My Ideal Camera is...

[wulf]

Thinking about Katz eye focusing screens (http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?p=86326), I began reflecting on what my ideal camera would be like, based on what I presently use or think I would use. It struck me that this might make a good discussion thread.

I haven't got time right now to kick off properly but I envisage that people would complete a couple of statements:

My ideal camera would: have a large viewfinder with manual focusing prism, work with Nikon lenses, have a DoF preview button (etc...)

My ideal camera could live without: scene modes, in-camera photo editing (etc...)

Others might then be able to chip in and suggest "I think your ideal camera would be...".

What do you think?

Wulf

[waffles]

My ideal camera would have: Canon lenses, high enough ISO so that I would never have to worry about lighting in a gym and/or use that 1/4000 shutter speed with basketball, low enough noise to make that worth it, manula/auto focus override button on the back so I don't have to hope I hit the switch on the lens in a hurry, flash option for front curtain, rear curtain, or both, built in body cap (but not if it makes the thing really huge)

My ideal camera could live without: any automatic mode except full auto or program (it would have to pick one), in camera editing except maybe B&W, the huge price tag that's sure to come with it

[jdepould]

Digital rangefinder with an F mount :)

[Taallyn]

Hmm, my ideal camera would have ....

Errr, it wouldn't have ...

Bah, right now I have my ideal camera. I just need better lenses. :)

[waffles]

I'd have my camera's babies too. But there's not to be something else you'd want it to do, even if it's completly unrealistic.

Which is why I'm going to add a cooler requirment to mine. Sandwiches and Coke for the road.

[Taallyn]

Naw, not really. My D80 really does have everything I need right now. Sure I'm lusting for a D300 or D3, but that is just male-patterned gadget-envy. They don't really have anything I "need" or want right now. However, there are a couple of lens that I really, really, really want.

[Saralonde]

My ideal camera would be able to fit all lenses, Nikon, Canon, Sigma, etc. so I could pick and choose from them all:D;)!

[Sime™]

My ideal camera would be a heck of a lot cheaper, Available in pink and rose scented...

or,

It would have 2 x CF card slots, have wireless built in [file transfer and remote] be fast, have great high iso performance and be totally water and dust proof...

....i'm not sure if i'll get this before or after I get my ipod gold plated...

[Dr. WooD]

Pretty happy with my D80, but I wish it had a faster FPS rate, and could handle higher ISO settings.

I guess a D300 wood meet both of those needs, but I feel pretty lucky to have the camera, and glass I own.

[waffles]

My ideal camera would be able to fit all lenses, Nikon, Canon, Sigma, etc. so I could pick and choose from them all:D;)!

FTW. I wish I had thought of that.

[peeperita]

my ideal camera is my rebel....but, it would have a larger lcd like wulf's that swivels out with the option of viewing through it.......my little powershot has one and every blue moon i like to go to it instead...handy for shooting perspectives that don't allow my eye to get to the viewfinder....

i hate standing on my head to look through that thing sometimes.....

peeper

[wulf]

but, it would have a larger lcd like wulf's that swivels out with the option of viewing through it...
Not me - that was one of my Flickr friends (http://www.flickr.com/photos/highbrassduo/). I think a live preview on a swivel screen would be quite cool although I can see that it would add to the cost, weight and fragility of the camera. I wouldn't mind an option to hook up an external screen with live preview though (even better if it could be done via Bluetooth and then I could use my Palm Pilot to see what I'm shooting).

I would like a camera that gives some further controls for quickly accessing various menus. On the D40 there is a single function button. Digging into the settings menu you can assign that various functions (eg. WB, shooting mode, ISO, etc) and then adjust control by holding the button and rotating the dial.

I would love to have more of these settings at my finger tips. I don't want a camera covered in buttons but another dial or a second button that would let you select the function button mode would be very handy.

Wulf

[mattdm]

My ideal camera:

weather sealed, with good set of weather sealed primes.
1.5× magnified 100% viewfinder
live "heads-up display" histogram in the viewfinder (lowlights/highlights, maybe)
interchangeable focus screens
clean ISO 6400 (or, y'know, higher)
3-4 stops from ccd-shift shake reduction
several stops more dynamic range than current cameras
auto white balance that works in tungsten and fluorescent light too (I'd settle for fluorescent presents that match the lights I actually encounter in real life)
really good in-camera development tools -- with a large high-res LCD, I'm happy to skip the computer
xv color gamut (xvycc) 16-bit files (jpeg xr, if the patent issues get resolved)
TAv and Sv modes a la Pentax
Pentax-style hyperprogram
as implied by the above items, two control dials
at least three user-definable modes
other quick-access buttons/dials for metering, focus, ISO, etc. -- no need to get into the menu except for configuration and playback.
fast edge-contrast (ie full-sensor) autofocus
focus assist light, if the above AF system isn't magical enough to work by itself in low light.
radio control for wireless flash system
tilt/bounce internal flash like the Panasonic DMC L1
some sort of sensor cleaning function that actually works
At least 6 megapixels. I'll take more if I have to. :)
uncrippled K mount


Don't need

mystery-function scene modes
the internal flash, if it doesn't tilt. (The system should therefore use a radio system to control its off-camera flashes.)

