Let's talk lenses....

At what FL did you take most of your pix of your paintings?.

Charlie DavisNikon 5700 & Sony R1CATS #25PAS Scribe @ http://www.here-ugo.com/PAS_List.htmHomePage: http://www.1derful.info'I brake for pixels...'..

Any ideas? I was looking hopefully at the Fuji s6000fd. Would themanual zoom make it possible to eliminate the pincushion problem? 6megapixels is plenty..

Manual zoom would only make it easier to frame the photo..

However, the Fuji s6000fd has nice low distortion characteristics: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms6000fd/page5.asp.

That being said, most cameras have fairly low distortion in the middle of their zoom range..

An alternative would be to use PTLens to correct any distortion (http://www.epaperpress.com/ptlens/index.html, $15). Just check that it's a supported camera (at the PTLens site, under "Profiles", "Fixed")..

Chris..

What about the Sony R1 ? .

The lens has very low distortion. You might be able to get one cheap second-hand. As you don't need a big zoom the fixed lens 5x won't be an issue. Image quality should be fine. It certainly has the lens with the lowest distortion and will wipe the floor with the S6500/6000 on that score. It's better than most lens and certainly those in your price bracket..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Yes, the distortion pics are encouraging..

And I was able to fix the pincushion problem in photoshop with the sd500. It was just kind of awkward..

The camera that I used at one point to shoot my own slides was an ancient Nikon FG with a 50mm lens. Which worked fine, no distortion..

So one of my questions with the fuji s6000 is, will setting the manual zoom to 50mm equivalent focal length give me good flat field performance? With the Canon sd500 there was no way to even tell what the focal length was, let along make a satisfactory adjustment...

There's no magic to "50mm" equiv. or not. The advantage of a manual zoom is that you will be able to reliably repeat a setting...

Acsmith wrote:.

There's no magic to "50mm" equiv. or not. The advantage of amanual zoom is that you will be able to reliably repeat a setting..

Added.

You will have to test to see what focal length is free of barrel and pincushion distortion and it may not be a linear function. Other wise the Fuji is considered to have good image quality so once you find the required focal length it should work...

Acsmith wrote:.

You will have to test to see what focal length is free of barreland pincushion distortion and it may not be a linear function..

What does not linear mean?.

Also, the Sony r-1 looks fantastic, but a quick search (ebay & b&h) shows only one available with an starting price of $750. Is there another place I should look for this camera?..

Sloweye wrote:.

Acsmith wrote:.

You will have to test to see what focal length is free of barreland pincushion distortion and it may not be a linear function..

What does not linear mean?.

Also, the Sony r-1 looks fantastic, but a quick search (ebay & b&h)shows only one available with an starting price of $750. Is thereanother place I should look for this camera?.

Yes, the R1 would be a good choice for your application. But as you know, they are difficult to find. Recently, I've seen posts here about the SonyStyle stores having some that have been refurbished...with as new warranties. If you have one near you, you might check there?.

Charlie DavisNikon 5700 & Sony R1CATS #25PAS Scribe @ http://www.here-ugo.com/PAS_List.htmHomePage: http://www.1derful.info'I brake for pixels...'..

Ok, so I am seeing some Sony R-1's for around $600 after a little more looking..

When I compare The R-1 with the Fuji s6000fd using the dpreview comparison feature, it looks like the main differences have to do with are the sensor and the lens. And the price. Is the sensor and lens on the R-1 worth the extra $350 for shooting flat artwork? Is there another option I should be aware of?..

At $600 any of the entry level DSLRs will do what you need. The Pentax K100d and the Canon/Nikon/Olympus equivalents are all worthy of consideration. Doing it for less, that with a P&S really depends on how much light you acually have in your studio. Among the P&S cameras the Fuji has the one of the best performances at somewhat elevated ISO levels which, in turn gives you more flexibility in lighting levels. With enough light most of the better P&Ss will do the job...

What about a used DSLR? Would I be able to get what I need cheaper by finding something a couple of years old?.

Buying the Nikon FG in very used condition 15 years ago was the perfect solution. An outdated camera capable of professional results. Is that possible now, or does the speed at which things are changing now make that impossible?..

The lens on the R1, when it was released, was regarded as "worth the price of the camera", which was quite high then. It is a fabulous lens. Many of the more expensive lenses would be poorer..

Having said all this, I will say four things :.

(1) The Nikon D40 kit lens is excellent. It does have distortion, but you will be unable to avoid this with any kit lens or bridge camera..

(2) You can correct barrel and pincushion and vignetting distortions using software. Some distortion is unavoidable and this would, I think, be a quite acceptable approach. Software cost may be an issue here, and I cannot advise on this. You camera may come with software to do this - you'll have to investigate this more. Vignetting is actually a big issue - this is corner darkening and relates to the lens..

(3) Technique may help here. All normal zoom lenses have there lowest distortion at the long end of the zoom, and their worst at the wide end. To take your shots you would therefore be ideally photographing on a tripod some distance away from your well lit subject, with the lens zoomed in to max. This would minimize distortion, perhaps to negligible amounts. I'm no expert at this, and I think a pro would be best placed to answer. I'd guess a standard 18-55 like that on the Nikon would work well here..

(4) Prime lenses. This is out of my league, I will say to start. However you should investigate if a prime lens might help with this issue. They give the best image quality when coupled to a DSLR and have a fixed focal length, which suits your application. I cannot speak on the issue of distortion..

Can I suggest you look at reviews at http://www.cameralabs.com. The emphasis is different from DPReview and they generally review only DSLRs and lens, but you they do examine kit lenses in their reviews and this may help..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Sloweye wrote:.

Ok, so I am seeing some Sony R-1's for around $600 after a littlemore looking..

