Help with Digital Cameras

[Doughboy]

Looking for a digital camera present for my wife and don't know s__t about these cameras. Does anyone have a recommendation of a good brand or good deal site to buy one? Not wanting to spend more than $300, but would be willing to buy on e-bay to save cost.

Thanks.

 

[acehistr8]

Check out the Canon Powershot elph series.

I have the S110, but I think they are up to the 200/230 by now. It is the smallest most lightweight thing I have ever used, smaller than a playing card. I have taken it on a half dozen trips so far, not only does it take great pictures, but we are able to put them on my web site, and it makes fantastic prints at our local Ritz Camera. The great thing about digital in general is you can look at the pictures right after you take them to tell if you want to keep them.

My recommendation would be to go on Ebay (I bought mine there as well) and buy the Powershot S200 for @$250, but ad on a 128MB compact flash card as well. It will allow you to keep a little over 100 pictures at the highest res.

I went through this whole review process a couple summers back, so let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Doughboy]

What is a good minimum megapixel number to look for. At least 2 maybe?

Thanks.

 

[Doughboy]

Also, what would the maximum be that you would pay for a Canon S230 and how much should or would I pay for the 128MB card.

Thanks Again,

Doughboy

 

[dogface]

Compared at least 20 cameras..

Compared at least 20 cameras..

and we decided on the FujiFilm 3800. I was shocked to at buying a Fuji camera simply because when I hear them I think of film. It has a 6x optical zoom, 3.2 MegaPixels, is small but not tiny simply because we wanted to hold on to somehting and wanted a better viewfinder. Can also take 6-10 seconds of sound on each pic, if you want to download into a slideshow etc.

$299 was our cost at Best Buy, and they added a 64mb card to go with a 32 MB card already included. I do suggest possibly going with the 128, but we haven't filled our 64MB up yet, and trust me we use it a lot with our newborn. (One caveat though, we do save it to cd's rather quickly though)

As for prints, we don't process film anymore. We also purchases a HP Photosmart 7150, that with their affordably priced photo ink $25 allows you to print off images at 4800dpi. You can't really tell a print from our printed copy. The thing has been amazing.

I would recommend not oging under 2 MEgaPixels, but the more you get the better quality it is when you blow them up. Our 3.2 does phenomanal so far, 11x17's have been crystal clear.

ALso in our decision we didn't want a lithium battery, so we pruchased this camera that takes 4 AA bateries, and we bought rechargeables, and they haver performed well above expectations.

TSI

 

[Doughboy]

Thanks for the input. I like the smaller cameras, and lean towards the Canon S230 because of the megapixels being higher than the S200. I will let you know what I get, I will be watching ebay and yahoo auctions all night tonight.

Thanks,

DB

 

[dawgball]

I have been on here before praising the Canon PowerShot S110 that I received for my birthday last year. When I filled out the registration card, Canon sent me an two extra batteries, a 16MB card, and a decently cool bag (handy at least). One extra battery would have been enough, though and the 16MB card has a good capacity. I upload many pictures onto a website that takes a max size of 640X480 so that is the size of picture I use on the camera. We have printed out several of these on a normal laser printer in black and white and they are hanging on our walls. Noone ever knows that they are not real prints (I ask just about everyone that comes in). At the highest quality (Superfine), the 16MB card holds 71 pictures or a ~40 second .mpeg with sound.

The camera is almost exactly the same size of a cigarette pack. It fits in my jeans pocket rather comfortably, so portability is never an issue. The batteries (two) last for about 3-4 days of heavy activity. The recharger is small as well. I've never timed how long it takes to recharge.

It has 2.1 megapixels and that seems to be good enough. I would always suggest getting the most available at your price, though.

I would rate this camera a 9 out of 10. The only reason it is not a 10 is because there are higher megapixels out now. I have used many digital cameras and there are plenty good ones out there. This one is still holding strong on its price which is usually a good sign.

Good luck on searching.

 

[acehistr8]

dawg, agree 110%, the S110 is the best camera I have ever owned.

And look lets be clear about one thing. Unless you are doing professional photography or taking pictures to blow up to poster size, 2MP is considered saturation. Meaning buying a higher MP camera is nice if you can afford it, but it is not going to make a noticeable difference when we are talking 2 or 3 MP for purposes of making prints. This comes to me from a camera salesman who easily could have sold me a more expensive item, but was praising the S110. Im not saying 3 isnt better than 2, it is, but if it is too much of a price difference, 2MP will be MORE than enough for these purposes.

If you want to be safe, go to Best Buy first, just to get your hands on them to see how they feel to you. You dont have to buy it there, but just so you know what it looks and feels like. You cant go wrong with the S230, the Powershot Elphs are great pieces of equipment. Like dawgball, I would give it a 9 or even 9.5 out of 10.

 

[bigdad2]

Olympus D-550. For the price range you are listing it is the best thing on the market. I actually just bought this my for girlfriend and saw that is was listed at $299. Last Thursday I just happened to go into a BJ's, which is a wholesale place that has everything, and found it for $275. Plus I still get a free 64-MB card from Olympus after filling out her registration. I have a friend who has been into digital cameras for some time and he swear by them. I've had no complaints with mine and this sounds like the 550 will be right up your alley. Like anything else you should see what she wants to use it for a find a camera that matches her needs. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Doughboy]

Ace,

Thanks again. If the MP isn't noticeable from 2 to 3, then the 200 will be right for me probably.

And BigDad, I will do some research into the Olympus. I will look at Sam's and Costco also.

Thanks guys,

DB

 

[Doughboy]

Which one would you guys big out of these


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3335&item=1945060719&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3335&item=1944544360&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1085&item=1945553379&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3335&item=1945060719&rd=1

Thanks for all the help.

DB

 

[dawgball]

My future father-in-law has an Olympus digital camera, but I am not sure of the number. It, to me, was much hrder to operate and not a easy to hold. The screen did not show the pictures as well, either. I have not seen prints from this camera or even emails, but it seemed that it was not as crisp. I know the pictures look much better on a computer than the screen, but his screen is not easy to see at all. Just m observations on that. I will ask him what number his Olympus is to give you a better idea. I am almost positive he paid more for this one in a duty-free country than was paid for mine.

 

[acehistr8]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3335&item=1944544360&rd=1

Definitely go with this one if you like the S200. The 128MB card included saves you about $50. Keep in mind it looks like this one is slightly used, though I would not consider this a problem, thats just me though.

 

[ryson]

Since you gents are in the know and I am clueless, what about a digital camcorder with a built in digital still camera? Other than the obvious does anyone know the differences in still picture quality via a camcorder?

TIA

 

[Stuman]

Another VERY important thing to consider is battery life. You could have a great camera, but if the batteries only last 10 minutes, it really gets old quick. Avoid cameras that only use 2 AA or 2 AAA. My Kodak DX3600 uses 2 AA and literally lasts about 10 minutes. It was my first digital camera, and I will NOT make this mistake again. I also highly recommend getting a camera that uses compact flash style memory. Good luck.

Stu