Digital Cameras

[may63]

I don't remember, has there been a thread about digital cameras yet?

The time has come for me to buy one. But my preliminary investigating to understand all the ins and outs has overwhelmed me. I just want a basic camera with not a lot of frills. But I'm not one to buy the BOL model either. So I'm being lazy and writing to you guys, and maybe starting a fun discussion thread in the process, since digital pics are an important element at automaticwasher.org.

Can anyone give me some practical dig cam purchasing advice?

Jim

 

[DADoES]

As with appliances, something mid-line is usually the best value. I've had two Sonys. A DSC-50 and a DSC-85. Both are now old models. I think the DSC-50 may have produced slightly better results, but both are very nice. Here's a shot done with the DSC-50, 4 years ago. Lizard

And here's one with the DSC-85 taken one year ago (after being resized). Bedspread

Most still camera nowadays can do video clips. The quality isn't as good as a dedicated video camera, but it's still a useful feature.

 

[Cybrvanr]

the thing to look for is not as much the mega-pixel amount, but the size of the lens. A big piece of glass out there means that it will bring in lots of light, and perform better in low light, and give sharper pictures in bright light. The lens is one of the only things in a digital camera that cannot be made cheaper through technology, so sometimes, you gotta spend a little bit more. I have typically found though that the performance of the camera is directly proportional to the size of the lens (BTW don't let some cameras fool you with a big lens cap that covers up a pinhole!)

 

[Brneyedgrl80]

I've always had real good luck with Canons. I bought a Powershot A70 about 2 years ago, so now it would be considered old, but it's still a very good camera.

When I bought my Canon, I played with it for about 5 minutes and was able to figure hot to take pictures and video clips right away.

Canons tend to be user friendly, and I would recommend anything in their Powershot line.

 

[drmitch]

I bought a Cannon Digital video camera two weeks ago. I could not even set the date and even had a professional(11yr Old) look at it! No Go! So I took it back the next day. I have a 4yr old HP 620 2mp that has done very well but I would like to upgrade to one that takes good close ups like Glen`s Cannon.

 

[petek]

I'm still using our 6 year old or more Kodak which cost a fortune when it was new compared to what's available today. But it's been a good camera. I like the fact it uses regular AA batteries or rechargeable AA batteries instead of a proprietary built in battery. That way you're not stuck with no camera if the batteries go dead waiting for it to recharge,, you can always buy some AA's can keep shooting.
It also has telescopic zoom which I hear is better than digital zoom though I really don't know one way or t'other

 

[DADoES]

Digital zoom does degrade image quality, especially at extremes. My DSC-85 has both optical and digital. The digital zoom can be disabled if desired, to guard against accidentally getting into that range.

 

[ironrite]

We added an Olympus ImageLink D-555 camera to the stable for a trip to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. Camera and printer dock came in around $279.00 at Fry's Electronics here. The printer dock uses the Kodak replacement paper and ink. So that's easy to find. You'll want to add a large memory card, which will allow you to store a lot of photos in the high resolution. I would also recommend a set of 4 AA rechargeable batteries.

It's a very easy camera to use. Most of the time we just set it to automatic and shot, though it has many other settings for night, sports, portrait, etc. It is 5 mega pix, so supposedly larger format prints will come out looking great, though I haven't had any printed just yet.