El cheapo digital camera for fly tying?

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Several folks here take pictures of their flies and some even make video. Most of these pictures even look good! The camera I have now fails hard when trying to take such close-up pictures, so I’m looking for a new one.

Does anyone here have actual and good experience with a specific and cheap (read that as $80 or less for the whole outfit) digital camera that will let me take clear photos of flies I’ve tied?

Bonus points if there’s a way I can shoot video too, either storing it on a card or using it like a webcam, but that’s just not a hard requirement.

Thanks!

2

Any modern digital camera can do that, usually with a rudimentary video feature as well.

Until recently, any and all of my fly pictures were taken with a fairly old 4.0 MP Kodak C330. It wasn’t the best, but it got the job done. Up that close, it’s autofocus had trouble deciding what to grab.

A few months back, I upgraded to a new Pentax WS80, mostly because it’s waterproof. its macro focus is also much better than the Kodak’s.

For your money, there’s several inexpensive brands on the market, but for another 20-30 you could get an entry-level compact from a great name (read: Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc) that would probably serve you well in a variety of other needs as well.

As you search, the main things you’re looking for is a good macro option (with a fairly low minimum focusing distance) and an adjustable white balance (custom is ideal, but a tungsten & a fluorescent preset are okay too). A shake-reduction feature is nice too, but not absolutely necessary.

More important than the camera, though, is the photographer and his technique.

For quick shots of flies, I’ll just switch to macro focus, set my white balance, and shoot away, but if I want a really nice shot, I’ll use a mini-tripod and use a 2 sec. timer to totally eliminate shake, meaning the camera can use a slower shutter speed without blurring the picture.

TIP: If your autofocus wont seem to grab your fly, back up a bit. :slight_smile:

3

I’ve had good success in the past with SLR cameras, even learning about things like apature settings and depth of field. Alas, this was years ago and I got out of photography back when the best digital camera still couldn’t compare to film and cost a minimum of a $1000.

I’m just a caveman and this modern technology frightens me. :smiley:

4

Well, you wont get options like aperture & shutter priority on 85-90% of P&S cameras on the market, and certainly not on anything in the sub-$150 range, so you need not worry about controlling DoF because it aint gonna happen. :slight_smile:

If you’re only shooting flies with it, all you really need is a decent macro option.

I’m not really familiar with the sub-100 cameras, as when I was doing my search, I was only concerned with waterproof models, which started at about 140 and went up. Still, I’d consider a WP model if I were you, for the added option of taking it fishing with you and not having to worry about it taking a dunking (heck, a WP model would encourage you to give it a dunking!). At that $140 price point is a Fuji model which, for the price, isnt bad at all. :slight_smile:

Still, you mentioned the $80 target range, and I hate it when ya ask for that and people only talk about things that double that range. Another idea is to wait for the bigger names to replace the current line with the next one, which will probably have retailers marking down the stuff that’s to be replaced.

5

what would be wrong with finding a digicam that has a good af mode vs a macro mode to shoot fly fotos. i use that with my optio w30.

6

Gotta have a macro setting or be able to do close up focusing.

7

I don’t suppose anything would be intrinsically wrong with that. But what I’m looking for here is someone who says “Hi. I’m using Blah Blah Specific Camera. It fits your price range and it works very well.”

Searching for the Optio w30 gives me a price of between $300 and $400, which is decidedly not “$80 or less”.

8

The W30 has macro mode. If you dont use it for taking pictures of flies, you should. That’s what it’s for.:wink:

Searching for the Optio w30 gives me a price of between $300 and $400, which is decidedly not “$80 or less”.

Maybe when it came out…maybe. Currently, the newest cameras in that line, the W80 and WS80, are less than that, at ~$250.

9

heres a nikon coolpix that has a macro down to 2 inches. should be good for fly fotos. 89 bucks

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Nikon+-+Coolpix+10.0-Megapixel+Digital+Camera+-+Red/9220167.p?id=1218061794553&skuId=9220167

10

When I was searching for a camera for my son for Christmas I found a great selection as well as the best prices at Amazon, give them a try. I agree with the camp that says to look for the best macro feature you can find in your price range.

