Camera for Building Surveying Work

Ellisium

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Hi All,

I'm looking at changing my current work camera which I have been using for the past 10 years. It is a Panasonic DMC-TZ3 and has been a decent camera given the constant use and was recommended on here at the time. Unfortunately it has started to show its age with the battery not holding charge, auto-focus and low light photo's not being great and sometimes errors with writing to the memory card.

Again, i'm looking for something which can be a bit of a workhorse with the below features being the most important:

  • Decent Form Factor i.e. easy to hold/grasp and not so slim it could easily be dropped. It will be in my pocket so needs to be small enough not to interfere with crouching/climbing but also manageable enough to use with one hand. My Panasonic DMC-TZ3 has been great here.

  • Low Light Conditions - to preserve the battery on my camera I usually switch the flash off and this is also important in buildings where people are working as it can draw attention. My current photo's appear to be grainy under these conditions.

  • Photo Speed - I'm not sure if this is a feature but taking a quick photo which is in focus would be essential. Depending on the building size, I could be taking anywhere from 150 - 400 photo's so a simple saving of 1 or 2 seconds per image soon adds up.

  • Zoom - a decent zoom is preferred as sometimes access is not always the best in the buildings e.g. viewing air-conditioning units, large warehouse heaters etc. This is not essential however as I presume the zoom on many of the cameras out there now would be sufficient.

  • Battery Life - again, I presume most cameras out there now carry enough battery life where the memory card would probably become full first before the battery runs out but I need to ensure this is the case.

To be honest, I've been caught out a couple of times and had to revert to my iPhone camera which has yielded fantastic results. If Apple made a camera that would be great as I was happy with the speed of the photo's (very quick) and the results looked great for what I needed. Apologies if that is sacrilegious here.

In summary, i'm looking for a camera which can fit in my pocket, be used with one hand and take quick photo's which are in focus. The photo's aren't for marketing purposes but simply for evidence purposes in report writing for building surveys.

Hopefully the above gives an overview of what i'm looking for and any pointers you can give me are appreciated.
 
Budget?

If you want a camera that's pocketable, good in low light and has a decent zoom you're going to be limited

Panasonic TZ100 is the obvious choice. Same zoom as your old one, but the 1" sensor will be much better in low light. Battery life is around 300 shots, which is typical of good quality compacts.
 
With this being my work camera, I can be fairly flexible when it comes to budget but was anticipating around the £400 range.

I've done a bit more digging on this site and the Panasonic TZ100 seems to get mentioned a lot so is definitely on my list given I've had a good experience with Panasonic and Leica lenses in the past.

I suppose i'm just seeing if anyone has experiences of a camera which can fit in your pocket, is easy to handle and takes quick shots. I don't expect the best of everything but seeing as my current camera has lasted 10 years, I believe you get what you pay for.

Given my positive experiences of using my iPhone on a couple of occasions, it just goes to show that the trickery/software inside the camera is what counts and the image processing can make an amateur take good photos. I just wanted to see if there was something similar out there.
 
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Definitely sounds like the TZ100 is the ideal replacement - you are already familiar with the basic layout and controls and menu etc. - it has a decent zoom - substantially larger sensor using modern technology than your current TZ so much better low light performance and it obviously will fit in your pocklet and the addition of a decent EVF is useful too
 
RE Photo speed and battery life.
Photospeed will be dependent on the speed of the SD card you use as much as the camera.
Try to find the spec for the camera and buy a card with a similar or better Mb/s
Bear in mind a more modern camera with higher megapixel count will probably save larger files.
You can buy 3rd party batteries for most cameras - expro are often suggested. These tend to be a lot cheaper than a original so worth looking for reasonably reputable suppliers selling compatibles.

I'm impressed you've managed to keep a collapsing zoom lens camera going under those circumstances. I ruined my Canon iZoom taking pictures of a loft in a house we looked at - dust in the mechanism.
My pal who runs an underfloor heating business swears by Olympus Tough cameras as even his worst fitters can't ruin them. It's important to have photos of the floor loops before the screed has covered them over forever :)
Panasonic also do a rugged line of cameras that would be worth a look.
 
Maybe a silly question, why not save some money and stick with your iPhone camera as you are happy with the results?
 
I suspect OP prefers the single-purpose of a "Camera" and the ease/ability to load photos onto a PC without lots of faf.
I'm not convinced "faster" cards will improve the cameras performance.... otherwise the Mfr would suggest a faster card.
The write process is controlled by the processor which doesn't know when the Data is recorded and could then send the next packet... if indeed it is done in pieces. I suspect it's a continuous stream, which will be timed by the processor; but maybe someone here knows how the camera deals with a "slow" card . . . does it write a pattern to the next blank space to check a card is present and not "locked" - or does it wait for the User to complain the picture is faulty?

The reason IMHO for buying a "faster card" is to make sure you get what you've paid-for... as there are ( it is said) suppliers that will re-mark old stock..... and if the faster card is "good" it gives you some Future-proofing if/when you change to a camera that records faster.

Ellisium might also look at the Sony RX range which come in several
versions, but which (I understand) offer good low-light performance. The alternative may be to visit yr Local Camera Club and handle these newer cameras . . . and maybe check they can be carried in a pocket, etc. as you said.

[ Those floor photos (comment by AMc).... surely once the screed is applied the photos have no value, since there is no way you can "reference" the loops that are now covered? You would need some identification mark which remains visible ( or can be detected magnetically?), so the Photos' details can be aligned with the (now) plain floor.
FWIW When I boarded my loft, I used marker-pen to ID positions of Elec cables and downlight places, so someone else might be spared a lot of frustration..... and to avoid putting a nail/screw through a cable.]

Cheers.
 
I said match the card speed to the camera spec - a bit faster won't hurt, a bit slower will.
I have two faster cards and one older, slower one. It's noticeable that the camera takes longer to write to the slower card but the pictures are perfect and the camera won't turn off until the write is complete.

The value in the floor photos is to prove that the installer followed the CAD designs and put the correct number of loops in the right places and that the insulation and support was to spec. The photos allow the company to guaranty the installation.
In one case the photos proved that the main contractor had ignored the spec and saved the screed contractor and the installer from arguing about who was at fault and several thousand pounds worth of remedial works.

Only a complete idiot would attempt to drill into a concrete screed covering wet (or electrical) underfloor heating even if they thought they knew where the loops were.
 
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