[rediguana]

I want one with a small high-sensitivity GPS receiver in it so that for outdoor photos it can at the lat/long.

[wulf]

So we now have a bunch of ideal cameras described. Can anyone suggest any available models that match up or are we talking about things that don't exist?

Wulf

[mattdm]

So we now have a bunch of ideal cameras described. Can anyone suggest any available models that match up or are we talking about things that don't exist?


I'm certainly talking about something that doesn't exist. I did mention some things from my Pentax K10D that I'd really miss if the new camera didn't have. But a lot of that was pure fantasy.

[the_camera_poser]

My ideal camera would be a Canon 1Ds Mk III that didn't overheat or misfocus, and that had user settings, so that my wife and I could both use it without having our constant problems of her leaving it in autofocus and giving it to me and me leaving it set at Av 13 with the spot meter on and giving it to her. This happens even though we have two bodies. Also, a magnified viewfinder that could be zoomed in and out, and interchangable focus screens that could be switched with the press of a button (not sure how they'd do that one...)

But MOST OF ALL: it'd have the build of my wife's 30+ year old Canon SLRs, and not the semi-disposable plasticky gimmicky things we got nowadays. I'd like to be able to rely on the bloody thing 30 years from now like those trusty old A1's.

OH- it'd be upgradeable like computers. Put in a new 568MP sensor, a new digic26 chip, etc etc :-) Like that's going to happen.....

[mattdm]

I want one with a small high-sensitivity GPS receiver in it so that for outdoor photos it can at the lat/long.

Someday they'll all probably have this. But check out this thing that was just shown at CES: http://photofinder.atpinc.com/ -- it's a little GPS unit that keeps a timestamped trail of your location and has the built-in ability to scan an inserted memory card for files with matching timestamps and fill in the lat/long EXIF fields. Way cool, and rumored to be $100 or so.

[inkista]

GPS-wise, there are also those Ricoh GPS cameras (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0702/07020501ricoh500se.asp), those Korean cell-phone cameras that use cell tower triangulation to put the lat/long in the EXIF, and devices like the Sony GPS-CS1.

The thing about synching the NMEA track file with the EXIF in photos depends on the camera's clock being accurately set, and the correct timezone being selected for the GPS information in the track file, since typically the location-stamping is done by matching timestamps.

If you're on a Mac, I recommend the freeware GPSPhotoLinker (http://oregonstate.edu/~earlyj/gpsphotolinker/).

I tend to have problems with losing the GPS signal when I'm indoors and under tree cover. Still need visibility of the satellites, alas. I'm still awaiting the day they launch Galileo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_positioning_system), which should be usable indoors as well as out.

My ideal camera? Is the one that works by telepathy to take a picture of what I envision, not what I see. :)

[mattdm]

The thing about synching the NMEA track file with the EXIF in photos depends on the camera's clock being accurately set, and the correct timezone being selected for the GPS information in the track file, since typically the location-stamping is done by matching timestamps.

It's too bad cameras don't have the option to sync time with a computer clock over USB. (Or do some?) That's help with this and be a lot cheaper to implement than actually adding GPS capability.

And it's also too bad that EXIF is generally assumed to store the time in "local time" rather than storing UTC+TZ.

[jdepould]

I just saw a hot-shoe mounted GPS unit the other day that plugs straight in to a D200/300. Heck if I can find the link though.

[inkista]

http://www.jobo.com/jobo_digital/photogps/gb/index.html

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/pma-07-jobo-photogps-brings-easy-gps-photo-tagging-to-the-masses-242701.php

(I just googgled hotshoe and GPS. Didn't figure there'd be many devices that did both.)

Still not planting the GPS info into the EXIF when the pictures taken; still requires the synch-up on a computer after downloading the photos and GPS info.

I am curious as to how the Canon 40D's WFT-E3A grip (which also acts as a wifi transmitter so you control the camera over the web, and also get to the pics on the camera via http/ftp) uses a GPS input via USB connection. (I think most folks are using the USB to shoot directly to hard drives, though).

[Mefistofeles]

Mi ideal camera

1. Nikon image quality.
2. Image stabilization.
3. Dust reduction.
4. Cheap.
5. Cheap.
6. Night Vision
7. X-ray capability.
8. With an universal mount for ALL the lenses from ALL the manufacturers.
9. Cheap.
10. Small (i hate those cameras that look more like carring a TV in front of your face than a camera).
12. Remote and wireless.
13. Video mode with stereo sound.
14. DSLR
15. Cheap.
16. Large optical viewfinder.

With a body like this:

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/leicam8/Images/silverm8.jpg

Wow!! what a beautiful piece of art (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/leicam8/)... and its digital!! Oh my God!!