What Digital Camera Should I GET?

[jamtob]

Originally Posted by brkofdon

hey guys! been wanting to get a digital camera for a long long time now. and im getting real close to getting one. the thing is im not sure what to get. i definetly want something that can take easy point and shoot, but also want manual control for more artistic images! now as for price i could possibly afford something in the 500 n lower area..

any suggestions on what to get? o and if you all can tell what digtal cams you have that would be cool.

thank you!

Hello friends,

well I've just become a member and this my first ever post, so be patient with me lol.

Hi brkofdon,

for the digital camera question i take u re looking for a cam u can carry easily and lets say could just hide in even ur best suit's pocket to be capable to take pics whenever a chance comes along.

well lucky you lol this has been my intention half a year ago, when i was in a similar situation and i found a camera that matches my needs perfect.
its a Kyocera Finecam SL300R Finecam SL300R.

The cameras features are great, the fast shots ability works great with a Secure Digital memory card model ScanDisk Ultra II, if you go for lets say 256MB card (a 16MB is incl.) its also possible to capture videos in good quality and lenght.
I am just crazy over the twist-able lens part, its so easy to shoot a quick self portrait for e.g. a grimase study - yeah I do use this option frenquently lol.

The package also includes software, a USB cable, a pocket and wrist-strap (not sure if I translate this right, sorry).
Now for the price it was back in December at around 400 Euros in store, but I got mine via Ebay (all new, warranty and so on) for less that 350.
Although I'd recommend to have a look around some shops and online stores before you buy, prices really vary here.

Well, I hope I could provide a little help and shopping advice,

greets Tobs

[Anemos the Storm]

Im sorry to disagree with you on the Fuji camera. I have had no problem with my s5000. The Xd card is cheaper than most other media cards and the camera runs forever on AAA batteries. I have 2 sets of rechargebles and have pracitially no downtime. At the time I researched, it had one of the longest battery times out there. I have the ablility to change my exposure and shutter speed and take continuous shots. I agree that no, its not the beat all camera, but for the 300 bucks it costs it is very comparible to any out there. The 10x optical zoom is a plus.
Example of the multishot

[brkofdon]

looks like a good camera Anemos the Storm s5000 what brand is that?

jamtob - hey thanks for your suggestion but i already ordered and have my nikon coolpix 4300 and im super satisfied with my purchase..only 320 bucks for the camera. i also got 128mb mem card a carrying case and lens cleaner..not bad! um the close up shots are incredibly close. it also has continuous shots, the res for this camera can get really large. its fully automatic as well as fully manual. the scene modes are an xtra plus! its a 3x zoom and 4 megapixel and thats fine with me. its pretty compact, but the battery life isn't as long as i thought..well maybe because i haven't actually fully charged it hehe..i got impatient and wanted to take pics.

here are some close up shots...to test it

[Fog_cartoons]

Aha! A Olympus C-725UZ came through in the post today, which is strange seeing as we haven't had any confirmation for it in an e-mail. Anyway, its really good! I'll go out some time soon and do a bit of snaping and post the results here

[Ideaspark]

4300 is a much better camera technically than s5000, not to be overly harsh but the fire shots you posted are a good reason not to get that camera, the fire breather is out of focus and overexposed even though he's the subject. Plus Fuji tends to blow the colour saturation through the roof, and once it's done that you can't get it back.

If anyone is really serious about digital photography but don't want to spend HUGE amounts of money get either the Nikon D70 1800 CDN, Canon 300d (i think it's 1500 CDN) (both SLRs) or the Olympus 5060 if you want something with a load of features and a realy high quality flip out screen.

On the low end the Canon S50 is quite nice at 5 megapixels.
Basically don'y buy Fuji, Kodak or any of the "electronics" manufacturers. Some of these companies have a few decent models (the Fuji s602 was ok) but for the most part they don't have the raw guts and solid bodies of the big 3.

