18 Responses for "Digital Camera Advice"

1. Matt

   November 28th, 2005 at 3:18 pm

   1

   Hey Mate:

   I have the Canon SD400 and must say I’m pretty happy with it. Had it for a while and only took occasional pictures, but recently got to really test it out on a 10 day cruise vacation. The picture quality is very good, although upgrading the memory card is a must.

   Outdoor pictures came out true to life, color saturation is great. Indoor pictures are a little more tricky. Course I’m not a photog by any means, so it takes a little getting used to lighting conditions, reference points, etc.

   I took lots of indoor pictures with my camera on this vacation and not a single picture had red eye, so I was quite pleased about that.

   The one major complaint I have, and this could be true of all digital cameras, is shutter lag. Definitely a few seconds between depressing the buttom and picture taking, but this can be shortened by tweaking some of the settings and getting familiar with the camera.

   overall for the cost of the camera, I am very happy.

   Hope this helps you!

   -Matt

2. Jace Gregg

   November 28th, 2005 at 3:52 pm

   2

   I know it’s out of your stated price range, but I just bought the Nikon d50 and I absolutely love it. I’ve heard the Pentax is decent, but it’s not supposed to be very good at compressing JPEGs, so unless you can shoot raw only, the quality becomes less than what you’d expect from a DSLR.

   Overall, I’ve fallen in love with my d50. The lens that came with it is pretty great, it’s amazingly fast even in full-auto mode, and will take great pictures as fast as you can move your finger. If you can swing it, the D50 is great, but you may want to head over to a Wolf or Ritz camera shop to play with them and see if the Pentax is all right.

3. Bob Breckling

   November 28th, 2005 at 3:57 pm

   3

   You might try looking at the following:

   Fuji F10 5MP 3x zoom Great camera
   Sony DSC-W5/W7 or DSC-P200 3x zoom All very good
   Nikon S4 5MP 10x zoom Different
   Olympus Stylus 600 6MP

   Check ou:http://www.steves-digicams.com/

4. xenderoo7

   November 28th, 2005 at 7:18 pm

   4

   Another recommendation for ya, Casio EX-Z750, great little camera. 7.2 Mega Pixel, 2.5″ screen, super fast start up, full manual adjustable setting (aperature-priority, shutter-priority, full-manual), and, best of all, super long battery life. It still lacks zooming power, but 3x optical is typical of ultra-compact class. Anyway, I had this camera for few months now, and I absolutely loved it. Just thought I will bring it to your attention. Nonetheless, It falls right at the price range you are looking for. Here’s a comprehensive review/guide to this camera, check it out:

   http://www.kenrockwell.com/casio/exz750.htm

5. John

   November 28th, 2005 at 8:01 pm

   5

   You need to give serious thought to what you will use the camera for, as no matter what you buy it’s going to limit your choices with what you can do with it. Figure out what you want to use the camera for, where you’ll take with you, etc. The SD500 or SD400 is IMHO the best option in the compact digital market. You can throw it in your pocket and take it on a hike, to the bar, when going out with friends, etc. It does a great job at automatically (and fairly quickly) selecting the correct aperture/shutter speed/iso so most any “normal” picture (as in, not shooting through a chain link fence or long exposure underwater welding pictures or something) will come out good.

   On the other hand if you want to get serious about taking pictures, the camera I upgraded to and is my recommendation is the Olympus C-7070WZ or Olympus C-8080. Not quite DSLR but not carrying the DSLR price tag either, it lets you step in to the amateur photography arena without throwing down the requisite two grand. It has a hotshoe for mounting a flash or controlling external flashes if you want to rig a lighting studio, has threading to add filters out of the box and an inexpensive adapter will get you an even wider angle or a telephoto zoom… read a review of it and Canon’s EOS line and a few others to get a feel for them. The important thing to realize is you are NOT going to be carrying these around in your pocket. It’s going to go in a camera bag, and if you start adding lenses and filters and flashes probably a camera backpack. Add Ikelite’s underwater housing for it (which is amazing btw) and you’re dragging around a camera suitcase on wheels.

