Need help buying a digital camera

[Dragon X]

im looking into buying a digital camera before i go on vacation at the end of july. im a total newbie at these things but ive really beein looking into buying a Canon or Fuji, maybe a toshiba one too. whats good and not too expensive, like under 350 buck maybe even 300? how may decent quality pics can i take with say a 128mb card? and how expensive are the cards? i want at least 35mm camera quality pics. ive heard that you can fit like 4 or 6 pics on a 128mb card???( BS!) futureshop trying to sell me junk and get me to but 10 cards or something lol.

just need some help..

here are some ive looked into buying

Toshiba PDR-3300 3.34 MP (im really thinking about this one but its so ugly but great reviews!) ~299.00

Canon Powershot S200 2MP ~299.00
Fuji Finepix 2650 2MP ~350.00

and this cheap one :
Kodak DX3500 2.2MP ~150.00

[szw]

I flipped through a camera magazine in chapters once and read a quick note that it would require at least an 8MP digital camera to equal the quality of a standard 35mm camera. I might of corse be missing something because I didn't read the full article. (I think they mean once the digital picture is printed in the standard 4x6 size.

[benyl]

ok, I have a 2.1 MegaPixel Sony. It does 8x10 high quality. Yes, even at that resolution. I have a 64MB car and I can fit 120 pictures at the highest resolution. Each photo is about 500KB. If you goto 3MP, each photo is 750-800KB.

If you get a 128MB card, that should be enough provided you upload to your PC every night.

Hope that helps.

[Khyron]

For what its worth, I bought the Fuji 2650 after researching for a few weeks.

If you are going to be printing pics larger than 8x10 you need more megapixels. Otherwise 2 is enough.

Remember, you're not going to print every pic you take. If they are just for web/online you can use the lower settings and so get hundreds on a single card.

Ignore digital zoom - it's BS marketing speak. Optical zoom is the important one.

Hold the camera, and make sure it feels comfortable.

Khyron

[Ben]

Originally posted by benyl
ok, I have a 2.1 MegaPixel Sony. It does 8x10 high quality. Yes, even at that resolution. I have a 64MB car and I can fit 120 pictures at the highest resolution. Each photo is about 500KB. If you goto 3MP, each photo is 750-800KB.

If you get a 128MB card, that should be enough provided you upload to your PC every night.

Hope that helps.

My Canon S200 (2.0mp) at 1600/1200 super fine has each picture at about 900kb(max of about 1MB, low about 550kb) Alot depends on Amount of color, brightness.

I have a 128MB card and The most I have fit was 145 and the least was 126.

[Stratus_Power]

also have a S200 here w/ 192 MB, can fit about 320 pics as indicated on the LCD screen

[littledan]

i have the canon s230 digital elf... super nice package but a little more $$.. if you can chip in a few more bucks you should definitely take a look at this camera... 3.2 megapixels

[Mr.Buffy]

I just recently purchased the Canon A70.
3.2 Megapixel, $499 at Blacks Cameras.

There is also a Canon A60 which is 2 Megapixels for $399.

It's a really good camera, not as compact as the elfs, but alot more features. Great features for it's price. Tons of different modes such as night shots, sport shots, portrait and more. You can also change the colours on your pictures from black and white to vivid to neutral and more.

with a 256 MB card, I think I can take about ~150 highest quality pictures (each picture is 1.5 megs roughly). Something like that, don't exactly remember.

It is a good camera if you want to do more manual shots like adjusting colours, manual focus, control apperature stuff. Or you can just set it to auto and point and shoot.

There's great movie mode on this camera as well. With the 640X320 mode, a 15 -25 second movie is like 30 megs almost, but the quality is good and the picture is pretty large.

I'd recommend the A70 or A60 (to fit within your budget). It also takes four AA batteries and it is pretty easy to hold.

[speedracer]

Originally posted by Dragon X
whats good and not too expensive, like under 350 buck maybe even 300? how may decent quality pics can i take with say a 128mb card? and how expensive are the cards? i want at least 35mm camera quality pics.

Your going to be dissappointed. You want cheap and at the same time the same quality as a 35mm? not going to happen.

< $400 is pretty much an entry level digital camera. Great for starting out but no where near the quality of a $12 35mm disposable camera

Your best bet is to go to a camera shop and test out the camera and see what you like. Go check out Photo Experts @ downtown TD Square.

IMO,
Fuji is prob the best bang for the buck for the entry level in terms of features - color managment still leaves much to be desired... again it's best if you went and checked it out.

On another note: don't worry too much of megapixels. What you really care is the optics of the lense.

[gpomp]

Just remember a bigger memory card isn't always better because you're batteries will run out first...

[Ben]

Originally posted by gpomp
Just remember a bigger memory card isn't always better because you're batteries will run out first...

Canon S200 Full charge lasts a full 128MB card with no flash.
at world of wheels I took 145 pictures, 20 of which required a flash, and at the end of the card, it said CF carfd full, and then shut off due to battery empty

[benyl]

I would also check the reviews online.

google.ca -> digital camera reviews.

There is a tonne of info.

I have a Sony P50. it is a little old (1 year), but it has a great lense that you can add attachements too. My bro has a fish eye and a wide angel for his digi vid cam and I can screw those on my lense. You can't do that with the newer Sonys.

[gpomp]

http://www.dpreview.com
http://www.stevesdigicams.com/

[Dragon X]

so how about his one

Canon 3.2-MP Powershot A300
Image Resolution: 3.3 total megapixels, 3.2 effective megapixels
Lens: 5x digital zoom
Image Storage Format: CompactFlash memory card (16 MB card included)
Display: 1.5-inch color LCD
Battery: 2 AA alkaline batteries (included)
Additional Features


5-point auto focusing
4 shooting modes
5 digital photo effects< l
Auto white balance and 7 presets
Auto flash with red-eye reduction
Can record 3-minute videos with sound
USB output
Can print directly from Canon Card Photo and Bubble Jet Direct Photo printers without being connected to a PC
1.44" x 4.37" x 2.28"
Weighs 6.17 ounces without battery and memory card


it has no optical zoom but has 5x digital zoom and its not a bad price for around $280 bucks

im actually really starting to this about this one

Toshiba PDR-3300 3.34 MP
LINK

its on sale and has 3x optical and 2x digital, only thing is that its not polished steel like the other cameras, it looks ugly and its plastic, but the reviews for this camera are awsome. what you guys think?

[littledan]

digital zoom is retarded and useless... optical zoom is what you should be concerned with

[benyl]

agreed. Digital zoom only reduces the effective resolution. Keep searchin'

[Khyron]

No optical zoom = garbage. Almost every other camera has it.

Khyron

[Stratus_Power]

digital zoom is completely useless, you might as well just zoom in using photoshop or watever

[boi-alien]

honestly go to photoexperts in TD

[sml]

Or thecamerastore on 17th ave. very good guys. very knowledgeable.