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I need some advice. I would like to get a new digital camera. I want something small with a great zoom. I don't seem to have good luck picking out cameras. I don't like our old digital, its big, awkward to use, poor zoom and very slow.... I missed my son marching by in a parade! My fairly new regular 35 mm camera is okay except for the zoom. I've never liked the pictures I take, but I'm realizing it's due to the subjects not being close enough. Anyway I would really appreciate any advice, tell me what camera you have and what you like about it or anything else you think would help me make the right choice for a change. Thanks. Dina
I have the Cannon Powershot 85 and it's been a great camera. The zoom is very good. I especially like that I can shoot digital video with it, too. It's been so much fun that I've hardly used my 35mm in months--despite the fact that I said I'd never go to digital because I loved my 35mm so much.
I recently got a Cannon Powershot S500 and am loving it!!! It's small enough to carry in my purse, because you never know when you'll need it!! I asked a lot of people about their cameras, and the majority of the people that I know have/love their Cannons. Happy digital shopping!!!
I've been using a Panasonic Lumix for the past two years and really enjoy it. I had the opportunity to use my mother's Sony digital camera, and compared to my small amount of experience with that particular model of Sony I found my Lumix to be faster in taking pictures (especially with the "burst" mode which minimises the amount of time it takes for the camera to recover from taking a picture (e.g., a quarter of a second rather than half of a second)). I also greatly preferred the colour balance of my Lumix compared to the Sony. When I looked at prints from the Lumix and prints from the Sony, the Sony colours were too green and way too bright for me.
The only advice I can offer is:
1) when considering camera brands and models, look for those that have burst modes or some similar feature
2) consider an SLR (single lens reflex) if you aren't already. These are a bit more fussy to learn to use than the point-and-shoot style of camera, but the small investment of time and effort into learning how to use it pays off bigtime for the thousands of photos you will be taking in the years to come. I've a friend who made the switch to SLR a few years ago, and she said her photos improved exponentially as a result. The SLRs I'm familiar with have the ability to take a series of photos very quickly just by keeping your finger pressed on the button, so in a few seconds you can take several pictures.
3) compare photos between camera models to make sure you like the photos you'll get back.
4) try to look at a range of brands because they can offer very different options. One of the Pentax SLRs I saw in a flyer recently, for example, can be used with the same zoom, panoramic, etc. lenses originally sold to fit on manual Pentax cameras. Panasonic Lumix cameras come equipped with a lens from the world's leading company (Leica) but cannot be used with any add-on lenses.
Nikon has a Coolpix 4800 that does a great job. 8x zoom (Ithink) 4mp.
Sony and Casio both have small cameras that shoot really fast, but only have a 3x zoom.
I've seen great photos from each of these cameras. Good luck choosing one! I work in a camera store, if you have more questions...I'd be happy to answer!
Julie's advice about the Coolpix triggered my memory. I have had experience with two Coolpixes, the models that are in two connected pieces, so the lens piece can be rotated to any angle with respect to the piece with the viewfinder. I thought they were quite excellent, and the fact that I found them in use in two public institutions (a museum lab and a university lab) where money is spent only after great consideration (in Canada, anyways) to me supports my impression that they are quite good.
One thing I don't like about the Canon cameras is that they don't have an auto-off feature that shuts the camera off if it's idle for a certain length of time. This can be a real battery killer if you're not careful. Sony cameras are fabulous, but I wish they could use something other than Sony's own memory sticks.
I'm hoping for a digital camera for my birthday, and have my eye on the 4-megapixel Kodak Easyshare.
__________________ Rachel Proud SU! demo and Sci-Fi Geek!
My Stampin' Up! blog "I'm a time traveler -- I point and laugh at archaeologists." 10th Doctor, "Silence in the Library"
I have a Canon Power Shot S1. It is very easy to use and has 10x optical zoom. It is 3.2 mega pixels but that is sufficient since I don't print larger than 8 x 10 photos. The photo quality is very good and I have no complaints with it. It does have the auto-off feature.
Before this, I had a Canon Power Shot. It is 4.0 mega pixels but only 3x zoom. We travel a lot so the zoom is an important feature for me.
We have the Kodak Easy Share 6490. I like it because it is 10X optical zoom. IGNORE the digital zoom if you want good prints. Get the highest optical zoom you can afford. I got the 6490 for $209.00 (price matched at Wal-Mart from an online retailer). Also, they say that 3.2 megapixel is best for 4 x 6 prints so that is what we usually have the camera set to take.
We did not purchase the dock with our camera. The USB cable hooks up directly to the computer.
__________________ "You have to stop the Q-tip when there is resistance." -Chandler Bing
Noah Wyle is my avatar!