   It basically boils down to whether you want a camera in your pocket or to carry a camera bag with you. If you’re serious enough about pictures to not mind carrying around the bag then go for it, otherwise the SD line is the way to go.

6. cliche

   November 28th, 2005 at 9:30 pm

   6

   First, forget SLR. You’re an amateur (no offense) so you’ll just end up wasting money. Plus, if you never juggled with RAW format, you have no idea how much of a pain it is just to convert to a usable format.

   I would recommend a mini-cam. The single most important rule in photography is to have a camera to take the picture with, and you’re more likely to have a camera ready that easily fits in your pocket.

   Go with whatever is the thinnest and has the biggest screen for your budget. Optics is secondary with those tiny lenses in those minicams: There’s just not a whole lot of difference. Zoom is nice, but with enough pixels, it’s easier to take a big picture and cut later. Noise is irrelevant when most pictures will be scaled down.

   That said, I would recommend Pentax Optio S6. It’s ridiculously small, pretty much the biggest screen possible for the size, good value (at slightly over $300), and Pentax makes quality cameras. 6 mpxl should be more than enough for a letter size print, or at least 4×6 if you crop a lot. 3X optical zoom is as good as it gets for the size. I like Cannon too, but they tend to be less fashinable and more expensive, although they’re rock solid.

7. Ryan

   November 28th, 2005 at 10:07 pm

   7

   Building on the A95, I think the A610/A620 is a great all-round camera for your needs. 5 or 7MP, 4X Zoom, auto and manual controls, flip-out screen, unlimited continuous shooting of pics or movies, and takes 4AA batteries and has an incredible low power draw to provide 500+ shots on a set of 2200mah rechargeables when using the LCD. http://dpreview.com/reviews/canona620/

8. Jeremy Flint

   November 28th, 2005 at 10:25 pm

   8

   Actually Cliche, I double-majored in Photography and Graphic Design, so I am by no means an amature photographer. I may be an amature when it comes to DSLRs, but I was educated processing my own film and developing my own prints.

   The camera will mostly be used for snapping pics of everyday things (take a look at my Flickr Stream for examples of what I take pics of). The A75 served that purpose just fine, so I may take a look at the A610. The SD400 appealed to me because I often just like to toss the camera in my pocket and the A75 was a little bulky for that.

   I forgot about the Pentax Optio series. It will really come down to what they have in stock at the local Office Max since $200 of the money I use to buy the camera will come from a gift card thanks to MaxAssurance.

9. Aaron Barker

   November 28th, 2005 at 11:43 pm

   9

   I have the Cannon S2 IS and totally love it. The 6 key features I like on it are:
   1 - Mega zoom: 12x is pretty sweet for a non SLR, and the lens contracts in decently well to take up less space when off.
   2 - Macro: 0cm macro to be exact. If you could get light in there you can set the lens on paper and focus on it.
   3 - Movies: 640×480 with stereo sound. Part of the reason I got the camera was for our first child. It has been great to have DVD quality video easily at hand. You get about 7 minutes on a gig card, but it’s not really meant to replace a video camera and 2 hour long soccer games or whatever. But sure is great for those quick moments where you only need a few minutes.
   4 - Speed: Very fast startup time, ready to go in less then a second. Pretty good recylce time between shots as well.
   5 - IS = Image Stabalization: My first camera with it and it sure is nice. I know it’s probably in most cameras you are looking at as it’s getting more popular, but it was definately one of the reasons I got it.
   6 - Flip out LCD: I thought it was kinda gimmicky, but I sure use it a lot. The first day I was doing shots where I could hold it up above the crowd to take pics, and others right at the ground for cool angles.

   I’ve had mine for almost 5 months, and have taken 3,000+ pictures… it’s a really fun camera. The big zoom and great macro give it a lot of versatility for not being able to change out the lenses.

