Paulchens FoodBlog?!

Zorra has announced another event: food-o-grafie
This is what she asked us to do for the first round:

The task until November 8 is, to write an entry about your camera(s). What model do you use? Did you buy it especially for food photography? Pros and cons of the model? Does it correspond to your requirements? Would you buy this model again? What is the camera of your dreams? etc.

Of course you should add a picture to your entry, too. You can take a new one especially for the event or choose a photograph taken by you during the month of September 2008. Don’t forget to mention why you picked this particular photo.

So what are the cameras I take the pics for my foodblog with?
I did not buy either of my two cameras with foodblogging in mind. To be honest I did not do too much research when I bought either of them.

My first own camera was a Sony Mavica MVC-CD 500.

Why did I chose especially this one?
Well for one reason ’cause it was the only one I knew of that is a CD based digicam and the other reason was that both my father and G. had the MVC-CD 250 and I really loved to work with this camera. It really made nice pics, was easy to handle and I really liked the idea of using CDs as storage ’cause I didn’t have USB Sticks at that time and CDs where way less expensive.

BASIC SPECIFICATIONS
Producer Sony
Model MVC-CD500
Dimensions 139x96x103 mm
Weight 514 grams
Viewfinder No

BATTERY & MEMORY & COMPLECTATION
Image Formats 2 JPEG, TIFF
Interfaces USB, video, audio
Memory type CD-RW

It’s not exactly tiny, but it’s not huge either. It’s about the same size as a 35mm SLR with a small normal lens. It’s as fast, if not faster, than digicams without moving parts. You can’t hear the disc spinning unless you’re in a quiet room and you actually put your ear up to the camera and listen carefully. The rechargeable battery that comes with it lasts over 2 hours easy (or well over 200 shots). Not bad for a cam with a CD burner and a huge LCD.

The pros:

• Carl Zeiss lens. Name brand lens known among professionals for its high quality.
• The battery that comes with it is nice. it tells you exactly how much time you have left (like 113min instead of a stupid little meaningless battery icon). if you want another battery, (strongely recommended) its expensive though. it’s nice to be able to use the camera without constantly worrying about how much battery life is remaining.
• CD-RW discs cost next to nothing. its very cool to be able to take a disc out and pop it into any computer to view images. it comes with usb cable and a/v cable for tv viewing
• the built-in flash is very good. range is little over 16feet. not bad at all for built-in. there’s a hot shoe if you’re hardcore and want to get a bigger flash

The cons:

• it is quite expensive: 699 EUR when I bought it several years ago

I really liked this camera, I made great pics with it. Unfortunately my one of my cats, Kashim, played with the strap and flipped it off the table on day and since then I can’t take any good pics with it. As it is way beyond any warranty time by now I still have to find someone to repair it. As it was quite expensive I still hesitate to part with it.

When my Mavica broke I wanted a smaller, more compact camera which was also a bit less expensive.
I again found a Sony to my liking: a Sony Cybershot S650.

BASIC SPECIFICATIONS
Producer Sony
Model Cyber-shot DSC-S650
Announced 2007-01-17
Dimensions 91x61x27 mm
Weight 130 grams
Viewfinder No

BATTERY & MEMORY & COMPLECTATION
Image Formats 2 JPEG
Interfaces USB, video, audio
Memory type Memory Stick

Well, this camera is a point and shoot, not much else. She makes quite ok pics I think. Though I liked the pics I made with the Mavica way better. the Cybershot was way less expensive tho compared to the Mavica: about 100 EUR if I remember right.

Here are some pice I made with either of both:

Mavica:

Cybershot:

Would I buy them again?
For the Mavica: Yes most certainly. I still like the CD burner feature and the quality pics she produces. Though she is easily outrun by any of the recent cameras… I think maybe I’d buy a Nikon or a Canon for the same price and be better of in quality and features just without the CD thingie ;o)
For the Cybershot: As a second camera to make quick snapshots without further ado: yes. For food fotographie: no.It’s way more difficult to get good pictures of food out of this camera than the Mavica.