Digital cameras

exalted512 · April 2004

im looking into buying a new digi camera
i have a budget of $320(absolute total max...including tax and shipping...not negotiable)
i havent really looked into it yet as i should before i start posting questions about it...but oo well, im lazy, and ill have more questions later if anyone knows anything about them after i research, so hopefully someone can give me some tips?
what exactly do i look for?
i HAVE done a minimal amount of research on directly comparing the basic specs on about 10 diferent cameras
i know that the higher the megapixel, the better the resolution
i know that zoom is good...lol
one of the cameras i am looking at is the Olympus Camedia D-540
its 3.2MP
10x total zoom
(3x optical, 3.3x digital, whats the difference?)
it has quicktime movie mode
i AM looking for a camera that can take short videos that HAVE sound
im not sure if this camera has sound b/c it doesnt directly state it like ive seen on other cameras, and im a noob to this stuff
i dont care how big the little screen is
i want a 10-second self timer
this one has 12, 8 seconds is great though
it has a burst mode of 1.5 fps
im guessing that has something to do with taking X many pictures per 2nd??
auto flash and red eye reduction(must have)
this camera is 200+7 shipping+tax from QVC
im pretty sure i can find a better deal on it elsewhere
so can anyone tell me what else i need to look for in a digi camera?
any brands to look for/stay away from?
websites to buy from?(MUST be authorized dealers)
heres a list of stuff i know i want on it:
1. AT LEAST 3.2 mega-pixels
2. AT LEAST 10X zoom
3. video WITH sound...doesnt really matter how long, id be happy with 30 seconds, im sure theyre probably closer to a minute+ though
4. autoflash
5. red eye reduction
6. 10(around) second self timer
7. way to hook it up to the computer, im sure all of them at this price come with the USB cables
8. i want to be able to have a memory card, i dont want the memory to be just in the camera(im not sure if thats even offered, but i dont want it if it does...lol)
9. autofocus
10. some type of computer software would be great, but not a necessity
11. ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY no more than $320 shipped to my door
if it does not come with batteries or a memory card, that is fine

what i dont care about:
1. weight
2. size
3. size of screen

thats pretty much it, thanks for any help you guys can cough up
-Cody

exalted512 · April 2004

heres a link to the d-580
it looks pretty good to me...
-Cody

steveinaz · April 2004

I have a Canon Power Shot A300 and love it. It's 3.2 megapixel, takes outstanding photo's and is easy to use, yet has advanced features that old 35mm buffs (like me) will enjoy. $199 at Target and came with a 512mb card. You'll definitely want some rechargeable batteries though, the 2 double a's will last about 12 shots.

dcarlson · April 2004

I have a Canon Powershot A70 and absolutely love it. Canon is high in my books.

exalted512 · April 2004

im def. going to want a bigger memory card
but ill ebay that
i found that camera somewhere else for 240 and it seems really nice
canon seems to be the most popular brand followed by olympus
thanks for your input, ill look into those cameras
any more suggestions are greatly welcomed!
-Cody

exalted512 · April 2004

Originally posted by dcarlson
I have a Canon Powershot A70 and absolutely love it. Canon is high in my books.

i found this about that camera
that is the site i am using to help me through my searching process
it seems like a lot of people complain about error messages and cheap construction
also the LCD screen is said to be scratch-prone
have you had any of those problems?
but it does seem to be close to what im looking for
what sucks is that there isnt any reviews on the olympus im looking at
i guess its because its a fairly new camera
keep 'em comin
-Cody

exalted512 · April 2004

Originally posted by steveinaz
I have a Canon Power Shot A300 and love it. It's 3.2 megapixel, takes outstanding photo's and is easy to use, yet has advanced features that old 35mm buffs (like me) will enjoy. $199 at Target and came with a 512mb card. You'll definitely want some rechargeable batteries though, the 2 double a's will last about 12 shots.

