Art and Photography

Point and shoot camera for pet

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  • Feb 7th, 2017 7:40 am
Sr. Member
May 3, 2016
543 posts
76 upvotes

Point and shoot camera for pet

My dog moves too much and I can't take well focused photos of her most of the time with my phone. Looking for a camera under $300. Any recommendations?
15 replies
Member
Apr 9, 2012
473 posts
399 upvotes
DO NOT BOTHER GETTING A POINT & SHOOT!!!!!! It's like someone asking what laptop to get so that they can write a book because right now they are only using a typewriter.

Spontaneous moving images of a pet are EXTREMELY difficult even for point & shoots. You would need to find one with manual focus & manual exposure control (amongst other features) to reduce lag time BUT then YOU will be the weak link & MISS far more images than you will capture. NO camera will be good at this vs. YOU being the camera operator being good as a camera operator. Not only will you have to concentrate & anticipate your pet, but you will now have to become an expert at whatever camera you get, lighting, exposure control & more. Save your money unless you want to learn photography. Go to dpreview.com & look for their equipment reviews & lists but it will be VERY confusing for you. There is NO silver bullet, magical camera solution other than time, perseverance, knowledge, rehearsing, etc.. Your BEST solution is to use the video mode if you want to miss less action, but then print or screen outputs would be lower resolution but maybe good enough.

Even the pros with the best gear, will either take a LOT of time to get hundreds of images to get one or a few keepers or mostly the best thing to do is to SET UP, Control, Rehearse .... Repeat, the action. Your phone is probably good enough. The situation and or your knowledge is not. You need to learn to control the situation. Search YouTube for pet photography. Forget the action moving spontaneous images & learn to choreograph & control them for great pet images.

You could look for used Canon S120 series (not sure what # they are up to now or Panasonic LF1s or SX40-60? or something with similar features & control to these. But if you just put these on Auto, then you will still mostly get what your phone gets. There is more to it than the misleading name of Point & Shoot.
Last edited by Mtnviewer on Jan 30th, 2017 11:30 am, edited 3 times in total.
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May 22, 2005
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Yup, a camera will not improve that significantly for under $300, best thing to do is to find better lighting and shooting conditions.
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For the budget, I second the Canon S120 as well but it is sadly no longer in production...

I also agree with the previous poster since I have both recent model upper end DLSR and a mirrorless camera and yet, I have trouble catching my 10 mos old nephew in doors.

So, spend the model on a phone with a better camera before you consider picking up a p&s, since you are likely going to still have the same problem and is another thing you have to carry.
The Devil made me buy it - RFD. :twisted:
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My dog uses iPhone 7+
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May 3, 2016
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hdom wrote: For the budget, I second the Canon S120 as well but it is sadly no longer in production...

I also agree with the previous poster since I have both recent model upper end DLSR and a mirrorless camera and yet, I have trouble catching my 10 mos old nephew in doors.

So, spend the model on a phone with a better camera before you consider picking up a p&s, since you are likely going to still have the same problem and is another thing you have to carry.
Ah... good that I asked it here.

I always thought it's the shutter speed that makes the difference in capturing fast moving objects, and since phone doesn't have control on shutter speed that's causing the problem.

Thank you.
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Jun 15, 2012
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Use your smartphone, think different and save money. There is Shutter LAG (click-to-shutter release) followed by Shutter SPEED (rate of shutter curtain). A faster camera (less Shutter LAG) is only going to be as good as your reflexes. Instead, anticipate the action and shoot in burst mode and point your phone where your dog is going to be. Then pick your favourite shots out of the bunch, delete the rest. Take advantage of the digital age to shoot as many shots as you want.

Shoot in good light and your phone will automatically choose a fast enough Shutter SPEED for canine action. The challenge only presents itself in dim light, because any camera in AUTO will choose a slow Shutter SPEED resulting in motion blur. It doesn't know you're shooting something fast and it's algorithm wants to get the overall exposure right. Just because you have a dedicated camera or use a phone app to manually choose a faster Shutter SPEED, it doesn't mean the pic will be the right brightness. The effect is less time/light to hit the sensor and the result is a darker picture when you don't have enough light (or a grainy one if the ISO is auto and goes up to compensate). I hope that makes sense.

When you get good at it, you can also learn to pan with the motion of your dog. The effect is your dog is frozen in action but you get blurriness everything around her conveying speed (look at moving car photos).

Photography is a lot about using good light (or providing it yourself), and you need it if you want to use a fast Shutter SPEED to capture movement.

If you really want a good P&S, don't let what I say discourage you. Get one and make sure you make good use of it. The best camera is the one on you.
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Apr 9, 2012
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wyho007 wrote:
I always thought it's the shutter speed that makes the difference in capturing fast moving objects, and since phone doesn't have control on shutter speed that's causing the problem.

