Intraoral cameras??

[Gusah]

Wondering if anyone can help me decide on an intraoral camera for perio residency. I'm not familiar with SLR digital cameras and what price range I should be looking at, both new and used. Also, as far as specs go what I should pay attention to. Thanks!

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[charlestweed]

You don’t have to use the SLR camera. It is too bulky and heavy to hold with one hand. Remember, you have to retract the pt’s cheek with one hand and hold the camera with the other hand. A compact point and shoot camera with macro function should be adequate to take intraoral picture. Currently, I use the Sony DSC-T7 and Canon S500 (both discontinued and very cheap) to take the orthodontic record. I have to partially block the flash with opaque tape b/c the flash is too bright for close-up images.

You only need intraoral during your perio residency so buy something cheap (200-300 dollars). My wife is a periodontist and she hardly uses the camera in her practice. When she needs to take intraoral pictures, she uses my camera.

Try these cameras at Bestbuy: Sony DSC-T20, Sony DSC-T30, Canon SD430, Canon SD750, Canon SD800👍.

 

[yojimbo53]

like Charlestweed pointed out, you can get excellent results with point and shoot cameras. unfortunately, my program requires us to get a DSLR, and i assume yours does too, Gusah. you'll probably want an entry-level camera, which would be the Canon Rebel XT, Canon Rebel XTi, Nikon D40, or Nikon D40x. if you think you might get into photography and use it for personal use too, you can get a better model like Canon 30D, Nikon D70, D100 etc. it's best to go with these 2 brands because they are the most widely used, and thus you'll find a larger selection of after-market lenses. i am told a 100mm macros lens (versus a 60mm) will allow you to sit further away from the patient if you're taking close-up pictures which could be a good thing so you're not up in their personal space. i would not buy a package from one of those dental-specific camera suppliers, as they will sell you the body, macro lens, and ring flash for several hundred dollars over retail, with the justification being that if anything goes wrong they will give you a loner camera while yours is getting repaired. but for the extra savings you can just buy a spare body as a backup. hopefully someone else with more camera knowledge may chime up on this thread....

 

[charlestweed]

Or just wait until you start your perio program and see what type of camera your big brother/sister uses. If your program requires SLR camera w/ macro lens and ring flash, then you should go with what Yojimbo recommended. The Nikon D70 is an excellent camera.

I agree w/ Yojimbo. DONOT buy a whole package from the dental supplier. The dental mill I work for bought a package (Canon SLR, macro lens, Olympus dye sub printer) for almost $4000😱. The image quality this SLR camera produces is worse than my point and shoot (DSC-T7) camera because there are too many advance features in this SLR camera that make it harder for my assistant to use.

Oh, about the personal space: You won’t be too close to the patient with the point and shoot camera because when you take intraoral picture, you just look at the LCD display on the camera. For the SLR, your face tends to be very close to the patient's face because you have to look into a tiny viewfinder to see the image.

 

[Wayne Coronado]

Wondering if anyone can help me decide on an intraoral camera for perio residency. I'm not familiar with SLR digital cameras and what price range I should be looking at, both new and used. Also, as far as specs go what I should pay attention to. Thanks!

Try this website for some ideas...

http://photomed.net

I picked up the Canon A630 for a couple hundred bucks and the close up kit that goes along with it. You can probably find the camera and the attachments cheaper by shopping around the net. Works well for the money...👍

 

[EuroOMFS]

I use a Canon EOS Digital 400D 10.1 megapixels. (I think it´s marketed as Digital Rebel XTi in the US). I use a Canon macro lens and a ring flash.

It doesn´t have the same flexibilty in settings as some more expensive models, but you can adjust what´s neccesary. I´m very happy with the imagequality, and the fact that you can save images in RAW format, with no compression or loss of quality.

I have to disagree that a compact "non-SLR" camera can do the job. Escpecially if you´re giving lectures with lots of pictures blown up on a huge screen, good quality is all important in my opinion.

 

[Montrealer]

I have to disagree, I can get very satisfying (and cost-effective) results with a non-SLR:

http://strada.ifrance.com/nonslr.jpg

The camrea I use is a Canon S3 IS. It's very light.

I admit that there are imperfections with a non-SLR, but few people can detect them...

Just look at the pictures quality in any dental journal...

 

[Montrealer]

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[EuroOMFS]

Just look at the pictures quality in any dental journal...

That can actually vary quite a lot! 🙂

I´m sure there are non-SLR cams out there that take good quality pictures for these purposes, escpecially for journals and patient charts. I used a SONY Powershot (5 megapixel) before, and was never really happy with it.

 

[Balki]

I love my DSLR and once you use it you can't go back.
I use canon Rebel XT (~$500) + Canon Macro Lens EF-S 60mm ($360) amazing lens. or you can get the "standard" 100mm Canon Macro Lens (~600? )
The 60mm lens can be used as everyday 60mm Portrait Lens, and I do use.
Rebel XT is excellent overall, with many many features, but you can also put it on GREEN and just shoot!!
good luck.
I included couple of photos from my recent perio Surg. taken with
Canon Macro 60mm, full auto shot.
(do not spend 4000 dollars)
I hope you find it helpful.
Balki

 

[charlestweed]

Here are two images taken by my compact point and shoot camera Sony DSC-T7. We used these types of images for powerpoint presentation at my ortho program (6 years ago, we used Nikon coolpix 950...it only had 2.0 megapixels). I guess for ortho it is ok since we only need to see the dental alignment.

 

[Wayne Coronado]

Here are a couple with the Canon A230 Powershot...