# Camera recommendations for portfolio



## Dustincoc (Mar 11, 2016)

The last couple years(doing shows once or twice a year), I've noticed the picture quality has gone down quite a lot(using the same cameras), Not sure why. 

Looking to purchase a new decent camera this year. Looking to spend something between $150 and $250. 

Currently considerations are the Canon Powershot SX530 HS, The Canon Powershot SX410 IS, a Nikon that I cn't remember the name of.

I see them described as long zoom, high, zoom and DSLR. I know what a DSLR is bit the other 2 confuse me.


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## Vitezkoja (Mar 11, 2016)

None of them is DSLR. Do you need multiple cameras?


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## MNicolai (Mar 12, 2016)

For theater you usually want something with a manual mode that you can custom set the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO levels in. You also want a decent optical zoom. Digital zoom is worthless.

With a DSLR system, you have a digital camera body with interchangeable lenses. It's great because you can always use the best lens for whatever you're shooting that day. You can use a short zoom lens if you're taking photos from the 3rd row, or you can whip out your long throw lens if you're shooting from the back of the theater. But don't plan on getting one of these in the $150-$250 range. I've been building up my DSLR system over several years and I probably have $7000 invested into it and special insurance to cover loss, theft, and accidental damage.

The big key is, get something you can tweak the manual settings on. Point-and-shoot cameras generally suck for photographing theater because they have a hard time adjusting to the varying lighting intensities across scenes and continuously try to re-auto-focus, meaning you miss critical opportunities for shots while your camera is fighting with itself to get in focus. If you get something with a good zoom lens and learn how to tweak the camera settings, you can usually pull off some decent shots for not a huge amount of money. Also don't forget to pick up a tripod. For some scenes you will want to photograph extremely low-lit looks, and to do so you'll need to lower your shutter speed. If you do this on a tripod, you'll get a crisp, clear photo. If you do trying to hold the camera manually, you'll get some jitter that will blur the photo into oblivion.

Also learn to accept that most photos as you shoot them will need color balancing and post-processing. They will not be ready for your portfolio just as the camera saves them to the flash card. Make sure you've got some software you can do this in. I prefer Adobe Bridge and Photoshop because I can knock out hundreds of photos in not a lot of time. If you go freeware into GIMP, you can usually make it work but it takes an extraordinarily longer time per photo and the results are a fraction of the quality you'd get out of proper image processing software.


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## Dustincoc (Mar 14, 2016)

These are what I'm limited to as Walmart is the only place to get a camara around here. 

http://www.walmart.com/search/?quer...HS&facet=category:Digital Cameras&stores=3329


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## Dustincoc (Mar 31, 2016)

Ended up getting the Canon SX 530 HS. Since I only do one or 2 shows a year, I need a good all around camera. I also don't have time during a show to be tweaking settings on a DSLR since I'm also running the lights.


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## robartsd (Apr 1, 2016)

MNicolai said:


> Also learn to accept that most photos as you shoot them will need color balancing and post-processing. They will not be ready for your portfolio just as the camera saves them to the flash card. Make sure you've got some software you can do this in. I prefer Adobe Bridge and Photoshop because I can knock out hundreds of photos in not a lot of time. If you go freeware into GIMP, you can usually make it work but it takes an extraordinarily longer time per photo and the results are a fraction of the quality you'd get out of proper image processing software.



Personally, I think GIMP is quite capable of the same quality as Photoshop, but do understand that commercial products can be much easier to get work done quickly. To me, the biggest limitation of GIMP vs Photoshop is the lack of adjustment layers. This can lead to quality issues as you tweak various adjustments by adjusting the image repetitively rather than taking the time to undo and and readjust. It is also convenient to copy a set of adjustment layers from one photo to another that was taken in similar conditions.


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## Dustincoc (Apr 1, 2016)

Since all my computers are running Linux. GIMP's the go to photo software.


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