Thank you.
Without seeing the images that you are referring to, you could be partially correct, as faster shutter speeds are one part of freezing action. Some point & shoot cameras (already mentioned) do have an Auto Shutter Speed Priority Mode (Tv), where one can set the shutter speed for the camera to use & as a user setting, it can be set "fast enough" for some situations. But that is only one part of the exposure control, with the others being aperture & ISO AND LIGHT!!!!!! Some cameras can be set so that if there is not enough light for the user selected shutter speed in Tv Mode, then the ISO is boosted & the aperture is opened up as far as it can be. This isn't a common feature on lower end cameras but is becoming so. But higher ISO's introduce Noise, sometimes ugly noise & artefacts, again, mostly on lower priced cameras. As well, wide apertures are less sharp, especially off center. So in "theory", Shutter Priority Mode Tv, could or should help freeze movement, but the end result is that it depends, on a) is there enough light (indoors is usually poor light) & the brighter the light, the better this mode works. b) is there even enough light for the Auto Focus system to work (again bright light is more often more accurate) c) what is the ISO & noise quality of the sensor d) e) f) , the list goes on. One of the main problems with lower & even some higher priced cameras is that their Auto Focus system is POOR for moving subjects, low light conditions & often not good at holding focus or tracking a subject as it moves from one plane of focus to another. So, some of the poor image problem may be too low a shutter speed in too low light conditions but is also extremely often, poor auto focus either due to poor light intensity or poor auto focus technology or a subject & lighting of low contrast or detail for the auto focus system to lock on to & or change it's plane of focus.

So you aren't likely to get a camera great at some or all of these things for under $300. Even the $3000-$6000 cameras are not perfect in all conditions & with all subjects. As well, the more complex the camera, the more the operator needs to know vs. the opposite & just putting the system on full Auto. All these "technology features" are tools that still need to be operated by the photographer & knowledge. The tools do not operate themselves (well other than some constricted remote control situations).

Finally, you need LIGHT for ANY photography and for action subjects, the more the better, which will allow for higher shutter speeds, lower ISO's & better Auto Focusing. So rather than spend $300, it would be better to start photographing your subject in much brighter light (no not brighter room lights which only appear brighter to your eye), such as outdoors on a bright but slightly overcast day. But by all means, a point & shoot, with the right controls, such as Shutter Priority Mode (Tv) and in the right conditions will help a little more, but practice with what you have in bright light will help more. Photography is full of compromises & restrictions, or at least good photography is.
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May 3, 2016
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Makes a lot of sense. Thank you!
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Aug 29, 2006
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It probably helps to know which phone you have, the camera app that comes with the phone may not always be the best too.
The Devil made me buy it - RFD. :twisted:
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wyho007 wrote: My dog moves too much and I can't take well focused photos of her most of the time with my phone. Looking for a camera under $300. Any recommendations?
Taking action photos with a smartphone, or a cheap P&S, isn't going to work well, especially indoors. Video is your best option there.

I recommend you spend a bit more and get a camera with good/fast AF, a better sensor, and decent burst speed. Something like a one inch sensor camera such as the RX100 or G9X will work much better, and you can save money by buying used.
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I think the RX100 V is worth its price tag (Reg $1249.99CAD). It's tiny, yet it can do 4k movies (5min intervals), insane slow motion, flip up screen, etc. Its AF is much better than the previous model (IV) and the popular vlogging camera G7X MII. It is missing a touch-screen/touch-focus and mic input, but if you need better sound you can always use a stand-alone audio recorder and merge in post.
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JohnyBGood wrote: I think the RX100 V is worth its price tag (Reg $1249.99CAD). It's tiny, yet it can do 4k movies (5min intervals), insane slow motion, flip up screen, etc. Its AF is much better than the previous model (IV) and the popular vlogging camera G7X MII. It is missing a touch-screen/touch-focus and mic input, but if you need better sound you can always use a stand-alone audio recorder and merge in post.
The new Panasonic Lumix LX10 is also very interesting at a slightly lower price point (~$350 less). Good AF and decent tracking.

There are a few RX100V vs LX10 videos on YouTube now.

.
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JohnyBGood wrote: I think the RX100 V is worth its price tag (Reg $1249.99CAD). It's tiny, yet it can do 4k movies (5min intervals), insane slow motion, flip up screen, etc. Its AF is much better than the previous model (IV) and the popular vlogging camera G7X MII. It is missing a touch-screen/touch-focus and mic input, but if you need better sound you can always use a stand-alone audio recorder and merge in post.
I hear BareNakedLadies in the background, "if I had a million..." :D
OP wants to spend less than $300

I had a IV and personally would love a RX100V, attach a gimbal, shoot in slog/HFR, grade in FCP (I don't think OP edits either)
Member
Apr 9, 2012
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Recent Post on Pet Photography

Main point in showing you this is that it doesn't mention action or moving images of dogs. It's just not easy to get good images of unpredictable movement & doing so requires controlled tricks & repetition rather than spontaneous unplanned snapshots. It isn't easy for the photographer nor for the equipment but is more doable in a controlled environment & lighting.
Banned
Oct 27, 2016
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I think you need to improve your photography skills or ability rather than improving a camera. Just don't lose patient. Your dog will remain still sometime of a day.
There's another idea, why don't you start training your dog to listen to you. That's not that difficult you know. Dogs are a very quick learner.

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