looking to buy a new digital camera

[Made_To_Love]

I am looking to buy a new digital camera later this month and was wondering if anyone could suggest which one I should buy...I would like to spend bewteen $600-$800 on it...any helpful insight would be good..

[xkon]

canon S500 :drool:

[EK 2.0]

What kinds of pics will you be taking??
What will you be doing with said pics??...keeping them digital or making prints??
Where will you be using the camera??
Who else may be using the camera??
What kind of storage media would you like to use??

There are a lot of choices out there man, Canon makes some sweet cameras, as does Sony, the P93, and the new W1 (expected out in a couple of weeks) are amazing cameras...Let me know if you have any Sony related questions and I will be happy to answer them...

3 Megapixels is the bare minimum nowadays that you will need...I try to recommend at least 5 to all of my customers at Sony depending on needs...

[Made_To_Love]

I would be using to take landscape pictures...my fiance will use the camera too...dont know a thing about storage...lol...I think I would like to go with a Canon as I have heard good things about them

[itsalebaron]

Originally posted by CycloneAWD
I try to recommend at least 5 to all of my customers at Sony depending on needs...

Can you explain why the average snap and shoot picture taker would need 5 MP?

:dunno:

Get a Canon you won't be dissappointed :thumbsup:

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by itsalebaron


Can you explain why the average snap and shoot picture taker would need 5 MP?

:dunno:

Get a Canon you won't be dissappointed :thumbsup:


For the price difference at least within the Sony line, its a good investment as who knows what you may do tomorrow??...and instead of having to upgrade a camera, you already have most of the capabilities you will need...

Reason being, a LOT of people getting into teh digi-cam market upgrade very soon after purchasing an "entry-level" camera, only cause they got bit by the picture bug...

[itsalebaron]

I would worry much more about the features, and give yourself room for growth there rather then MP. unless you are a very serious photographer a 3MP camera with plenty of features .. such as the canon A70 will suit your purposes. As far as an upgrade save the $$$ you will save for a digital SLR down the road:burnout:

[Strider]

Originally posted by itsalebaron
I would worry much more about the features, and give yourself room for growth there rather then MP. unless you are a very serious photographer a 3MP camera with plenty of features .. such as the canon A70 will suit your purposes. As far as an upgrade save the $$$ you will save for a digital SLR down the road:burnout:

I think I would have to agree...
Unless the person is planning on printing 8x10s or larger, 3mp should be sufficient.

Unfortunately, I got bit by the camera upgrade bug... took a $150 hit on the price of my camera in about 8 months. But the reason i'm upgrading isn't because of MPs, it's for manual features which i didn't bother with on my first digi.

[Strider]

Originally posted by Made_To_Love
I am looking to buy a new digital camera later this month and was wondering if anyone could suggest which one I should buy...I would like to spend bewteen $600-$800 on it...any helpful insight would be good..

sorry for posting off topic in your thread.

In response to your question, your camera choice depends a lot on what your needs are. The A80 seems to be a good buy if you don't mind the size of the camera... it's about $550 so you'll have money to spare for extra memory cards(a necessity). It has aperture and shutter control, which is useful for taking landscape pics.

[1-Bar]

Originally posted by itsalebaron


Can you explain why the average snap and shoot picture taker would need 5 MP?

:dunno:

Get a Canon you won't be dissappointed :thumbsup:

You would need 5 mega pixels, as far as the Sony line goes...its really cheap to upgrade. With a five you can shoot approx. 17x12" pictures. Also with advancing market, printers will be able to print that fine, as opposed to the 3.8mega pixels they are now at.

Average snap shooter should take this into account since 2 million pixels can be the difference b/w night and day.

Also, with a 5 mega pixel camera you can zoom in and crop a lot more then with a 3 mega pixel camera, more pixels to play with.....

Given all these advantages, I say spend a little bit more and get a lot more in return. Also w/ the Sony camera's...the 5 mega pixel line comes w/ manual control settings. Thus if you are a regular point and clicker and later on want more control...then you have it.

Just my $0.02

Oh yeah...if your looking at the higher end Sony cams, get the one w/ the Zeiss lens. Its quality is unsurpassed....they use this lens in freakin NASA telescopes!!!

Sony > Canon

[benyl]

The number of megapixels is meaningless if you have a shitty sensor or shitty lens.

There are many pictures on this site that Ben took with an S200.

Canon gets my vote, but I am biased.

S500, S50, A80 <--- any one of those would be a good camera in that price range.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by benyl
The number of megapixels is meaningless if you have a shitty sensor or shitty lens.

There are many pictures on this site that Ben took with an S200.

Canon gets my vote, but I am biased.

S500, S50, A80 &lt;--- any one of those would be a good camera in that price range.

Completely agree.

Everybody buy DCs and the 1st thing they look for megapixels. WRONG!

