[john.sw]

FILM CAMERAS

I have two Canon SLR's - an A1 and an AE1 - along with a wide range of lenses, filters, X-Ray-proof film bag, etc.

FOR FILM

Huge enlargements are possible - if you want to make a poster!

AGAINST FILM

The 75mm - 260mm film camera lens is bigger and heavier than my digital camera, and I also have a 28mm a 50mm and an 85mm for portraits.

My camera bag weighs a ton.  Processing costs a fortune, even if you have your own darkroom and buy the chemicals and paper.  Film is expensive and has to be carried throughout the duration of your trip.

Changing lenses causes problems with dust, especially in India where pollution and dust levels can be high.

Unless you're a millionaire, you'll restrict the number of photographs you take because of the expense.

Your films can be lost, and the negatives/slides degrade over the years.

Your photographs are difficult to share with friends, family and the world.

_______________________________________________________________________

DIGITAL CAMERAS

I have a tiny Sony DSC-T33 and a Fujifilm S6500FD (s6500FD in some countries).

FOR DIGITAL

The Sony is perfect for taking everywhere.  It is so small that it fits in a shirt pocket and it is always to hand so you never miss a shot!
http://www.flickr.co...s/sony/dsc-t33/

The Fuji is the sort of camera you take with you when you're going out to take photographs.
http://www.flickr.co...inepix_s6000fd/

Both cameras take pictures of excellent quality and have good optical zooms.

Digital cameras a cheap to buy and cheap to run.

There is no need to change lenses (unless you go for a DSLR).

You can take as many photographs as you want and select the best ones to keep.

You can back up your photos onto a flash drive or CD, and you can upload, share and store them on the internet.

Most digital cameras take high quality video with sound.

AGAINST DIGITAL

The Sony's charger is bigger than the camera.

DIGITAL ADVICE

Don't be fooled by the number of pixels - a good quality camera with 6 megapixels will be better than a spurious make with 12 megapixels.  Most of my photos are taken at the 3 MP setting and print out perfectly at 10" X 8"

If you're travelling, get a camera that takes standard AA batteries (known internationally as LR6 (alkaline) or R6 (carbon-zinc) or Mignon), then there's no need to take a charger with you.  My Fuji takes over 400 pictures on one set of 4 AA batteries.

Get the biggest memory card you can afford.  A 2GB card will hold a huge number of photos and video.

Back up your photos onto the internet and/or a flash drive or CD.

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[Hyderabadi]

Good advise there John!

My affair with photography started with a Minolta that Dad brought back from Japan in 1969. It is one those models just prior to the SLRs, with all the metering features etc. Some of those don't work now. It's still there back in India.

I then bought a Zenit in Madras and later traded it for a newer one with Thru The Lens metering. I have this one here in the US, now retired. Weighs a ton!

My first digital camera here was a Canon A70 which started having problems during our last visit to India.

The one that I use most of the time is my Canon Digital Rebel 300D, along with a Tamron 18 - 200 lens which I keep on all the time and a Canon 28 - 135 with image stabilizer and Ultrasonic motor.

My kids have a small point & shoot Nikon which I sometimes use in restaurants to photograph food.

The other investment over time has been storage for all the pictures I take. I have a tendency to keep all the shots. I have about 80gb worth of pictures on a external hard drive to cover the risk of my computer crashing. I also upload to Flickr where I have an account.

Posteriza ( http://www.posteriza...i...&lang=en_US ) is a good way to print posters at home, without investing in a large format printer. It basically splits up the picture into 4 or more parts and prints out on standard photo paper. You then join back the picture for the poster....done right you can barely see the join lines. It also prints out guide lines for you to cut.

[noflylist]

I have not used my SLR camera in 10 years, bigger than my smallest TV!  But used to give great pictures.

I think I will sell that white elephant.

[crvlvr]

After getting a $75 bill for processing my India trip photos, I replaced my Canon Film SLR with a Canon Digital SLR. All the old lenses work on the digitial SLR. there is no reason for me to go back to film now. Plus, I am saving a ton of money.

[jyoti]

My pros and cons: I have a Pentax ZX-50 with assorted lenses/attachments and a Canon A620 Digi Cam.

Digital:

Pro:  
*Must less conspicuous. Looks less expensive (though at the rate SLRs depreciate now, is worth more than my SLR.  *sniff sniff*)  
*Easier to carry--Can fit inside my purse or a bag.  
*Mine has settings for F-stop, shutter speed, etc which is helpful for doing more than a typical Digi..  I do have a mini-tripod (for table top) that I can use with it, which is also helpful in some cases.
*Film is expensive in India!  130 rupees a roll, Kodak, for 400 speed. 100-110 for 200 speed.  And non-Kodak brands hard to find.
*Takes some great pics in bright light conditions.

Con:  
*Mine does poorly in low light conditions.  It wants to flash in any kind of low lighting, which isn't always what I want.  So, there are times when I miss an amazing shot because of a fickle camera, or when a great shot can't be blown up because of noise despite a high pixel rate.  

SLR:

Pro:
*Can use filters!  I know that you can adjust and photoshop a digi pic, but in the mountains on dreary days a blue filter has saved the day when pics would have been quite dull.  
*Does better in low light conditions, takes pics faster so don't miss the shot because of timing, all the general stuff about why film better than other.
*No worries about blowing it up!  And, I'm familiar enough with my SLR that I can be pretty sure how the shot will turn out.

Con:
*Really obvious when you're taking pictures because have to look through the view finder, can't hold at waist level and take. Also hard to pull out of the bag really quickly.
*Really obvious you're carrying it, and it looks like expensive equipment whether it's worth much or not.
*You can't show your pics to people as soon as you've taken then.
*It costs a lot in India, too, to get pics put on CD so having film AND sharing digitally is a pain.

My choice:

I'm here long term, but I brought both. I like the digi cam for pictures just to show people what India is like--what my hotel room looks like, pics of my friends, general street shots to send back home to my family. It is also easier to carry a digi cam into situations where I don't want to target myself, where it's crowded, etc.   I use the SLR when I'm going someplace I know that I'm going to want some really nice pictures, the type that I may have blown up later, or in situations where my digi cam doesn't work so well.  I have saved a small fortune in film and printing this way, I think!

Anyway, that's what I've found using each.

--Jyoti.

[go2india]

Six month back I purchased one Canon 350D DSLR. My close friend is a photographer so that was strong point for me to go for it as I need not learn every thing on my own   . I am not an expert in photography but I am picking up now.  So quality wise I can't compare both but digital photos are easy to download handle and share. As I spend most of my time in front of a computer so that helps me.

Some of my recent photos of Rajasthan desert I am posting in a new thread.

[northwest]

I just wanted to know If I'm better buying a cheapish digital camera, around £100-200, here in the UK or in India?

I would've started a thread but It seems I can't - this is my first post. Have to say that not being able to register and start a thread probably detracts from the popularity of this site somewhat, I would imagine anyway. How many posts do I have to have to start a thread or send a PM?

[the falls]

Hi guys, If you want a good cheap camera go for a nikon d50, they should be cheap in Indian even used on ebay. There is ebay in India now adays. Local shops have black market goods. You might even consider a video camera because India is like that, very cinematic.  I think this article is good too on the subject of taking a camera to India.