Last edited by chloeandnicksmom; 04-27-2005 at 08:33 PM..
Reason: wanted to add
I have a canon digital rebel~ it takes GREAT pics but is not very compact. When I need something small to carry around I use my Sony Cybershot. The photo quality is not as good but it's good enough.
Joy
I did a lot of research on cameras when I bought mine and all professional photographers say the same thing: buy Nikon, Cannon, or Olympus. Why? Quality, glass optics, consistency over the life of their company for good stuff with limited problems.
You shouldn't have to have a "docking station" or any other gadget to download pics to your computer. Mine (Olympus Stylus 410) has a wire that plugs right into my computer. It doesn't even need the software to download pics. The computer recognizes the camera as another drive. Although the software that comes with the camera is awsome for editing photos.
Another thing to consider. You will sacrifice small size when you go up in zoom. Most digital cameras come with a 3x optical zoom (totally disregard digital zoom and Turn it off when you get your camera-- it is nothing more than stretching pixels in reduces the image quality). You can find cameras with higher optical zoom (up to 10 times I think), but in order to have the larger zoom, the camera MUST have a larger lens so that it can take in more light. Otherwise you will not get the picture quality you are wanting. So, when the lens size goes up, so does the camera size.
Besides, if you take your pics in high enough resolution, you can simply crop them when you get them home to the size you want. Here is where higher mega pixels come in. Get nothing under 3-4 mega pixels if you want good quality images.
I chose the Olympus Stylus series because it's all metal body is really durable. It has rubber gaskets in all openings that make it water resistant and dust resistant. Since both water and dust are bad for the inner workings of a camera this is good. You can drop this thing in a puddle and it will be fine. And it is tiny. About the size of a credit card and 1 inch thick.
Also, the new Stylus 500 has a brand new screen that is very large and has an active matrix that allows you to see what you are looking at even if the camera has the sun shining directly onto the screen. No one else does this.
Another important consideration: batteries. Don't buy a camera that requires regular batteries or you will be constantly replacing them. My sister has one and she literally has to refill the batteries every single time she uses it! And you can find the rechargable batteries for digital cameras on line for cheap. Type in what you need and it will come up. I think I paid 23 dollars including shipping for mine-- Olympus sells it for 60.
Good Luck. Digital is so awsome that I am strongly considering selling my Minolta Maxxuum film camera. I have no use for it. And I take all my families portraits. They come out beautiful.
__________________ Life is too short: eat chocolate and stamp up a storm. It will come out OK in the end.
I just bought a fuji s3100 from Walmart for $224 I think. 6x optical zoom....dopn't remember the digital zoom. Anyway, takes great pictures! I have been playing with it for a week. I used to have Canon Elph and loved that too...but the battery went bad and I bought replacements from an online retailer and they didn't fit - even though they said they would. I decided to just go with a new camera instead and am very happy. I bought one with AA batteries and you can use rechargeable ones....so, you don't really have to replace them that often. I bought regular ones to try it out until I know I am keeping the camera and I have been playing lots with it and haven't had to change the batteries yet.
I did a lot of research on cameras when I bought mine and all professional photographers say the same thing: buy Nikon, Cannon, or Olympus. Why? Quality, glass optics, consistency over the life of their company for good stuff with limited problems.
You shouldn't have to have a "docking station" or any other gadget to download pics to your computer. Mine (Olympus Stylus 410) has a wire that plugs right into my computer. It doesn't even need the software to download pics. The computer recognizes the camera as another drive. Although the software that comes with the camera is awsome for editing photos.
Another thing to consider. You will sacrifice small size when you go up in zoom. Most digital cameras come with a 3x optical zoom (totally disregard digital zoom and Turn it off when you get your camera-- it is nothing more than stretching pixels in reduces the image quality). You can find cameras with higher optical zoom (up to 10 times I think), but in order to have the larger zoom, the camera MUST have a larger lens so that it can take in more light. Otherwise you will not get the picture quality you are wanting. So, when the lens size goes up, so does the camera size.
Besides, if you take your pics in high enough resolution, you can simply crop them when you get them home to the size you want. Here is where higher mega pixels come in. Get nothing under 3-4 mega pixels if you want good quality images.
I chose the Olympus Stylus series because it's all metal body is really durable. It has rubber gaskets in all openings that make it water resistant and dust resistant. Since both water and dust are bad for the inner workings of a camera this is good. You can drop this thing in a puddle and it will be fine. And it is tiny. About the size of a credit card and 1 inch thick.
Also, the new Stylus 500 has a brand new screen that is very large and has an active matrix that allows you to see what you are looking at even if the camera has the sun shining directly onto the screen. No one else does this.