   My only big dislike is that it only has a 15 second shutter (would kill for bulb setting or at least 30 or 60 seconds).

   I’m sure I could find a few other minor gripes if you wanted to hear them, but I really like the camera, and highly recommend it.

10. rocket

    November 28th, 2005 at 11:57 pm

    10

    I have a Canon s60 (6 megapixel) and love it. It is absolutely a solidly built camera. It is a no brainer for photos. My wife (not a photographer) consistently gets excellent shots on default mode. I recently looked up on Canon’s website and found they are now up to the s80 (8 megapixels). I paid $400 for my s60 and would highly recommend it. Canon makes awesome cameras (I also own a DSLR 20d). For a point-and-shoot, take a look at the s60, s70, and s80 models.

11. kevin

    November 29th, 2005 at 12:57 am

    11

    My opinion, and the only digital camera I own, the Canon Powershot Pro1, 8 megapixels, pretty good for closeup, but some artifical light problems, it will take video with sound, but only uses CF cards. It should be fairly close to the cheap now, since I bought it about 2 years ago for a thousnad $. Though I have also heard that one of the Digital Rebels or another had a better cost benefit at a slightly lesser quality than the Powershot Pro1.

12. bananasek

    November 29th, 2005 at 9:13 am

    12

    You should check out Sony Cybershot DSC-P200
    - it’s small
    - 7.2MP
    - great battery life
    - very fast startup, shutdown, cycle
    - full auto with many manual settings
    Oh yeah, it takes great pictures, both indoor and outdoor

13. Griffith

    November 29th, 2005 at 2:31 pm

    13

    I’m particularly interested in the upcoming Sony N1 camera but there’s not much on the internet about it. Only previews or beta model analysis.

14. manas

    January 4th, 2006 at 4:38 am

    14

    appealing to the masses. i am planning to buy SONY DSC-N1 and lookin for expert views on this model who has had a hands on experience. it’d be generous to mail in your views on manas13@rediffmail.com

    thankyou.

15. Aditya

    January 19th, 2006 at 7:50 pm

    15

    Stick with Canon. There is a reason why they have over 40% of the market share. As far as SLRs are concerned, you shouldn’t go in that direction unless you plan ot take up photography as a profession or serious hobby.

    Manas,
    The Sony DSCs are notorious for night-shots. I’d stick with the Canon Powershots. I’ve had the A60 for over two years now, and it produces pictures better than modern cameras from other brands.

16. Lynn Eckman

    February 6th, 2006 at 6:52 pm

    16

    Could someone help me out? Which would be a better camera for me? the Canon A620 or the Canon S2-IS. I take close up detail shots of stitching on art quilts. Is the A620 with 7.1 megapixel better or the S2 with the better lense and 12x.? Help!

17. VM

    September 20th, 2006 at 2:52 pm

    17

    I haven’t tried a cannon camera in years, we are talking pre-digital era… we had several sony digital camera and never seemed to get great pictures…
    I recently bought a Kodak EasyShare P850. I was told by the film developing guys that optical zoom is the important thing, if size isn’t an issue. We are going away to Disney in about 2 weeks and I have been taking the kodak everywhere with me to master it. I think I’ve mastered it in a bout a week, its VERY easy to use, yet had tons of different options… 3 custom setting (which we haven’t used) and about 16 other setting… from snow… candlelite… sport… I have taken pictures at the zoo of animals (awesome polar bear shots) and taken pictures at birthday parties (candlelight), and of course our daughter (runnig, jumping and being a 2.5 yr old). I am so happy with it and couldn’t image using another camera. And to be honest, it had the most for the buck. Althou its kinda big, but the amazing memories are worth a bad.it cost us $300 +/-… We purchased it at a club… BJs, Sams, costco…saw a lesser model at sears for 400. They also told me that as long as I save everything, If am unhappy with it, I have 30 days to return with everything… so I figured that I will try it out and if not go back to 35mm.

18. Dwayne

    December 18th, 2006 at 1:21 pm

    18

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