Digital Camera?

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 12:53 am

Just curious if anyone here has bought a digital camera before? I'm going on vacation to Colorado in early November and want to take something more than disposable camera's now that I can afford something better. However, I'm really never done any research on them and figured someone here might have some suggestions.

HiroOne · Post by **HiroOne** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:44 am

I work retail at staples so here's my best recommendations.

#1, if you can put up with the weight the best quality is all in the lens. Bigger is better because it allows you to get a much further zoom and wider focus. Most digital cameras rate the zoom in Optical and Digital. Optical zoom allows you to use the lens to zoom in on the picture. Digital merely means you're as far as the lens can go and the camera is now going to digitally crop into the picture and stretch it to the desired megapixel (aka image degredation). Steer clear of digital zoom.

One of my favorite medium priced but quality cameras is the Canon PowerShot S3 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=13077). The Kodak series with 10x optical zoom or greater is a good runner up due to ease of use. I don't recommend hewlett packard due to quality and I don't recommend olympus or fuju due to their memory style (XD memory is terrible). Sony isn't bad - great quality pictures and easy to use but the memory is propritary (Unless you have a PSP - then your Memory Stick Duo serves a dual purpose). Kodak is good for all around and ease of use. Canon IMHO is the best.

A lot of people talk about the hype of SLR cameras but to be honest, it's only for the photographer enthusiast. They've got a lot of features.. almost too many and you could easily get confused with all the ISO settings, shutter speeds, lens attachments, etc.

ilovemyguitar · Post by **ilovemyguitar** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:32 am

HiroOne's opinion is probably much more qualified than mine, but I'm going to pitch in my two cents and say that I love my Sony Cybershot. It's super easy to use, it takes great pictures, and it's teeny-tiny and fits in my pocket.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 5:47 am

I recommend getting a digital camera with at least 5 megapixels (obviously, more megapixels is better) and get a camera that takes SD cards. Those things are awesome, cheap, and can be used in other devices, like palm pilots, phones, and pocket PCs. I got a 5 megapixel Kodak Easyshare, which is pretty awesome (except it takes horrible pictures at dusk) but other than that it works great as a camera, and as a digital video recorder.

However, the camera I want is the Canon Rebel (though last I checked, it was at LEAST $600, without lens, but that was a 3 years ago.) My old roommate got a Fuji camera 8.0 megapixel (semi-professional camera, big freaking lens) and that think kicked major ass. Had all kinds of neat features and took very good quality pictures. Only problem was the the XD card didn't hold alot (due to the size of each picture, which is based on Megapixels) and to get a bigger card was about twice as much than an SD card of the same size.

HiroOne · Post by **HiroOne** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:23 pm

Oh and I'll touch up a bit on Megapixel. Bigger is better.. but not always so.

Megapixel is simply resolution (think desktop resolution). The bigger the megapixel, the more pixels the picture will have vertical and horizontal. It does not mean quality, however by taking a high megapixel shot you can now crop and still print a perfect quality 8.5x11. Most people want a camera for 4x6, 5x7, or 8.5x11 for reprints.. You can do this with a 2 megapixel. Having a 5-6 megapixel allows you to take pictures up to 13x19 which is good because if you want to crop it, it's still perfect photo quality for 12x17s or 8.5x11s.

Aside from cropping, if you ever want to make poster-sized prints, obviously big megapixels is the right thing for you. Otherwise, you're spending un-needed money for that 8-11 megapixel camera.

Final note: The more megapixels, the more memory it takes. A typical 5 megapixel photo is about 3 megabytes. Average digital camera memory cards are 512 megabytes to 2 gigabytes. To get the most out of your memory card, take lower megapixel shots. Most cameras allow you to adjust. The Canon, for example, will let you take a 3 megapixel shot if you want, but 6 megapixels is the max it can do. Which ain't half bad!

Post by **Kizyr** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:07 pm

You also want to look at what you intend on doing with the camera. If you never intend on printing shots, than even a 2 megapixel camera will do you fine. Anything higher than that and you're looking at quality regarding prints, not how it appears on-screen (an un-resized 3+ megapixel shot is going to be much bigger than your screen resolution anyhow). The lowest you can find these days is usually 3MP, however.

Optical zoom is the only important thing to look at if you're concerned about zoom. Digital zoom is worthless; you can do that by editing the picture in photoshop at home (or MS Paint or IrfanView); most cameras that advertise a high digital zoom and no optical zoom are trying to cater to a crowd that doesn't know any better.

For memory cards, SD cards are usually the most convenient, but a few other common ones will do fine. I'd recommend at least a 256MB card, although if you'll be taking low-res photos and don't intend on printing anything, then 128MB is fine (if you can find one, that is).

As for other features, don't pay too much for a camera that has a load of features you'll never use. But some convenient ones include backlighting, flash (obviously), and video recording with or without sound. KF

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:29 pm

8 megapixel camera's are still worth the money. My old roommate took the same picture of something I took a picture of at the same time, and when we compared the two at a smaller (about the half the size of a 17" CRT moniter) setting, his blew mine out of the water (I have a 5 megapixel) Naturally, yes, the more megapixels, the bigger the picture. However, Kodak Easyshare 5 megapixel that I have, the pictures average 740K, going no higher than 1.2 megabytes. So a 256 SD card can hold about 150ish pictures easy at 5 megapixels. And since the same 256 card cost me $60 when I bought it, you can now get one for about a 1/4th that price, and a gigabyte for about $30 more, so I would get at least a gigabyte card if anything (they hold more, and are cheaper if you do the math of price per 64megabyte.)

