A small and convenient camera-soap box was firstly ridiculed by professionals, but he managed to make a revolution in the world of photography, allowing even inexperienced amateurs to take pictures for the family album. With the advent of smartphones, the situation in this area has changed, but there are always buyers on compact quality cameras.
Why is the camera called a soapbox?
As for the origin of the popular name for the first compact cameras that filled stores in the post-Soviet period, there are several versions. Cheap models of devices made "zamylennye" images of poor definition, which instantly gave their origin and caused laughter among professionals. The next option - the first camera "soap box" was produced in a simple plastic case, and its lens was closed by the moving covers. The appearance of this miracle of technology quite justified the users' association with these soap dishes.
Inside expensive "SLRs" there is a large matrix, the formation of the frame here occurs through the lens through a mirror system without preliminary digital processing, so these devices differ in impressive sizes. Compact digital cameras-soap cases were specially invented for a simple user who wants to constantly carry a small device for household photography. They have automatic settings, a good processor for image processing, a minimum number of external controls.
What are the positive qualities of the camera "soap box":
- easy,
- cheap,
- small size,
- The shooting process is available for the beginner,
- built-in flash,
- automatic adjustment,
- acceptable for household level photo quality,
- good quality macro photography,
- Modern "soapboxes" are able to shoot HD video.
Disadvantages of the camera "soap box":
- The quality of images is always inferior to photos from expensive "DSLRs"
- relatively slow autofocus,
- many cheap "soapboxes" have a great delay when the shutter operates,
- built-in flashes make the eyes red, and the face images are flat,
- Great depth of field.
How to choose a soap camera?
We must understand that the advertised cheap "soap box" with smart passport parameters can not replace a professional camera. In poor lighting, unpleasant noises begin to appear immediately in the picture, realistic color rendition is lost, which can not be corrected even by Photoshop. This class of cameras is designed for amateur shooting, to get decent by professional standards, you need to buy compact cameras, which at a price even surpass the budget "DSLRs".
In the question of how to choose a good camera-soap box, there are a lot of nuances. When buying a camera, amateurs pay the main attention to the manufacturer's firm, having little regard for the passport characteristics of the purchased device. If you want to get acceptable pictures, you need to have a general idea of the luminosity of lenses, the size of the array, the range of lens focal lengths, the effect on the photo quality of the built-in flash.
Matrix of the camera-soap dish
You can not make a high-quality image with a device that has a tiny matrix. It must be remembered that with increasing its size, the quality of the picture increases. An inexpensive soap camera is often equipped with a mediocre matrix of 1 / 2.3 "or 1/2". An acceptable picture it gives only with excellent daylight in clear sunny weather. It is better to buy a soap box with a large matrix in size from 1 / 1.7 ".Compact devices with matrices from 1" are able to compete with budget "DSLRs" in quality of pictures.
Authorization of soap dishes
Sellers and manufacturers of budget cameras often for advertising purposes focus on megapixels, incredibly overestimating this parameter. The quality cameras of the soap box have a resolution of up to 12 MP and higher, with an increase in this size in devices with small matrices there is an increase in noise. Digital noise reduction does not cope with the work and leads to a decrease in image clarity. For a household photo size of A3, even 10 MP is enough with an excess, if you want to get artwork, it's better not to chase megapixels, but to acquire a good "mirror" right away.
Flash soap dish
All models of "soap boxes" are equipped with a flash, but its power can vary greatly. In state employees, the leading number does not exceed 3 m, but it is advisable to purchase cameras with a power of 7 m. Note that the standard flash unit of the soap box does not allow shooting at a distance greater than 20 m even on expensive devices. The best compact cameras are equipped with a system that allows you to maximally reduce the effect of red eyes. First, a preliminary flash fires, which causes the pupils to contract, and then the main flash turns on and the picture is photographed.
Lens soap holders
The main characteristics of the lens - zoom and light. It is interesting that the smaller the number of "conventional units" of aperture, the brighter and more lively the image can turn out. In cheap "soap-boxes", the aperture ratio is f: 2,8-f: 5,9, the camera of a high-quality soap has a light power f: 1,4 - f: 2,0. Optical zoom is regulated by mechanical lens shift, and with a digital zoom, no real increase in the picture occurs, so the first value when choosing a "soap box" is of great importance.
