Cameras to film a flight
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Cameras to film a flight
I have a £15 camera which is the size of a matchbox, films at 1080p 30 fps but it doesn't have flash, it doesn't have zoom, and it has a fixed wide-angle lens. I think to record a bucket-trip flight (and a bucket railtrip trip across Australia) I might need something a bit more sophisticated. I am bewildered by the choice, and the complexity - I'm used to cameras where you had to manually set the exposure, focus, colour temperature and the DIN/ASA rating of the film. Now it seems these are all done through menus. You can't just slide a slider for the f number, and rotate a thingie about the lens to set the focus, you have to work through menus, which mean that by the time you've got to the setting you want, the scene you wanted to picture has gone away.
I'd appreciate the advice of the members of this forum, who seem collectively omniscient, about a camera which has zoom, flash, at least 1080p at 60 Hz, and doesn't need a degree to operate. Suitable for taking a film like those on theluxurytravelexpert.com .
I've taken a look at the Kodak AZ421 but I really am as an innocent child in these affairs.
I've taken advice about over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones and gone for the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 phones. Thanks for your advice, people!
I'd appreciate the advice of the members of this forum, who seem collectively omniscient, about a camera which has zoom, flash, at least 1080p at 60 Hz, and doesn't need a degree to operate. Suitable for taking a film like those on theluxurytravelexpert.com .
I've taken a look at the Kodak AZ421 but I really am as an innocent child in these affairs.
I've taken advice about over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones and gone for the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 phones. Thanks for your advice, people!
Joined: Dec 2015
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From: Budapest
I have a £15 camera which is the size of a matchbox, films at 1080p 30 fps but it doesn't have flash, it doesn't have zoom, and it has a fixed wide-angle lens. I think to record a bucket-trip flight (and a bucket railtrip trip across Australia) I might need something a bit more sophisticated. I am bewildered by the choice, and the complexity - I'm used to cameras where you had to manually set the exposure, focus, colour temperature and the DIN/ASA rating of the film. Now it seems these are all done through menus. You can't just slide a slider for the f number, and rotate a thingie about the lens to set the focus, you have to work through menus, which mean that by the time you've got to the setting you want, the scene you wanted to picture has gone away.
I'd appreciate the advice of the members of this forum, who seem collectively omniscient, about a camera which has zoom, flash, at least 1080p at 60 Hz, and doesn't need a degree to operate. Suitable for taking a film like those on theluxurytravelexpert.com .
I've taken a look at the Kodak AZ421 but I really am as an innocent child in these affairs.
I've taken advice about over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones and gone for the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 phones. Thanks for your advice, people!
I'd appreciate the advice of the members of this forum, who seem collectively omniscient, about a camera which has zoom, flash, at least 1080p at 60 Hz, and doesn't need a degree to operate. Suitable for taking a film like those on theluxurytravelexpert.com .
I've taken a look at the Kodak AZ421 but I really am as an innocent child in these affairs.
I've taken advice about over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones and gone for the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 phones. Thanks for your advice, people!
https://www.google.com/search?q=sony...shop=apv&pvs=0
Translation of opening blurb -
"The Sony CyberShot DSC-W830 is a stylish and compact digital camera with 20 megapixels and an 8x optical zoom lens. Its slim body fits easily in your pocket or handbag. The automatic scene selector automatically selects and optimizes all settings. With the 360° Sweep Panorama mode, you can capture beautiful wide landscapes and life pictures."
When you click on this link you need to go to "About this product",
Forgot to mention, cost of this one, about €130.
Last edited by Expatrick; 7th April 2025 at 19:00.
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,086
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From: France
It might just be easier to make sure your phone has a decent camera, and if not, then upgrade your phone. If that doesn't suit you, then any decent compact from a mainstream brand will do you nicely. I think your best bet is to go to an actual shop and tell them your budget (allow a bit of fudge factor) and requirements. Honestly, you will be amazed at the quality you can now get in a small package.
Paxing All Over The World
Joined: May 2001
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From: Hertfordshire, UK.
As an amateur snapper since I was 9 and worked upwards from Insatmatic.... Many digital cameras that have fully manual settings ALSO have a 'point and click' mode. This can be great when on the move, such as a train window. If you want to catch a particular moment - then select Manual mode.
I have a 35mm SLR that has fully manual to fully auto and numrous digital ones offer that. Zoom lenses are now remarkable but do check for ACTUAL zoom and DIGITAL zoom, as that is software based and not as sharp.
It might be worth buying a magazine that specialises in digital cameras - and avoid all the really expensive ones! Look at the lower to middle range.
I have a 35mm SLR that has fully manual to fully auto and numrous digital ones offer that. Zoom lenses are now remarkable but do check for ACTUAL zoom and DIGITAL zoom, as that is software based and not as sharp.
