I'm finding that many of my shots are either very wide, or slightly telephoto, with little in between. Slightly telephoto with a Nikon DSLR starts at about 35mm. I'm using 40-50mm in many shots. Thanks, David, for the extensive treatment of depth of field and focal points. I use Helicon extensively. It really has changed the way I think about shots. I used to disguise dof problems by shooting flat scenes. No more.
I just bought (today) my second FujiFilm camera. This is the Fuji 6000. It has an optional manual focus ring, manual zoom ring, a large variety of built in settings, takes RAW format - good for publishing - looks and feels like a real camera, and with the rebate, was only $300. It is highly reviewed on camera sites and was very highly recommended at my local camera (not electronics) store.
My first digital camera was the Sony DCS F717. It is a 5 megapixel camera with a long lense section. The camera is fabulus at shooting up close and keepng a fairly large depth of field. The sensor is good and the optics are great. These are about 4 years old now and I highly reccomend it over most newer cameras. I also use the Canon Rebel XTI. This is mostly for photos that need a much higher image size. I use the kit lense (18-55mm), a 50mm macro and a 28-135 IS zoom. I highly reccomend the 50mm macro if using Helicon. you need to run about a string of 30 shots but the results are wonderfull (take a look at the March/April N-Scale cover). One nice plus of the Sony is that the image size does not change when changing focus. Most cameras will zoom out as you focus closer. The Sony does not do this and makes especially well suited for Helicon. One other side not not really touched here. While high F-stops are good for keeping everything in focus, if you go too high, you will see your whole picture turns a little fuzzy. This is due to light refraction issues with camera lenses. My Sony only goes up to F8, while my XTI goes to F32. I usially use about an F18 and sharpen photos in an image editor.
I've got an F707 (a generation older than the 717), and while it is a great camera, you can do a lot better with newer equipment. With this camera you need to stick with ISO 100 or the noise/grain gets out of control, you can't go higher than a 128 woo woo woo Memory Stick (which is only 50 or so shots at the highest quality JPEG setting), and as you mentioned, only goes to F8. It's also pretty bulky. It's still capable of taking good pictures, but it limits what you can do. Some of those issues may have been resolved with the 717, but keep it in mind if considering either model. Here are some N scale shots I took with my 707 for some old eBay auctions and club functions: I've also used it for photographing 1:1 equipment: http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=5705
We have a Kodak EasyShare Z740 and It has been great!! Especially for non camera-non computer guy like me!
After lugging SLRs around for the past 35 years I find some of the 10x zoom cameras available today do a pretty good job, all seem to have Macro/Closeup mode, I myself use a couple of Kodak DX7590s, they give me a good picture quality when viewed on my PC.