this is what i found on that website about your camera
seems to be a very great camera for the price
but id like to have the optical zoom
if i was in the $150 range, this is probably the camera id get
130 dollars for a 3.2 megapixel camera is pretty amazing
but it doesnt match up as well to the 580(4MP, 3x optical)
which is to be expected from a camera almost half its price though
thanks
-Cody

dcarlson · April 2004

You may want to check the A70. I just noticed there's a new A75 so you might be able to get one on clearance.

http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/a70-60/index.html

exalted512 · April 2004

already did:D
look up a couple of posts
thanks again!
-Cody

POLKOHOLIC · April 2004

I Would much rather go for this one: DSC-P8

Digital Zoom doesnt matter by the way--it pixelizes the image.
Id look for atleast 3x Optical zoom.
3 MP or more.
CCD Sensor Dont get the CMOS one.

exalted512 · April 2004

why would you go with that one over the olympus d-580?
-Cody

dcarlson · April 2004

Originally posted by exalted512
already did:D
look up a couple of posts
thanks again!
-Cody

Hehe... My bad.

I've had mine for a couple of months and have never had any error messages. I could see how the screen could be scratch prone but I haven't had any scratches yet. It has exceeded all of my expectations.

Here's a croped image I took on medium resolution with the flash in a dimly lit cottage. I had to crop it to fit the max filesize allowed here.

brettw22 · April 2004

I would strongly suggest that you look at the Nikon Coolpix line. Those little cameras take INCREDIBLE pictures, and the price is in line with what you're looking at I believe. A friend of mine has one that is in the 5000(model) line, but I don't know specifically. The pictures are very crisp and I don't think you can go wrong with all the options they have.

Good luck.

exalted512 · April 2004

thanks dcarlson, that picture looks really great
the reason why the olympus looks so appealing is its 4MP
i will be using this camera for some 8x10 pics and the better resolution will def. come in handy
brett, i saw some of those on the website ive been referring to
ill look it up and see what i can dig up, thanks
-Cody

exalted512 · April 2004

as far as the coolpix goes, this seems to be the one most suited to what im looking for
it doesnt have 4MP like the olympus, but its officially in the running:)
any more help is greatly appreciated
-Cody

PhantomOG · April 2004

as someone else said, digital zoom is crap. only optical zooms matters, digital zooming is nothing more than cropping and enlarging and is best done on the computer in post-processing.

i went through a lengthy process on deciding on a digital camera a couple months ago.

a couple links with good reading.

DP Review - not an exhaustive list of reviews, but the reviews there are the most complete found on the net.

Steve's Digicams - much larger selection of cameras reviewed, however not as rigourous testing and a little "nice" (don't want to piss off camera companies)

I ended up buying a Canon Powershot G5, a little out of your price range but absolutely *stunning* pictures. From all the review sites I've seen Canon makes very solid cameras. For your price range I would be looking at the S400 or S410 (good deals on the S400 right now). Maybe the A80 for more manual controls, awesome swivel LCD (*very* handy). Also consider the S45 or S50.

Also think about battery life.

Its a tough decision, I'd definitely recommend heading to an electronics store and at least hold and feel the camera you decide on.

If you are interested, you can go here to see some of my very first shots with my G5. This was with me almost never even using a camera before in my life. I've gotten better with it since then.

Good luck.

exalted512 · April 2004

thanks Phantom, thats exactly the kind of link i was lookin for
ill probably join the forum and ask again on there
-Cody

PhantomOG · April 2004

also check out Fatwallet for deals, hopefully on the camera you decide on, or at least a coupon or something from an online retailer selling it.

The DP Review forums have a ton of people who are really into photography who can also give more advice, just be aware that alot of them have brand loyalty and will try to steer you towards their camera (as I did with mine :P )

exalted512 · April 2004

thanks
and thats how it is with every forum isnt it?
"i have this so it is better"
lol
-Cody

brettw22 · April 2004

Originally posted by exalted512
as far as the coolpix goes....

You picked the wrong one.....Check THIS one out.....

