Nikon vs. Panasonic or other?

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Nikon vs. Panasonic or other?

Postby submassabielle » Apr 10, 2015 2:35 pm

Hello,
I know pretty much nothing about photography and am looking for a point and shoot that is waterproof/dustproof etc. and takes decent cave pictures. I don't want to go much above the 400 dollar range (but would happily buy something for less). I am looking at the Panasonic Lumix DMC FT... cameras and the Nikon AW120 style cameras. Does anyone know how these compare? Any other recommendations? Are there any cameras under 400 dollars that would allow for light-painting (something I don't know much about, but might be interested in in the future).
Thank you for any help!
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Re: Nikon vs. Panasonic or other?

Postby GroundquestMSA » Apr 10, 2015 3:06 pm

I've a Lumix DMC-TS4, which seems to have the same specs as the newer FT5. I take crap photos with it, but I suspect that someone patient enough to learn to use it properly and to take their time with setting up the shot could get quite good results. The Lumix is good for light-painting in that it has a manual shutter control (up to 30 seconds). The idea of light painting is simple; leave the shutter open for a long time and blast the subject with light. Play with it a bit and you'll figure out a lot. If I remember correctly (I often don't), the AW120 does not allow manual control of the shutter. You can still lightpaint on many such cameras using modes such as "fireworks" etc, which may be exposures of a few or four seconds, but there's not nearly as much control or ability to light up something big with your caving lights.
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Re: Nikon vs. Panasonic or other?

Postby caver.adam » Apr 10, 2015 3:07 pm

If you want to do light painting you will want a camera with bulb mode or manual (M) mode.

If you want to do standard cave pictures of large rooms you will want a camera that can trigger a flash (or a flash controller hooked up to multiple flashes).

Happy hunting!
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