[Ideaspark]

oh and i'm shooting a Canon 300d

[Anemos the Storm]

I think it may be overly harsh to say "Don't buy Fuji's" The fire breather being out of focus is my doing not the camera's. It is on a setting of "Chrome" to exagerate those colors, but yes the colors on the do tend to be on the bright side, but not 'through the roof'.
I guess not a lot of money to you and me are 2 different things. 300......1800......

The s50 is comparible in price, but it only comes with 3x zoom to the 10(optical) of the Fuji, its movies are 15fps to the 30fps of mine. Plus, I don't like the feel of little squares for taking pictures. And I can buy macro, tele, and wide angle lenses to go onto the camera where the s50 cannot.

Are there better cameras out there, heaven's yes. Would i take an 1800 dollar camera over this one, you better believe it! I am not saying this is the ONLY camera. However I still make my stand on this camera being one of the best in a truly reasonable price range and should not be so generally cast aside. I guess it all depends on what you want. For me, an ameteur, I wanted a 300-400 dollar camera that had a nice zoom, good feel, easy to use settings, but still some freedom in manual. This camera has exceeded my expectations. And I hate proprietary batteries. My rechargeable AA batteries, last forever.

Oh and here are some more of my pics just in case:
The World of Anemos

Nice pic btw! Good lighting, aperature setting for the background, nice contrasting elements, and most of all nice timing The flowers really draw my eye

[Ideaspark]

in the end it's not so much the camera that takes the picture but the person. And it comes down to how much post work you want to do. I like to start with a very neutral image with maximum image information, I'm not sure if the Fuji can shoot raw but if it can that's where I personally would start, from there you have the maximum range of editing possibilities, it's like starting from a negative as opposed to a print.

The s50 does take extension lenses though they are 3rd party. ANd if you mean little squares for the CCD well the Fuji ccd is mostly hype, the edges don't come off any smoother. If you want a super smooth image you have to go with the CMOS sensor. I'm not just saying this as a Canon owner, there are plenty of cameras from other manufacturers that are very well constructed and will give you a fine image...and when i'm shooting film i only shoot Fuji, i'm certainly not a brand by any means but I have sold cameras for over 5 years and for the models i've seen the Fujis just don't measure up. Those are pretty good prices, are they american ? the 1800 i mentioned is canadian, i'm not sure what the U.S. conversion is right now.

Those other shots you've posted are a much better selection of what the camera can do (i like the soft coloured frosty morning shots), and don't get me wrong, depending on the kind of photography you want to do the s5000 will get you by, all i'm saying is that if I was doing any sort of pro shoot I wouldn't take that along (mind you other pros would say that about my camera too and i shoot weddings with it all the time).

[Anemos the Storm]

Sure, if I was shooting pro, I definately would have a better equipment. I was just following the original post of "500 or less".

Yes, I can shoot RAW, I don't usually, not sure why never played with it i guess.
My little square comment was directed at the shape of the camera body itself. I like the "slr feel" of the Fuji body for my big hands.
I think the 1800 converts to around 1300 but not sure.
Wasn't trying to start anything, just wanted to say that it isn't a bad camera and should be given a chance. If anyone couldn't tell, I really like it But I understand where you are coming from.
Thanks for the comments on my pics too.

[dancyr89]

i use a 300d --see my pics

[chalcosoma]

I used to use a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F707 (5 Megapixel). Check out my website to see my work; www.InsectaCulture.com

I have since upgraded to the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 (8 Megapixel).

Best regards,

Robert Coral
www.InsectaCulture.com
www.ReptiCulture.com

[threelegged_chicken]

How do the Canon Rebel 300D and the Nikon D70 compare in y'all's experiences or opinion? this will be my first digital camera. im taking photography at school using a canon rebelx. 35mm.

[brkofdon]

threelegged_chicken - well im not the most knowledgable photographer, but from my own experience, one of my photography classes the instructor was using a nikon coolpix for demonstrations/excersizes which worked just fine, and i just recently got a nikon coolpix 4300 which works awesome..its fully manual when you want it to be. but you might want to buy an extra battery. anyways ive always never had issues with the nikon brands. i dont know much about canon rebel 300d.. my dad has a canon a-1 which is an awesome camera. your picking the right brands at least.

hope that helped..i dont think it did. peace.

