Digital Cameras

[motiveX]

I am going to Maui for 7 days at the end of month and want to document my trip. I HAD an OLDschool digital camera (polaroid...LOL) and I need to buy a new one. I don't want to spend more than like $700 on one and was looking for recommendations from people on here.

Any suggestions?

:help:

[Raja]

extensive reviews (http://www.dpreview.com/)

I 'd suggest looking for video capture of more than one minute with sound, it's a very good feature that gets overlooked

Maui huh

[motiveX]

Originally posted by ondarox@Jun 4 2003, 05:19 PM
extensive reviews (http://www.dpreview.com/)

I 'd suggest looking for video capture of more than one minute with sound, it's a very good feature that gets overlooked

Maui huh
Uh huh...

:tup: :chef:

[Mike]

Canon all the way!

[motiveX]

Originally posted by naramation@Jun 4 2003, 06:58 PM
Canon all the way!
That helps...pretty big company there slugger.

That is like saying I am looking for a new pair of sneakers....

GO NIKE!


:rolleyes: :blink:

[platinum]

Nah canon is the best brand :)

Get the G3 :)

[ant1832]

My budget was $500(included getting a larger memory card) or less when I got one last month, with your budget you can probably get something better. Anyway after looking at a bunch of reviews I went with the Canon A70. 3.2 megapixel and up to 3 min of video with sound. It comes with a 16MB card, but I purchased a 256MB one to go with it. I've been extremely happy with it.

I must admit though, that I haven't had much experience with other cameras so its hard to say if its this is a better camera than others.

Here are a couple really good reviews that made me go for it.
this site is great he uses a lot of detail (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A70/A70A.HTM)
Antother good review. (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a70-review/index.shtml)

I almost got the nikon 3100, but their video had no sound :angry: and that was the deciding factor.

Anyway let us know what you decide and what you think of your choice.

***Edit--I forgot to mention I was lucky. I bought it for $349 so it came out to close to $400 w/ taxes, but then the next week it went down by $50 so I was able to get a best buy card for the difference.

[imageconstrux]

I am the proud owner of 4 digital cameras: Kodak DC260, Kodak DC3200, Nikon Coolpix 2100 and Minolta DiMage 7i.

If you want a fast, reliable camera with good but not totally fabulous image quality (2MP), get a Coolpix (2100 or 3100). The main reasons I bought the Nikon were: fastest time between turning on and ready to shoot, fastest cycle time between full res shots, good image quality (when I say good, it's coming from someone who has 4 cameras, from a $200 cam to a $900 cam, with my next cam already chosen: the Canon 10D). Some other bennies I've discovered: Unbelievable efficiency with batteries - takes 2 AA's, and is just fantastic at minimizing the drain.

The Minolta DiMage you can probably get for $600-700 now, but it has more bells and whistles than I accustomed to - unless you have some time to learn to use an entry into the prosumer digicam arena, I'd stick with a simpler cam. But the closeups are phenomenal.


And as a person who's been to Maui twice, I would advise picking up something that has panorama capabilities. Trust me when I tell you you'll want it. If you can't find one, pick up a couple 1 use panorama cams. You won't be sorry. Especially if you take the day trip to Hanna.

[geiger]

Digital cameras vary is a variety of ways. If you want recommendations you need to provide a little info. We, by the way, bought one not too long ago and it's excellent. But, it may not be right for you (Nikon 4300)

Primary use?
Experience level? Extreme novice, Advanced User, Extreme Professional (note that goes from very few buttons to very many. digicams tend to have many of the same features but more "pro" ones have more buttons so it's quicker to access)
Megapixels? 2 - lame, 3 - respectable 4 - great quality for most photos 5 - professional 6 - they have it yet? obsessive

[motiveX]

Originally posted by geiger@Jun 5 2003, 09:28 PM
Digital cameras vary is a variety of ways. If you want recommendations you need to provide a little info. We, by the way, bought one not too long ago and it's excellent. But, it may not be right for you (Nikon 4300)

Primary use?
Experience level? Extreme novice, Advanced User, Extreme Professional (note that goes from very few buttons to very many. digicams tend to have many of the same features but more "pro" ones have more buttons so it's quicker to access)
Megapixels? 2 - lame, 3 - respectable 4 - great quality for most photos 5 - professional 6 - they have it yet? obsessive
I am looking for high quality images main use would be the web, with very little intention of ever getting photos printed...unless I got some awesome picture that I wanted framed or something crazy.

