Digital Camera Recommendations

[10.90streetcar]

I have a Kodac DC 280. its an excellent camara.

[hirschY]

Yes, I agree with the optical zoom. Mine doesnt have it, and it makes a big difference.
The other main thing, how are you going to download the pic's?
Mine has a serial cable that blows.
I would recomend the memory cards, cause you can get biger ones to hold more pic's.
I havent messed with a USB one, so I dont know.
Good luck, and remeber, get a burner http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
You use a lot of HD space with pics!

[LJE2]

I just bought the new Minolta Dimage 7, it's my 3rd digital camera, it lists for $1499, it is fantastic, my last camera was the Olympus 2020Z, I was very happy with it, the reason I am telling you this is I don't want to give you the impression that, I'm pregidous to one particular brand. In the price range you are talking In my opinion the best camara on the market right now is the Nikon Coolpix 775. Here's a link to some prices, (don't always go with the lowest, check out the rating of the company and read some of the reviews. http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php3
Here are some links to some web sites that review digital camera's. http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews.html and here's another http://www.dpreview.com/

[Toddly]

I have an Olympus D460Z. I like it but could not afford a Nikon at the time. Optical zoom is the best way to go and get at least 2.1 Megapixel if you can afford it. I also bought a Flash Path adaptor that I put the memory card into and transfer the pics to HD that way. This works just like a floppy disk. Its a bit slow but it will hold any type of data and comes in handy for transfering all types of files. The serial cable that came with the camera is the slowest and power hungry on the batteries.
Happy Shopping

[rh71]

I've got the Kodak DC280 as well. It's such a sweet camera. By the way, if you're putting up the pics on the web, you don't have to go much higher than a 2MegaPixel camera... otherwise it's just overkill. If you're gonna print them out, then it's understandable that you would get higher.

[LittleKing]

I'm looking to buy a digital camera, but I'm not sure what I should get or where to start. I know the basics of what to look for, dpi, high resolution, more pixels the better.

What I'm wanting from you guys is what am I missing as in spec wise, and what are some decent cameras. I'm looking for the $300 - $450 (USD) price range.

Thanks for your help
LK

[daveleau]

Also look for the zoom specs. Optical zoom is much better than digital zoom. Optical is the lens actually doing the zooming, where the digital zoom is where the camera firmware blows up the pixels ont he ccd to make everythign look closer while lowering the resolution.

Dave
Some threads of interest: http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum10/HTML/001777.html
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/009908.html

[muno]

I've messed around with few cameras.
To transfer the files to a pc the best way is to have a camera that appears as a movable hd in explorer, so you can copy the pictures directly from there.
What a pain it was to acquire the images to a editing application from a camera.
Apply this to the previous suggestions http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
-M

[JL_in_Vail]

Try this link: Imaging Resource (http://www.imaging-resource.com) -for some comprehensive reviews of digital cameras! My favorite is the Nikon Coolpix 995.


[This message has been edited by JL_in_Vail (edited 08-15-2001).]

[Shagnasty]

I'm still using an Olympus D340R, Which is
virtually Identical to the D360R. Only 1.3MP
and it gives Great Pics. There are some
drawbacks. The most critical is Lighting. If
you don't have nice bright daylight, you're
screwed! Indoors, closeup the flash will do
but outdoors, if it's overcast...It just
don't cut it. I get 960X1280 great shots if
I'm careful. My next camera will have to be
3.4mp min., I want the 100/200/400 options
for exposure. I want 3X Optical Zoom Min.
Must use at least a 64mb Smart Media card
larger is better I'm limited to 16mb now.
I DO NOT WANT MOTION! Just an option that
adds more problems. Would be nice to be able
to attach a telephoto lens? One note, for
downloading, check with Sandisk...I use the
USB SmartMedia reader. It was cheap and it's
just like having the files on a CD, it's
that quick...There are some pretty slick
cameras in your price range...but you're
gonna get a headache shopping...gotta do it
though...

[96passatman]

I agree with most of the previous posts, and would only add that I recently bought the HP Photosmart 618 and I would highly reccomend it to anyone searching for a camera in this price range. It also has every feature listed, plus a few like programmability(scripts can be written and loaded depending on the type of photography you choose), a GREAT user interface(an actual OS: Digita), and infrared image transfer capabilities. This camera cost me less than $400, even after purchasing HP's accessory kit with a compact carrying case and 16 meg compact flash card!(the camera comes with a 16 meg card already)for a total of 32 megs. The software is top notch as well. HP makes loading, printing, mailing and posting pics simple and effortless.

Check it out!

[LittleKing]

Thanks for all the input, it's been most helpful. I haven't had a chance to look at all the links, but what I've seen so far the HP 618 look promising.

