Need to buy a camera!

landry_p2000

I am in the market for a new digital camera.

Any suggestions from you electronic nuts?

Price range is less than $300 bucks.

PolkThug

For small pictures, 5x7, 4x6 whatever they are, you only need 2-3 megapixels (MP).

-Ignore "digital zoom". Look only at optical zoom, this is the real quality zoom.

If you want 8x11's, you'll need more MP.

Look for a battery that recharges!

Regards,
PolkThug

okiepolkie

I have really liked my Fuji S5000.

The newer model S3100 sells within your price range.

Good pixels, zoom, and price.

steveinaz

My Canon A300 was $299. I love it. Takes 2 minute long mpegs w/sound, can be switched to almost fully manual mode for creative shots.

Willow

we have an olympus and really like it....it's the 3.2 MP weather resistant.... it was about 400Cad so cheaper in the US

bobman1235

Originally posted by steveinaz
My Canon A300 was $299. I love it. Takes 2 minute long mpegs w/sound, can be switched to almost fully manual mode for creative shots.

I have a Canon SD100, I have the same praise... and if it matters to you, the thing is so small, it's so easy to bring around with you. Almost exactly the size of a cigarette pack.

Willow

Bobman what model of sub is that

landry_p2000

Originally posted by okiepolkie
I have really liked my Fuji S5000.

The newer model S3100 sells within your price range.

Good pixels, zoom, and price.

_____________________________________

What store? I am in the same city as you.

okiepolkie

I got my S5000 from J&R about a year ago.

It was about $340 at the time. Best Buy and Wolf Camera were $400.

I don't know as much about the S5100, but I know it doesn't have the ability to take the 6 megapixel pictures like the S5000 does.

hamzahsh

I'm a product specialist in Digital Imaging dept. at canadian Best Buy for 2 years and sold tons of digital cameras/camcorders and 35mm point and shoot/SLR cameras. Personally I've 10 years of personal experience in photography.

Anyways!

Most people buy 3-4 MP digital cameras. The best camera for the money is CANON powershot A75 right now! highly recommended. It does everything you want. Buy the A-series case/charger kit and good CF card. The Sandisk CF 128MB is really low in price and you'll love it.

Remember more MP doesn't relate into better picture quality alone. Quality Lens is very important, better the lens sharper the pictures and more rich colours will appear. A good 3 MP can blow cheap 5 MP in terms of clarity any time. Remember 3MP is good for 4X6 prints. 5MP is good for 8X11, having more MP is better but sametime you need a quality lens.

Cameras from CANON, NIKON, MINOLTA, PENTAX, OLYMPUS, SONY (Carl-Zeiss lens) Panasonic (Leica lens)
are considered better cameras.

KODAK, FUJI, HP, SAMSUNG, VIVITAR and many others come next.

my 2 cents!

Jstas

Yeah, I'd go with what PolkThug said and just use that criteria to find a camera that you like. Go to some stores, look around. If you have those criteria in hand, you'll be able to find a decent camera at a price you like.

As far as digital zoom goes, it can be very effective but you basically need to have a tripod to hold the camer. The slightest movement when using digital zoom throws the picture in the view finder light years off-center and movement blurs are pretty much guaranteed without a tripod.

Then again, a decent tripod is usually less than $50 and worth the investment 'cause mounting platforms are universal.

scottnbnj

i have a 2 mp sony with a zeiss lense and i've seen alot of 3 mp pics from different lenses that look a lot better to my untrained eyes. i mean, i don't know about lense quality vs the 3 to 5 mp range, but, i think maybe the jump from 2 mp to 3 mp is greater than lense quality can overcome,.. where from 3 to 5 mp, lense quality might make more of a difference because you don't normally need to blow it up to crop enough to where pixelization becomes *the* issue. in short, for what you're ready to spend, don't settle for 2 mp to get the better lense. get 3 mp minimum.

if you already have accessory lenses for another camera or camcorder, or you think you might be interested in more control later, keep an eye out for a digicam that accepts either the lenses you already have or ones that are commonly available (so you have some control over quality and competitive pricing).

also, if you have a camcorder that uses memory sticks or sandisk, you might want to go with the same format. last time i checked (more than a year ago) tiger software had the best prices i could find.

and, if you don't do rechargeable batteries already, think about rechargeable nimhs in the 1800 mAh range and up.

)

sowen010599

You can pick up a Sony DSC-P41 on the bay for $150. That's 4.1 MP, and Sony makes a damn good d.camera. I've had a couple and they have had the crap beat out of them and still work great.

kingtut

Most digicam has a 1+ second shutter release delay. So if you have a baby or a toddler, you'd miss many shot because of the 1+ second delay when you press the shutter release vs. when the actual picture is taken. I have an Olympus C4000, which takes excellent and detailed pix. However, the shutter delay drives me nuts because I miss so many spontaneous shot of my daughter. If you don't have kids, any of the brand name camera like Kodak, Olympus, Canon, Fuji, Sony, etc. will do. Take a look at the new Sony DSC-P line; they're much faster then most cameras in their price range.

Also check out www.imaging-resource.com for reviews. The author is very detailed -- his reviews are typical 8-11 page long.
Hope this helps.

msjohns

I just bought a sony DSC-W1 a month ago. It's a 5.1 mp camera with lots of features. It takes great pictures, very easy to use. It came with batteries and a charger, it also came with a 32 mb memory stick, which I thought was kind of small, so I ended up buying a 256mb memory stick for $55.00. I can get 96 5.1mp pictures on the new memory stick. I see the price has come down to around $340.00 now. Good luck.

kingtut

Msjohns, how is the shutter lag time on the DSC-W1? Any problem w/the blurry focus if you press the release too rapidly?

msjohns

Kingtut, I have not had any problems with blury pictures. There are a couple of different settings for the focus. I like the setting where you push the button half way down and let it focus, then push the button the rest of the way down to take the picture. The batteries last longer in this mode. In the other mode the camera is constantly focusing.

kingtut

Thanks Msjohns, my sister is looking at this camera and the Sony DSC-P93.