Also, 8 megapixel camera's resolutions are awesome, when you zoom in digitally, you can actually make out details (like a flie's leg, or individual hair on a deer standing 25-50 feet away) as the pixels are, well, not as pixelated

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:36 pm

I guess I should throw in the fact that I'm not that interested in spending more than 200 bucks on this thing. For the ones you guys are talking about, what do they run? I might be persuaded to spend a bit more for something that will really give me a good bang for my buck, but otherwise, I'd like to stick to the 100-200 range.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:41 pm

Kodack Easyshare's are around that price range. I honestly couldn't say anything more about anything else, though.

HiroOne · Post by **HiroOne** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:54 pm

Canon PowerShot A530 Digital Camera is a good affordable one.
5.0 megapixels
4x optical/4x digital zoom
1.8" LCD
Memory: Secure Digital (SD - today's universal standard)
Runs $149.99

For a slimmer, easier to carry design Sony Cyber-shot® S500 Digital Camera
6.0 megapixels
3x optical/2x digital zoom
2.4" LCD
Memory: Memory Stick Pro Duo (PSP Compatible)
Runs $179.99

and if you want to have great quality video clips and a larger LCD consider Canon PowerShot A540 Digital Camera
6.0 megapixels
4x optical/4x digital zoom
2.5" LCD
Memory: Secure Digital (SD - today's universal standard)
Captures 60 fps video clips with sound
Runs $199.99

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:21 pm

Hey Hiro, when I was looking at getting the Canon Rebel, I was confused about the costs, lens, and other technical things about it. Can you fill me in if you know anything about this model? Would be very much appreciated.

HiroOne · Post by **HiroOne** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:16 am

The Canon Digital Rebel is a camera we do sell but to be honest that is photography a bit too advanced for me to go into too much detail.

As far as I know, Canon Rebels were some top-quality 35mm cameras in the days and now Canon has a digital version of it. Zooming with the camera is a bit manual - you adjust the lens with your hand yourself and it can zoom very very far. It has far too many buttons that do far too many things. The lens can be detached allowing you to add your own lens for all sorts of picture taking. We process a lot of panorama shots here at work from a custom rebel camera.

The price is getting cheaper too. It used to go $999.99, now it's readily available for 650 or so. As far as I know, it uses Type II Compact Flash (older standard of memory cards) and I think it takes advantage of the higher write speeds of the high-speed CF cards.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:53 am

Cool, as I still would like to get one. Though do you know what the megapixel is on it? Last I checked 3 years ago, it was 6 megapixels, but now 6 is just about average, so I would assume that the Rebel is now at least to 7 or 8.

HiroOne · Post by **HiroOne** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:54 am

Canon EOS Rebel XT SLR Digital Camera, Black or Silver
Simple, limitless performance.

8.0 megapixel, ideal for prints up to 13"x19"
Includes EF-S lens(18-55mm)
Compatible with over 50 EF lenses and most EOS system accessories (not included)
Accepts CompactFlash® (CF) memory cards
1.8" TFT screen
PictBridge direct printing
Fast 3 frames-per-second shooting with a 14 frame burst and 0.2 second startup time
User-selectable metering patterns, AF modes, custom functions and flash exposure compensation
Color: Black or Silver

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:57 am

Sweet, thank you so much. Though I would prefer if they also had a SD slot as well, but since I'm a year or two away from being able to afford something that pricey again, I think I still have time for the megapixels to keep going up, and potentially have a SD slot capabilities. XD

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 2:39 am

I'll probably go with the Sony Cyber-shot® S500 or the Canon Powershot A540. I'm liking the later, but it is nice that the memory stick on the Sony would be compatible with a PSP. Not that I plan to get one right now, but I might eventually.

phyco126 · Post by **phyco126** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 2:52 am

GhaleonOne wrote:I'll probably go with the Sony Cyber-shot® S500 or the Canon Powershot A540. I'm liking the later, but it is nice that the memory stick on the Sony would be compatible with a PSP. Not that I plan to get one right now, but I might eventually.

I have a Sony Vaio laptop that has a built in slot for the stick, so yeah, when I get a PSP I'll be set for gettting stuff online and throwing onto the PSP.

HiroOne · Post by **HiroOne** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 2:54 am

Some things you might want to consider..

To start, the sony will be more light weight and yes, the memory card will work in the camera as well as the psp.

The canon will have a bit bigger of a screen and a bit further of a zoom. The memory card will be more universal (phones, pdas, gps, etc.) and also much cheaper.

It's really a toss up there. I'd go with the canon for quality and functionality, but if you want something light weight and easy to carry you can't go wrong with the sony either. I think the best thing for you to do is go to a store and try them both out. See for yourself which one you like best.

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:05 am

I'll likely get the Canon, mainly due to better zooming. That's been something I always wished I had with disposable camera's. Coming up close with a bear 2 years ago, I wanted a good picture, but even though he was only 20 yards away, in the picture it was like over 60 yards away. There's been a number of times like that where I've wanted to take a closer picture of wildlife or a faraway mountain and get a closer picture, and the zooming capabilities on the Canon outweigh the PSP memory stick on the Sony.

But yeah, I've still got 4 and a half weeks until I go on vacation, so I've got plenty of time to browse around at camera's in store.

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