Digital Camera Recommendations

[dguff]

I am in the market for a new point and shoot digital camera. I want at least 4 megapixels. Does anyone have any recommendations or cameras to avoid? Thanks.

Jerome

[asianflava]

There are lots of decent ones out there but you can't go wrong with Olympus, Canon, Nikon, Sony.

My beef with the new crop of cameras are battery packs. If you loose/forget the charger you're in trouble. If you want a spare battery they are expensive. I prefer a camera that takes AA batteries. Just get some good high capacity Ni-Mh batteries and a charger and you're in buisness. You can always find AA batteries in a pinch.

Memory cards are another issue. Sony uses their Memory stick, they are the only ones who do. Olympus uses XD memory, Fuji also uses them. Canon and some others use Compact Flash. Compact Flash is available in higher capacities than the other formats. It is typically cheaper also.

I just found out, there is an article on digital cameras in the latest Consumer Reports. Oh yeah, make sure you get a camera with optical zoom. You'll regret it if you don't.

BTW, my new camera (Canon S-70) has a battery pack, my old camera (Olympus D-570) uses AAs.

[Gage]

asianflava,

Re: Canon S-70

Have a couple of questions for you. In real world, how many pictures will the memory card (Compact Flash) hold before you have to down load? When the card fills, can you just replace it with another card and keep shooting until you can get to a computer to down load? Also do you have to format the new card?

I ask these questions because I to am thinking about getting a digital camera prior to leaving for Minden.

Thank you for your time, enjoy the weekend.
Gage

[toypusher]

asianflava,

Re: Canon S-70

Have a couple of questions for you. In real world, how many pictures will the memory card (Compact Flash) hold before you have to down load? When the card fills, can you just replace it with another card and keep shooting until you can get to a computer to down load? Also do you have to format the new card?

I ask these questions because I to am thinking about getting a digital camera prior to leaving for Minden.

Thank you for your time, enjoy the weekend.
Gage

Gage,

You ask some complicated questions. The memory cards (no matter which type) come in different sizes (ie 64MB, 128MB, 512MB, etc) and each holds a different amount of photos. Also, they hold different amounts depending on the quality that your camera is set at. Lower quality gives more pictures, etc. Most cameras will tell you in the manual how many pictures you will get at different quality settings for a given MB size. Most cards that I have seen do need to be formatted, but I have not purchased a new card for mine in about 3 years. The package when you buy it should say if it is already formated.

As a note on cameras and battery packs: My in-laws have 3 Kodak digital cameras that all can use AA batteries if need be. They use rechargeable, but if you forget your charger and run down, you can just get some AA batteries and be back in business. The AA's don't last as long as the rechargeables, but will do in a pinch. Also, you can get a printer dock for the Kodaks that allows you to print out up to 4X6 prints in just a couple of minutes or so. My In-laws also have one of these printers and they are pretty neat. Kodak makes lots of different models too! BTW, I have no affilation with Kodak, this is just my opinion and personal observations.

Kerry

[Psychohillbilly]

My camera is a Kodak DX6490. It has 10x optical zoom, 4 megapixle, 256 meg SD card. I can take 190 pics @ 4 megs. When the card is full just pop another in and keep shooting. I do not know how long the battery lasts I have taken over 130 pics in a day and the battery did not go dead. This camera can also take 15 minutes of movie with sound using the 256 SD card. It's very easy to use and the pics are great.

the Pschohillbilly

[Turtle49]

I'm going to have to disagree with asia about the batteries. I had a Kodak that ran off of AA's and it constantly ate batteries. I got my Sony DSC-F717 Cybershot with rechargable batterie pack and I only recharge it every few months of normal use. It charges to about 200 minutes of constant use.

Psychohillbilly talks about your pictures being about 4 megs, This is dead on for my camera. I take pictures at the highest compressed quality setting and they are between 2 and 4 megs. The one thing I learned early on is that if you take pics at the lowest setting to save room you will have VERY blurry pictures to try to print or view. It is always better to take hi res pictures and sample them down smaller later on your computer, you will end up with a better picture.

Also get one with a good optical zoom, when it switches to digital zoom the quality goes way down.

Hope this helps.

[ScottH61]

Check out http://www.dpreview.com/. There you will be able to compare camera features and specs, along with cost. Very informative!
I myself have used Olympus cameras, and have been very pleased with them. I recently upgraded to the Nikon D70, which is not quite point and shoot, but it sure is fun!

[Chris C]

I second the "dpreview" suggestion. It's really a good place to start asking questions. Those folks will really be helpful in helping you decide what type camera you need, based on what you plan on doing with it.

[asianflava]

asianflava,

Re: Canon S-70

Have a couple of questions for you. In real world, how many pictures will the memory card (Compact Flash) hold before you have to down load? When the card fills, can you just replace it with another card and keep shooting until you can get to a computer to down load? Also do you have to format the new card?

I ask these questions because I to am thinking about getting a digital camera prior to leaving for Minden.

Thank you for your time, enjoy the weekend.
Gage

Toypusher pretty much answered your question. I stuck an empty 32meg card in my camera for some real numbers of how many pictures a 32meg card will hold at different resolutions.
640X480 120 pics
1600X1200 30 pics
2048X1536 18 pics
2592X1944 11 pics
3072X2304 9 pics
These numbers are just examples, these will vary depending on what you are taking pictures of. Some pictures with a lot of details, take more memory.
Yes, when the camera says, "Card Full" you can swap out another card and continue shooting. Typically, when you insert the card, the camera will format it. There are occasions where you might have to format it on the computer so it would be wise to test it out before you leave home.

