• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 19:02
CET 01:02
KST 09:02
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2
Community News
BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion6Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets4$21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)16Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns7[BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 105
StarCraft 2
General
Stellar Fest "01" Jersey Charity Auction SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets When will we find out if there are more tournament SC2 Spotted on the EWC 2026 list?
Tourneys
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC2 AI Tournament 2026 $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) OSC Season 13 World Championship
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report Mutation # 508 Violent Night Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone
Brood War
General
[ASL21] Potential Map Candidates BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Video Footage from 2005: The Birth of G2 in Spain BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2
Strategy
Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Simple Questions, Simple Answers Game Theory for Starcraft Current Meta
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Nintendo Switch Thread Mechabellum
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Physical Exercise (HIIT) Bef…
TrAiDoS
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1180 users

Camera for Architecture

Blogs > joohyunee
Post a Reply
joohyunee
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
Korea (South)1087 Posts
February 11 2010 18:55 GMT
#1
Hi, I'm looking to invest in a good camera for architecture school (for documentation purposes under controlled light settings, but flexibility to take outdoor pictures would be great too).

I have about $300-400 to spend, but I don't really know anything about cameras other than the basic more megapixels = better resolution type of thing.. Can some people who know this stuff well shed some light on things I should know about a camera (like ISO settings etc)? And do you have any recommendations for a camera in that price range?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

tiff
Profile Joined May 2009
United States5 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-02-11 19:44:24
February 11 2010 19:40 GMT
#2
Well, these days, "more megapixels = better resolution/quality" isn't strictly true anymore, but it's a tactic salesmen will always use to get you to pay more. What you want for architecture is a wide-angle lens, which are pretty pricy for DSLR-type cameras. There are also wide-angle point and shoots that are better suited for your price range.

I cannot think of a single page on the internet that can help you more than this one: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm
I suggest noting what he says about resolution no longer being important, and he also points out a great wide-angle point and shoot that he discusses in depth here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/compacts/sd980.htm.

If you want a DSLR, you can expect to pay at the very cheapest, $400-500 for the body, most likely with a kit lens. (Nikon kit lenses are usually very good, some are downright excellent. Canon's kit lenses in general aren't quite up to par with their stand-alone lens offerings, but aren't terrible.) If the widest angle of the kit lens isn't wide enough for you, wide-angle lenses are generally pretty pricy themselves, and run at least $400+ for the off-brand lenses, (for instance, Tamron makes an excellent wide-angle) and double that for Nikon or Canon lenses.
More wide angle info: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-wide-zooms/comparison.htm

Now, you'll probably be able to find camera bodies and lenses for cheaper than I've listed here, but you'll often be trading resale value or long-term durability for a lower pricetag up front. You have to figure out what's most important for your needs and base your purchases on that.

As for ISO, it's a measure of how sensitive a camera's sensor is to light. The higher the ISO, the more light the sensor picks up in the same amount of time as another shot at a lower ISO. Unless you're doing nighttime architecture photography (which you would probably be using a tripod for anyway, in most cases) it's not particularly relevant to your area of interest. But if you want a good all-around camera for everyday use as well, any DSLR is going to outperform a point-and-shoot in low-light situations.

Also, lens aperture/f-stop is a measure of how wide the shutter opens, and shutter speed is how long the shutter is open. All three- ISO, lens aperture, and shutter speed- make up the overall exposure of the image.

So, if you want a wide-angle P&S, (point and shoot) I recommend the one I linked above. If you want an inexpensive DSLR, I say look on Ebay and other places for the now-discontinued Nikon D40 with it's excellent kit lens, and see if the widest angle on the kit lens is wide enough for you. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40.htm The D5000 is it's current replacement, but it's a few hundred dollars more for not a whole lot more camera. (Sidenote: Avoid the Nikon D3000 like the plague. It's cheap, but for good reason. =/ )

I hope this helps.. I'm sure others can chime in with recommended Canon DSLRs, but I think Nikon's DSLRs offer more value-for-money, so that's where I've focused all my attention. Canon Point & Shoots, however, blow Nikon out of the water on every level.

I've tried not to bore you to tears, but if you have any more questions, I love dragging people kicking and screaming into the world of photography. ^_^
jetpower
Profile Joined July 2007
Poland85 Posts
February 11 2010 22:47 GMT
#3
http://www.dpreview.com
Best site for camera reviews. I also would try asking your question in their forums.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
BSL 21
20:00
Non-Korean Championship - D4
Bonyth vs Sziky
Mihu vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs XuanXuan
eOnzErG vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs DuGu
Dewalt vs Bonyth
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
JuggernautJason153
SpeCial 99
Nathanias 78
StarCraft: Brood War
Artosis 687
Shuttle 240
Dewaltoss 126
Dota 2
syndereN511
Pyrionflax192
LuMiX1
Other Games
tarik_tv18519
summit1g9547
gofns9398
FrodaN5705
Liquid`RaSZi2284
fl0m973
XaKoH 175
KnowMe138
ArmadaUGS125
Maynarde81
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2357
EGCTV1130
BasetradeTV26
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 74
• RyuSc2 50
• musti20045 33
• Sammyuel 7
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Laughngamez YouTube
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21826
Other Games
• imaqtpie2881
• Scarra1712
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
8h 58m
Wardi Open
11h 58m
Monday Night Weeklies
16h 58m
OSC
1d 10h
The PondCast
2 days
OSC
2 days
Big Brain Bouts
4 days
Serral vs TBD
BSL 21
5 days
BSL 21
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S1: W4
Big Gabe Cup #3
NA Kuram Kup

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Proleague 2026-01-18
OSC Championship Season 13
Underdog Cup #3
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W5
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.