The focal length affects the approach of distant objects, the smaller its value, the more subjects will get into the frame. Human vision corresponds to a focal length of 50 mm. Wide-angle lenses up to 35 mm are suitable for photographing the interior of houses and natural landscapes, and with a focal length of over 70 mm, excellent portraits or genre photography are obtained. The minimum focal length for a soap box is 28mm.
Soap dish with optical zoom and viewfinder
Without the viewfinder it is inconvenient to clearly define the boundaries of the picture, the correct inclination of the camera, and to make the necessary focusing. Manufacturers gradually abandon optical devices, installing on all the latest models exclusively LCD monitors. A small mini TV on the back is beautiful and looks stylish, but in bright light or, conversely, in the dark, it's problematic to see a picture on it. Let's notice, that Canon company the best cameras of a soap case justifiably equips, both the ЖК-display, and a classical optical viewfinder.
Camera soap holder - rating
Fans who first encountered the problem of buying a camera soapbox, it is difficult to choose what kind of home. The mass of people in addition to the company CANON other manufacturers of cameras does not know, so without a brief review of the ratings of the best models of recent years, you can not do. Attention should be paid to the main characteristics of the device, the type of memory used, the number of automatic settings, battery power.
Camera soap dish CANON
Devices under the brand CANON are always included in the top of the best cameras of soap dishes and "DSLRs". This company is famous for its excellent semi-professional and professional portable cameras, capable of delivering images of excellent quality. From the latest models can be distinguished Canon IXUS 177 with a wide-angle 28 mm lens, optical zoom 8x, digital zoom 4 x, excellent software control. It is equipped with a 2.7-inch LCD screen, a DIGIC 4 + processor, an output for communicating with a Hi-Speed USB computer. The dimensions of this unit are 95.2 x 22.1 x 54.3 mm.
Camera soap holder Samsung
Solving the question of how to choose a camera soap box inexpensive, but good for home, it is recommended to view the model range of the famous Samsung manufacturer, which has always been famous for reliable and inexpensive devices. Among the compact cameras of this company is the "soapbox" Samsung DV180F. It has a CCD 1 / 2.33 "matrix with a resolution of 16.6Mp, an optical zoom of 5x, a f2.5 f6.3 fader, instead of an optical viewfinder, a good 2.7-inch screen is used .The device can be connected via Wi-Fi.
Camera soap dish Sony
What are famous for "soapboxes" brand Sony - excellent quality photos on devices of any price category. For example, let's take an inexpensive camera Sony soap holder Cyber-shot DSC-W810. It is equipped with a good matrix Super HAD CCD measuring 1 / 2.3 ", resolution 20.4 MP. There is a lens f / 3.5 - 6.5 with a focal length of 4.6 - 27.6 mm .The optical zoom of this model is 6x, digital is 12x. serial shooting on this "soapbox" you can make up to 100 good photos per minute.
Nikon camera soap dish
Our small rating of cameras soapbooks on quality can not be carried out without Nikon devices, which are always entering the top 10 consumer and amateur cameras in the world. For connoisseurs of cheap compact soapboxes, this company produces products of the CoolpixA series, which costs from $ 90, for serious compact devices CoolpixP will have to give up to $ 600. Coolpix P900 costs its money, it has a matrix of 1 / 2.3 "CMOS, a lens with a f / 2.8 - 6.5 fathom, an optical zoom of 83x, a digital 4x.
On such a camera, "soapbox" you can shoot videos, take a macro shot from 1cm. Coolpix P900 features a 7.5 cm LCD display and a 0.5 cm LCD viewfinder. In addition, there are additional chips in the form of GPS and NFC, micro HDMI output. Given this excellent equipment, the dimensions of this beautiful device is modest - 139.5x137.4x103.2 mm.
Olympus soap camera
Olympus company pleases fans of compact cameras with a good series of Olympus FE, which will perfectly suit users with a limited budget. Among the latest products, we note the attention of the Olympus FE-4000 with dimensions of 95x22.4x57 mm. The weight of this crumb is 106 g, but it has 1 / 2.33 "CCD 12.7 MP, 4x / 16x zoom. Our miniature and excellent soapbox camera is capable of recording video in VGA format (640x480), take macro shots from 4cm.