I have a 2Gig card in my camera. As you can see, at full resolution 32megs only holds 9 pics. I shoot full resolution then shrink it down when I get home. Some of my friends never shoot full res because it takes up so much memory. The 2Gig card is a microdrive, a miniature hard drive inside the card. They are slow to write and are a little fragile but it is the cheapest way to get high capacity. This card was only $89.

I'm going to have to disagree with asia about the batteries. I had a Kodak that ran off of AA's and it constantly ate batteries. I got my Sony DSC-F717 Cybershot with rechargable batterie pack and I only recharge it every few months of normal use. It charges to about 200 minutes of constant use.

Yes, these cameras eat batteries like they are going out of style. That is why I recomended getting the high capacity Ni-Mh batteries. It would be cheaper to buy a charger and 2 sets of rechargable Ni-Mh AAs than one spare battery pack. I only use alkalines when my batteries die when I'm out. I have 1700mAh batteries which last a long time, new ones are up to 2100mAh.

One of my favorite sites for digital camera info is:
http://www.stevesdigicams.com

[JunkMan]

We have 2 Kodaks, an old 1 megapixel, and a DX4530, which is about a year old in is 5 megapixels. The DX4530 is obsolete, but you can find them on ebay for about $150 now. We like them both, and for internet pictures, the 1 megapixel has been fine, we just got the 5 megapixel camera so we could print out some pictures at a higher quality.

As asianflava said, one of the reasons we got our cameras, was the ability to use AA batteries in a pinch. My son has a camera that uses a special battery, and they are very expensive. If you are going to be camping away from electricity for a while, and can't re-charge them, you should carry a spare. We just use cheap AA rechargables ($15 for 4 including the charger), and buy regular AA's in a pinch.

We have a 1 gig card in ours, and also have a smaller card as a back up. Cards are getting very cheap. When we got our first digital, they were about $1 per MB. I think we paid less than $50 for the 1 gig card this time, and the prices came down again right after we got ours.

[angib]

....., and the prices came down again right after we got ours.

You probably think they have CCTV in stores to counteract theft, don't ya?

Nope! It's there so they know when you step outta the store, so they can cut the price of what you've just bought .....

Andrew (Cynical? Moi? Shirley not!)

[Gage]

asianflava, thank you for the simple answer. And toypusher, thank you for the technical answer. I didn't think my questions were that complicated. Here I try and keep everything simple

Well before reading all the replies, I jumped over to Best Buy and got a Canon PowerShot A95. It's a 5 megapixel camera, set it on auto, point and click. It also has a 3x zoom. I also bought a 1.0 gb CompactFlash card for it. Then I came back home and read the replies and reviews and now I don't think I did to bad. The camera, memory card and 4 year warranty cost me less than $500. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the card out of the camera. Guess I need to read the book.

Again thank you and have a good day.
Gage

[BufordT]

asianflava, thank you for the simple answer. And toypusher, thank you for the technical answer. I didn't think my questions were that complicated. Here I try and keep everything simple

Well before reading all the replies, I jumped over to Best Buy and got a Canon PowerShot A95. It's a 5 megapixel camera, set it on auto, point and click. It also has a 3x zoom. I also bought a 1.0 gb CompactFlash card for it. Then I came back home and read the replies and reviews and now I don't think I did to bad. The camera, memory card and 4 year warranty cost me less than $500. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the card out of the camera. Guess I need to read the book.

Again thank you and have a good day.
Gage

Apple computer site recommends this camera as the best for the apple. Also from what I can tell it also takes RAW pictures. I still don't know what that means. I think you did good Gage. Very good. That's the same camera I'm getting in a few months.

Bufordt

[asianflava]

Most of the pics are saved as .jpg files. RAW is just another format. They are uncompressed and take up a lot of room. I don't know for sure but I think a 32meg card will hold maybe 2 or 3 pics.

Gage: the A95 is a great camera here is what Steve says

Bottom line - the Powershot A95 holds the "top of the line" position of Canon's "A" series. It will make an excellent choice for anyone who wants an easy-to-use camera that captures beautiful pictures and has the advanced features to satisfy the needs of the more experienced user. For 2004 Canon offers a complete lineup of entry-level cameras for every budget and resolution need. Be sure to read our reviews of the 3-megapixel PowerShot A400 and PowerShot A75, and the 4-megapixel PowerShot A85

[Gage]

Gage: the A95 is a great camera here is what Steve says.

Bottom line - the Powershot A95 holds the "top of the line" position of Canon's "A" series. It will make an excellent choice for anyone who wants an easy-to-use camera that captures beautiful pictures and has the advanced features to satisfy the needs of the more experienced user. For 2004 Canon offers a complete lineup of entry-level cameras for every budget and resolution need. Be sure to read our reviews of the 3-megapixel PowerShot A400 and PowerShot A75, and the 4-megapixel PowerShot A85

Thank you, I read his write up when I got back and felt good about my buy. I need to reduce the pixel and improve on the focus a little and then I think I'll have it. (I did buy some film for the 35 as a backup though) Below is one of the test pictures that I took earlier, bad lighting and all, it's coming.

Teardrop is in the garage.

Have a good day,
Gage