Sony F828 ?

[AnthonyB]

I just have a question about my camera, i have seen lenses i can get for it online but its not really an slr ,and its only 8mp but it takes a decent picture. im mainly looking for a good macro lens and some more zoom.
Theres not many options only a 2.5x telephoto, im definitly not a pro so please keep the big words to a minimum if possible lol.

and beceause all threads should have a few pics

 

[MrBarney]

The first two are really nice photos. I'm not so struck on the last two.

I've had a quick google and the F828 is a "super zoom" or bridge camera. Therefore I assume you are looking at something like these: Raynox conversion lens and accessories for SONY DSC-F828 Digital Camera

Obviously it's up to you, but the price of each lens seems to be about £170. That's a lot of money for lenses for a 6 year old camera which you then can't use on anything else if you upgrade in future. For the cost of a macro and telephoto for the F828, you could get a Nikon D3000 with kit lens (3x zoom) if you wanted to go the DSLR route, or if you wanted to stick with the bridge camera format, you could have a Canon SX10 (20x zoom) or a Panasonic FZ28 (18x zoom).

 

[Big Mike]

The lens of your camera is built in and can not be changed. So when you see all these people on the forums, talking about lenses, they are probably talking about interchangeable lenses & cameras.

As you have found, there are few 'lens' accessories for your camera....because, really...all you can do is stick something on the front of the built-in lens. So you can add a wide angle adapter, or a 'telephoto' adapter, but it's very likely that they will hurt the image quality a fair amount.

You can, however, add 'filters'...something like a circular polarizer.

I'd guess that your camera already has a Macro mode, which is likely 'better' than what you could do with an actual DSLR & kit lens. That is one thing that digi-cams do well.

 

[tirediron]

#1 & 2 have potential - they're rather under-exposed, but with a little extra light (Reflectors, and lighting are something that you can play with that will make a HUGE improvement to your photos and don't have to be dependant on the camera). As Mike said, you're limited in accessories, BUT that doesn't mean you're limited in what you can do. That 8mp camera is still many, many times more sophisticated than anything Ansel Adams or O. Winston Link may have used... A skilled photographer can take a good photo with any camera. A hack couldn't take a good photo with all the gear in the world.

Keep practicing!

 

[AnthonyB]

Thanks for the feedback, i found a kit on ebay thats about as goos as ebay quality gets but its a 3pc macro lens, 3x tele, and filter kt for about 150 to my door,idont really want to pick up a new cam yet, as im still tring to figure out if i want to go the hard core dslr route, or just mess around with the simpler versions lol, if i do pick up a new cam it will be one i can get a good underwater housing

as for the cam itself, it only has 7x which doesnt help you much with wildlife, which is mainly what i shoot, and the macro i find on this cam isn't as good as my old cybershot 5mp lol, it has a pretty bad focus range,
im not sure how much those lenses will help me but im definitly going to pick up the filter kit, but for less then 150 for all of it i think i'l give it a shot
im still trying to compltley understand the whole lens measurment thing, 58mm and then theres stuff like 150-200mm, im probly just being really dumb lol but if theres any good reading you guys know of let me know

as for the pics i dont have many on this computer so i dont have many options i can show you, i know its a bit dark but its about as good as i cant seem to get the macro to focus on small things, it can pick up great detail on large items

 

[MrBarney]

Thanks for the feedback, i found a kit on ebay thats about as goos as ebay quality gets but its a 3pc macro lens, 3x tele, and filter kt for about 150 to my door,idont really want to pick up a new cam yet, as im still tring to figure out if i want to go the hard core dslr route, or just mess around with the simpler versions lol,

That's understandable. I went through a similar process just a few months ago and ended up going the DSLR route. I suspect that cheap lenses are going to produce poor results. I hope I'm wrong, so fingers crossed for you.

if i do pick up a new cam it will be one i can get a good underwater housing

Swimming or scuba diving? I've done a lot of research on this too and I ended up with *two* cameras. I have the DSLR mentioned, plus a Canon "point-and-shoot" with underwater housing for when I dive.

