What camera can you reccommend for indoor shooting?

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We are looking for a digital camera that would serve us well for extensive indoor photography. On the average day we would probably be taking about 60 images. Images will be distributed in both print and jpeg format. The photo subject will be merchandise such as artificial Christmas trees, school supplies, etc.

Suggestions and feedback would be welcome.

-- Kevin Lemke (kevinl@freightsoft.com), August 20, 1998

Answers

What resolution are you looking for? Will any of the subjects be moving (such that you'd be concerned about shutter speed?) How important is Macro capability? How much control do you need over the camera, in terms of exposure compensation, shutter speed, etc. Do you need to shoot with studio strobes? (If the latter, the Kodak DC120 or DC260 are really the only cameras that currently include a sync socket for external strobes.)

All those questions aside, we're about to post a review on the HP PhotoSmart C20 camera, and were *very* surprised/impressed with how well it does in low light. It may be worth looking at for you - check back next week sometime and we should have the review up. Many of the newer cameras seem to be doing better at low-light shooting than their ISO ratings would suggest. A bigger issue may be lighting - do you have control over the lighting color balance, or will you be shooting under household tungsten, commercial fluorescent, etc? If the latter, white balance capability may be particularly important - check our "indoor portrait" test shots to see how well the various cameras do at compensating for tungsten lighting.

FWIW, other cameras that stand out in my mind as being better at low light are the Toshiba PDR-M1, the Canon A5, and the entire Casio line, including their megapixel unit, the QV-5000SX. Check the on-line images to see how color, resolution, etc would fit your needs.

Good Luck!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), August 20, 1998.


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