Another important consideration: batteries. Don't buy a camera that requires regular batteries or you will be constantly replacing them. My sister has one and she literally has to refill the batteries every single time she uses it! And you can find the rechargable batteries for digital cameras on line for cheap. Type in what you need and it will come up. I think I paid 23 dollars including shipping for mine-- Olympus sells it for 60.
Good Luck. Digital is so awsome that I am strongly considering selling my Minolta Maxxuum film camera. I have no use for it. And I take all my families portraits. They come out beautiful.
I agree totally with you. I would stick to an Nikon, Olympus or a cannon. When we were researching to buy ours two years ago we asked one of friends that worked in the Mall of America at Ritz Camera shop. (He also ws a photographer on the side) He told us from his experience he sold a lot of the mentioned brands...and did not get them returned. He mentioned that these brands are what the professionals buy..of course in the thousand dollar range.
So we bought the Olympus Camedia D-560. It does eat batteries, but we use rechargeable double As. I know Sams Club carries this brand with an AWESOME zoom for around $300. We already are looking into that one so my hubby can take this one on his deployment and I can still have one for pics of the kids and also incase he loses the currnet one.
You need to consider the following: are you going to want to print your own photos? Are you going to be scrapbooking your pics?
I am a scrapbooker so quality is key. Also, last year, at convention, I was trying to take pics of my upline and the delay on her digital from the time I pushed the shutter button to the time it actually took the pic was so long I couldn't get a good pic.
I have the Canon digital rebel and I adore it! It takes an immediate picture and acts like a regular 35 mm slr. It has automatic shut off to save battery space and I got a 512mb flash card at Cosco for only $55. I can take lots of pics before I run out of memory.
The only drawback to the rebel is size. It has interchangeable lenses so that adds bulk. Canon just came out with a new digital rebel so I got the older model for $200 less than it was previously priced. I would go to a camera store and talk to a professional and get the low down on all of your choices. I love my local camera shop. They love cameras and are really helpful!
For Christmas I was given the Kodak EasyShare DX7590 digital camera and dock kit. Small, easy to use and has great zoom features.
I have this same one. I got it after Cmas with rebates for $350. The 6490 someone mentioned is the earlier version of this camera. This one has 5 mp which really allows you to blow up pics or zoom in on a certain area when you took it too far away. It also has a 10X optical zoom which rocks. The only thing is that, like all digi cams but some of the higher SLRs, you do have to wait between pics for it to save them.
Here you can enter in two different cameras and look side by side at how different they are.
I wanted to get an SLR but I don't like the Canon one nearly as much as the Nikon which my Dad has and let me use when I went home, but it was a lot more. DH also reminded me that I have a film SLR for when I want to take photos at home and I wouldn't want to have to drag the big one around when I went to the zoo, park, etc. on a regular basis. Plus he sweetened the deal by letting me get a great embroidery/sewing machine if I went with this camera. No regrets at this point, although we probably will get a digi SLR in a couple more years.
I also have the Canon digital rebel and you can't beat it for high quality photos. Yes, it is bigger than most digitals but the ability to change lenses is what makes this top notch. I put on my 70-300mm lense for soccer games and it is like I am standing right next to my kids out there. You can also set it up to 1600 speed. I've caught kids literally off the ground, it snaps that quick. I take alot of sports shots, so speed was important to me. I also have a Canon Powershot A85 that I use for basic activities - parties, playing etc. I takes great shots, too and more compact.
I am a huge Canon fan and did tons of research on all brands before I made my purchases. I have no regrets. Just a wonderful camera!!!!
Go to www.cnet.com They offer great reviews and comparisons. Got alot of valuable info there on best features, price etc.
__________________ Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. - Victor Hugo
I had an olympus and sent it back. HATED it. I now have the Fuji and I love it. This was for work. However, I loved it so much, I ended up buying one for myself. I think Fuji really gets overlooked when people are looking at new cameras. It actually is very highly rated by consumers who own them.
Oh, and Energizer just came out with rechargables for digital camers. $18 at Wally World for the charger and 4 batteries. Very worth it!
I have a Cannon Digital Rebel also. It is not compact but the photos are outstanding. You can buy different lens to fit your needs. The reason we bought the Rebel was because it shots almost as fast as a 35mm, so you don't have that shutter lag.
I've been using a Panasonic Lumix for the past two years and really enjoy it. I had the opportunity to use my mother's Sony digital camera, and compared to my small amount of experience with that particular model of Sony I found my Lumix to be faster in taking pictures (especially with the "burst" mode which minimises the amount of time it takes for the camera to recover from taking a picture (e.g., a quarter of a second rather than half of a second)). I also greatly preferred the colour balance of my Lumix compared to the Sony. When I looked at prints from the Lumix and prints from the Sony, the Sony colours were too green and way too bright for me.
