What is the best digital camera for Stripper or Strip Club Pictures?

[HarmonyNYC]

Best being: price and picture quality.

I have presented an idea to a stripclub owner to take weekly pictures of the girls on staff for that week and then post on his future website.

I told him I can do this but the truth is I know nothing about photography, digital or otherwise. But I do know art and art modeling, advertising, magazine printing, and photoshop.

I'd like to spend under 300 or 350 (CAD) if possible.

My main objective is to have clear. colorful pictures that have been taken in a dark club or a room with less then desirable lighting.

Can this be achieved with the right camera alone or is lighting assistance an absolute necessity.

I want to avoid "glamour" shots that would look too professional like studio photo's. This would be taken as fake pictures if I used them for promotional use.

Anyone know if any "How to" DVD's exist on the subject?

Maybe a "Digital Cameras for Dummy's" on DVD exists?

________________________

 

[bond_james_bond]

I usually take a look at cnet.com first for tips on tech purchases:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/2001-6501_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.dir

 

[Hojo*]

Get the best SLR you could afford. If you don't want to use lighting equipment, you can always play with the aperature of the camera to get more light, but keep in mind that what might happen is that you may get a blurred shot if the subject is moving or if you don't have a steady hand.

For $300 - $350, you're pretty much stuck with a point and shoot camera, IMO, it wouldn't be good enough if you're shooting hot chicks. Depends on the look you are looking for...photoshop could only do so much.

My 2 cents.

 

[chef]

Get the best SLR you could afford. ..........

If you do go for an SLR make sure you learn how to hold it correctly. I see people with expensive cameras who do not know how to hold them correctly for the steadiest pictures.

 

[Techman]

If you plan on shooting indoors in limited light you will need a tripod.
Do not get a point and shoot camera. Try to get an entry level slr such as the Canon Rebel XT. If that is out of your budget, I suggest the Fujifilm S5200. It is an SLR style camera without the ability to change lenses but it has a 10x optical zoom that is quite good. That's what I have and it takes great pictures in low light as it has an effective film speed of up to 1600. This will put considerable grain in the photos though so I suggest shooting at around iso 400 or 800 as a maximum and use a tripod. You could probably find it in your price range in the US. It's a great entry level digital camera and will do just about anything. Don't forget to buy at least a 512 MB memory card or two as well as a couple of sets of good rechargeable batteries and you'll be well set. It uses AA batteries so you can always carry a spare set of alkalines in case the others go dead.

 

[Kepler]

I find that this site has very detailed reviews: http://www.dpreview.com/

They also have a nice "feature search" page: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

 

[Agrippa]

If you plan on shooting indoors in limited light you will need a tripod.

This cannot be stressed enough! The tripod makes the difference between a blurry snapshot and a professional photograph. (You can get an excellent tripod for about $80.)

Most of my friends have 'generic' point and shoot digital cameras in that price range and they perform great under most circumstances. So I wouldn't worry too much about getting an SLR... Remember guys, these pictures are going on a website so it's going to be a pretty small picture and does not need to have an insane resolution and all.

One thing I would recommend though is getting a camera that has basic manual functions ie setting the aperture and shutter speed. You DO NOT want to shoot pictures in these kinds of environments with a flash! It will look terrible. But you do want the aperture/shutter speed to be open as much as light as possible. Long exposure time = blurry pictures, so let me repeat Techman's advice: GET A TRIPOD!

You may also want to invest in/download some basic software (Ideally Photoshop if you take an hour or two to learn the basics... you know... to hide pimples, blemishes, tattoos) but maybe more importantly to adjust brightness levels, crop images etc.

PS you can get SLRs for $300?!?! (Since when?)

 

[sapman99]

Very good, techman

I was about to chime in suggesting exactly the same. I own the S5000 myself, the predecessor. A very good compromise. You couldn't have said it better.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Techman]

Fuji s5200 review

This is a good review of the S5200 with some image samples. As I said, it is not a SLR but it does have a much more professional look than the average point and shoot. You don't want to be using a cheap looking camera when you are charging good money to take the photos.

http://www.photoxels.com/fujifilm-s5200.html

One thing I like is the fact that it uses AA batteries. I brought my camera to my sister's for x-mas today only to discover that the batteries were dead. A quick run to the gas station and I was up and running.

PS: the only place to get a SLR for $300 would be from the back of a truck.

EDIT: Kepler's link to dpreview is a great place to start for anyone interested in digital photography. It's on off, if not the best, digital photography sites with a great forum that has many users that are very willing to help out with any questions.

 

[Kaempferrand]

www.pbase.com

It has almost every single damn camera you can think of with pictures of what it looks like and the quality of the pictures you can take with them.

 

[Agrippa]

Agrippa, you do realize Hnyc is going to be visiting a stripclub to take these pictures don't you? Are really suggesting he carry in a tripod? Hell...he will be a "tripod" after a dance or two...

I'd have to agree with you that it would look rather ridiculous, but it didn't even occur to me that he would be going during 'busy' hours to take these pictures. I was thinking of the various pictures I've seen on random websites where the club is empty, where there are no patrons 'concerned' with being caught on film (or flash memory cards as the case may be).

I assumed that he would go and get the different girls to pose (not dance, it complicates anti-shake technology) one immediately after the other rather than have to stand there and wait for each one to do their stage show over the course of the afternoon or evening.

Anti shake technology is now being put to use on digital camera's...just do a search.

Sure, but I have such a feature on my Sony digicam and must say that I'm not convinced. Maybe they have gotten better over the past 2 years, but I would not rely on it.

 

[faisalahmed]

Good cameras?

Well here is my story. I've never really been into photography or anything of that nature. But my dad decodes about 2-3 years ago that he doesn't want to pay 800-1000 for a professional photographer to take pictures at my sisters Quincenera. So he goes out and buys a Sony DSLR a100.
I tried to learn what I could and took some pictures but I'd like to learn how to take better pictures with this thing.
I'm thinking of buying another camera and was wondering if this one is good or should I look into another camera. Any info would be great.

 

[Valcazar]

Sony is not the best on DSLR, but is solid.

I wouldn't go above a solid entry-level camera unless you already know what you are doing. If you went Nikon, somehting like the latest 3500 which is a perfectly solid low price piece. You could bump up to 5000 series but I wouldn't go higher than that until you know what you are doing and would benefit from the finer controls.

 

[Gil Grissom]

Most cameras today are very good. Go within your price range and check reviews online. I like Canon.

 

[Toucan Sam]

Sony is not the best on DSLR, but is solid.

I do not think a DSLR is in the budget of the OP. Some of the highest rated digital cameras today are Sony cameras, even if they are not DSLRs. The reason for having a reflex camera is to have the lens flip up so that what you see on the lens is exactly what is captured on the film/digital optical sensor. The need for the reflex mirror is going away as the new LED optical screens and optical sensors are getting so much better in quality. So now what you see is exactly the image captured

 

[Kinky Cinderella]

Given that the OP posted his question more than 12 fucking years ago, who the hell knows what his budget is today. And who the fuck revives a 12 year old thread?

LOLLLLLL I did post the same thing but got my post deleted... A new member pops in and bump an old thread from last decade with a comment completely off topic and nobody noticed... :noidea: oh well...

 

[T1000]

Given that the OP posted his question more than 12 fucking years ago, who the hell knows what his budget is today. And who the fuck revives a 12 year old thread?

I have a 4 megapixel Nikon from 12 years back that no one will give me $20 for now. Technology moves so fast the camera I paid $950 is eclipsed by the $139 camera today.