Digital Camera's

MrNightly

My better half wants to get a digital camera for Xmas or thereafter. I found this site on MSN but I know we have several excellent photographers who reside within this board that could probably offer better advice.

Any recommendations for a Digital Camera that is under $500 and an all around good sturdy piece of equipment?

Thanks

Shizelbs

I found this website; http://www.steves-digicams.com/

very helpful when researching for my digital camera.

mikesd

Hi Mr.Nightly. I own and operate a part time photography buisness and only use Canon equipment. Suggesting a model number would be tough not knowing the camera size your wife would prefer or what the main use would be. You might check here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=search&Q=&b=8&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&cmpsrch=&cltp=&clsgr=&shs=&ci=1082&ac=&Submit.x=8&Submit.y=3 as I have purchased most of my equipment @ B&H as they are about as good as it gets! Also this site is excellent for camera reviews, http://www.dpreview.com/

Mike

opus

Save your money so you can buy my SVS when I upgrade:p


btw..........sure alot of Illinois polkies hanging around lately.

janmike

I own a Canon Digital Rebel and am very happy with it. I'm not dedicated to Canon, it just turned out that way. Add some decent glass and WOW.

disneyjoe7

^^ agreed, but over budget of $500

scottvamp

What ever Canon you can get for $500. Canon is the best digital camera i have owned, hands down.

MacLeod

Canon. Period.

I bought a $200 Canon a while back and it is an awesome camera! Its sold me on Canon as far as cameras go.

Stay away from Fuji. Had a weird experience with them and Ill be avoiding them.

cmy330go

I agree with all above that Canon makes a great camera. All of my cameras including 35mm have been canon and I have nothing but praise for them.

As a side note Nikon is an excelent brand as well, and as much as I hate to say it......Sony makes a pretty good digital.:D

janmike

disneyjoe7 wrote:

^^ agreed, but over budget of $500

Nope. I purchased mine on ebay, used for under $500. Although it did take me 6 months to find the one I wanted and the price I wanted to pay.

dudeinaroom

I've had good luck with my sony, until I dropped it. Got it fixed and is still a good camera. The canons, fujis, nikkons are all nice also. My boss recently bought a sony that is a 7 megapixel, it kinda looks like an slr but is not. It take beautiful pics, and can be blown up to insane sizes without pixelization.

Sherardp

I bought a SOny A-100 and its amazing

exalted512

my g/f's canon keeps messing up. I'm an Olympus fan myself.
-Cody

MrNightly

opus wrote:

Save your money so you can buy my SVS when I upgrade:p


btw..........sure alot of Illinois polkies hanging around lately.

Dang, don't start on that with me! I would be all over that. Make it next two years or so and it's mine!!!

Thanks for the tips so far guys... got some researching to do. Canon seems the flavor of choice around here. No specific models though? Interesting.

Edit: What about this one guys? SD600 Digital Elph

The SD630 looks pretty tight as well. Hmmm... I like it!

Mike682

What are you (or the better half) going to photograph? The intended subjects should guide your purchase. For example, kids and pet subjects require a camera than can keep up with them. Also are you going to want to learn photography in the future and possibly use manual controls in addition to fully auto (point&shoot)? If so, grab a camera you can grow and learn with..

www.dpreview.com, www.dcresource.com, and www.imaging-resource.com are excellent sites for digicam reviews.

I'm a Canon user myself. Canon tends to offer a lot of features at all pricepoints; And of course excellent image quality.

For general photos, Canon A610 or A620 are outstanding cameras. If you can find them grab 'em. If not the replacement models the A630 or A640 are great choices but are at full price now because they are new

MrNightly

Mike682 wrote:

What are you (or the better half) going to photograph? The intended subjects should guide your purchase. For example, kids and pet subjects require a camera than can keep up with them. Also are you going to want to learn photography in the future and possibly use manual controls in addition to fully auto (point&shoot)? If so, grab a camera you can grow and learn with..