I too have and LOVE the Panasonic Lumix. My only complaint is it's size (not compact) and it's really not that big of a complaint when I see the quality of my pictures. My sister has a Kodak (much smaller in size) and we took similar pictures on a recent vacation and even my sister agrees there is no comparison to her pictures... the Lumix wins hands down.
It took us (my husband mostly) over a year to pick a camera and we are both thrilled with our choice.
I have a cannon Powershot A310 and LOVE IT!! My sister just paid almost $400 for her camera and the only difference between her expensive one and my $150 one was that she can take sport shots!! We have the same zoom lense and same features otherwise. I told her it doesn't pay to buy anything to expensive because they all do the same thing pretty much!
I have a cannon Powershot A310 and LOVE IT!! My sister just paid almost $400 for her camera and the only difference between her expensive one and my $150 one was that she can take sport shots!! We have the same zoom lense and same features otherwise. I told her it doesn't pay to buy anything to expensive because they all do the same thing pretty much!
Sports shots were important to me. I needed something with a continuous mode for NASCAR races. It was worth the extra to me to get that.
I just got the Sony P-150 for my birthday. Size was definitely a big consideration for me. I also have a Nikon N-80(SLR film) so I wanted something small. The Sony has 7.2 mp and a 3X zoom. I have taken some relly kick-butt pics with it. It is very easy to use... that was also important to me- I don't like messin'. I REALLY like it, it also came highly recommended by Ritz people and local camera store folks, not to mention my BIL who is a photographer. As with any Sony you are limited to their Memory Sticks, but I got a big one (512) a Costco and it was not that expensive.
Thanks for all the great advice. I love the web site that lets me compare the different cameras. I'm starting to look around. I need to feel the cameras in my hand. I can't tell how big or small they are online or in the sales papers. I'm also going to go to a camera store to see what they recommend. Keep the suggestions coming! Dina
I now have the HP R707 and I LOVE IT! It is such an easy camera to use. I have owned a total of 4 digitals and this is by far the greatest!! The pictures are clear and crisp. I was so happy with it when I saw our pictures from Jamaica this last December. It was worth the money. At walmart.com I got a great deal. For $384 I got the camera, the camera dock, a camera bag and a 256mb sd card. My camera before that was a sony and I hated it!! I sold it on Ebay and used the money to get the HP. I even went as far as getting the Hp photsmart printer and now I print my own pictures and people can't even tell that I printed them out myself. Good luck finding one. Remember to check the shutter speed when researching. That's a critical part because the slower the speed the slower you are at taking those pics you keep missing.
__________________ Some only dream of Angels, I held 3 and 2 earned their wings early-NAT & NATE 2001
For Christmas I was given the Kodak EasyShare DX7590 digital camera and dock kit. Small, easy to use and has great zoom features.
I want to put in another vote for this!! I have the DX6490, which I believe is almost the same except it is a 4.0 instead of the 5.0 of the 7590. I got mine when it very first came out 2003, and so paid probably a little more than what you can get the DX7590 for now since it has now been out a few months. The 10X zoom is great, and the whole reason I went for this camera. At the time (for it's price range) it was the only 10x. I find the Kodak very easy to use. We got the dock & it makes it very quick to download pics. My SIL who has another Kodak model, can't get over how great the zoom feature works on this camera. If opitical zoom is important, I give this camera a great review!
We got this at Thanksgiving time last year and I love it. It has 10x optical zoom, a glass Schneider-Kreuznach lens, is 5.0 megapixel. It is awesome, came with a camera dock for charging the battery and uploading to the computer. Definately do your research, this camera fit my needs just right. I love being able to keep shooting pictures, I can always go back & delete if they didn't turn out.
If you are looking for zoom, make sure you test them first. Go to a Camera shop to explore the features, then shop for the best price. If you just purchase online you will miss out on some things you may not be thinking of at first. I also was looking for a zoom digital. In my search I found that the more zoom there is also camera shake. I have a pretty steady hand and with some of the zoom camera's the pics were horrible do to the shake. I ended up with Cannon's G6 and love it. The pictures are wonderful- mind you I am not experieced in pictures so This is only based on what I see clear crisp pictures and the zoom is pretty good.
Now to find a good archival printer, ink , and paper that will not yellow 2 yrs down the road ;-)
Sports shots were important to me. I needed something with a continuous mode for NASCAR races. It was worth the extra to me to get that.
Aaaah, this is a key thing, for me, because of MY KIDS!!! They are very active in sports, and to get any kind of decent shots, a great sports mode is very important.
But, I got the Nikon CoolPix 3100; sports mode works great when outdoors, but inside the gym, the lighting sucks and I get squat. Is there away to alleviate that that someone could share a tip with me on?
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
which digital camera?
