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Model Forum / General / Rockets / November 2004Digital camera for launch photos?
I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays coming up I was hoping for suggestions from you all about a decent digital camera to go on my "wish list." Anyone care to recommend a camera with quick reaction time? Consumer Reports had a couple of 4 Mpixel cameras with nice (i.e. 10x) optical zoom. The Kodak DX6490, Olympus C-765, and C-770 scored well. These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't find any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture...  SignatureWill Marchant, NAR 13356, Tripoli 10125 kc6rol@amsat.org http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/will/ I have an olympus 2020 which also has a slow reaction time... BUT... if yours is like mine, you can push the button down half-way, and it sets the focus and aperture, and you hold it there (the green light will be lit). Then, when you push it the rest of the way, it takes the picture instantly. -- David > I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is > absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't find > any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture... > I have an olympus 2020 which also has a slow reaction time... BUT... > > if yours is like mine, you can push the button down half-way, and it sets > the focus and aperture, and you hold it there (the green light will be lit). > Then, when you push it the rest of the way, it takes the picture instantly. Alas, the consumer market defines "instantly" as in 2-5 tenths of a second instead of 2-5 seconds. Not good enough for liftoff shots. Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle: http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org "To enslave men, successfully and safely, it is necessary to have their minds occupied with thoughts and aspirations short of the liberty of which they are deprived. A certain degree of attainable good must be kept before them." Frederick Douglas, "My Bondage and My Freedom," 1855 >I have an olympus 2020 which also has a slow reaction time... BUT... > >if yours is like mine, you can push the button down half-way, and it sets >the focus and aperture, and you hold it there (the green light will be lit). >Then, when you push it the rest of the way, it takes the picture instantly. My Kodak EasyShare works the same way. Even though I have a Minolta Maxxum SLR, I haven't taken it to a launch yet. I can put the digital in my jacket pocket, prep and launch rockets, and pull out the camera when I need it. The SLR would be a lot more difficult to work around, even though I'm sure it would take better pictures. Besides, I don't have a good enough scanner to digitize shots. How good are the CDs from Ritz Camera? Eldred Signaturehttp://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 Hist. +82.34 N2k3 rank: -1.182 Slayer Spektera lvl 79 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 44 Necro US East > >I have an olympus 2020 which also has a slow reaction time... BUT... > > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Eldred Good. SignatureJerry Irvine, Box 1242, Claremont, California 91711 USA Opinion, the whole thing. <mail to:01rocket@gte.net> Please bring common sense back to rocketry administration. Produce then publish. http://www.usrockets.com Ebay auction deals and specials. http://tinyurl.com/6wlp8 Some of the "trick" to getting a good launch pic with a digicam is reaction time. Most cameras don't take a pic the instant you hit the shutter. What you do is hit the shutter the first instant you see fire. That way you'll have a nice pic of it about half-way up the launchrod. If you wait to shoot until your bird is underway, you've waited too long. SignatureJoe Michel NAR 82797 L2 http://home.alltel.net/jm44316/ > I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is > absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't > find any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture... > I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is > absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't > find any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture... I've been looking at the Super Zoom digital cameras for some time now. Latest fantasy is the Panasonic Lumix (Leica lense) 12x optical zoom with OPTICAL stabilization. Models FX10 and now FX15 and FX20 (or maybe its Zx of Fz or something like that). But nothing but the SLRs really have instant shutter release like any old 35mm SLR. I'm still waiting... Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle: http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org "To enslave men, successfully and safely, it is necessary to have their minds occupied with thoughts and aspirations short of the liberty of which they are deprived. A certain degree of attainable good must be kept before them." Frederick Douglas, "My Bondage and My Freedom," 1855 > Consumer Reports had a couple of 4 Mpixel cameras with nice (i.e. 10x) > optical zoom. The Kodak DX6490, Olympus C-765, and C-770 scored well. > These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't > find any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture... My year old Kodak 3mp camera has a 4 shot burst that makes lift off shots a brease. this year, the same camera is a 4mp model. easy to use, uses a standard sd-card and has many modes that make it my recomened choice to many. What model? Approx. price range? ~ Duane Phillips. >> Consumer Reports had a couple of 4 Mpixel cameras with nice (i.e. 10x) >> optical zoom. The Kodak DX6490, Olympus C-765, and C-770 scored well. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > this year, the same camera is a 4mp model. easy to use, uses a standard > sd-card and has many modes that make it my recomened choice to many. best buy has them as easy share 4 mega pixel cameras they run about 299-329 > What model? > Approx. price range? [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > this year, the same camera is a 4mp model. easy to use, uses a standard > > sd-card and has many modes that make it my recomened choice to many. >My year old Kodak 3mp camera has a 4 shot burst that makes lift off shots a >brease. > >this year, the same camera is a 4mp model. easy to use, uses a standard >sd-card and has many modes that make it my recomened choice to many. Now THAT'S cool... Sounds expensive, though. :-( Eldred Signaturehttp://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 Hist. +82.34 N2k3 rank: -1.182 Slayer Spektera lvl 79 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 44 Necro US East > >My year old Kodak 3mp camera has a 4 shot burst that makes lift off shots a > >brease. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Now THAT'S cool... Sounds expensive, though. :-( $299 most of the time. By Grapthar's Hammer, What A Savings ! >> >My year old Kodak 3mp camera has a 4 shot burst that makes lift off shots >a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >$299 most of the time. By Grapthar's Hammer, What A Savings ! The trick is, I still need to find the $299... Eldred Signaturehttp://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 Hist. +82.34 N2k3 rank: -1.182 Slayer Spektera lvl 79 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 44 Necro US East > >My year old Kodak 3mp camera has a 4 shot burst that makes lift off shots a > >brease. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Now THAT'S cool... Sounds expensive, though. :-( I bought a Fuji FinePix S 5100 that also has this capability, but on a slightly grander scale. It has a continuous shooting option that allows pictures to be taken as long as you can hold the button down. (Up to 40 pictures.) I think I paid about $450 for the 4mp camera and a 256mb memory card. Now I just need a launch to try it out. > I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is > absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays > coming up I was hoping for suggestions from you all about a decent > digital camera to go on my "wish list." Anyone care to recommend a > camera with quick reaction time? The Canon EOS 10D is awesome for lift-off shots. But it's hardly in the "inexpensive" range -- body goes for about $1100. -Kevin The Cannon Digital Rebel 300D will give you most of the same features as the 10D for a lot less. And if you load the Hacked Firmware you get all the features of a 10D. > > I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is > > absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > -Kevin I tried one of those stupid memory stick/chip/crap cams from Best Lies and took it right back to the store and bought a Sony Mavica somewhere else. Slap in a standard floppy and get a JPG pic without any techo-shamans doing mojo in the store's tech-aid dept, or praying to the programming gods, just to get your pictures back out of it. Need more memory for more pix? Slap in a new disk and off you go again. One model even does video MPG files, again it's on a regular floppy disk....wish now I'd paid the extra money for that feature! The newest ones use mini-CDs. Chuck they suck sony missed the boat on that they tried to squeeze lots of images on each floppy meaning they use really really high compression second floppies fail over time (as little as months) for no apparent reason. they are VERY unreliable/ want proof ? find some 5 year old floppies with data on them/ see how many still work now the CD mavicas are pretty darned nice!!! Chris Taylor http://www.nerys.com/ > I tried one of those stupid memory stick/chip/crap cams from Best Lies > and took it right back to the store and bought a Sony Mavica somewhere [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Chuck > want proof ? find some 5 year old floppies with data on them/ see how many > still work You mean like those ancient AOL floppies I have a case full of. Never did get the 695 I was trying to collect, but ended up witha about 300 of the suckers... Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle: http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence. -- Charles A. Beard >You mean like those ancient AOL floppies I have a case full of. Never did >get the 695 I was trying to collect, but ended up witha about 300 of the >suckers... Why were you trying to collect 695 AOL floppies? Eldred Signaturehttp://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 Hist. +82.34 N2k3 rank: -1.182 Slayer Spektera lvl 79 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 44 Necro US East >>You mean like those ancient AOL floppies I have a case full of. Never did >>get the 695 I was trying to collect, but ended up witha about 300 of the >>suckers... > > Why were you trying to collect 695 AOL floppies? many years ago, when we talked Gigabyte disk farms instead of terabyte, and I gave data center tours, people used to ask "What's a Gigabyte?". A stack of 695 AOL floppies is a gigabyte. That would be floor to ceiling in a typical office environment. Just as I was approaching the half way point, they switched to CDs. 1.5 CDs just isn't as impressive as a stack of floppies. BTW, if any one still has a stash, I'm still accepting contributions... Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle: http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org "To enslave men, successfully and safely, it is necessary to have their minds occupied with thoughts and aspirations short of the liberty of which they are deprived. A certain degree of attainable good must be kept before them." Frederick Douglas, "My Bondage and My Freedom," 1855 >many years ago, when we talked Gigabyte disk farms instead of terabyte, and >I gave data center tours, people used to ask "What's a Gigabyte?". A stack [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >BTW, if any one still has a stash, I'm still accepting contributions... I'll check around...<g> Eldred Signaturehttp://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 Hist. +82.34 N2k3 rank: -1.182 Slayer Spektera lvl 79 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 44 Necro US East >second floppies fail over time (as little as months) for no apparent reason. >they are VERY unreliable/ > >want proof ? find some 5 year old floppies with data on them/ see how many >still work I'd say about 99.5% of the ones I have. But then again, I take care of my stuff.<g> You probably couldn't ask my dad the same question. >now the CD mavicas are pretty darned nice!!! CD Mavicas?!? With the matching price tag, I'm sure... :-( Eldred Signaturehttp://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 Hist. +82.34 N2k3 rank: -1.182 Slayer Spektera lvl 79 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 44 Necro US East I've been using the Kodak EasyShare 6490 for the last season and it's been great for liftoff shots. Practically all the liftoff pics on my site were taken with it. They've been condensed some for size so you can't get a true idea of the quality of the pics but they're very good. The camera is 4mp with a 10x optical zoom, has auto settings or manual if you know what you're doing. But the best part is the 6 shot burst mode. 6 shots over 2 seconds. I wait until i see smoke out the bottom of the motor then hold down the button and somewhere in those six shots I get a good liftoff shot over 90% of the time.. Jason www.firemanrocketry.com I recently tried the new Canon SD200 Digital Elph. It's a small 3.2 MP camera and it is VERY FAST. Try one and see. They also have a 4.0 MP model that is just a little larger. At Wal-Mart, the price is (Canadian) $343.00. I plan to use one in a camera rocket as you can put a fast SD card in it and literally FILL the card with either still frames or video. I currently have a Canon G-3 and it is fast enough as well. I have mostly taken photos of high power rockets with it though and these are a little easier to catch than models. I just set it on burst mode and hold the shutter when the LCO counts down to 1. The SD200 is better though as it will take photos at 3 frames per second and it seems to be nearly instant as far as getting off the first shot. Len Bryan CAR S620 L3 TRA 10220 L2 >I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is >absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't >find any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture... >I recently tried the new Canon SD200 Digital Elph. It's a small 3.2 MP >camera [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > to be > nearly instant as far as getting off the first shot. What resolution will it do at 3FPS? I've been using an old Canon Powershot A20 - 2.1MP - which delivers an acceptable framerate at VGA and XGA resolution, but VGA isnt great (to say the least) and at XGA the buffer eventually fills up. I'd really like a digital camera which could shoot high-resolution at a decent frame rate, but I fear that means a very expensive model. Some of my photos from this camera are up at http://www.oswald.ndo.co.uk Niall > I've really liked my geriatric Olympus D-400 digital camera. But it is > absolutely the pits for trying to take launch photos. With the holidays [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > These models took 2 to 3 seconds to recycle between photos. I didn't > find any ratings of camera reaction time from "click" to photo capture... Sensitive film still beats CCD's for action pictures (generally speaking). You're best bet might be to go with a decent film camera that's auto-exposure (or not, if you want to control that function) and auto-focus (or not, if you're hands on). If you get one that'll work with something like 1600 film, you'll be surprised. That's HYPERFAST. In an outdoor enviroment, you're probably looking at exposure times of 1/1000th of a second (or less) with 1600 film. Not only that, but it's a lot cheaper than a digital. I used special Fuji 3200 film to get low-light pictures of Jupiter through my 4.5" telescope. Dave |
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