LK

[cdrakejr]

I just bought a Sony DSC-S75 on Monday and saved $200 by pricematching with a website price.
The pricematching policy at Sears is one of the best I've seen. I have had no hassles, except some of the clerks get a little nervous when the price difference is so great. But they check with the dept. mgr. and it goes smoothly. I have saved $300 on a Sony Wega, $200 on the camer, $17 on the Sony memory stick and $200 on a Yamaha AV receiver.
To top it off, their return policy is VERY liberal.

When you decide on your model, I would recommend checking to see if your local store has it and, if so, do the price match using a printout from an internet store. Just check prices using pricegrabber.com or ibuyer.net

Good hunting!

[LittleKing]

96passatman, I was looking at the specs for the HP 618, and to me it seems like a pretty large camera. Is this the case or is it a decent size?

LK

[Axel]

I'm going to part from the crowd on this one -

Don't buy a digital camera - you limit yourself on resolution and may other things.

Instead - buy a good auto-focus 35 mil camera and the best damned scanner you can find.

This advise from a professional cameraman I know in California -

What he said made sense - he just could not get really good resolution from a digital, and the ones he bought cost a fortune - but from a simple 35 mil camera, he got virtually infinate resolution on prints and then could do almost anything he wanted with the picture on his flat-bed scanner..... No more memory to buy, and his image software - much of which is freeware or shareware ( check out http://www.nonags.com ) could do all sorts of things to an image if he wasn't limited on his pixel count.....

[ukulele]

35mm film cameras do give you the best pics but I have rolls of undeveloped film laying around. I have a two year old Olympus 360R and have taken several thousand shots by now. I carry it everywhere and find it's a lot handier then any film type camera. For the most part the output is quite acceptable for printing at 8 x 10 and I haven't bought a roll of film since I went digital. For internet use I reduce all my pics from the 1.3 meg pixtels this camera has so you may not need the higher capacity of a more expensive camera.

[RADAR1797]

I have the Fuji Finepix 1400 and love it! It is very well priced and with 3X optical zoom, 2x digital zoom and 1.3 MP, you can't beat it. It only comes with a 4 MB smart media card, but with the money saved, you can get a 64 MB card for ~$30 at newegg. With my 64 MB card, I can have over 100 pictures at 1280X960. I love it!

-RADAR

[LittleKing]

Axel, I understand what you are saying about the 35mm, and for the most part I agree. But, I already have a great SLR 35mm, and a digital will fill a void in my picture taking.

Right now I only take my 35mm with me when I know I'm going to take pictures, and I don't mind carrying it around. The digital since it's smaller would be easier to carry and save me money. Since I wouldn't have to buy film or pay for processing, I would almost pay for the camera in no time. Sure I have to buy a few memory cards, paper, and every one in a while ink, it should still come out cheaper.

Another plus would be it saves time. With a 35mm you have to finish the roll before you can process it or you lose even more money, and then you have to wait for it to come back. (Forget the 1 hour developing. The quality on bits the bit one, by usually being to red.) However, with a digital you can take just a few pictures and within a matter of minutes (provided your by a computer and printer) you can print the picture out.

Sure scanning the picture in could result in a better quality picture in the long run, but for the most part there wouldn't be that much of difference.

In short, I believe the positives of a digital camera far out weight the negitives.

I just wish I could afford a better digital.

LK

[This message has been edited by LittleKing (edited 08-17-2001).]

[PassnThru]

I have a Fuji FinePix 1300 - a 1.3 megapixel camera. I will take a 1280X960 photo. It is a good camera but no substitute for a 35MM or APS camera. At the finest resolution things are not quite sharp. If you want to replace your film camera, expect to spend big bucks. If you just want something to take quick pics for the web then you have several options. If you expect 35MM quality then you will be disappointed. Right now, 350 to 400 will buy a very decent digital camera spec wise.
[This message has been edited by PassnThru (edited 08-17-2001).]

[This message has been edited by PassnThru (edited 08-17-2001).]

[mrhutch]

I agree with most of the previous posts. From the perspective of the more budget buyer I love HP! I started off with an AGFA 360 (600x800) camera which was fantastic. I want instant pictures to record my travels and life, and this camera was superb. I hardly ever print off photos - always have a laptop with me so viewing is not a problem. I was recently stateside (chicago) with work a couple of months ago and bought a HP 210. Picture qualiity is superb - for about $110 !! unbeatable. Two annoying things though... camera can be sometimes unresponsive - maybe i'm still getting used to it though! and the eternal battery life issue... HP say that you cannot use rechargeables with it (it takes 4 penlight/walkman AA bats)

Does anyone have any tips on battery life or have any info on why you cannot use rechargeables with my camera? I know that rechargeables do not put quite the same power out but can anyone explain to this layman???!!!