All About Pocket Knives

When trying to take a picture in bright sunlight, the image in my digital view finder(?) is impossible to see. What type of camera should I be looking for to avoid the blank screen in bright sunlight? Does my question make sense??

Your question makes a lot of sense. Bright sunlight turns my camera from a point & shoot into a guess & shoot. I have the same problem with my phone. When you find one, let me know.

If your talking about viewing the back of the camera digital screen.
Getting a digital camera with not only digital screen but old fashion viewfinder "optical viewfinder" would solve the problem.
My old digital camera has both. My new camera only has the screen in the back which causes the problem you are stating.

Added picture of my old camera.
JW~

Did a little research. There are a couple of products on the market. One is a magnifying glass contraption that attaches to the camera via the tripod mount or another variation attaches via the hot shoe mount. It's called ClearViewer -- http://www.clearviewer.com/

Another is an anti-glare thing that goes over the LCD display. ClearTouch™ Anti-Glare
http://www.boxwave.com/screen-protector ... a/bwds/f-t

Another suggestion they had was to adjust the brightness on the screen as high as it will go. Doesn't solve the issue but it's supposed to help and it's free.

Of course shading the screen with a hat, piece of paper or some such will help. I'd rather have a camera that doesn't require me to stand on one foot facing south east while singing the national anthem, just to take a picture outside.

jerryd6818 wrote:Your question makes a lot of sense. Bright sunlight turns my camera from a point & shoot into a guess & shoot. I have the same problem with my phone. When you find one, let me know.

.......jerry, I've been taking pictures all week with this @$^Y%$%^$#YYTQY atomic camera like you suggested- I have the above problem, plus many others, too numerous to name!!!!...........when I get your pictures this thing is going under the '56 t'bird's back 6.70-15 firestone wide whitewall for a crush test!!!!........it's back to the argus and Minolta after this experiment!!!!........... ................

jerryd6818 wrote: I'd rather have a camera that doesn't require me to stand on one foot facing south east while singing the national anthem, just to take a picture outside.

Any chance you could film this and give us a YouTube link? I'd love to see this performance!

Pfffft to da boat of ya.

Jerry:
I will probably get a lot of flack for the following but I consider it to be true. There is lots of value out there at the same sales you go to for knives, take a peek around and check for digital cameras. I find the older view finder type for as low as a dollar. I caught an off brand this morning for a dime, didn't care if it worked or not cause it had an SD memory card in it. You can download manuals for all of them. I have found 4 to 5 Mega Pixel is more than enough for knife work. and higher resolution will eat up your computers memory so fast it is amazing. Most cameras anymore work on aa cells or aaa cells. Just carry four of each with you if you think your investment warrants workability or not. Make sure it has as said before a viewfinder. Preferably switchable for viewing, close up and long distance function. By the way there is money to be made reselling them. I gave up long ago battery charging. AA's at Costco are less thant ten bucks for about 50. I find a set of alkaline's out last the charge on the others. I get about 4-8 weeks taking 30-50 pics per week. By the way you just never know what you will find on those little memory cards. I have never used the cord interface with the camera just download from the card. Reformatting is easy just plug the card in the right slot and click on computer and right click on port with reusable memory and a screen will come up and again click on format. You will be warned if you continue you will lose your cards photos. Your decision. You only do this when your photo downloader loses erase function. Happens with an old card that easily slip into locked position with the slider switch. In my opinion and I am not a pro is the Konica/Minolta or canon cameras. Preferably with thru the lens viewing, especially good for closeups.
moss

Moss, I never considered buying a used camera. Good idea. Especially the part about it having a view finder in place of or addition to the screen. As long as it doesn't use a 3-1/2" floppy.

You are correct. 5-6 mega-pixels is plenty for what we do. As one guy said, "we ain't making works of art here".

Here's a hint to several on the forum. Dial back on the resolution (picture size) at which your camera is taking pictures. The cameras come from the factory set to the highest resolution of which the camera is capable and most folks never touch the adjustment. A 14 MP camera is taking 14 MP pictures. They don't need to be that large. The largest on my camera is 7 M and that's big enough to print a 11"x17" print. When ya gonna do that? Those 14 MP pictures take up 3+ meg of memory and take forever to load on AAPK even at cable Internet speeds. I run mine at 2 M and the pictures only take up appx. 700 meg of memory.

Another advantage to lower resolution pictures is the ability to store more pictures on the camera and faster transfer speed when moving images to your computer or up to AAPK. The term "lower resolution" makes it sound like you are getting lesser quality but for our purposes, you're not.

As for the batteries, I use Dura-Cell rechargeable batteries. They last well in the camera. I paid less than $10 for four and if I go someplace where I need more battery life, I can always buy a four pack anywhere. The first set of rechargeables that came with the charger my son bought for me lasted about five years and they were cheap China batteries. We'll have to agree to disagree on that issue.

I'll still take a 35mm film camera over any digital made today that is under a thousand dollars.Only problem is finding someone to develop your film without having to take out a second mortgage on your house.
I've used a Canon AL-1 for over 35 years and have had excellent results.Bought the camera body for $56 and the 35-105 Macrozoom lense for $300.Focuses down to less than 2 inches with a so-so depth of field.Great for tang stamps.The focus is idiot proof too.I had trouble with split image focusing and the AL uses a 3 light system.A center green light(in-focus)with a red light(out of focus)on either side of the green.Turn until green light comes on.I've used it so much the battery cover latch broke.Took a piece of strap steel and screwed it onto the tripod mount;leaving it loose enough to pivot when I want to change batteries.
I have several other 35mm SLRs including the first one ever to feature through the lens focusing(beat Nikon by a year):a Beseler TOPCON with a bunch of lenses and a Metz professional grade electronic flash unit with shoulder strap(it's like carrying a car battery)and related equipment.Bought the whole outfit in a fitted case at a yard sale for $5! Works great too! The batteries cost more than I paid for the whole outfit.

Thanks for the replies fellerz. I guess what I'm looking for ain't out there

From the research I did, the only thing that's available are work arounds. Maybe someone else knows of something. If you find something for less than a million dollars, (slight exaggeration to make a point) please let me know.

I tried taking stills with my digital cam corder just for kicks and am pleased with the results. I get better and easier close-ups with the DCC than the still camera, though the bright sun is still a problem with the viewing screen.

Here is a camera that will solve these problems, in my opinion, if you can find one.
I took a picture of the box it came in plus I found the receipt. Look what I paid for a 1gb SD card. Sheesh!
Anyway, at 5 MP and great close up macro, and 12 power telephoto if needed, this thing does it all for me.
It's a shame they thought it was OK to get rid of the viewfinder. They weren't exactly looking out for the consumer.
These cameras are much less expensive now with more features.

[quote="tjmurphy"] I get better and easier close-ups the the DCC than the still camera,

yabut, Tom, it left spots all over the blade.

With the LCD screens we will have trouble out in the sunlight its the way they are made.
I just replaced a old tube TV with an new LCD TV.The old tube one you could look at a it from the site no loss of color or picture.Try this with a LCD at the same angle you can't see the picture.
To have a camera you can check the photo's you have taken and delete the ones you don't want instead of waiting for them to be developed is a great advantage .I never worried about taking photo till I purchased a camera with a screen now I use it all the time.
Grant