[threelegged_chicken]

yeah well... i haven't gone through and looke at each individual feature side by side. i figure they're pretty close together.

[Katsushiro]

Well, some background first....My name is David, I am a professional Photographer, I also work on the side at Best buy for just this reason, to help people figure out what would be good for them. There are several things to consider when you begin looking. The size you want to be able to print at. The extent of zoom you would like, the cost of the memory, the life of the batteries, and obviously the overall size of the camera itself.

As far as megapixels are concerned, the average person doesn't need to go over 5mp...at that resolution you can get a perfect 8X10 print with very little if any noise. The benefit of going higher though is that you have more room to crop anything you feel like cropping and still can pull a decent print.

Next is the zoom factor, there are 2 types of zoom...optical and digital. For those of you that don't know the differece here it is. Optical utilizes the lenses to get you closer to your subject without losing any quality. Digital takes the image you have, crops it down and enlarges the result, effectivley lowering the resolution of your new toy. Be weary though, at 10X optical zoom on a point-and-shoot camera you almost have to have a tripod in order to get a decent shot, these camera simply don't have the shutter speeds or aperatures to compensate for less than adequate light and shaky hands.

Canon uses the least expensive memory cards around (Compact Flash) while Nikon and Kodak run a close second (SD cards). Sony uses their own proprietary cards which will cost you over twice as much as the Compact flash Cards. Then there's Olympus, and Fuji using the most expensive memory out there (XD cards). Speaking from the standpoint of convience and financial ease, camera that use Compact Flash cards are going to be the best for you. The cameras are a little more expensive but after the cost of the memory you end up paying less for everything you'll need along with the camera in the first place. Plus if you decide to upgrade to and SLR later, most all of them use the same Compact Flash cards, so you save there too.

Battery life is a big thing here as well. A lot of cameras use AA batteries, try to stay away from those, the batteries don't last long and if you go on vacation you'll need a seperate bag jst dedicated to carrying your batteries with you. The lithium-ion batteries last longer on a charge and provide constant power until they run dry. The only downside to them is that after a year to two years they need to be replaced. That's a small price to pay though for the convience they provide.

Overall size strictly a personal thing, you have to decide that for yourself.

If you are looking into getting an SLR then most of what I've said may be old news, but if you new to those then the Digital Rebel (300D) from canon is a great entry-level camera. You can get the camera and still be able to afford some nice lenses (those are very important after all) Also look at the new 20-D, for the price it's at, it's the best camera on the market.

So far the best camera I've seen that combines the size of a point-and-shoot with the features of and SLR is the Canon G6.

Personally I shoot with the 20-d and the older 10-d. Both of them are great and you can easily get wonderful shots.

here are some examples straight out of the 20-D no editing




Hope I was able to help a little bit, if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

David

[Shaz666]

Hi my name is shaz666,

I am new to the forum and have been reading all the threads on the above subject.

I have an Olympus stylus 300 all weather proof digital camera

My 15 year old daughters has aNisis pocket DV4 digital video camera

My 9 and 11 year old boys are getting for Christmas Nikon digital Coolpix 3700 camera

[moo]

power shot g3 im kinda new.

psg3 is a very nice camera.

[darth massacre]

Well, Moo....that's a rather, errr, huge picture innit? If it was reduced in photoshop it'd be more web friendly for most. It's a nice picture though....I'm a sucker for sunsets myself.

anyway....

I play around with photography myself, not as a serious photographer, just enjoy picture composition. I think Photography helps in drawing and painting in a very large way.

I guess no budget camera can compare to the higer end ones.....you really get what you pay for. If someone is half serious, a 'cheap' digital SLR like the Nikon D70 and the Canon Rebel EOS 300D will still set you back a few grand....if you include the whole list of items you will need besides just the body and lens setup.

Prosumer camera models...or the higher end setups for each of the brands out there....actually gives the best of both worlds. Its not exactly digital SLR but they come with many of the SLR type functions. It will, in no way, outperform a digital SLR of the same generation.