Kelly.

11

Jeff -

I’ve seen some pretty good deals at Staples. Here is a link to a Kodak in your price range which has a lot of pixels and a lot of features, including macro. I don’t have any experience with Kodak cameras, so I can’t speak to their user-friendliness or quality of images, but you might want to explore those issues for yourself anyway.

http://www.staples.com/Kodak-EasyShare-C180-Digital-Camera/product_780058_HC2?cmArea=FEATURED:SC3:CG43:DP1600

John

12

I have the same interest in taking fly pics. My Canon 530 did not do well and sold it. My Lumix 6x has no view finder and I do not like that. It does only slightly better on macro but still not near good enough.

This question has been asked in the past, but sorry I don’t know how to find the posts. What was mentioned several times was Nikon Coolpix. I have seen some outstanding fly pics on here done with a Nikon Coolpix. I don’t remember which model number though. But believe me they were terrific.

So…waiting for a specific answer just like you Jeff.

Jim

13

I have an older 3 MP version of the Nikon Coolpix and it works great for fly photos. $89 seems like a good deal.

14

Another bit of advice: not at all meant to contradict any other advice you’ve heard, but for your purposes, you will not need a cutting edge camera with a high MP. MPs are useful for overall clarity to a certain degree, but come more into play for printing large prints and cropping. For pictures of a fly (a non-moving subject that you can get as close as you like to it), you wont need to crop very much at all. Secondly, once you resize your images for posting on the internet in sensible sizes, you’ll likely not be able to tell much of a difference between well shot photos from a 5 or 6MP compared to a 10 or 12MP camera.

When I started using tripod and delayed shot technique, my pictures started to turn out much better. :slight_smile:

15

Thanks for the camera suggestions! I’ll take a look at the cool pix and easy share. If anyone knows of other specific models please let me know. For now, this gives me a place to start. By which I mean figure out which of these will actually work under Linux which is a whole different thing.

16

Well, My old Canon went down a while ago and I just monitored Craigslist for a few weeks and found another Canon (S30) for 20 bucks. It works fine. The battery was pretty much toast but I found a deal on 2 Hi-Capacity batteries for 8 dollars.

And even better, one of the batteries they sent was not Hi-Capacity so they just refunded all of my money and let me keep the batteries.

I have bought more than a few items on Craigslist and have always had good luck. I have walked away from a lot of things as well. Just don’t feel obligated to buy it unless it is everything you thought it was…

17

Thanks for the responses I’ve received. At this point, it looks like this is the top contender. Decent resolution and rave reviews, specifically with regard to the macro feature. I’ve also been able to find that it works well with Linux (the camera’s storage is treated as any other mass USB storage device).

In the absence of any other suggestions, I’ll probably be picking up one of these next month. It’s a little more than the $80 I’ve hoped for, but from everything I’ve seen, what I want doesn’t exist for that price and the difference isn’t enough to break the bank.

18

Looks like an excellent choice.

Kelly.

19

I took all the pics at http://home.comcast.net/~griffitr/flies00.html with a Nikon Coolpix 22002.0 megapixel camera which cost about 130 bucks, maybe 5 years ago. Still have the camera, though I have since upgraded. It has a macro mode and the key seems to be to measure the distance from the fly to the lens, and it needed to be right around 1.6 inches. I made a paper template that I used to get close. The pictures are far from perfect but good enough for me.

Here’s a pic of blackco’s CDCMayflyemerger

Camera looks like this, I put it on a tripod made from a RAM depthfinder mount. The camera eats batteries.

Roy

20

I take pics with my blackberry. 3.2 mp, 3x optical zoom. It does have a macro feature and does just fine. I ran into the same issues as a lot of previous posters where the camera didn’t know what to focus on. A profile plate is a good investment to make better pictures.