Lens, CMOS, always comes first. 5MP is useless if you're recording 5MP of junk from a crappy lens and CMOS. And like everyone said, unless you plan to use pic in poster size, 3MP should be a good place to start.

Canon also gets my vote. S500 for portable, S50 for quality and the ability to use 1GB+ Microdrives. A series for budget buyers and G series for SLR people who is serious into photography.

[tulit]

The Canon G series is one of my fav too. You could probably find a G3 in your price range if you intend to use the features it comes with.

[Weapon_R]

I don't know much about Cameras, but get the BEST camera you can afford. Don't settle for those who say that a 2MP camera is enough for "the average photographer".

I listened to these guys a year ago, and i'm kicking myself in the ass for it today. There are so many things my S200 lacks that I wish I had today. It's unfortunate that I spent so much on a camera that does not have the features I want to use today.

[Ben]

You all know who I support.

[1badPT]

I'm looking at replacing my overpriced POS that I bought when digital cameras first hit the market. I'm trying to keep my price range around $500 and I'm hoping for something with a high quality lens, with a STRONG optical zoom.

One that I've thought about is the Kodak DX6490
These are the features that appeal to me:
10X optical zoom
Night mode
4.0 MP

Can anyone offer any advice on how good of a choice this would be and if there is maybe a better value in the same price range?

Here is a link to the details of the camera: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=1336&pq-locale=en_US

[Strider]

Originally posted by 1-Bar


You would need 5 mega pixels, as far as the Sony line goes...its really cheap to upgrade. With a five you can shoot approx. 17x12&quot; pictures. Also with advancing market, printers will be able to print that fine, as opposed to the 3.8mega pixels they are now at.

Average snap shooter should take this into account since 2 million pixels can be the difference b/w night and day.

Also, with a 5 mega pixel camera you can zoom in and crop a lot more then with a 3 mega pixel camera, more pixels to play with.....

Given all these advantages, I say spend a little bit more and get a lot more in return. Also w/ the Sony camera's...the 5 mega pixel line comes w/ manual control settings. Thus if you are a regular point and clicker and later on want more control...then you have it.

Just my $0.02

Oh yeah...if your looking at the higher end Sony cams, get the one w/ the Zeiss lens. Its quality is unsurpassed....they use this lens in freakin NASA telescopes!!!

Sony &gt; Canon

Problem is, with more MP packed on the same size CCD, you start getting noise in your pics. So in a few cases 3mp > 5mp.

I've heard that there is quite a discrepancy between the quality of high end Carl Zeiss lenses and lower end, and that the only good thing about the Zeiss lens on a Sony is the Name.
However, I think it was some die-hards in the Nikon camp who said that, so I'm not sure if I believe it. That being said, I'm still looking forward to the release of the W1.

[Gonthro]

Originally posted by 1badPT
I'm looking at replacing my overpriced POS that I bought when digital cameras first hit the market. I'm trying to keep my price range around $500 and I'm hoping for something with a high quality lens, with a STRONG optical zoom.

One that I've thought about is the Kodak DX6490
These are the features that appeal to me:
10X optical zoom
Night mode
4.0 MP

Can anyone offer any advice on how good of a choice this would be and if there is maybe a better value in the same price range?

Here is a link to the details of the camera: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=1336&amp;pq-locale=en_US

i have owned one kodak digi cam, and my dad has owned 2, the diffrence is, i learned after the first one, thye are junk, we have had nothing but problems with all 3 of them, and if you wnat to get it fixed, be prepared to wait 2-3 months to get it back and it NOT be fixed... i definantly expected that a $450 cam would last more than 6 months... and would have some sort of warrenty... but no, they just took so damn long "fixing" it the first time that by the time i got it back my year warrenty was over so i couldn't send it back to them, even though they did not fix the initial problem.... it was a good cam, when it worked.

[benyl]

Kodak makes good film... that is about it.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Gonthro


i have owned one kodak digi cam, and my dad has owned 2, the diffrence is, i learned after the first one, thye are junk, we have had nothing but problems with all 3 of them, and if you wnat to get it fixed, be prepared to wait 2-3 months to get it back and it NOT be fixed... i definantly expected that a $450 cam would last more than 6 months... and would have some sort of warrenty... but no, they just took so damn long &quot;fixing&quot; it the first time that by the time i got it back my year warrenty was over so i couldn't send it back to them, even though they did not fix the initial problem.... it was a good cam, when it worked.

I have a Kodak 3200. One of the first 3.2MP camera on market. What a piece of crap. Menus is horrible. Battery life is horrible. Picture quality is average or below average.

I havn't bought a Kodak since. Die hard Canon fan here and swears by it. I think Kodak have 1 or 2 cameras that got good reviews but I won't try them again about my 1st one.

[yohan4ws]

www.steves-digicams.com

I got a nikkon coolpix 4500 ..

