Paleo - Photography: Canon PowerShot A800

Hello folks!

In preparation for the Aust hunt on the 22nd, I've been browsing the Internet in search of a good compact camera for finds that either can't be removed due to damage or are too small to remove. After spending a good few days looking around, I've come across one which is great at macro photography (this is what you'll need for those nice close-ups). It's the Canon PowerShot A800; whilst almost all of the controls are automatic, you can alter the flash, exposure, focal length and zoom (That's all you really need for quick shots). It has a 10.6 mega pixel sensor and runs on two AA batteries; this is great as it means you can easily swap them out on a hunt if needs be. It uses standard SD Cards and comes with a USB cable and software disks.

Here are a few test photos that I took (Apologies about the lighting, my studio lights are currently on loan to someone):

Ammonite at 10cm from the lens:


Close-up at 1cm from the lens:


Amber fragment at 5cm:


Close-up at 1cm:


Considering the size and price of this camera, it is surprisingly good. It was originally retailed at £80 but you can pick one up refurbished from Canon's eBay account for £31 (inc. P&P). In fact, it performs better at macro than my previous £150+ Lumix did!

I would thoroughly recommend this camera for those who want to get some good close-up shots on location without risking their £100/200+ cameras.


Let me know if you want more information,

James

Nice one James, good advice.

I am going to be testing out the camera on my new phone at Aust - in fact perhaps I should test some close ups here.

What phone brand/model is it?

I personally don't use cameras in phones as I prefer to have a few more controls, but that's just me The optical quality can vary drastically so I'm quite intrigued!

James

That's about as close I can go

Camera on Samsung Galaxy s3 - 8 megapixle. The flash is a bit week.

I usually take a Fugi Finepix S9600 about with me but its rather cumbersome.

Same picture taken with Fuji:




meh... need some lights.

Spleain wrote:

meh... need some lights.

That's where I come in - I've got some portable lights, but they are currently on loan.

Those pictures still come out quite well considering that it's a phone camera. If you have £30 lying around I'd thoroughly reccomend the A800 though

James

Hi James,

Superb information - greatly appreciated...how do you find the battery life of the camera? I'd be worried that it would get through AA batteries in no time. Also, could you recommend any portable lights for photography?

Kind Regards,

Joe

Hey Joe,

That is one of it's downsides; it can get around 300 - 350 shots with one set of AA batteries. The best thing to do is get yourself an 8 pack of rechargeable and just cycle through them. Then if worst comes to worst, you can just buy some AA's.

It depends on what you are looking for - how powerful? What kind (Bulb/LED)? Flash or constant light?

Let me know what you want the lights for and I'll give it a think,


James