Basically I want something with a powerful zoom lense (the Olympus C730 is what I am looking at getting) as well as decent megapixel, but I have no need for a 5mp camera. (as far as I know).

I want this camera for Hawaii mainly, take pictures of me and my girlfriend, family gatherings...and I also want to carry it with me around most of the time in case I see a photo I would love to use in a design (which happens frequently and I have never had the camera around to do so).

I would be considered a novice with Digitals (haven't had one since the early Polaroid days) but I learn very quickly with electronics.

Zoom first, quality, speed, battery usage, weight....

:help:

[geiger]

5 megapixels will be a bit much for you as you probably won't print. 4 means a quality camera with plenty of features, but 3 would be adequate.

This also means you won't exhaust your budget. Make sure you only consider OPTICAL zoom and not DIGITAL zoom (fake).

[coxy]

I'm not a camera expert in the slightest...
...but I have a Fujifilm S602 - and its a darn good camera. B)

I think you can find it on the net for about $500

and it looks like this:

<img src='http://64.95.118.51/images/opti/a5/01/Fuji_FinePix_S602_Zoom_Digital_Camera___Camera_FP_ S602Z00.gif[/img]

And I believe there's info about it here (http://www.epinions.com/Fuji_FinePix_S602_Zoom_Digital_Camera___Camera_FP_ S602Z00) and on the official site (http://fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/Products.jsp?nav=0&parent=PRODUCT_CATEGORY_471517&product=43860757).
Its a good camera with a high industry standard... we have a ton of them at work. :lol:

[geiger]

Excuse me as I think I went a little brain-dead before. A 3 megapixel will do you just fine, which will result in images approx 2000 x 1500 px (not right ratio, but right amt pixels). That is WAAY good enough for anything on the web.

I would recommend Nikon because they are supposed to have the best color macro (color real to life).

Here's the list of Nikons:
http://www.nikonusa.com/usa_group/group.js...jsp?cat=1&grp=2 (http://www.nikonusa.com/usa_group/group.jsp?cat=1&grp=2)
One shortfall is that they, for the most part, have 3x optical zoom which isn't EXCEPTIONAL. But you can always crop, too.

[novapages]

Originally posted by xteriormotive@Jun 4 2003, 03:52 PM
I am going to Maui for 7 days at the end of month and want to document my trip. I HAD an OLDschool digital camera (polaroid...LOL) and I need to buy a new one. I don't want to spend more than like $700 on one and was looking for recommendations from people on here.

Any suggestions?

:help:
Whatever you get be sure it has a good optical zoom, then get as high a resolution as you can for your dollar.

I have to disagree about the movie thing-- my camera records movies but they tend to be kinda dark or noisy. (visually noisy because of the high sensitivity it takes to record in poor lighting without a flash). So I use the feature anyway, considering I don't have a camcorder, but even then I usually just end up burning all the movies onto a cd and putting it away somewhere. The size they capture at doesn't look good on the TV. Maybe one of these days I'll organize them into a nice multimedia presentation but for now we hardly look at them twice.

But with a good photo, well, you can use it in all kinds of mediums, and when you've got a good photo, the more pixles the merrier.

Have a blast in Maui! :) I'm jealous.

-Velda

[motiveX]

Here is my first photo taken with my new digital camera. (sized down from 2384 X 1734)

:tup:

I purchased the HP Photosmart 850. It had the best features for the price.

8X optical zoom and 4.1 MP and I got it for $400.
The docking station rocks too.

I can't wait to take pictures in Maui.

:D