It might be worth buying a magazine that specialises in digital cameras - and avoid all the really expensive ones! Look at the lower to middle range.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: UK and Italy
It might just be easier to make sure your phone has a decent camera, and if not, then upgrade your phone. If that doesn't suit you, then any decent compact from a mainstream brand will do you nicely. I think your best bet is to go to an actual shop and tell them your budget (allow a bit of fudge factor) and requirements. Honestly, you will be amazed at the quality you can now get in a small package.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2000
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 1,578
Likes: 312
From: UK and Italy
As an amateur snapper since I was 9 and worked upwards from Insatmatic.... Many digital cameras that have fully manual settings ALSO have a 'point and click' mode. This can be great when on the move, such as a train window. If you want to catch a particular moment - then select Manual mode.
I have a 35mm SLR that has fully manual to fully auto and numrous digital ones offer that. Zoom lenses are now remarkable but do check for ACTUAL zoom and DIGITAL zoom, as that is software based and not as sharp.
It might be worth buying a magazine that specialises in digital cameras - and avoid all the really expensive ones! Look at the lower to middle range.
I have a 35mm SLR that has fully manual to fully auto and numrous digital ones offer that. Zoom lenses are now remarkable but do check for ACTUAL zoom and DIGITAL zoom, as that is software based and not as sharp.
It might be worth buying a magazine that specialises in digital cameras - and avoid all the really expensive ones! Look at the lower to middle range.
I had (and have) one of the earliest digital cameras, the Fuji MX-2900zoom, but due to the memory restrictions of the middle ages, one high-res pic would take up a whole SD card, and of course filming even at 30 fps was unheard of. It had knobs to twiddle as well as buttons to set colour temperature, but the lack of video means that by today's standards it's a museum piece.
Camera magazines are also museum pieces, in fact magazines of any kind are museum pieces, everything's online now. The online mags give me a bewildering choice, but I was hoping for advice on cameras that people have actually used on planes. For example, a camera you use on a plane will auto-focus on the window, not on infinity (where the scenery is) so manual focus is a must; as is, if I am to take moving pix of the interiors of the cabin, colour temperature, although I'd accept this being via a menu.
Digital zoom is pretty meaningless, if you have a 1 Megapixel camera and 1000x digital zoom, that means one pixel, I ignore it. I'd like to have *some* optical zoom though, which my £ 15 camera doesn't have.
Thread Starter
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From: UK and Italy
I guess I'm so ignorant about photography that I can't even clarify what I want. My bad!
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: UK and Italy
My Wife has one of these, cracking little camera -
https://www.google.com/search?q=sony...shop=apv&pvs=0
Translation of opening blurb -
"The Sony CyberShot DSC-W830 is a stylish and compact digital camera with 20 megapixels and an 8x optical zoom lens. Its slim body fits easily in your pocket or handbag. The automatic scene selector automatically selects and optimizes all settings. With the 360° Sweep Panorama mode, you can capture beautiful wide landscapes and life pictures."
When you click on this link you need to go to "About this product",
Forgot to mention, cost of this one, about €130.
https://www.google.com/search?q=sony...shop=apv&pvs=0
Translation of opening blurb -
"The Sony CyberShot DSC-W830 is a stylish and compact digital camera with 20 megapixels and an 8x optical zoom lens. Its slim body fits easily in your pocket or handbag. The automatic scene selector automatically selects and optimizes all settings. With the 360° Sweep Panorama mode, you can capture beautiful wide landscapes and life pictures."
When you click on this link you need to go to "About this product",
Forgot to mention, cost of this one, about €130.
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,086
Likes: 36
From: France
In my employment before I retired I wasn't allowed a Google/Apple phone as these give away too much information to what the High Contracting Parties consider the enemy. I'm retired now but I still only have a dumbphone, which does email, a (pretty basic) camera, maps, and the features I use most, epub and pdf readers so I can read books when I'm bored on the plane or train. I appreciate your advice to 'go to an actual shop' but these don't seem to exist any more, everything is online. So are the reviews. But thanks for your input.
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I don't speak Hungarian, but I can't find this camera on the website https://digifotoshop.hu/. I'd like to buy this camera at that price. Can you help me?
Joined: Dec 2015
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From: Budapest
I don't speak Hungarian, but I can't find this camera on the website https://digifotoshop.hu/. I'd like to buy this camera at that price. Can you help me?
Sorry, forgot about this yesterday!
We bought the camera from the Axico Digital
Budapest 1074, Dohány U 67.
Back at 2022.08.09.
We paid 52,880 Fts (approximately £115).
https://digifotoshop.hu/
Last edited by Expatrick; 9th April 2025 at 08:54.
Joined: Jun 2022
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From: England
Unless I'm missing something that Sony, at 720p and 30fps, doesn't meet the requirements?
No experience, but I'd have thought that the right field of view, an ability to mount a lens hood to cut out reflections, maybe polarising filter or ND grad and a screen to frame shots properly would be more important than raw image quality through a scratched double glazed window.
