Digital Camera

[Aisengard]

Anyone who reads this,

I'm looking for a fairly cheap (but not cheap in quality) camera that I'll use just for taking pictures of friends and family and cool 'artsy' things I might see when I'm walking around. Like a dog. Or a leaf.

Anyway, I don't know much about the digital camera world, and I was wondering if people could weigh in on this matter and offer their opinions and experiences with certain cameras, or tell me which one they think is the 'best value', or 'bang for the buck', if you will.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

I own a Kodak Easyshare C330, which is nice enough--but I wouldn't recommend it for its price point. I've been shopping around for a digicam for my parents for Christmas, and so far my choice will be the Nikon Coolpix L3. Check out some reviews:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/l3.html
http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/digital...kon-coolpix-l3_reviews.html#reviewsTab
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16830113010

You can currently get it for $125 from Beach Camera, which seems to have decent resellerratings and better business bureau reviews.

Remember, with most any digital camera you will *need* to invest in some rechargable batteries (usually AA). You can get a charger + battery kit for under $15 at NewEgg. I think Walgreens has a kit for $10 + tax (though it only comes with two batteries). Digicams are power guzzlers. Don't waste non-rechargables on them.

Also, while it's not absolutely essential, it's a pretty good idea to get a SD memory card. I suggest 1GB, simply because they're hardly any more expensive than the 512MB or 256MB cards. Plus, 1GB will get you significantly more video capture time than 512MB, which you may find to be very useful, even if you don't plan on it. When you get a SD card, though, remember that *speed* is just as important if not more so than raw capacity. Newegg has some nice 1GB cards for under $25, if I remember correctly.

 

[pkme2]

Here's 2 links to the Canon line of digital cameras.
These are simple point and shoot type of cameras.
Very good picture-taking for prints up to 8x10.

Canon A530 Silver 5.0MP Digital Camera

Canon SD630 Silver 6.0 MP Digital Camera

This is a good link to get info on digital cameras.

How to take pictures with a digital camera?

 

[vorgusa]

try looking at http://www.dcresource.com/ that i where I go whenever I want a camera.

 

[spikespiegal]

Canon

 

[gramboh]

I bought a Canon SD500 at a boxing day sale here for $399CDN last year (prices have come down a lot), 7.1MP with 3X optical zoom. It is great as a simple point and shoot camera due to its small size (can fit in jeans front pocket or jacket pocket easily) which was what I was most concerned with. It's fine for taking pictures of people etc. With smaller cameras you lose zoom which makes nature/action shots harder and some manual controls, but the convenience is worth it for me.

 

[Oyeve]

I prefer Nikon, Canon and Olypmus. Maybe some Kodaks. Just dont get Sony. Their cheaper models are pure crap.

 

[Seekermeister]

Digital camera...something I know nothing about. How do you judge a camera before you buy it? Is there a particular specification to look for?

 

[Aisengard]

I'm really looking for a solid $150 camera, it doesn't have to do ANYthing special (well maybe red-eye), just take pictures and put them on my hard drive.

 

[KeithTalent]

Go to this site: DPReview and do some looking around. I've linked you directly to the comparison area where you can set a price and any features you actually do want and look at available cameras.

This is my site of choice for camera information.

Cheers, KT

 

[Saku]

I love my Canon A70 and have gotten many complements on its picture quality. It has served me well and still working like new even though I have dropped it on more than one occasion. I will probably get something a bit smaller for my next digital camera but other than that I see no reason to upgrade. Canon also have SUPERB customer support.

 

[Baked]

Canon SD/S/A xxx

 

[AtlantaBob]

My parents have an A70, and I have a newer A5xx series. Both are excellent cameras and have produced great photos.

 

[RebelDog]

Originally posted by: Aisengard

I'm looking for a fairly cheap (but not cheap in quality) camera that I'll use just for taking pictures of friends and family and cool 'artsy' things I might see when I'm walking around. Like a dog. Or a leaf.

How cheap is "fairly cheap"?

I just got a Canon SD700 -- great camera. Very easy to use, great pictures, its like $300 right now at Dell.com. I like the fact that its TINY. Barely bigger than my cell phone. Not the image quality of an SLR but good enough for me. FWIW. Be prepared to spend an extra $100 on a memory card and a case.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

canon digital elph series

fuji finepix f series

----you should be able to find some deals here and there and they're very compact that you can have them in your pocket for capturing that "dog" or "leaf"

 

[Nocturnal]

I just picked up an Canon SD700, this thing has Image Stablization. It's a great P&S! Price has gone done considerably too since the introduction of the SD800 and SD900.

 

[Paperdoc]

We have a couple of simpler Sony models and are very happy with them - contrary to Oyeve's opinion. But I have not tried out others to give you a good comparison. And our family does not have any photographers - just snapshot people.
Things to look for:
Like your first reply, you MUST get rechargable batteries and charger. Build that into your budget. Sometimes cameras priced a bit higher include these! If you can afford, get two sets of batteries. Same for a memory card - BUT make sure you get the card type that fits your camera. At 4MP resolution one photo is almost 2MB, so I can fit 130 shots on a 256 MB card. For 6 or 8MP resolution and for other card sizes, do the math and figure what size you need.
No less than 4MP!! Prices on these things have come down so nicely that you can probably get 6MP at a good price now. 8MP is overkill unless you plan to make larger blow-ups. Of course, if your'e going to crop down to ¼ of the frame and make an 8x10 print from that, you better be starting with 8MP in the original photo!
Ignore any claim about Digital Zoom. Optical Zoom is the only way, and most bottom out at 3x Optical zoom. Higher is better to some extent, but you'll never hold the camera by hand steady enough for 10x Zoom - that will need a tripod.