Need help choosing a digital camera!!

[buddy's_mom_29]

Okay, I'm getting a digital camera for Christmas, but I haven't a clue what to look for! And neither does anyone in my family, so I'm turning to you all All this different megapixel, resolution, memory, zoom, etc. has got me more confused than ever! What do I need just to make good pics? I don't need to be able to make a one-minute movie, like some of the ones I've looked at. I have a video camera for that. I just want to make really good looking pics, but it doesn't have to be all technical and multi-tasking or anything I looked at a couple nice ones today, a Kodak, can't remember the name, but it was 3.1 megapixels, 16MB memory, 3x zoom, 1.8"LCD view panel (which makes those 1.5 min. videos) for $299. But I don't even think I need all this. I just want sharp pics!! Help!! Thanks!

[Maniago]

I have an HP Photosmart, 3.3 mega pixal, 3x 2(something) digi zoom.

You can check out the gallery pic or my website and see the pictures it has taken. It is very easy to use. I wont quote the price I paid, , I'd feel silly now. If you want really sharp pics you will need a higher meg card.


The one minute or so videos are not that good and up the price when you can get more zoom or mega pixals...... IMO they just arent worth what you give up

Oh great! while looking for a camera simalar i found this


http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/h...st&cat_level=1



Now I NEED a new camera and I can blame it on you

[Matt S]

I purchased a digital camera a couple of months back after doing a lot of research.
I didn't want to spend a heap of money & I also didn't need a camera that had every feature under the sun.
I just needed a camera that would take nice clean sharp images & that was easy enough to use.
Also I only needed a camera that would create good pics up to a maximum of about 8" x 10" size when printed.
In the end I got the Olympus D-520 zoom, which has 2 megapixel, 3 x optical zoom, 2.5 x digital zoom & is a compact enough size to take everywhere.
(In Australia this camera is called the C-2 Zoom).
Here's a couple of reviews.....
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/d520.html

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ol...iew/index.html

I'm really happy with the camera & have used most of the features it has including movie & macro modes....
Here's a couple of sample pics...
(Keep in mind the pics have been resized to appear on the web.)

http://www.cressfieldboxers.com/imag...2/3flowers.jpg

http://www.cressfieldboxers.com/images/backofcar.jpg

http://www.cressfieldboxers.com/images/11-02/daisy.jpg

http://www.cressfieldboxers.com/images/10-02/aeban.jpg

Good luck with your choice & be sure to make use of Steves Digicam site, it has a heap of reviews & sample pics etc. etc.

[Boxerworld]

All this different megapixel, resolution, memory, zoom, etc. has got me more confused than ever!

Resolution and megapixel are related. The resolution refers to the number of pixels that are used to display a photo (like 1280x960 for a 1.3 megapixel, 1600x1200 for a 2 megapixels, 2048x1536 for a 3 megapixels etc). A megapixel is 1 million pixel photo.
*Usually* when the resolution is high, the photos have more details and you can have larger prints. Unfortunately things are not simple and one of the most important things is the lens. A 3 megapixels camera with a bad lens will take bad photos compared to a 2 megapixels camera with a good lens...
With a 2 megapixels camera, you can print nice 4x6 and even good 8x10. If you want larger print sizes, you need more megapixels.
About zoom, only the optical zooms are interesting. Forget the digital zooms as they only crop and enlarge pictures, something you can do with a graphic program (and the pictures aren't sharp).

I just want sharp pics!!

You need to read online reviews and see the test pictures yourself
Matt's Olympus D-520 zoom is known to be a very good camera. It uses AA batteries which is a good thing as you can find them everywhere and they aren't expensive. The "problem" (not really) is it uses Smartmedia memory, a format that has been discontinued in favour of the new xD-picture card memory.
Another good camera is the Canon A40 (2 mp also). It uses CompactFlash memory, a cheap memory that is used on many cameras so you can use it on a new camera later and it accepts many accessories. You regret you can't take a picture of the whole building? No problem, attach the wide angle lens to your camera. Not enough zoom for taking photos of a bird? Get the teleconverter. Of course it costs to get them but at least it is possible.
Here's a review of the A40: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/a40.html
Fuji produces great cameras too, like the 2650 you can see at
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_...fuji_2650.html

Good luck!

Olly

[Scorpio]

I just got a new camera for my Birthday, its a Canon Power Smart S200 digital elph. I am still learning about it. its small and light rechargable battery. 2.0 megapixel CCd and high quality and 2x zoom lens. Take movie pictures with audio. It has a lot of features, its not top of the line but I am not a photographer either Read a lot and check a lot of them out. Good Luck

[newark]

We just bought a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P51. Paid $399.99 in Canada, plus taxes. I couldn't be happier with it!

[Boxerworld]

Originally posted by Jennifer - Pharaoh's Mom
the Mavica's instantly save all pictures to Floppy Disks, making them a lot more user friendly, as you don't need any "special" software to upload or download them to a computer.

