Missing: my big black Canon S70 with pictures from my birthday dinner at Hearth (a surprise from Craig), pictures of chicken knees at Yakitori Totto where I went with Diana, and the dessert she and I had at P*ng where the bartender practically hissed at us for not ordering drinks. Likely camera location: outside Food Network (at The Chelsea Market) where, yesterday, my umbrella inverted and I went tumbling into the street. (You may have seen me: I was literally splat on my face and my umbrella went gliding into the distance).
In the very likely chance that my camera is gone forever, any suggestions for a pocket-sized camera that takes good food photos? With my track record, I don't think I'm ready for an SLR.
Comments (31)
i suggest a Canon sd850 is - small. super easy, with great pictures. i love mine .
Posted by joe | February 19, 2008 12:44 PM
i suggest a Canon sd850 is - small. super easy, with great pictures. i love mine .
Posted by joe | February 19, 2008 12:44 PM
Don't give up. Look around the internet. You're camera might wind up someplace like here:
http://ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/
Posted by Jeremy Osborne | February 19, 2008 1:12 PM
I'd suggest a canon digital elph. They're a workhorse of a camera and discreet too.
Posted by daniel | February 19, 2008 1:28 PM
Canon SD 870. If you want to see samples shot without flash just with restaurant lighting, go to my blog, look at USC and Red Cat pictures. Not so much the YUII pics because they were an afterthought.
Posted by jordi | February 19, 2008 1:36 PM
My friend has the same camera as Joe I believe (80% sure) and it works really good! I would certainly suggest a Cannon as a brand to look at first though.
Totally off-topic:
While our AG was rising yesterday in the FN ranks, it looks one person was doing the opposite. Irvine's the butt of many jokes around Tampa Bay area now.
Heres the link:
http://blogs.tampabay.com/dining/2008/02/irvine-cooked-u.html
Oh and AG has his own Wikipedia article now.
Posted by Felix | February 19, 2008 2:05 PM
I'm a fan of the Canon SD1000 and suggested it to a friend a few months ago. I'm waiting for the April release of it's successor-- the Canon SD1100 IS (adds on a few more megapixels and image stabilization).
Posted by Josh | February 19, 2008 2:14 PM
Oh no, your camera is gone??!! Well it will be a miracle if you get it back, but stranger things have happened. I use a panasonic Lumix (it says: 12x optical zoom, 35 mm equiv mega o.i.s....I have no clue what any of that means but maybe you will), which is small enough, and I use it for all of the photos on my blog, which are mostly of food and wine. I have no idea what I'm doing either (and maybe you can tell) but this means that the camera is easy to use. It takes 20 min of video too. I got it for about $250-300 I think.
Posted by Drink, Memory | February 19, 2008 2:51 PM
I spent weeks reading reviews of point and shoot cameras to take good macro shots of food, and finally settled on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3. (I also can't be trusted with expensive equipment.)
The review that swayed me was from a food blogger who uses the Lumix as a backup for her SLR - sorry, I can't remember which blogger. Mine is still in the mail so I can't give you my personal take on it, but there are a ton of reviews on Amazon.
Posted by Jenn | February 19, 2008 3:13 PM
Canon SD 800 IS is a great camera (and the image stabilization definitely makes a difference). The 800 is better than the 850 or the 1000 which don't have the IS.
Posted by RML | February 19, 2008 3:34 PM
I recommend the Canon SD1000. It's a great camera and not so expensive that you will be unhappy when you break or lose it.
Posted by Sam Greenfield | February 19, 2008 4:27 PM
I have the Canon SD1000, too. It has a great digital macro and I use it for lots of food pics. (You can see them on my blog, but the horrible lighting in my kitchen tends to fight against any decent pics. I'll be updating in the next day with some properly lit macro shots I took last night.)
Posted by Kate | February 19, 2008 4:56 PM
Hey, Adam! Congrats on the new show for the FN - and cry!cry! about the camera. I would suggest you look at the Sony Cybershot. On the latest model, the screen is the entire back of the camera! You can easily see if you got the shot you want, and you simply touch the screen to move through any menus and settings you desire. We just bought 2 for our office closeups and bought them at a SONY store -- they actually had the lowest price of all the major stores in our San Jose Bay Area - plus, the SONY staff knows how their products work and can give you a great demo. Good luck on your camera and TV ventures! PS The Cybershot has a special setting for closeups and extreme closeups.
Posted by KT Hom | February 19, 2008 7:05 PM
So you ONLY ate with Diana at P*ng. I see how it is.
