Advice on a Digital Camera

swatguitar85 · #1 04-04-2005, 09:18 PM

I'm clueless when it comes to these things. All I know is more megapixels is good and higher zoom is good. I'm looking to spend under $300. I trust the people on this board more than other places so I figure you all will be honest and helpful......Thanks!!

**jemsite** · #2 04-04-2005, 09:21 PM

need more info.... intended use... do you need video capability, larger print size you'll create, etc... glen

swatguitar85 · #3 04-04-2005, 09:30 PM

Just recreational use bascially. Video capability would be cool, whatever capability that would be available in the price range.

chef21 · #4 04-04-2005, 09:42 PM

If you are looking for an all purpose camera, video, large print, point and click HP makes good cameras at low prices. Your thinking is correct when you said the more mega pixels the better. I have an HP and it works really well. Keep in mind digital cameras are battery killers. The bigger the viewing screen the shorter the battery life for the most part. Some of the newer cameras have cell battery packs. My dad has an HP one like this and it gets much better battery life. His is 4 mega pixels and he paid around $200.00 canadian or around $20.00 american LOL. Also you should look for one that has some on board memory, usualy around 32mb. Keep in mind the more mega pixels you shoot at the less pictures you can store in memory. Any way I hope I haven't confused things more than help. Chef21
PS sony makes really good cameras as well.

swatguitar85 · #5 04-04-2005, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chef21

he paid around $200.00 canadian or around $20.00 american LOL.

Haha...no that helps, thanks

**jemsite** · #6 04-04-2005, 10:24 PM

lets factor $250 camera price and $50 for a 1gb/512mb sd/cf memory card. these record AVI videos and 30 seconds at 640x480 will be 30+ mb in size

i would stay away from (anything) sony. my first choice would be a digital elph "powershot SD" where sd indicates they take a SD card... this makes them smaller. This is my recommendation given your price....

Canon PowerShot SD200 Digital Elph, 3.2 Megapixel, 3x Optical/3x Digital Zoom, Digital Camera
www.bhphotovideo.com
$250 search sku: 352561

canon:
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...categoryid=113

if you can find a clearout SD110 they were selling for $140-160 last month, which is a steal. I grabbed one to compliment my 10D and for travel/video. it's a little smaller than the 200 but with only a 2x zoom (which is sufficient).

you need at least some optical zoom - totally disregarad digital zoom. 3MP is enough to print nice 5x8s and not make the files SOOOOO BIG they fill your drive. at this level 5MP is overkill and quality is no better... the extra MPs just give you room to crop if you don't frame your pics well (when you crop you still have enough pixels for good quality pics/prints). the free canon software works well.

check other camerea reviews here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews.html
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

if in doubt, go to a local store and play around with them too get a feel for their controls & size... glen

chef21 · #7 04-04-2005, 10:25 PM

you will be able to get a good camera for the $300.00 you want to spend. I also recomend getting a larger memory card for it. mine is 512mb and i can get around 400 5.3 mega pixel pictures or a good bit of video. The price for these secure digital cards have really droped in the last little while. I paid around $80.00 canadian. chef21

swatguitar85 · #8 04-04-2005, 11:44 PM

cool....I really appreciate the advice

moro · #9 04-05-2005, 12:41 AM

I'll second the Elph. I have one of the older models and it's been great. Very small, decent quality photos, and easy to use.

I recently got the HP607, which has better resolution, is smaller and lighter, and has a better UI than the Elph, but I end up using the Canon more because the HP's battery / power system is so clunky that it's kind of a pain to recharge.

Both are good cameras though.

Also, I'll second the advice to stay away from Sony. The cameras are nice and small, but they use Memory Sticks, which typically cost twice as much (if not more) than the equivalent SD or CF card. Whatever camera you choose, make sure it uses one of those formats.

hexa-db · #10 04-05-2005, 08:05 AM

Not sure about the Elph but I've had a Canon Powershot A70 for quite a while and it's great. I recommended it to my parents and they bought one too, they also really like it.

I am a big Canon fan, after the A70 I upgraded to an EOS 300D SLR

bpd111 · #11 04-05-2005, 12:45 PM

I just bought a Olympus C-770. It has 4 megapixels, a 10x zoom, video w/ audio, panoramic and pictbridge capabilities. It cost $378 clearance on the wally world web site, but is $499 elsewhere. It is also did very well in consumer reports' testing. CR readers' reports on 167,000 cameras show Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and Olympus as the 4 brands with fewer repairs and serious problems.

If you're interested, I might be able to e-mail you the article before I leave for warmer weather.

maggotcontrol · #12 04-05-2005, 01:39 PM

eVay for a Canon Powershot G3. I've got one and it rules the beast although I paid nearly $700 for it including lenses and memory cards brand new. They go for around your range used.

**jemsite** · #13 04-05-2005, 01:42 PM

FYI - you can get a digital rebel SLR for under $700 w/ kit lens... 10x better camera... glen

maggotcontrol · #14 04-05-2005, 02:03 PM

Well this was when it came out a few years ago

tone_connoisseur · #15 04-05-2005, 04:32 PM

I like the Sony Cybershot P150. It's 7.0 megapixels, and you can change the settings for each picture, i.e 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, or VGA for email pictures. I got the camera, extended battery (stock battery only gives you 20 minutes), and a 256mb memory stick (you can only take about 6 pictures with the stock memory stick with 7.0 megapixels). All that for a little over $500. I'm very pleased with it.