I want to buy a digital camera, it has a max shutter speed of 1/500 of a sec. Is that fast enough for most situations? For example, would 1/500th of a sec stop humming birds wings? Also, when  a camera advertises it's operating system is compatible with MSWindows/Me, does that mean the software that comes with the camera is compatible with MSWindows/Me? I worry about the  drivers. The camera is a Sony MAVICA CD 1000.

1/500 of a second is pretty darned fast, my SLR 35mm camera only goes to 1/1000 of a second.

Anybody here know how fast a humming bird flaps those little wings?   I would think 1/500 is fast enough.




As for the camera and it's being supported for windowsME, if it comes with software and the included cables for plugging it into your computer then by all means it is likely that "WindowsME capatible" means just that and it comes with all that you need to download pics to your computer.

thanks uglygun, I read evaluations of people that have bought this camera, one guy said his didn't work with W/ME. I don't know if it's  the camera or him.

I have a Pentax that maxs out at 1/2000 of a sec.  Hummingbirds are pretty fast.  1/500 might get it.

High speed photography requires alot of light, expecially if you want to stop it down and have alot of depth of field.

Sixtus,

Check out the Sony DSC-P1.  I have that one for my digital shooting and I am quite impressed with the quality.  I'm planning on buying the new Nikon D1-x for serious stuff, and it will use my current Nikon AF lenses and my flash (figure I better not waste the $6k I have tied up in SLR gear if I can help it) but I will continue to use the DSC-P1 due to it's nice compact size and with 2 64m Memory Sticks I get quite a bit of pictures at 2048x1536 before needing to dump them to my notebook.

Thanks again guys, this camera stuff is so complicated, and I don't know much about digital equipment. I'll check out the DSC-P1. Every time I think I got it figured out I see something else that I overlooked.  

No question there.  It took me about 6 months of looking to figure out what I was looking for.

Whatever you do, remember that it's like computers, in 3 months you'll see something better for less.  Maybe sooner.

I just picked up a Sony DSC-S30, they were blowing them out cheap.  I am very impressed.

2 hour + battery life
takes pics on the order of 650KB

that's pretty good considering the average email pic is 15-80KB.

I've been shooting pics like a madman for the last week.  Even at the high res, I can still save 1500 of them on a CD.  Kiss the photo alblums goodbye [:)]

With a 64mb photo stick, I can still take 128 photos before I down load!!!!  At 600X800 res, or 100kb pics, I can take 640!!!

Considering I spent $500 on film last year, I think I'll buy an AK with the $ I saved...

here's a pic I took tonight, it's at 112kb, imagine how good they look at 650kb printed on glossy paper, well, you get the idea, kiss the 35mm goodbye:

[img]http://us.f51.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter/aa.bogie?box=Inbox&MsgId=2488_5539672_6534_692_153109_0&bodyPart=2&filename=aa.bogie&YY=25728&order=down&sort=date&pos=0[/img]

1/500th won't stop a hummingbird's wings. Stopping motion with a shutter depends on the direction of the motion. If the motion is across the field of the photo you need a faster shutter than if the motion is coming at you or going away. (The same reason you can follow a 50 BMG from behind the gun, but not standing along side the trajectory.)

1/1000 is faster than 1/500. 1/2000 is very fast. Most cameras have 1/1000 shutters. 1/500 is a cost-cutter feature.

This is for film cameras. I'm not up to speed on digital, but used to work as a studio photog -- film stuff.

Camera drivers for that model camera are available here for Windows 98/ME/2000
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/custserv.shtml#updates

The camera connects vis a USB port.  Windows 95 and NT 4.0 do not support USB well if at all.

One more thing you should check for is how well the pictures look in low light.  Any Good Guys or Circuit City should be able to demo this for you.  The Kodaks are also really nice cameras you may wish to compare with.

No 1/500th is not fast enough to stop humming bird wings.  So if you want to try and catch a bullet coming out of the barrel of your AR, you will need a faster shutter than that, and also a device that fires the camera called a sound trigger.  Without that, your pissin' in the wind.  BTW, my SLR (canon eos1n) has a shutter speed of 1/8000th [:p]

Have you tried using a strob light to stop the action?

1/500 is good for most non action photography and limited action. It depends on what you are seeking to accomplish. If you want to photograph a fast car you need to pan (follow the car in your viewfinder)  as you photograph it. This will blur the background and keep the car fairly sharp, to show that the car is actually in motion. If the background is as sharp as the car it will look like the car is just parked on the track or street.  Humming Birds are different. If you want to stop the wings in the photo you will need a lot higher speed then 1/500.  If you actually want to photograph a Humming Bird this should work, buy a Vivitar 283 set it for distance shooting that will shorten the flash duration to between 1/20,000 to 1/40,000 if I remember correctly  or get the varipower attachment for it and set it for a fairly low power setting. When set at low power the flash is very fast or brief as fast as 1/40,000 of a second. Set the camera and flash up very near where you expect to photograph the bird, you will need to have a camera only a couple of feet away since the flash intensity will be very week. Prefocus on the birder where you expect the bird to be and use a remote release and wait. You can also use most other auto flashes that have a vari power feature. I mentioned the Vivitar 283 because I have one that I have used for about 20 years some of those years though as a back up and it still works fine.  If you look though some back issues of National Geographic you should find some excellent Humming Bird Photos and some times they mention how they took them.  
I don’t know what your budget is for a camera but if you want a really good one, look at the Olympus E-10, it is 4 mega pixel and handles like a regular 35mm camera and actually has both the zoom and focusing rings on the lens.  In my area It goes for $2,000 but is available mail order out of New York for about  1,625.00 plus shipping with a USA guarantee . I got it from Focus Camera and I am very happy with it. I also picked up a Epson Photo 780 printer locally and the prints are excellent, and I have not even used  the special photo papers yet. It seems digital will take the place of most 35mm photography, unless you need the quality  of Kodachrome II or Panatomic X for enlargements. It’s getting a little late so good luck and have fun with your new camera, and how about posting a pic of the first Humming bird you get.

Thanks people, I printed out this page and I am sure the info will help me and others make better choices and pictures.