Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Larry W. Seale on June 3, 2011 at 19:54

Hi Kent:

Hog emailed me that you had asked the question & I've sent a friends request to you.

I've sold one or two things on eBay over the last 15 years & good pictures, along with a good description, are an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY but you don't need a $1000 NIKON. In fact my old NIKON went belly-up about a year ago & I replaced it with a $200 FUJI S1800 that does a fine job as would most every camera in that price range. I bought the FUJI because COSTCO was running a special when I needed a new camera.

Don't confuse camera pixels with the pixels that can be displayed on a monitor. Any modern digital camera stores many, many, many more pixels than you can display.  The pixel size eBay suggest is the width  of the image in a jpeg file that you're uploading & the camera image is automagically resized when you load the image from your camera into your computer & again when you upload it to eBay.

I have an auction for a old CANONFLEX RP exposure meter about to close & frankly, it's at 3 to 4 times the actual value (I'm not complaining :-) based of what's sold in the last year. I attribute it mainly to the pictures.

No secrets to good pictures, all you need is an inexpensive digital camera and a tripod. I'd also suggest a small, inexpensive light tent because good light gives you a lot more flexibility. 

I manually set the white balance because I shoot in-doors under artificial light but let the camera do the rest. I always shoot on a tripod & set the autotimer for two seconds. I also use a photo editor (in my case Photoscape because it's free) but any editor will work. I'm not trying to deceive anyone just show the best possible picture I can. I crop my pictures & resize the jpeg file to at least 2000 pixels on the longest dimension. Doesn't make a difference on the small image but it does when you enlarge it - the larger the original image, the larger the displayed image when you click "Enlarge".

My $200 camera isn't nearly as smart as a $1000 NIKON so I can also compensate for any camera (and operator) short comings, i.e lighten or darken the image a bit. Whatever the picture needs to look like it was shot by a good photographer (I'm not) in a studio.

Good luck with your new "selling career". -larry-

 

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by KENT GABLE on June 3, 2011 at 21:44

Thank you for the information, Larry. I'll be checking to it . All my cameras are good quality Olympus & I've had a Nikon EM but I haven't done much with digital.  -Kent

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Larry W. Seale on June 3, 2011 at 22:14

You're welcome.

Here's a link to Photoscape if you want to download it. It's older & not as sophisticated as say Photoshop but it's free!!! It's actually pretty powerful and should do everything you need with a minimal learning curve.

-larry-

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Larry W. Seale on June 4, 2011 at 10:50

Kent:

Here's a link to a Wikipedia article on digital cameras that can read or if you're impulsive & impatient like me, grab the first one you see & start shooting. You can always figure it out on the fly.

The FUJI I use would be considered a "bridge camera" which is what I think gives the best bang for the buck. It is a compromise between cost & smarts.

I look at myself as the stupid boss & my photo editor as the super smart assistant who fixes my mistakes behind the scenes.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by KENT GABLE on June 4, 2011 at 18:38

Thanks Larry-yes, I guess I'm the impatient sort, myself. That Fuji name keeps popping up again & again. I'm gonna have to check them out. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Larry W. Seale on June 4, 2011 at 20:27

Moore's Law (# of transistors per sq. inch doubles every x months) holds true  in the digital camera industry just like every other electronic product.  I don't like to shop and when I bought the FUJI, I went to COSTCO & it did what I wanted at a price I'd pay with the months coupon. It was in the same original price range as a similar CANON & NIKON bridge camera but the $40 off is why I bought it. I'm thrifty (read cheap) & I think that digital cameras are a very competitive market and you pretty much get what you pay for in the major brands.

If I just wanted to take outdoor snapshots I'd still be using my old NIKON or I'd own a $59 Casio or Kodak. Something in the NIKON electronics screwed up and I was getting purple pictures under artificial low light conditions I sometimes use. I could edit them to get most of the purple out but it was a huge pain in the arse & I'm not an avid photographer; it's a chore that I tolerate rather than something I enjoy.

Back in the very early days, I used a 8mm analog video camera I already owned & a video capture/edit card rather than invest in a then very expensive digital camera. I did eBay full time for a couple of years a while back and finally bought the NIKON to save time. The NIKON & the FUJI are the only digital cameras I've ever owned and I'm satisfied that both gave/give me a good bang for the buck. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by KENT GABLE on June 5, 2011 at 18:43

Larry-to me, cheap means "good" except in certain areas like knives, decent fishing gear, guns or things that my life depends on such as in survival equipment.

I admit that I'm just not into most Hi-Tech stuff mainly because I don't care to be.

Do I really need a digital camera? I've got a good quality Olympus film camera that does take pretty good close ups. Why couldn't I just shoot up a role of film, have it developed on a CD & download into my computer?

Why has everything gotten so complicated these days? I am into basics and I don't like fads.

Thanks for the info on cameras, though. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Larry W. Seale on June 6, 2011 at 7:24

If film works for you, there's certainly no "rule" that says you have to go to digital & if you're only going to do a small number of listings/pictures, I agree there's no need to spend the money.

From time to time I sell "vintage" 35mm slr's & I'll sometimes shoot a roll of film with the camera, take the roll to Walgreens & post the pictures I took in an album for perspective buyers to look at.

I take enough pictures so that the cost of buying film & paying for developing would prohibit me from doing it. The big thing, however, is that I can take my pictures & instantly see the results - then it's a simple matter to retake any I'm not satisfied with. Not possible with film.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion