What's a good Digital Camera??
 

I have been thinking about buying a digital camera for a while now, but I don't know very much about them. Can anyone help me out??

I have barrowed one before and it seemed easier to put the disk into the carrier and insert the carrier into the computer. Is this the best way?? Also it ran out of battery's real fast!!

I'll be taking pictures of Boats and trucks outside and of our 10 week old baby inside!!

Depends what you want to spend,

Big thing is the number of megapixels, I would go with something that has at least 3.5 to 4 and you will will get quality pictures.

second thing to think about is how easy the camera is to use, which comes down to personal prefrence.

If you like the feel of a 35mmslr camera and want the ability to change lenses, digital cameras are available that will use lenses that fit film cameras.

For instance, Canon makes four slr digital cameras.

The Eos D-3O, D-60, Eos1D, And Eos1DS. All of these will use the same canon lenses as their 35mm slr film cameras.

The Eos D60 has 6megapixels and sells for about 2500.00, the EOS 1Ds has 11megapixels but sells for almost 8000.00.

Hope this helps

I have a Sony 2.1 megapix and it's been very good. Just make sure you buy a Lithium Battery for whatever you get. Regular batteries do not last long.

One camera which was recommended to me by a photographer that I know, was the Nikon Cool Pix? I think. Supposedly very good.

I did some research and ended up buying the Minolta Dimage 7i. It was more expensive than most, but it has a lot of features. Look for the amount of megapixels. The higher, the better. Mine has 5.0 megapixels. Also, look for something with optical zoom. Digital zoom is not nearly as good. The Dimage has a 7X optical zoom. I would strongly recommend against any camera that uses a 3 ½ inch floppy. You should get a camera with a USB interface. As long as your computer has a USB connection, all you have to do is plug it in. The camera’s flash card/micro drive shows up as another drive in Explorer. Also, the floppy is extremely limited in the number of pictures you can take. You can get flash cards/micro drivers that will hold hundreds of pictures, even at the higher bit rates. Some photo printers are made where you simply plug in the flash/micro. Hope this helps.

I just bought a new cannon 60 series dv cam corder that also takes digital pics on either the dv tape or on the media card. Its an awsome camera with lots of features plus its pretty user friendly. I paid about $650.00 for it I feel that its alot of camera for the money.
my.02

Cannon d6 is a bargin at $2200 if you can get one in stock and are looking for a SLR.

I have an Olympus 2100 with a 10X OPTICAL zoom (380mm=35slr)and it still fallsa bit short when it comes to shooting off shore due to the distance the boats are offshore.

I am looking at the Nikon Coolpic-5700 that has a 8X optical and a teleconverter that takes it up to 420mm=35slr.

Do not buy into a salesman that tells you "But it has a DIGITAL zoom of XXX.. Digital zoom pixelates the photo. Just go by the OPTICAL .

The only reason I'm looking at the Nikon when I have the Olympus is the Olympus is 2.1 megapixel and the Nikon is 5.0 megapixel

The Olympus was $ 999.99 a year ago -now about $600 ...the Nikon Coolpix 5700 is $1200.

If you start looking at a digital with interchangeable lenses..you can expect to start at $2000 for just the body and $3000 for a good zoom

good luck

Optical zoom, like others already mentioned is very important. I have a Fuji 2800 that has a 6X optical zoom. It works good and was only $400.

Mine can go up to 2.1 mega pixels but I take most of my pictures at 1 mega pixel and they come out good.

Take a look at dpreview.com they have a lot of good info.

I bought a Canon Powershot G2 a few months back for $580. It is a 4 megapixel camera and takes great pics. I just returned from Hawaii and printed pics that have excellent color and clarity. I blew them up from 4x6 to 5x7 and they didnt lose a thing. The camera is a slr style body and has more features than I need now but can grow into later. I can even change lenses on it.

Idealy I would like to spend $400 to $500 on the camera. The ones you guy's are talking about that are over a Grand are way out of my range. (Heck, I live in Kansas there isn't that many things worth taking picture's of!!)

I just bought a Cam Corder 3 months ago!! At the time I was thinking that it would be to much to deal with for my wife!! I probably should have gone with it anyway!! Is it easy to use?

I have an Olympus E-10 and I like it a lot. 4.0 megapixels 4X zoom plus you can add 3 lense adapters. 2 telephoto and 1 wide angle.

I liked it for the larger body, uses CF or SM cards. manual and automatic modes, remote, built in flash and so on. I still have my Nikon FE too and won't give it up.

Brad,

Chris got me a digital camera for Christmas that I think was around that price range. I really like it. He knows more about it than I do though. I'll email him this thread and see if he'll expand on it.

Cyndi

Nikon CoolPix 2500--$299.00 at circuit city!!

Brad,
Last year I bought a canon s110 $400 at the time) and love it to death. I bought it with the intention that I would just use it for internet based photos. If I'm interested in taking quality photos I still use my old film camera. With this in mind the canon has served me well. It's very compact so I can carry it all over with me. The other thing with these little bastards is they are changing so fast that camera's seem to become obsolete very fast(if not significantly cheaper 1 year later:rolleyes: )
Just my .02
Heres your boat at on the big dick's run at LOTO this summer:)

Whatever your choice, get one with an optical zoom, not a digital zoom. I have an HP315 and I love it except that it has a digital zoom.

SONY DSC-P9

Awesome camera 4.1 MP 3x digital zoom and can handle movies (MPEG) with great soud quality for those Poker Run shots. 128 MB Stick gets you about 18 minutes of HQ Digital video. A 256MB stick is comming out in March which of course double the above number to 36 minutes. They also have an underwater case for the camera which enables you to dive 100' or so for stills and/or movies. Built like a Brick Sh#t House too! :D

Funhome,
Unless you’re printing larger then 4x6 you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference in anything over 2.0 megapixal and 3.0 will print up to 8x10 just fine. I agree with everyone on optical zoom. Personally, I’d make sure it writes to Compact Flash since that’s the format that’s seeming to prevail.

Here are a couple of sites that might help:
http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.dcresource.com/

BTW, I ordered mine from mail order discount and saved $350.00 over Best Buy.
DLG

totally simple,
there is a switch tape or card. flip it to card and instead of the pause button there is a photo buton in the perfect finger spot just pus it and it takes the photo to the video card.real easy to veiw pics to on the lcd screen. (slideshow )etc.
Martin.:D

Good info Optical zoom the only way to go, I have a e-100rs its out of production but is still the FASTEST 15 frames a sec camera 1/10000 shutter speed there is , only downfall is 1.5 pixel res Not a big problem with a 10x zoom, I can stop action with this like no tomarrow, I only wish they came out with a newer one of these with a 2-3-4 megapixel, but for its me, I can 3-15 frames sec which gives me a selection of shots to choose from, I had to buy this on ebay because they are so rare now and every sports person wants one.
The Olympus Camedia E-100RS (Rapid Shot) is presently the fastest digital camera in the world with the ability to shoot at 15 frames per second (or 7.5, 5, or 3 fps). The 9.5MB internal SD-RAM buffer, 28MHz 1.51-megapixel high-speed CCD and image processing electronics allows for capturing 1360 x 1024

Unless if your going to be a professional photograhper...just get a max of 2.1 mega pixel and forget the rest. Save the money for fuel!!!
:D hehehehehehehe

I have the Olympus at about 600 bucks. My next one will be the Nikon for 2200 because I have all the lenses for it from my 35mm days. Digital is still a LONG LONG way from film quality but it it getting better every day. Probably another 2-3 years and we will see it get REAL close.

Jon

Thanks for all the advice!

Keep in mind the price of the camera is only part of the cost. Expect another couple hundred for the 128 memory, the rechargable batteries, the download drive, ac powercord etc. In someways, these things are like boats!

:D Many thanks to everyone for all the advise!! Looks like I have some homework to do!!!

We have the Sony Mavica cd-200 2.1 mega pixels, Great camera has a CD instead of a disc.

For most average person picture taking, 3 megapixels is plenty. It will print a 8x10 picture with absolute clearity, as long as you have at least a high quality photo printer, 4800dpi.
2 megapixel is borderline. Good for 4x6 prints, but no bigger. Mine has 8x optical, 3x digital for a total of 24x zoom. It is great, but only with a tripod at the full zoom.
Don't get caught up in one with video capabilites. Cameras take good pictures, video cameras take good videos, they don't do both very good. Media cards are the cats meow. Many new printers and even the new PC's now have media card slots built into them, otherwise the USB is great. You should have no problem getting one for around $300-$400 that will do what you need. I suggest that you use it as much as possible the 1st couple of days to see if it will be the one ofr you. I spent $500 for one 3 months ago and didn't really mess with it for a week. It is a real disappointment and I was past the 7 day return time limit. I'm looking for another one now.

Oh???

Hmmm...I've been thinking about another camera, how about posting some examples :D

Yea, I just had some ad shots done for the bank, he shot it with his Nikon D and hooked strait into his laptop. We talked camera's and he said that 90% is digital now a days.

I own the new Canon EOS 1DS. 11.6 megapixels but a 35mm velvia slide is higher quality. Period

Remember what I do Troutly???? I work with the best picture stuff in the world. That is why I can see the difference in a RUNCO and you can not :p :p I can tell the difference with one eye open :p :p Stick to eating doughnuts and ruining peoples days :p :p

Yes you do!

FUNHOME

go to
www.steves-digicams.com
then after you choose your weapon, go to
www.pricegrabber.com
to find where to buy it (if you order from a low-rated vendor, make sure they tell you that it is a "U.S. spec brand new unit in an unopened consumer box with all accessories in the box and a correct U.S. warranty).

It will take you a few days to sort thru the tests and reviews.
I have an Olympus C700 and a Sony DSC-U1. The tiny Sony is easy on batteries and takes good pictures and is the tiniest thing on the planet. The Olympus takes far superior pictures and has a huge zoom, but is too large for a pocket cam.

There's stuff out there for everybody.
(personally, I think the "last years'" Nikon 775 is a good all around unit and its CHEAP)

fuji finepix S602 Zoom
 

I found mine for $450 and Circuit City wanted $700. It shoot video at 30 feet per second. Everything I have read is that this is the best digital still and video camera. It has a 6x opt. and 4.4 digiital zoom for a total of 24.4x. It is 3.1 pixs and Fuji's CCD puts the camera at 6 meg. It is very fast for action shots.
For the money I think it is hard to beat.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/F602/F62P.HTM

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1012

602
 

I am no expert at all but I did do a little reading and it came down to the G2 or the 602. I really like the 602. Good feel in the hand and all the options you would need for most rookies. The above website is long but has a lot of +'s on this camera. Thanks Jesse J

Mike,
You got a real good deal on your 602z. I paid $500.00 for mine and thought I was doing good (it was $800 at Best Buy). Funny, I also almost bought the G2 Cannon.

cannon s110 is what we have...it's a few generations back (now the 210?)...our crew chief is mr techno so we let him figure it out....we get all the hand me downs:D ....i do know it's has a SS body plus it's small..pixs turn out great. actually my 4 ice climbing partners all have the same thing. so on the drive home we down load all the camers and burn 4 cd's.

big thing for us is we NEVER used are larger one..no one wanted to get stuck with it! good luck!

this is what Santa gave me!
 

I have a Olympus Camedia C-4000 ZOOM. I can do almost anything with this camera. I am still learning on how to use it, but I believe it will suits my needs. There is so many models out there, we went to Circuit City and spoke to a very knowledge salesperson and told him what we needed the camera for (our website, races, etc...). It made it lots easier for us to decide then.

Good luck shopping!!!

:D :D :D

JM94;)