Posted by john | February 19, 2008 7:14 PM
So you ONLY ate with Diana at P*ng. I see how it is.
Posted by john | February 19, 2008 7:14 PM
So you ONLY ate with Diana at P*ng. I see how it is.
Posted by John | February 19, 2008 7:16 PM
I've got a Panasonic DMC-LX2 which takes great photos. It's a little expensive but worth it. The other cameras in the Panasonic line are pretty great too. Many of them have Leica lenses which are as good as they get.
Posted by Ben | February 19, 2008 9:09 PM
You might look at the Exilim Card. We have the older model - the S880 - and it take fabulous pictures.
Posted by odkaty | February 19, 2008 9:09 PM
I love my Nikon Coolpix. It has a huge screen and takes great pictures. I used it for these shots, and was totally happy with the results.
Posted by Lauren | February 19, 2008 10:01 PM
I love my Casio Exilim...it's small, it takes great pictures and in the 2 years I've had it, it's never failed me once. And when I went to Chez Panisse for dinner last month it took great pictures of my meal.
Posted by whimsy2 | February 19, 2008 11:28 PM
All of the folks recommending the Canons are dead on. I've had an Olympus, a Sony and a Canon and the Powershot we bought last year has done SO well on trips and just around the house. It's got good settings to adapt to light and you can shoot at a variety of file sizes.
Sorry about the S70, but go get yourself a Powershot. You won't be sorry.
Posted by yellowdog442 | February 19, 2008 11:52 PM
I love the Sonys. They take great pictures, are easy to use, and the only video limitation is how much memory you have available.
Posted by Robin | February 20, 2008 1:47 AM
Oh dear, so sad to lose a camera with irreplaceable pics! You might look on craigslist lost & found and post there, too. (I found a Pomeranian a few weeks ago and tracked down his owners that way. Photos here, taken with a Panasonic Lumix, which I like very much. No need for the extra software some Canons seem to require.)
Posted by Kitt | February 20, 2008 2:45 AM
No worries AG, consider it a high-tech sacrifice to the FN gods...
I will leave it up to others as far as the camera recommendations go, although I've always loved my elph...
Cheers!
Posted by zeep | February 20, 2008 2:53 AM
I love my Casio XLim too...neat and easy "Best SHot" (BS) mode gives you 20+ preset setting combinations. Love it! And it's red...easy to spot.
Posted by Cary | February 20, 2008 8:31 AM
I'm sorry you lost your camera. If it was anywhere near ninth st espresso, I'll ask this afternoon if they saw it.
The camera we use is a Canon Powershot S3. It's an amazing camera, and I love it. I hear that there's an S5 out now, but that the screen is bigger and, because of that, the batteries don't last as long. But the image stabilization and the macro settings are great and let me take some really good pictures.
Posted by Neil | February 20, 2008 9:16 AM
Sounds like you had a Mary Poppins moment. The question is did you sing or curse when the umbrella sent you flying. http://hotcookies.net The Iphone takes remarkable pictures.
Posted by John Calkins | February 20, 2008 12:42 PM
Looks like Eater has taken notice of your lost camera and joined the cause! Has a lost camera ever made this much news? Will Larry King pick up the story too? Will a national manhunt (Pic-hunt?) begin? Will it start a cvil war in Turkey?!
Posted by Felix | February 20, 2008 1:47 PM
You might actually have more luck with an SLR--- the size makes it harder to leave around willy-nilly, and once you get used to the bulk you miss it as soon as you walk away.
(As a chronic leaver-of-items, I've learned that I must sadly resist the tiny trend).
Looking forward to your take on Yakitori Totto-- I went in trying to be adventurous, but was sooooooo squicked out. I felt so lame.
Posted by Meghan | February 20, 2008 3:50 PM
I have a Samsung NV10 and I have to say this is one dinky little point and shoot and that has impressed the hell outta me. The prices have dropped since they released the NV11.
What I would do if I were you, is to walk into the geekiest independent camera shop and let them talk you through the recommendations you have here. You won't regret it. :D
Posted by Kharina | February 20, 2008 7:26 PM
I have an old Canon Powershot which has been really durable, and I hear the new ones have a "digital macro" lens, which allows you to focus up to as little as 4" away, handy for closeup food shots...
As for an SLR, I love love love my Nikon D200. It's heavy and bulky, yeah, but somehow so comforting to hold.
Posted by Kate | February 20, 2008 11:05 PM