Mostly for family, kids, and ya know vacations and all that good jazz. An occasional sunset I'm sure, nothing too fancy. I'm not looking to become a pro or anything. Just a humble user that could use a dependable camera that takes excellent photos.

Mike682

MrNightly wrote:

Mostly for family, kids, and ya know vacations and all that good jazz. An occasional sunset I'm sure, nothing too fancy. I'm not looking to become a pro or anything. Just a humble user that could use a dependable camera that takes excellent photos.

The Canon elphs will be great cameras for you guys.

Strong Bad

I'm a Nikon guy, but if you plan on going the point and shoot route, go Canon. They have a better selection than Nikon.

If you go Digital SLR, Nikon or Canon. Again, I'm on the Nikon side (D200), so people on the Canon side will argue their brand.

It's the person behind the camera that is the biggest factor!

MrNightly

I like that A630! As well as the SD630. One question though, it seems RedEye is a huge problem. How do you guys take care of this issue? Is it a Canon issue or do all the other brands have the same problems?

John, what Nikon would you recommend that would be similar to the two mentioned above?

And yes, the person behind the camera makes all the difference!

Mike682

MrNightly wrote:

I like that A630! As well as the SD630. One question though, it seems RedEye is a huge problem. How do you guys take care of this issue? Is it a Canon issue or do all the other brands have the same problems?!

Red eye is a problem with compact digicams because the flash is placed very close to the lens. It is a common problem with all compact digicam brands. Red eye is actually easily fixed in post processing (using camera software supplied with camera or other software like adobe).

Things that increase occurences of red eye are people with light colored eyes and photographing people in darker environments (wide pupils =red eye). The camera's pre-flash is supposed to make the pupils constrict so there is less red eye, but is hit or miss.

scottvamp

MrNightly wrote:

Edit: What about this one guys? SD600 Digital Elph

The powershots are really nice, that is what i own.
OH, and B&H Photo's service is awesome. I have bought from them about a half dozen times. Great prices and delivery!!!!!!

dudeinaroom

I really like the images the svs puts out warm viberating colors.

Strong Bad

MrNightly, I'm not really up on the latest and greatest in P&S cameras, just the things I've read. Nikon makes nice P&S cameras, it's just that Canon seems to be putting more effort into their line.

Redeye is a problem when the flash (not only P&S cameras) is right above the lens. Digital SLR's that have popup flashes suffer also. The flash light hits the back of the eye that is full of blood vessels and comes directly back to the camera. Redeye reduction just doesn't work. I use a large flash unit on my D200 and sometimes raise it up higher on a flash bracket. This raises it several inches over the lens.

As others have said, go on dpreview.com. It's the best site on the web for reviews.

John

KentVaughn

The Cascio Exilim line is nice, especially the EX-Z850. It's point and shoot if you want something a tad less complicated.

read-alot

We are a Nikon family. I bought my daughter a D70 when she graduated from college and my wife uses my old Coolpix 5000.
That D200 that john d. is using will be my next toy after the Halo 21.

strider

Another voice for Canon. I've had a digital Rebel for about 2 years and I love it. The SLR's sound like they're going to be a bit too much camera for your needs, but I would imagine that the durability and picture quality in my model trickles down to their point and shoots.

halo

+1 for Canon. I also have an Olympus but the Canon is, IMHO, much better.

Willow

We use an Olympus 3MP it does the trick. I don't know why peopl go out and buy a 5 or 7 MP camera if they will never blow pics up.

PhantomOG

another vote for Canon. Higher MP means you have more freedom to crop photos without losing resolution which in turn gives you some extra "zoom" power.

Willow

Phantom, good point, again providing you're into that. I was mearly saying for a run of the mill camera, snapshots of Uncle Bob's bday...and so forth. I believe 3mp would do the trick

hljones821

Take a look at the Panasonic Lumix Line, I have a big zoom (12x) 5 mp model FZ5. The photos are spectacular with the Leica Lens and Stability feature.