Here's why: most super-zooms are incompatible with underwater housings because of the distance that the lens extends, so housings are hard to find. You don't want zoom underwater anyway as you want as little water between you and the subject. DSLR housings are great, but are big money - £1500 upwards - and I didn't fancy risking my expensive camera anyway. The little Canon and housing combined came to under £400. Yes, it can be a bit slow to respond sometimes, but it's not a chore to take underwater as it fits in a pocket, the white-balance adjustment is excellent, and I even have a cheap underwater strobe I picked up on eBay. And if the worst happens, it's nowhere near as expensive to replace.

as for the cam itself, it only has 7x which doesnt help you much with wildlife, which is mainly what i shoot, and the macro i find on this cam isn't as good as my old cybershot 5mp lol, it has a pretty bad focus range,
im not sure how much those lenses will help me but im definitly going to pick up the filter kit, but for less then 150 for all of it i think i'l give it a shot
im still trying to compltley understand the whole lens measurment thing, 58mm and then theres stuff like 150-200mm, im probly just being really dumb lol but if theres any good reading you guys know of let me know

There's lots of information in the tutorial thread at the top of this forum. To answer your specific question, the "mm" measurement is called the focal length. A "normal" lens of fixed focal length will only have one "mm" value whereas a zoom lens can vary it's focal length and will show a minimum and maximum value in mm. To keep it short I won't explain why, but you want to compare cameras "35mm equivilent" focal length rather than their actual focal length. This will ensure you "see" roughly the same amount through the viewfinder on any camera.

Google gave me this page too, which might help: Focal Length and Aperture Explained for the Photography Novice

as for the pics i dont have many on this computer so i dont have many options i can show you, i know its a bit dark but its about as good as i cant seem to get the macro to focus on small things, it can pick up great detail on large items

I can see two problems here. The settings you used are:
aperture: f/2
shutter: 1/5
iso: 64

The photo looks blurred because the shutter was too slow to hold the camera steady while the photo was being taken. The camera still didn't really get enough light as you mentioned the photo was dark. Your aperture was as wide as your camera goes, so that leaves the iso. Bring it up to about iso400 and have another go. There is a downside to increasing the iso but it's better than dark and blurry Don't forget to set it back.

The alternative would be to bring your own light, either by reflecting some sunlight using a white card, using flash or daylight coloured bulbs.

Some more bad news - I suspect that a macro attachment will reduce the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor, making this problem worse. What it will do is increase the magnification.

 

[floatswitch]

i think imo #3 would benefit a bit from some cropping and possibly turn it b&w.

 

[AnthonyB]

thanks again guys, i know i could of saved alot of those ?'s by just googleing but i dont put to much trust in the random net stuff lol

as for the underwater housing im trying to find a good scuba school around here, i havent took any pictures underwater as of yet but ive done my share of exploring random freshwater ponds lol. i will probly pick up a cheaper poing and shoot for it first, the whole underwater shooting is mainly just something i want to try

the only pictures i edited where the 1st and 2nd,my desktop has a few issues so im useing the fairly slow laptop,photoshop is pretty much impossible lol
it was pretty dark when i took the macro pic to which doesnt help either lol, ive been thinking about getting an external flash, you cant use the flash on the camera with anything close beceause its set back to far and low on the camera and you get a huge shadow

 

[MrBarney]

as for the underwater housing im trying to find a good scuba school around here, i havent took any pictures underwater as of yet but ive done my share of exploring random freshwater ponds lol. i will probly pick up a cheaper poing and shoot for it first, the whole underwater shooting is mainly just something i want to try

It's surprisingly different to land photography. The principles are the same, but you have all the extra things to worry about like buoyancy, colour shifts, poor visibility, operating a camera that now resembles a childs toy while wearing thick gloves, and so on. Carrying around a huge piece of camera equipment can be a real drag, in more ways than one!

This site has good information on how to start with underwater photos: Cameras Underwater Info Homepage.

it was pretty dark when i took the macro pic to which doesnt help either lol, ive been thinking about getting an external flash, you cant use the flash on the camera with anything close beceause its set back to far and low on the camera and you get a huge shadow

With stationary objects, like flowers, it's probably easier to come back when the light is better. You could try using a piece of white card to bounce some of the flash back down. It might not work, but it might be a cheap solution.