POLKOHOLIC · April 2004

Cody--3MP is enough for 8x10

I like the sony because i have lots of sony things and the memory stick comes in handy. Pictures are awesome. They are sexy. Memory Sticks are relativly cheap on eBay. The P8 comes with 16MB which is the only drawback because you wont be able to store many pics on it. I repeat my last statement-DIGITAL ZOOM IS NOT WORTH IT I have the P10 and i have disabled the damn thing because it f'ed up my pics. Lastly, the infolithium battery that is supplied with the P8 lasts upto 2 Hours and tells you on the display just how much longer it can stay up in minutes not bars.

Shizelbs · April 2004

Check out bensbargains.net for deals too.

avelanchefan · April 2004

I am with Brett on this one. The CoolPix buy Nikon is your best buy hands down. If you are leary about that then go with the Olympus.

I have owned both Cameras, and early model of the Olympus D-360, which was an excellent early entry digital camera. It took fantastic photos for only being a 1.2 mega pixel.

Now I own the Coolpix 5400. Wow what an incredible camera. Easy to use right out of the box, takes pictures that will rival any other camera out there...and beat it.

I am not taking aything away from the other cameras that people are mentioning, they will serve you well. My advise is to stick with cameras made by companies that put cameras as there first line of business, like a Nikon, Olympus, Fuji....etc.

avelanchefan · April 2004

Also head here http://www.pcphotoreview.com/reviewscrx.aspx to get reviews from actual people that use tha camera's. I come here a lot to get reviews of products I am thinking about buying.

Again good luck in your search.

PhantomOG · April 2004

other things to think about...

Auto Focus Assist lamp, helps a ton with low light situations (which seem to happen all the time). does the camera have one?

Type of memory used. Compactflash is still considerably cheaper than SD, xD. etc. and *much* cheaper than Sony proprietary memory. Is getting a big memory card part of your budget? Because you will definitely want/need to buy one, regardless of which camera you choose.

Battery life, battery life, battery life. Camera does you no good if the battery is dead. The battery on my G5 lasts for 6 hours +. (way better than the average digicam). Sure, you can always buy an extra battery, but if its proprietary its probably expensive and you should include that in your final cost.

Also, check out Pbase for sample photos of people with the camera, and compare the different models you are thinking about.

steveinaz · April 2004

I use Powerex 2200 batteries and they are fantastic. Just a s comparison, with 2 standard dry cell AA's, I get about 12-16 photo's; with the powerex, I average over 400, and thats using the display 100% of the time.

Dr. Spec · April 2004

Nikon Coolpix 4300.

After $50 rebate from Nikon, $300 delivered from Crutchfield including a 64 MB Canon flashcard, all software, recharger, etc.

4.3 MP, 4X optical 3X digital, tons of manual modes for the tweaker, but also a great auto focus auto exposure mode for the point and click dunderheads like me.

Love it.

exalted512 · April 2004

the 4300 has no audio
while im not looking for awesome sound here, b/c i know i wont get it, i AM looking for sound
-Cody

PhantomOG · April 2004

Originally posted by exalted512
the 4300 has no audio
while im not looking for awesome sound here, b/c i know i wont get it, i AM looking for sound
-Cody

Check out the Canon Powershot A80. It seems to meet all of your requirements, although it might squeeze your budget a bit.

Movie with sound, AF assist lamp, uses AA size batteries (good battery life from rechargeables, nice in a pinch you can use alkalines), Compactflash compatible (cheap memory cards), swivel LCD (you won't realize how useful this is until you use a camera with one), and most importantly it takes great pictures.

Using some coupons and a good sale, I think you could probably pick this up for under your budget (maybe at Dell??).

In fact, I'm actually considering buying an A80 as a backup/carry-everywhere type camera to my G5 which is a bit bulky.

brettw22 · April 2004

Originally posted by exalted512
the 4300 has no audio
while im not looking for awesome sound here, b/c i know i wont get it, i AM looking for sound
-Cody

I'm curious as to why this is a big feature for you to use.....It's something that would be a minimal at best application for which you should ultimately use an actual VHS Camera for anything of quality IMO..

steveinaz · April 2004

Forgot to mention, the Canon A300 will also do a 2 minute mpeg with sound, I captured an awesome video at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, during the water show.

Digital cameras

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