I'd rather have cone with a Canon a70 i think .. easier to use and more pocketable

Mine's a 4MP 4x zoom, 3x digi zoom (i think .. never use digi) but features galore, 1600x1200 (maybe bigger cant member)

You can get one in Calgary new for around 700ish ...

I paid a bit over 6 fter duty/customs w/ 128mb card.

[eb0i]

I'm looking to buy a few digital cameras as well and did this search and found this thread. Now I read through the posts and was wondering how you can determine the quality of the CCD/CMOS you get with your camera? And whether or not the amount of megapixels you buy for that camera is not overwhelming the CCD/CMOS and creating "noise".

I currently have a Sony DSC-P51 2.0MP digital camera that I bought about 3 years ago. It works fine but the resolution is grainy and printed 4X6 pictures aren't too great. Also the 3x optical zoom is crap, and I don't care for digital zoom as it makes for crap ass pictures. The only thing it is good for is web pictures. So its time for an upgrade.

I've been looking at the "Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2MP Digital Camera". And it has all the things I want such as great optical zoom and 3.2 MP (I'm not looking to print anything higher than 8x10's, mostly 4x6's). Do you guys/gals think this is an okay camera?

Also I'm looking for a point and shoot camera that I can fit in my pocket, but am having a harder time looking for one. At first I was looking at the Casio EX-Z30, but reviews have been crap for it. So I was also wondering if there are any recommendations for a point and shoot camera (that is compact) around the $500 price.

Thanks!

[dragonone]

i just wanted to remind you that MP has been such a marketing scheme lately it's not even appealing anymore

most ppl think the more MP the better
hence companies that come out with 99 dollar 2mp cameras that use cmos sensor and interporlation (for their 3-5mp series)

imo the lens and the image processor is the most important, and features such as night shot or image stabilizer are very useful as well

try looking up review on steve's digicams and such, it was very useful in my decision making

i'm surrpised to hear that your sony's grainy, my friend had an even older series and he took many night shots with minimum noise. the dsc t series have rave reviews, using those special lenses and all, and they do fall within ur price range

another thing ot think about is the media ur gonna use it with, since memory stick can get very expensive and a fast sd means another purchase for you

i believe the dsct1 has dropped its price considerably now, since t3,t11,etc came out already. my gf has the canon sd10, or ixus i or something like that, it tends to b a little overexposed at times but the colors are vivid. i'd stay away from futureshop and such places selling either cmos cameras or bulky kodak ones or overpriced ones. i think the only place here would b saneal cameras for other brands. have u ever checked out the kyocera cameras? i recommended my frnd buy one and he loves it (more the looks thing haha)

[Khyron]

I'm looking for an intermediate camera (I have a fuji 2mp portable for quick shots, sports etc) but would like something a little more flexible. Not going to turn it into a major hobby like Mel/Ben but something that has a lot of manual features to mess around with and can take fantastic night pictures. A85 seems too small? Around 600?

Khyron

[turboMiata]

Get a Holga.

[C4S]

FZ20 :thumbsup: .... It is a damn good camera .... amazing 12X Leica lens ... good solid body, it can be black, lots of good functions, easy to use .... good flash, good marco .. actually, it feels like a D-SLR.

G6 will be a good choice too. :)

By the way, are you a girl ? those 2 cameras are not small in size.

[soupey]

Originally posted by Xtrema


Completely agree.

Everybody buy DCs and the 1st thing they look for megapixels. WRONG!

Lens, CMOS, always comes first. 5MP is useless if you're recording 5MP of junk from a crappy lens and CMOS. And like everyone said, unless you plan to use pic in poster size, 3MP should be a good place to start.

Canon also gets my vote. S500 for portable, S50 for quality and the ability to use 1GB+ Microdrives. A series for budget buyers and G series for SLR people who is serious into photography.

:werd:

ive got an s400, love it, its an awesome (and pretty small) camera, the new model is even more slim....definately worth checking out

[Khyron]

Rebel just went on final clearance for (I think) 870 (edit: could be 970, I totally blanked on it) at FS. The G6 is pushing 799.

I'm thinking I could get a rebel + card (80) + battery (40) + case (50?) for just around 1K.

But I like the midrange size of the G6. Is it really that close in quality to the rebel for the minor price difference? I've read the reviews and I just can't seem to decide. Both are more camera than I need, but I don't want to upgrade for awhile - I can't see buying more lenses anytime soon.

Futureshops package with battery, card, case and service plan seems outrageous at like 1700 bucks - but is the service plan a good move on something as flakey as a digicam? Cannon has a decent warranty and I don't mind shipping.

Khyron

[C4S]

Nikon 8700 is for sale for $799 .. from $999 not too long ago ...( I think )

That is a damn nice camera for $800 ! :thumbsup:

[Khyron]

Argh - more fuel for the fire. Such a tough market to choose from. Even your Panasonic FZ 20 is still on the list.

Khyron