Just to clear something up.

Sony uses their own proprietary cards which will cost you over twice as much as the Compact flash Cards. Then there's Olympus, and Fuji using the most expensive memory out there (XD cards)

Sony's newest camera the F-828 has slots for both Memory stick and Compact Flash. Olympus C8080 and C5060 has slots for both Compact Flash and XD. As far as I know, its the higher end prosumer models that have options for different storage media....XD cards are more costly due to the size....its so darn small. I'd take Compactflash anyday.

I operate the Nikon Coolpix 5700. Old piece of technology, but still one heck of a camera. Man I gotta earn some bucks and get myself that Coolpix 8800.....


If anyone's interested, Canon's introducing a fully black Rebel 300D Digital SLR for a limited period only......which they probably should've done when they released it. The fully black Nikon D70 swayed a lot of buyers just by the color alone.

[TANDRUM_6996]

If you are planning on becoming a professional photographer I would recomend Cannon's Digital Rebel. It has the capabilities of a SLR(single lense reflex) and the capabilities of a digital camera. You can get a wide array of lenses, various sized memory cards, and the mega pixels are just right. The camera should last you for a while.

[djfournr]

Which digital camera to buy? Thats a can opener. I really liked andres_pad's comment to make a list of what you want and then go looking for it. Its really easy to get caught up in the debate about which camera is best and brand and all that. I know of a lot of people who buy high end equipment because they are techno geeks who feel they need the best even though they rarely take photographs and seldom use more than 10% of the technology available to them. At least they support the industry though right!

I think Katsushiro's comments were quite helpful, especially in regards to batteries and explanation of optical/digital zoom. About the memory cards though I think his comments might be a little dated as almost all camera manufacturers are using multiple types of cards now, I know my Nikon uses Compact Flash.

Anyway, I'm just rambling and giving props to whats been said before. Figure out what you want to do and then figure out what you need to do it. I highly recommend the DPREVIEW.COM as the source for reviews, forums, etc. related to digital cameras.

[ScRaMbLe]

I've got a fuji s5000 and it rocks! 10x optical zoom for under $500 australian and that was 3 months ago, but then again, i'd say anything rocks after my kodak dc215!

[fadedoak]

My little Canon A75,under 200 works like a dream, it gets great Macro imaging, I got a great picture of my little leo geckos face, with no blur. Sorry not much to say, computer has lots of things wrong with it and likes to shut down.

[Legato]

i know that this thread is basically over, but for anybody who is still interested, i got a cannon a95 for 350$ and it is beyond amazing. its 5mp, 3x optical zoom, swivel screen, the ability to change lenses, full manual control as well as tons of presets and a small and compact design yet not too small make this camera spot on. got a 50$ 256mb card for it and it works like a dream. other than using 4 aa batteries (which i got rechargeable) i have nothing but praise for this. it gets colors great, has the ability to set the white balance off of a picture, the ability to stitch picture together w/o an external editor, simple gui and a great audio note system also make this camera better than most.

im no professional, but i wanted something that could take artistic photos and this is it for me

[Banshax]

brkofdon,
Im a bit ahead of you camera wise, but it looks like you'll walk the same path.
start of with a digicam on a budget a budget. youll likely end up increasing the budget as u do more research. The curve of improvement is steep but so is the price.

What it boils down to:
500 should be plenty for your demands. Pay more, and ulll get a load more flexibility, better autofocus in dark places, less noise, better lenses etc etc etc. Its kinda impossible to stick to 500 unless u start shooting pics and stop bothering with the technical part. <- i suggest you reread that, so far its been more than true for me.

Eventually, what it boils down to (again) is:
Be able to shoot what u want, and be as little limited in what u wanna do. Pretty much most cams with a good review will do just that. "that" being able to shoot pictures u want to shoot. There is some excellent advice what to look for in here already. Keywords like size, batterylife, lense quality, etc etc are very valid options to look into. But keep in mind, stretching ur budget is very tempting.

