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As any good online auction seller would attest, an item description and title may draw in the bidders, but it's the picture that closes the deal.
A prospective buyer is anxious to see the details of the item that they want to buy, from a nicely composed beauty shot to close-ups of markings, patterns and even flaws. Any information that you can impart using your auction image brings you that much closer to making a successful sale.
If you sell a variety of items online, you'll require a digital camera that's flexible enough to take clear, wide shots of larger items, yet still produce detailed pictures of small products. In addition to taking sharp pictures, a good digital camera should be able to reproduce colors correctly (nothing more annoying that receiving something beige when you were expecting something gray), have decent battery life and transfer images easily to the computer.
Last year, we reviewed two entry-level digital cameras (under $500 list-price) and came up with some recommendations. http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/8/7/6/5/5.html#camera. This year, we moved the bar up a bit, and evaluated three mid-priced models ($500-$900): Kodak DC 4800, Sony Cyber-shot F505V, and Nikon Coolpix 950
The evaluation kept auction sellers in mind. The cameras were equipped with at least a 2 megapixel CCD, a minimum 3x optical zoom, macro settings for close-ups, a white balance feature for adjusting color temperature and a built-in flash.
The tests included taking shots in a controlled-light environment* of smaller objects including jewelry, printed material and glass. Test shots also included larger objects in a mixed light environment (outside light and tungsten) using the onboard flash. The tests brought very satisfactory overall results for all the cameras tested, yet each had stronger points that distinguished it from the others.
These are not your basic point-and-shoot cameras - this is evident from the outset. There are deep menus in each of these models that allow you to tweak shutter speed, white balance, ISO settings-and you should become familiar with them before doing serious shooting. The Kodak, in particular has a default mode that could initially make the camera seem weak. Once the proper adjustments were made, however, we were very pleased with the results.
Kodak DC 4800
The Kodak DC 4800 (street price: $465-$599) performed well in all tests. The 3x optical zoom lens (6x digital zoom) is a little noisy in the motor, but utilizes nearly all of the 3.3 megapixel capacity of this camera. The wide shots had nice color saturation and gave my objects a very rich appearance. Both wide and macro shots were the brightest in the group, and shots of printed material came out exceptionally sharp. I was not able to get quite as close to objects with this camera as I was with the Nikon or Sony, but Kodak made up for it on the other end, where I was able to take the widest shots in this group.
The USB connection made transferring images to my PC lightning fast. Kodak also sells a CompactFlash reader that can stay connected to your computer - you simply pull the Flash Card out of the camera and insert it into the reader. The DC 4800 comes standard with a 16 megabyte CompactFlash card that will hold from 1 image (2160x1440) to 47 (1080x720) images. It would have been nice to have a 640x480 resolution mode. Instead, any resizing will have to be done in your software. The onboard flash is serviceable, and for serious shutterbugs, this was the only camera that had a hot shoe connection on board for an external flash. The battery, as with all of these models was fair, and takes 4 hours to charge. A spare battery with a quick-charge unit would be highly recommended.
There are some caveats with this camera. As I mentioned, when I first started taking pictures, the factory default settings were in place, and images seemed pixilated and grainy. After a colleague and I manually adjusted shutter and ISO settings, images became much sharper. So be forewarned: If you purchase the DC 4800, be prepared to learn the menus and how to change settings. All that being said, images stood up very well next to the more expensive models. If you have a sound knowledge of photography, or are willing to learn, this is an excellent choice, especially for the price!
Sony Cyber-shot F505V
The first thing that you notice when you pick up the Cyber-shot F505V (street price: $695-$950) is that it feels great in your hands. Aside from the nice ergonomics, there are also many impressive built-in features. The Carl Zeiss-designed lens has superb optics and gives the user great flexibility in framing a shot. This silent 5x optical zoom (10x digital) performed the best in this group and allowed me to go from wide shot to close-up without ever having to move my tripod. This is also the only camera in the group that has a true manual focus setting, allowing the user to adjust the focus ring for razor sharpness. The macro shots were also nice and clear, and I was able to get right on top of the item I was shooting to take close-ups. I was never entirely happy with the color representation of my close-up images, however, despite trying every white balance setting in the book, but the wide-shot pictures had robust colors and were very pleasing.
The 8 megabyte Memory Stick can store a range of 4-(2240x1680) images to 118-(640x480) images. The biggest drawback to this camera was the lack of optical viewfinder that forces the user to keep the LCD screen on constantly, causing the battery to drain quickly. If you are taking shots of items outside, the LCD screen can also be difficult to view. The onboard flash is very strong, and has three settings to meet your lighting needs. The USB connection was extremely fast, although Sony could also have been a bit more generous with the 33" long USB cable.
If price is not a problem, then this camera would have to merit serious consideration. The overall picture quality was excellent, and Sony Cyber-shot F505V had a great camera "feel" to it.
Nikon Coolpix 950
It may not be entirely fair to match up the older Nikon 950 (street price: $575-$810) with two, more recent competitors. I requested the Nikon Coolpix 990 from the manufacturer, but Nikon sent the 950 model for evaluation. The Nikon 950 has been a very serviceable camera for web-designers for years, and it still holds up well.
The camera comes with a 2.1 megapixel CCD and a 3x optical zoom lens that creates very sharp images. The 950 performed especially well in Macro mode where the detail was exceptional. The color did not seem as saturated or pleasing as the Sony or the Kodak, and even with constant adjustments, looked a bit "greener" than the other two units. The ergonomics of the 950 may seem a bit strange at first (the body is hinged in the middle) but actually fits comfortably in the hand. This camera does have a manual zoom feature as well, although I find spinning the command wheel a bit quirky. I was much more impressed with the focus ring on the Sony F505V.
The 4 AA Alkaline batteries that power the 950 will expire quickly. I would highly recommend buying a couple of sets of rechargeable NiMH batteries with this camera. The biggest frustration with the camera is its serial connection to the computer. If this camera is your choice, I would strongly suggest purchasing a USB Picture Card reader to speed up the image transfers. While still a nice camera, your money would be better spent on a newer model.
Conclusions:
It wouldn't be a mistake to purchase any of these cameras. Each unit had its strengths and weaknesses, but overall, would make a fine choice for any online auction seller looking to take a "step up" with their digital camera. The Kodak DC 4800 delivered very good images across the board, and also the brightest pictures in the group. Given the street price, it's hard not to pick this as the "Best Bang for the Buck".
The Sony is a beautiful camera, but the cost may be a bit prohibitive, especially if the primary use will be taking auction pictures.
The Nikon Coolpix 950, while still a workhorse, is a little long in the technology tooth, and has been surpassed by its competitors. It would have been interesting to see what the newer 990 model could do.
To see an "At-a-Glance" chart of specs, and to compare sample images from each camera, go to http://www.auctionbytes.com/camreview01/camreview01.html.
I'll be adding more models to the chart as I review them.
*All close-up shots were lit with a 240watt spotlight covered with diffusion material and a white bounce card.
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