As an oddball suggestion you can get second hand DSLRs that were good enough to film broadcast quality in their day for a tiny fraction of their original price.
No experience, but I'd have thought that the right field of view, an ability to mount a lens hood to cut out reflections, maybe polarising filter or ND grad and a screen to frame shots properly would be more important than raw image quality through a scratched double glazed window.
As an oddball suggestion you can get second hand DSLRs that were good enough to film broadcast quality in their day for a tiny fraction of their original price.
Joined: Feb 2022
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From: Here
I am considering a camera for a forthcoming trip overseas.
I have been looking at the Panasonic TZ99/ZS99.
https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consume...s/dc-tz99.html
I am in no way a camera nerd so I know next to nothing about cameras.
I have been looking at the Panasonic TZ99/ZS99.
https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consume...s/dc-tz99.html
I am in no way a camera nerd so I know next to nothing about cameras.
Joined: Dec 2015
Aviation Qualifications: Non-Aircrew
Posts: 871
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From: Budapest
We bought the camera from Axico Digital
Budapest 1074, Dohány U 67.
Back at 2022.08.09.
We paid 52,880 Fts (approximately £115).
https://digifotoshop.hu/
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2000
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 1,578
Likes: 312
From: UK and Italy
Sorry, forgot about this yesterday!
We bought the camera from Axico Digital
Budapest 1074, Dohány U 67.
Back at 2022.08.09.
We paid 52,880 Fts (approximately £115).
https://digifotoshop.hu/
We bought the camera from Axico Digital
Budapest 1074, Dohány U 67.
Back at 2022.08.09.
We paid 52,880 Fts (approximately £115).
https://digifotoshop.hu/
.
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 184
Likes: 38
From: Eastern Cape, South Africa
I have used several compact cameras out of airliner windows, and had some very good results. Autofocus on modern cameras is pretty good, so no need to twiddle a focus ring anymore.
What is your budget? a few years ago a used compact camera was as little as £30..I got a Canon IXUS 145 for that price in 2017..it works a treat! BUT now you wont get a half decent compact for under £120.
New ones are about £350 upwards... I see that Currys sell a few compact cameras for under £70, but I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole! You would be better off with a new phone.
I have a Samsung Galaxy A23, which is a couple of years old, but takes nice pictures.
Or the other option is a second hand DSLR..have a look at MPB.com. With a lot of photographers going over to mirrorless, there are a lot of really good DSLRs going at bargain prices...and they will do video at 1080p, and do a high speed burst at around 6 frames per second..
I have a Canon EOS 77D, whisch is fairly light and compact, has a fold out articulated touch screen, which is great for shooting over the heads of crowds! If you put in a 32Gb sd card, you should get around 850 pictures at maximum size (24Mpixel)
If you want to see some pics I have taken out of airliner windows, pm me and I can send some
What is your budget? a few years ago a used compact camera was as little as £30..I got a Canon IXUS 145 for that price in 2017..it works a treat! BUT now you wont get a half decent compact for under £120.
New ones are about £350 upwards... I see that Currys sell a few compact cameras for under £70, but I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole! You would be better off with a new phone.
I have a Samsung Galaxy A23, which is a couple of years old, but takes nice pictures.
Or the other option is a second hand DSLR..have a look at MPB.com. With a lot of photographers going over to mirrorless, there are a lot of really good DSLRs going at bargain prices...and they will do video at 1080p, and do a high speed burst at around 6 frames per second..
I have a Canon EOS 77D, whisch is fairly light and compact, has a fold out articulated touch screen, which is great for shooting over the heads of crowds! If you put in a 32Gb sd card, you should get around 850 pictures at maximum size (24Mpixel)
If you want to see some pics I have taken out of airliner windows, pm me and I can send some
Joined: Dec 2015
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From: Budapest
DSC-W830 camera with 20.1 MP sensor, 8x optical zoom, Intelligent Auto mode, Optical Steady Shot and Zeiss lens
Color
Pink
68 732 Ft
Estimated retail price includes VAT
Color
Pink
68 732 Ft
Estimated retail price includes VAT
Thread Starter
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From: UK and Italy
What's my budget? As little as possible, but ideally under £ 200. It seems I can get a pocketable camera like the Sony DSC-W830 recommended by Expatrick for that, but it only does 720p, whereas I'd really prefer 1080p. That seems to put the price up by a factor of two, so I think I need to either save up a bit more or lower my expectations. I've also asked TheLuxuryTravelExpert what he uses, but I suspect it will be some whizz-bang 4K camera with a price tag in four figures.
Thanks everyone for your most helpful advice and suggestions!
Thanks everyone for your most helpful advice and suggestions!
Last edited by justapax; 10th April 2025 at 19:37. Reason: 720, 1080 p not i