need help

[raceroyce]

i am looking for a new camera. im not looking for something really good cuz im still new at this so i wont know how to work an expensive camera hahah

i want to take pics like this

from what i understand i need something that i can keep the shutter open for a while.

so i was looking at the sony dsc p200 here is a link for info on it
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/P200/P200A.HTM

so do u guys think this is a good camera? any other suggestions that i should look into. oh yah my price range is about $300 somthing at most. i think this camera is going for like $100 something on ebay. well lmk what u guys think and thanx in advance. oh yah here is a link for the hawaii photography that i got that pic from.
http://www.forumshawaii.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=200309

[bitkahuna]

First thing I did was go to dpreview.com, click on reviews, and then look for the P200 review. It was here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscp200/

I looked to see if it has manual control of shutter speeds, and it does. So with that and a TRIPOD, you can get pics like the one you posted, although they might be somewhat noisy.

[bitkahuna]

Finally found the page on your thread where the actual picture is :
http://www.forumshawaii.net/vbb/show...200309&page=10

I was trying to find it to see what equipment it was taken with. The guy has a Canon Digital Rebel XT. That explains the nice picture.

One other thing with a point and shoot like the P200 - you almost certainly won't get the radial light lines around bright lights (star burst) like he got.

[edit: I see later on that page he says the UV filter gave him the starburst effect. I doubt the P200 can accept filters]

[raceroyce]

thanx bitkahuna, but what do u mean by somewhat noisy? the starburst lights are cool but dont really catch my eye that much.

[kb2yza]

Originally Posted by bitkahuna

Finally found the page on your thread where the actual picture is :
http://www.forumshawaii.net/vbb/show...200309&page=10

I was trying to find it to see what equipment it was taken with. The guy has a Canon Digital Rebel XT. That explains the nice picture.

One other thing with a point and shoot like the P200 - you almost certainly won't get the radial light lines around bright lights (star burst) like he got.

[edit: I see later on that page he says the UV filter gave him the starburst effect. I doubt the P200 can accept filters]

Saw where he said that it was a UV filter but really a UV filter shouldn't have this effect on the lights. Basically is a clear glass with a coating on it for Ultra violet. It is deffinitely not a star fliter.. the lines are not aligned. I once heard some one say that this was the aperture blades that caused this what is you opion on that? I really couldn't see how that would do it either.

--Pete

[Percy]

Aperture blades will do this out of diffraction. With UV/Skylight filters, the most dangerous thing is reflections from air/glass surfaces. Most people use them as a protective filter - a good thing. Once when you get up to large large lenses, there's no provision for a filter in front of the lens. By large, meaning, Nikon 200 2.0 or Canon 200 1.8 lenses. (100mm + diameter...4 inches)

Percy