the problem is that it was the last fuji av250

So guess what

i got canon SX130

instead of it (and i saw the s2950 but it was not good while recording and zooming),
And got 4 energizer Nimh rechargeable batteries with their charger

.

Jeremy Z · Jan 27, 2012

Welcome! This camera, you will find, will take much better photos than your cell phone camera. Whether it is adequate for your needs or not depends on what you wish to accomplish.

It is capable of sharp images that will more than fill your computer screen, and will make very nice prints even up to about 16x20 if you have good lighting and good technique.

Compared to a cell phone the picture quality will be outstanding. Compared to a compact camera with a bigger sensor or a digital SLR camera, the image quality will still be lacking.

The main thing is to make sure you have enough light. Realize that the built-in flash is not going to provide very flattering lighting, so you should strive to do most of your shooting in good natural light conditions.

If this is not possible, get a tripod for static indoor shots, and deactivate the built-in flash.

The video limitation will also be removed if you buy a more expensive camera. The question is, do you NEED to take HD videos longer than 9 min.? I find that a little video clip here and there is usually better than a big, continuous video, in most cases.

What you should do is take some photos and videos with it and see if they meet your needs. Maybe post some of the photos in our Beginner's forum here if you want constructive criticism on how they might be made better. Be sure to preface them with "these were from a point & shoot camera" or else people either won't reply or will be VERY tough on you.

I guess it comes down to this: How serious are you about making good photographs? Videos? Are you just looking for good quality snapshots, or something that might be viewed as art? Are you having problem capturing fast action of far away subjects? No point & shoot camera will excel at that.

manofwow · Jan 27, 2012

OMG this is really alot of info.

First really thanks about this good info

so there is point and shoots camera that dont have time limit thats fine but i just took random vid

with normal setting and it is 2min,49sec and it was 590MB

i think that even if it exceeds(and it cant be in this model) the 9m the file system of the SDHC will make it stop cuz its fat32

-------------------
About what i want to do with it

look friend(if you dont mind to say it

)

i am interested in taking landscape view like water, clouds (mainly natural views) but that also with shooting with some friends the good moments

the most thing i ever ever wanted to shoot a views of the sky and detailed things (both images and videos) so i think that this camera will be fine at least for images?

I know i cant do everything i want with this camera(Unless i have DSLR or good Camcoder

) cuz u know if i want to shoot the sun i need a good optical zoom camera i think and this is only 3x So this cam will make fine vid and image without zooming .

Also i choosed this to begin with

sry if i talked too much but i really appreciate your reply

Thanks

manofwow · Jan 28, 2012

Hey jeremy

i have some good news

while i was shooting a video when i expose the camera to light pink vertical lines appear while recording but the cam is fine,also the SDHC stopped working in it(card not initialized) i reformatted it in the pc and everything went fine.

i went to the store and told them that and told them to replace it but the problem is that it was the last fuji av250

So guess what

i got canon SX130

instead of it (and i saw the s2950 but it was not good while recording and zooming),
And got 4 energizer Nimh rechargeable batteries with their charger

.

That's it

Thanks in advance ..

bazooka · Jan 28, 2012

You are correct that the file size is limited by FAT32 and not by the camera. You will find this same restriction on any camera that uses fat32 because file sizes can only be 4GB max.

manofwow · Jan 28, 2012

bazooka said:
You are correct that the file size is limited by FAT32 and not by the camera. You will find this same restriction on any camera that uses fat32 because file sizes can only be 4GB max.

I need to check the new one i get

the canon SX130 for supporting NTFS or not

do u have any idea about its FS (File System)?

Thanks

bazooka · Jan 28, 2012

Most cameras are Fat32. I actually don't know of any that are not, but admittedly I don't know many cameras. And keep in mind that most people do not shoot consecutively for more than a few minutes. Your average cut in an average movie is about 3 seconds.

Jeremy Z · Jan 28, 2012

Wow, you sure operate fast! The LCD looking strange when shooting in bright situations is normal with some cameras. The result is usually fine, it is just that it cannot display on the screen properly. I bet that Fuji was fine.

That Canon SX130 looks great though. It has a true wide angle, good amount of telephoto (336 mm equivalent!). Just make sure you brace the camera on something solid when you shoot at the full telephoto, even with the optical image stabilizer, it will struggle in anything but full sunlight.

It also looks nice because it offers manual control too, if you ever want to try it out. Then, you will know how your camera works. You'll see that all these fancy presets are just manipulating manual setting that photographers have known about for years.

The video capability looks great too. Canon's specs say it will shoot 20 min., 43 sec. in HD with a 4 GB card. Go to a 16 GB card, and it will jump to an hour and 24 minutes. I'm not sure if it can shoot it all in one video though. The thing to remember is that if you're not necessarily after the highest quality video, why bother with HD? As you noticed, it takes up a TON of storage. Whenever I shoot an HD video, I immediately either upload it to YouTube or burn it to a DVD, lest I fill up my hard drive QUICKLY.

If it's just an informal video, I just stick with 640x480 (VGA) video at 30 fps.

Also, if you really want to learn how to get the most of the camera, start with the manual. Then come here, we can help you out, buddy. Sometimes, you think there's something wrong with the camera, but there isn't. It might be a hardware or light limitation or er... "operator error."

For instance, any shot you shoot in a dark indoor environment with the on-camera flash is not going to be that flattering. It can't be helped, unless you put the camera on a tripod, turn off the flash, and tell your subjects to hold still. Zooming all the way out and turning up the ISO to 1600 will help a lot with motion blur, but the resulting image will be a little grainy.

Let's see some of your shots now! Host them on PhotoBucket or Flickr and post them up here!

analog.universe · Jan 28, 2012

Glad you made the switch! Canon > Fuji in that class of compact. Have fun with it :thumbup:

manofwow · Jan 28, 2012

analog.universe said:
Glad you made the switch! Canon > Fuji in that class of compact. Have fun with it :thumbup:

Thanks

manofwow · Jan 28, 2012

Jeremy Z said:
Welcome! This camera, you will find, will take much better photos than your cell phone camera. Whether it is adequate for your needs or not depends on what you wish to accomplish.

It is capable of sharp images that will more than fill your computer screen, and will make very nice prints even up to about 16x20 if you have good lighting and good technique.

Compared to a cell phone the picture quality will be outstanding. Compared to a compact camera with a bigger sensor or a digital SLR camera, the image quality will still be lacking.

The main thing is to make sure you have enough light. Realize that the built-in flash is not going to provide very flattering lighting, so you should strive to do most of your shooting in good natural light conditions.

If this is not possible, get a tripod for static indoor shots, and deactivate the built-in flash.

The video limitation will also be removed if you buy a more expensive camera. The question is, do you NEED to take HD videos longer than 9 min.? I find that a little video clip here and there is usually better than a big, continuous video, in most cases.

What you should do is take some photos and videos with it and see if they meet your needs. Maybe post some of the photos in our Beginner's forum here if you want constructive criticism on how they might be made better. Be sure to preface them with "these were from a point & shoot camera" or else people either won't reply or will be VERY tough on you.

I guess it comes down to this: How serious are you about making good photographs? Videos? Are you just looking for good quality snapshots, or something that might be viewed as art? Are you having problem capturing fast action of far away subjects? No point & shoot camera will excel at that.