When I compare The R-1 with the Fuji s6000fd using the dpreviewcomparison feature, it looks like the main differences have to dowith are the sensor and the lens. And the price. Is the sensor andlens on the R-1 worth the extra $350 for shooting flat artwork?.

I think so, but don't trust my judgment...I have one..

Is there another option I should be aware of?.

To match the R1, you'd need to get a dSLR with a macro lens. it will cost more..

Charlie DavisNikon 5700 & Sony R1CATS #25PAS Scribe @ http://www.here-ugo.com/PAS_List.htmHomePage: http://www.1derful.info'I brake for pixels...'..

Sjgcit wrote:.

The lens on the R1, when it was released, was regarded as "worththe price of the camera", which was quite high then. It is afabulous lens. Many of the more expensive lenses would be poorer..

Having said all this, I will say four things :.

(1) The Nikon D40 kit lens is excellent. It does have distortion,but you will be unable to avoid this with any kit lens or bridgecamera..

Yes, the Nikon "kit" lens is the best of this class..

(2) You can correct barrel and pincushion and vignettingdistortions using software. Some distortion is unavoidable andthis would, I think, be a quite acceptable approach. Software costmay be an issue here, and I cannot advise on this. You camera maycome with software to do this - you'll have to investigate thismore. Vignetting is actually a big issue - this is cornerdarkening and relates to the lens..

The CZ R1 lens has very little vignetting. Zoom out to about 28mm and the 1% barrel distortion goes to zero. Use PTlens to fix vignetting, distortion, and CA. It costs $15. It is both a stand-alone and plugin..

(3) Technique may help here. All normal zoom lenses have therelowest distortion at the long end of the zoom, and their worst atthe wide end..

Actually, this varies. Look at the lens graphs that Dave Etchells publishes on:.

Http://www.imaging-resource.com/http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php.

To take your shots you would therefore be ideallyphotographing on a tripod some distance away from your well litsubject, with the lens zoomed in to max. This would minimizedistortion, perhaps to negligible amounts. I'm no expert at this,and I think a pro would be best placed to answer. I'd guess astandard 18-55 like that on the Nikon would work well here..

The R1 lens is best in the middle of it's FL range..

(4) Prime lenses. This is out of my league, I will say to start.However you should investigate if a prime lens might help with thisissue. They give the best image quality when coupled to a DSLR andhave a fixed focal length, which suits your application. I cannotspeak on the issue of distortion..

The only way to beat the R1 is to get a prime macro lens. They are better, but not by much. Somebody actually tested the R1 against 2 macro lenses (one N...one C)..

Charlie DavisNikon 5700 & Sony R1CATS #25PAS Scribe @ http://www.here-ugo.com/PAS_List.htmHomePage: http://www.1derful.info'I brake for pixels...'..

Thanks for the info..

I've been using the general rule to be minimum distortion at the long end, so it's useful to hear this..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Sjgcit wrote:.

(3) Technique may help here. All normal zoom lenses have therelowest distortion at the long end of the zoom, and their worst atthe wide end. > StephenG.

A little redirect here. A typical performance of a zoom lens will have barrel distortion at the wide end of their range AND pincushion distortion at the telephoto end of their range. Both would be contrary to what you want. In general some where in between there will be zero distortion. Even this is not an absolute as there are zoom in the marketplace that change from barrel to pincushion several point throughout their zoom range. Your need is to find a zero distortion point and then be able to return to that setting as needed...

My concern about buying a used DSLR is that you'll end up getting one that is "used up." DSLRs are more mechanically complex than P&S, more likely to be used more extensively and therefore riskier..

You intent is to attach progress photos to email (and/or upload to web sites?). Are you really planning send full 3MB 3300x2200 (approx.) pixel files or are you going to resize them to 640x480 or 800x600 200-300KB files (which I'd recommend for several reasons)? If so then the difference in what your customer sees is going to be negligible between the Fuji and any DSLR...

No argument here, but as a rule distortion at the long end is much less than that at the short. For many purposes it's too small to impact. I certainly appreciate the response to my not strictly accurate statement on this subject - that's what a forum is for, and I'm happy to learn from more experienced people. The original poster, however, does seem to have very little experience, even compared to me, and I suspect the fine art of finding the optimal position on a zoom would be quite a challenge..

On the assumption that finding this optimum would be too much for the OP, would the option of a prime lens be a better choice ? Would software correction be best ? .

I'd be interested in more experienced views for my own information as well..

Thanks..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Sjgcit wrote:.

No argument here, but as a rule distortion at the long end is muchless than that at the short. For many purposes it's too small toimpact. I certainly appreciate the response to my not strictlyaccurate statement on this subject - that's what a forum is for,and I'm happy to learn from more experienced people. The originalposter, however, does seem to have very little experience, evencompared to me, and I suspect the fine art of finding the optimalposition on a zoom would be quite a challenge..

On the assumption that finding this optimum would be too much forthe OP, would the option of a prime lens be a better choice ?Would software correction be best ? .

I'd be interested in more experienced views for my own informationas well..

Thanks..

Actually since the poster is shooting a painting he has a nice straight line as a reference so finding the zero distortion point shouldn't be too hard as long as he mounts the camera on a tripod. As far as a prime lens goes almost all have some level of distortion and the user is stuck with whatever it's distortion happens to be. The only prime I'd be willing to risk my money on without lab tests would be a macro lens. Since these are often used in scientific documentation the designers tend to put a higher weight on getting the distortion under control. A short telephoto range macro prime lens would probably what the pro he hires for the final documentation uses. I'm just not sure his progress shots which will be reduced to a reasonable size for emailing need all that. I really think, at my skill level I could do what he wants with my Z612 but you'll note I haven't recommended that because of the variable I just mentioned...