How tempting?
Two years ago I started with a budget of 250,- increased it to 340 to get a better lense / diafragm options. Lateron went for a DSLR i was dieing to have, never looked back. but sure hurts the wallet. Now im on an on switching lenses and the original budget of 250 is now more then easily tenfolded. Can't complain, i mean ive completely grown into photography in the process, its however, very, very easy to get more green. Still in most cases, a decent digicam wud've done the job reasonably good, to excellent.
Its not so much the camera, its the photographer and his skills / experience. Why else would there be pro photographers making money, even now with digital camera's that allow everyone with a large stack of cash to buy and not bother with film / printing etc.

Good luck with your choice

[ambient-whisper]

Originally Posted by Banshax

brkofdon,
How tempting?
Two years ago I started with a budget of 250,- increased it to 340 to get a better lense / diafragm options. Lateron went for a DSLR i was dieing to have, never looked back. but sure hurts the wallet. Now im on an on switching lenses and the original budget of 250 is now more then easily tenfolded. Can't complain, i mean ive completely grown into photography in the process, its however, very, very easy to get more green. Still in most cases, a decent digicam wud've done the job reasonably good, to excellent.
Its not so much the camera, its the photographer and his skills / experience. Why else would there be pro photographers making money, even now with digital camera's that allow everyone with a large stack of cash to buy and not bother with film / printing etc.

Good luck with your choice

agreed. you shouldnt blow your wallet right away. learn some photography with lower end models first. get a feel for taking decent pictures. then when you feel that your being limited by the camera and want to do more photography, get something better.

in my case. i got a coolpix 2500 a few years ago and it was a fun little camera ( well still is. ) but when travelling around and wanting to do higher quality photography it limits me. so my answer to this was to get a nikon D70. its been great so far

[-sideshowbob-]

get one mirror reflex..

and get one with changable lenses... u got more possibilatys thru this.. static lense not that good

i got canon eos 300D ;>

try get this one

[Bacchus]

I might be a bit late on this thread and it might have already been said.....

An important things to look for in a small digital camera is that you get one with an Optical zoom and not a digital zoom, the quality is always much better and you really need to look for one that has at least 3.5 mega pixels.

My other half has just bought a Canon PowerShot A85 and its spot on. As well as having all the usual "fire and forget" settings on it, it also has Manual focus, shutter and aperture control. Plus it has the option of limited interchangeable lenses. I've had a play with it and it's hard to knock.

Personally I use a Nikon D1x (Soon to be a D2x) with 17-35mm f2.8, 35-70mm f2.8 & 70-200mm f2.8 lenses along with 2 SB80DX flash guns.......but fortunately my company pays for them .

I hope this helps

Bacchus

[AXK]

if u could raise the bar a bit further, i would recommend OLYMPUS C8080,its a porper SLR style camera with everyting u will possibly need packed in the box, and , it has a superb razor sharp lens, i brought one just before X'mas as a back up/take anywhere camera and im very happy with it.
but there is one thing i must say which is , the reviewing is a bit slow, it will take around 5 sec for each RAW file to be loaded. but if u r happy with just taking JPEG format, then everything will be just fine.

[skankatie]

Originally Posted by Morbid

What about the Canon Powershot A80? Im thinking of getting that one, it has got some good reviews. Also it has a swivel screen which makes it easier to take shots high up or close to the ground, without putting your cheek in the dust.

I have the Powershot A75, its very similar to the A80 but it lacks the swivel screen. I wouln't recomend the swivel screen, it will break with one drop or with a srong amount of pressure. I love my A75 and wouldn't mind putting my cheek in the dust once in a while.

[skankatie]

Originally Posted by Morbid

What about the Canon Powershot A80? Im thinking of getting that one, it has got some good reviews. Also it has a swivel screen which makes it easier to take shots high up or close to the ground, without putting your cheek in the dust.

I have the Powershot A75, its very similar to the A80 but it lacks the swivel screen. I wouln't recomend the swivel screen, it will break with one drop or with a srong amount of pressure. I love my A75 and wouldn't mind putting my cheek in the dust once in a while.