Most digital cameras do not need any special software to transfert the pictures to a computer: they are automatically recognized by the computer as a remote hard disk. You can't get more user friendly than plugging a usb lead into your camera.
Using floppies means very slow access speeds, low reliability (it's mechanical unlike flash memory) and no capacity (only 1.44 mb, so the pictures have to be very compressed, which means low quality).
With my Olympus C120 & C920Z I have a 128 Mb card. In a few minutes all the 128 Mb of pictures can be downloaded using the USB cable. If I had to use floppies, I would need 89 floppies (not easy to carry) and it would take hours to download them.
Also, not all computers have a floppy drive: all the new Mac do not have them, same for some laptops.

Olly

[Boxerworld]

We are almost in 2003 and the majority of computers have at least Windows 98 nowadays. I just looked at the web site stats of November and only 2,5% of visitors use Windows 95 (on a total of 92,358 different visitors) so yes, most cameras are recognized by the computers. My computers are old (the oldest is a celeron 500 now), do not run the latest windows and they recognize the camera quite well.
By the way, I looked at some reviews of the camera you mentioned & they made for interesting reading.
From dpreview, the most famous digital camera site:
"The camera also had a 'fuzzy' or soft appearance to images, and every image had that "video capture" feel to them, inability to capture fine details and subtle colours was also apparent. But you must decide for yourself, see the samples gallery.
I'm afraid to say that in no way is the imag quality of this camera up to the quality exhibited by other cameras in it's price range."
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyfd91/page6.asp
From Steves digicams:"Overall I like this camera but its image size and quality isn't quite up to par with its peers."
http://www.steves-digicams.com/fd91_pg2.html#conclusion

Olly

[Rowdy's Dad]

I bought an Olympus C-700. It is only 2.1megapixels and was a little on the expensive side($450), but it has a 10X optical zoom and can take a photo quality 8x10. The camera stores the photos in JPG format and the computer recognizes the camera as a removable disk drive. I can download 100 pictures in a couple of seconds and then clear the cameras memory by deleting all pictures on the removable drive. It came with software for handling the photos, but I don't use it. I am more comfortable with my computer's photo editing software.

[Wendy Swalls]

I have 2 Nikon Coolpix cameras, the 800 (very old) and the 995. I just love them both, though the 995 has 4 megapixels, it's just a bit harder to hold in one hand. My brother is a commercial artist and he uses a Kodak. Good luck, digital photography is just so cool!

[vaboxer]

I researched forever because I had an old 2.0 megapixel and the images I wanted to print were too grainy. So I needed something that would have a bigger megapixel.

I went with the Canon G2 4.0 megapixel. It was about $600ish. It takes the most incredible pictures and when they print out on my HP PSC 750 they are photo quality for sure. I am extremely happy with this decision

I personally wouldnt go for anything lower than a 3.0 megapixel, especially if you want to print out these pictures. I like to print and hang pictures everywhere...so the quality of the photos were my main concern.

Good Luck

[madmaxmart]

Hi, I am new to the fourm and going through everything, so much good information. I have to agree the dpreview.com or steves-digicams.com would be the best place to start.

I personally perfer Sony and Canon for ease of use on most models for starter cameras. The Olympus cameras take good pics, but take some getting use to the menus, my opinion.

Depending on your price range and use of the camera I would go with the Sony DSC-P51 as an entry camera. It is super easy to use and has an optical zoom. In a simular price range you can also find the Canon S200 which is great because of its small size.

On the next tier I would probably go with the new Canon S230. It features a 3x digital zoom and I believe 3.2 megapixels. Another great camera is the Fuji 3800. It has 3.2 megapixels and a 6x zoom.

A few top level tier cameras to consider would be the Canon G2, Fuji S602 or the Sony DSC-F717. The Canon G2 price has dropped quite a bit lately because the Canon G3 was introduced and it is probably the most popular camera on the market. This is getting into a lot higher quality of photos and costs more.

Some things to consider when purchasing are:

1. The higher the resolution of the camera, the larger memory card you will also need to purchase to store the pictures.

Below is a chart showing the differece in resolution with a 16MB memory card.

Hi Fine Normal Basic
3 megapixel 16MB 0 6 13 33
2 megapixel 16MB 1 20 39 75

2. Compatablilty with existing hardware.

3. Ease of use.

4. If you really will use all the bells and whistles the camera offers, most users do not.

5. If purchasing a newer Fuji camera many use a new storage format xD picture cards, which is not available at some stores.

6. If up close detail is needed, if so you may want to look at the Sony Mavica series. They have excellent Macro modes and store on a variety of formats from floppy disks to cdrw.

7. Size of pictures you will want to print. Below is a chart showing resolution and size of print.

Resolution

640 x 480 online photos or 3 x 5

1,064 x 768 4 x 6

1,280 x 960 (1 MP) 5 x 7

1,600 x 1,200 (2 MP) 8 x 10

2,048 x 1,536 (3 MP) larger than 8 x 10

This chart shows the max that you could print, although printing 8 x 10 photos with a 2MP camera will have distoration, you could do it.

I hope this helps you in your search for the perfect camera for you. Make sure to post your pics so we can all see after you get one!!