digital camera search

thanks.i tried them but they dont go specfic enough.
i need a digital slr with bulb setting ( min 5 min ), 1/8000 shutter. 10-12 meg. remote control. flash hot shoe. 1cm macro . zoom doesnt matter.

why 1/8000 can i ask? Most i have seen do 1/4000 comfortably. 10-12Meg standard.

Andrew

to capture insect movements . i have seen them at 1/8000. but dont know how common it is

the problem with 1/8000th exposure is having enough light to give you that shutter speed.

you will need a macro lens to get close enough to the insect and at that distance your depth of field is critical so you need a small f stop or aperture F22 or better.

the only viable option to give you enough light at this f stop is to use a flash and to sync a flash with the shutter you are stuck with a shutter sync speed of 1/250th.

Unless you get really serious and convert a copal leaf shutter for the images !!!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/brad_steels_gallery/3814022154/


then you are getting into some really exotic and expensive stuff.

My recommendation would be buy a good reasonable quality DSLR ( I am NIKON biased ) a good macro lens 90mm f2.8 or possibly 2 a 60mm and a 150 or 200mm .

and a good macro flash setup. it will work a lot better than trying to get 1/8000th of a second shots.


I have been a pro photographer for 35 years now and I don't think I have ever used that speed for anything.

you are not stuck to 1/250 .. if you are NIKON biased you should know
that there are other solutions...
one example is for both Canon and Nikon you can use high speed sync on
the speedlights, which reduces the effective output but it still does sync
and you can also use manual mode with external flashes like Elinchrome with very short flash durations. The D80 actually could sync way beyond 1/200 because
of the electronic shutter, but it was only a 6MP.
I have a 1DS-Mark II (a real oldie nowadays) and it does sync at 1/8000 with
two or three 580EX in FP mode ... 17 Megapixel and one can buy these at 2k
or so. Still brilliant and beats most Nikons before the D3X as far as image quality
is concerned.
Usually such applications are done with laser sensors and infrared triggers.

good luck
gmd

What do you need the 10 to 12 MP for ?

I use a 12 mp camera now D700 but I would be more than happy with the quality from a 6mp. I have rarely needed anything bigger.

I use the D700 for the high ISO in low light rather than anything else.

An interesting read on High speed flash here.

http://www.rpphoto.com/howto/view.asp?articleID=1026


It may be useful but it does not solve all the problems.

With most standard macro lenses you get a 1 to 1 ratio that is nowhere near a 1cm macro you are going to need extension tubes or bellows for that.