Self-Take Photography
Anglers are often loners and what they need in a camera is to easily be able to take shots of themselves with a fish. Please refer to this article, 'Fishing & Photography', for more details on this topic.
Although the articles mentions the Canon G11 compact as the best there is for this job, it's not a cheap camera, even for a compact. However, browse the internet, particularly eBay, for the previous Canon 'G' models and you may get one at the budget you want to spend. A G11 or similar on a Gorrillapod, as seen in the picture left, is a great piece of kit for self-take photography.
Making the Right Choice
Camera phone, compact or DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex)? That's the big question and the answer depends on what you're prepared to spend, what you're going to use the pictures for, where you fish and if you fish alone or with a pal. All those things are significant when making the final choice.
Make a list and consider the following:
Image by Graham Marsden via Flickr• Number of megapixels (but see below - 'The Megapixel Myth')
• Do you want a simple point and shoot camera or do you want a degree of control?
• Do you want a viewfinder, a screen, or both?
• If a screen, then how big?
• Is size and weight of camera an important factor to you?
• Do you want anti-camera shake, called variously image stability, vibration reduction, etc.
• Do you want optical zoom or digital zoom? Digital zoom merely enlarges what you've already got by increasing the size of the dots and decreasing the quality of the shot and can be done more easily in post processing software. Most experienced photographers would never use digital zoom.
• Do you want the camera to be able to take video?
• Do you want to take pics of yourself as easily as possible? The best type are the swivel screen with remote control.
• How much do you want to spend?
Lots of questions there, so write them down or print this off and tick those points that are important to you.
The Megapixel Myth
Before making your final choice let's get one myth out of way: multi megapixels in a digital camera are not what the camera manufacturers would lead you to believe. Advertisements imply that 8 megapixels are always better than 5 megapixels and so on. They're important yes, but they are not the be-all and end-all of producing a good shot. Lots of megapixels are good depending on various other factors, such as the camera’s lens, circuitry and sensor, as well as your skill with lighting, composition and the camera’s controls.
A megapixel is one million coloured dots in the picture and it seems to make sense that more megapixels adds up to a sharper photo. The reality though, is that it could just be a poor photo made up of more dots.
Typically, photographic pixels are recorded to an image sensor, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and as manufacturers cram more pixels on a given sensor, those pixels need to be smaller to be able to fit. Larger pixels mean better light-gathering capability which leads to better low-light performance, better colour accuracy, and in some cases, better dynamic range. Sensors come in a few different sizes: Full frame (24 x 36mm), APS-C (17 x 25mm), Four-thirds (13.5 x 18mm), and even smaller sensors on compact models.
So, it's worth repeating: cramming more and more pixels on a sensor just leads to a reduction in pixel size and a depreciation in image quality as it inevitably reduces the pixels ability to gather light, and reduces its sensitivity.
Image by Graham Marsden via FlickrThis is why, given equal quality in lens, circuitry and photographer's skill, a DSLR will almost always produce a better picture than that of a compact camera. They may have the same number of megapixels, or even more on the compact, but those megapixels on the compact will be smaller to enable them to fit on its small sensor.
The bottom line is this; 6 megapixels is easily enough for most photographers. With 6mp you can print up to A4 without any noticeable loss of quality and can show your photos on a PC screen, or on the internet, with no noticeable difference from the pictures taken with a 12mp camera. Yes, I do have a 12mp camera but that's mainly due to the camera I wanted having all the other bells and whistles I wanted, that just happened to have 12mp. In the last year or so I've gone from the £2000 full frame Nikon D700 to the £650.00 Nikon D90 and I can honestly say, for the photography I do and where I view it, I can't tell any difference whatsoever.
It can't be repeated often enough: if you just want to publish pictures on the internet and make small prints up to about 5" x 7" then a decent mobile phone camera or a cheap compact will do the job quite adequately. Only invest in an expensive compact or a DSLR if you're a photography enthusiast or you want to produce big prints or publish your pictures in a magazine.
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