Whats a good camera for lasers?

I need an hd camera that can take pictures and record videos of beamshots clearly. Something under 200$

my current one while looking at the dot its all bright n stuff with a line in the screen

I can't yet recommend any particular model, but I can say this from experience.

Stills: Your best with fully manual, focus, iris and ISO.
Video: Avoid auto-focus like the plague. They hunt endlessly. I bought a Cisco Flip recently, good camera for the price and damn handy. Useless for beam shows...

Good question, I've been searching for the same thing. From all the cameras I looked at, none are any good at the $200 price range. The companies are in such a megapixle war, that they left quality in the dust. My old Cannon A170 3.2 megapixle camera took outstanding photos inside and out. I've used a couple of other cameras ranging from 7 - 10 megapixles and its nothing but noise/blur for dark photos. If you read the negative reviews on all the cameras under $300 they all say noisy blurred photos, and what happened to the quality that the old camera used to have. Its sad.

Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review, News, Reviews, Forums, FAQ is a good place to start.

T_J, I agree. My old Sony 515 had a nice big Carl Zeise lens yet was <4MP. Awesome glass, thats whats needed, not a hundred and eleventy seven gigga-pixels. My Fuji 5500 just doesnt stack up against the old Sony....

I don't have any specific camera models to suggest, but if you want color accuracy, than go for a camera with a large color gamut. It will allow you to take much more realistic photos color wise.

Glass. It's all about the glass AND chip size. DSLR are the GO. Look at Sony, Nikon and Cannon. DSLR are affordable now. The Sony bodies take old SLR lens too as the AF is in th body, not the lens.

To bad you cant shove a DSLR in your pocket. :yabbem:

So what suggestions do any of you have for optimal capturing of beams (iso,Ect.) :yh:

Tech_Junkie said:

My old Cannon A170 3.2 megapixle camera took outstanding photos inside and out. I've used a couple of other cameras ranging from 7 - 10 megapixles and its nothing but noise/blur for dark photos. If you read the negative reviews on all the cameras under $300 they all say noisy blurred photos, and what happened to the quality that the old camera used to have. Its sad.

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Its sad but true, i'm affraid. My old canon A520 takes better quality pictures than most recent compact cameras. Obviously its resolution is limited, to 4 MP, but for most applications that is more than enough.

With more and more megapixels, cameras have gotten more noisy for a comparable sensor size. Most of that can be corrected and if you scale the picture down in the end its usually quite manageable... but 1:1 crops are borderline useless in dim conditions.

Lasers and Masers said:

So what suggestions do any of you have for optimal capturing of beams (iso,Ect.) :yh:

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All lighting situations are different. I always take a ton of photos at different settings. Then pick the winner.

If you have a more robust budget I really like the Olympus E- PL1 that I have been using. It is a little over $500.




It takes amazing beamshots and some great close ups. These all were just taken with the auto setting point and click. This thing has a ton of proffesional style options that could make the shots even better.

I bought a Fuji HS10 a few weeks ago, they go for $650 locally, but you can get them on eBay for around $400.

They use a backlit CMOS sensor, so are excellent in low light conditions. Can record highspeed video up to 1000FPS, if you are into experimenting with highspeed, up to ISO 6400. 30X manual zoom, and a heap of features you'd find on a DSLR (Like manual focusing ring).

Here are a few recent shots I've taken with it. Blurryness (if any) is due to the lack of a tripod, I can't find the damn mount for it.



Even though you said laser, this is a picture, taken in complete darkness, all the way across my back yard. It still managed to focus in complete darkness (Too far for it's AF light), and used the auto flash metering.



It's also great at macro. It has 2 macro modes, close up and super close up (Up to 1cm). This is a picture of a cleaning solution ON the cameras lense, it still managed to focus.



Another 445nm beam shot, just a teeny bit of match smoke in this one



And some pics I took today:







It can also record 1080p HD video

One downside of expensive cameras is that shots with the beam coming towards the camera can result in nasty accidents.

Tech_Junkie said:

To bad you cant shove a DSLR in your pocket. :yabbem:

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Not a problem if you had deep pockets to buy one with in the first place

@Things that was the camera I have been looking at for a while... nice shots! :wave:

Hmm.. i'd easily shell out for a DSLR, but the size of those things is whats keeping me from getting one. To take beamshots at home it'd be fine, but i just know i'll never go lug one of those things around on the move.

I hear ya. Sure makes you appreciate the beam shots posted.
I've been fighting mine too. It's a Fuji S700 7.1mp. It has a ton of features I'm just now finding. Auto anything just doesn't work. I did find the manual settings area after downloading the pdf. It has macro, super macro and 10x zoom with anti-shake. I needed those before lasers. Tough to find combo when I got it without selling the house. I found it has adjustable ISO & F stop, but just on certain settings!
I wish it had a remote trigger! I have 2 tripods, one 8" with extendable legs an a 5'. I do have a 3rd one, short one coming from PriceAngels. Mine always moves to push the button then the starting blur. grrrrr :yabbmad:

Starting a new hobby.....sigh. Read, test, benchwork, buy parts, build then try to get a decent pic to post and :banghead:

Tech_Junkie said:

All lighting situations are different. I always take a ton of photos at different settings. Then pick the winner.

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That makes you appreciate digital over film developing!