Digital Camera Reccommendations

[Illah]

OK, hopefully some of you are knowledgable about this stuff. First, go through this list:

1. Megapixels aren't everything.
2. CCD size matters.
3. ISO features, manual focus, etc... are important.

So if you found a 5MP camera at Costco for $200 - great. That's not what I'm looking for :)

I'm in the market for a digicam that's as close to a 35mm SLR as I can get for around $400-500. I know Canon and Nikon make digital equivalents of SLR's for like $1000+, but I'm willing to settle for a medium quality one for less. I'm thinking pro-sumer if it's possible in this price range.

I need manual focus and zoom, meaning a lens-rotator type - not some push-button thing. Also good macro focus would be nice (extreme close up). As far as megapixels, 2.5MP or better would be fine, the biggest prints I'd ever to would be 8x10's. Optical zooms of like 4x or more would be good, digital zoom means nothing to me but image degredation.

Suggest away!

--Illah

[shiyan]

I haven't got a lot of info on this subject... but what about the Panasonics Lumix line?

12x optical zoom, 2 megapixel, price around $450. Leica lens.

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=63113&catGroupId=11056&modelNo=DMC-FZ1K&surfModel=DMC-FZ1K

or, 12x optical zoom, 4 megapixel, price around $600:

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=65301&catGroupId=11056&modelNo=DMC-FZ10K&surfModel=DMC-FZ10K

[cornbread]

If your looking for something very portable you could try the Canon s400, but I don't think it's really what your looking for.

Here are some pics I took with the camera, and the macro mode isn't bad, but i'm new to photography and still learning.
http://www.pbase.com/ereid

[Aslan]

I'm not sure if this is what you want but i've heard some good things about the Sony F717 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscf717/). The best price I found is for $554 at US1Camera.com (http://www.us1camera.com/shop/Product.asp?sku=SONF717) which has a good ResellerRating (http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2898.html) as well.

[Silversinksam]

Originally posted by Illah
OK, hopefully some of you are knowledgable about this stuff. First, go through this list:

1. Megapixels aren't everything.
2. CCD size matters.
3. ISO features, manual focus, etc... are important.

So if you found a 5MP camera at Costco for $200 - great. That's not what I'm looking for :)

I'm in the market for a digicam that's as close to a 35mm SLR as I can get for around $400-500. I know Canon and Nikon make digital equivalents of SLR's for like $1000+, but I'm willing to settle for a medium quality one for less. I'm thinking pro-sumer if it's possible in this price range.

I need manual focus and zoom, meaning a lens-rotator type - not some push-button thing. Also good macro focus would be nice (extreme close up). As far as megapixels, 2.5MP or better would be fine, the biggest prints I'd ever to would be 8x10's. Optical zooms of like 4x or more would be good, digital zoom means nothing to me but image degredation.

Suggest away!

--Illah


Illah,

Bookmark this site, this was very helpful to me when I was shopping for my Dig. Camera

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com

[Captain Slug]

Minolta Dimage F100 (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/F100/F100A.HTM) = $325 - $450 depending on how large a media card you get with it.

Based on what your requirements are I can't recommend the following camera highly ENOUGH. It's simply the best digital manual SLR camera I have ever tried. Ooodles and oodles of features to slowly ween yourself into trying and even the automatic light balance is fantastic.
To compare I have tried taking pictures with both it and my 1975 Minolta 35mm SLR (with 53mm telephoto lense) and it was difficult to distinguish between the resulting images. Which is cool because the film camera cost twice as much as the Digital camera.

Alternate (newer) Minolta digital cameras are promising as well.
Other brands I recommend: Olympus, Canon, and Nikon.

[cornbread]

Originally posted by Silversinksam



Illah,

Bookmark this site, this was very helpful to me when I was shopping for my Dig. Camera

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com

I agree, "Steve's-digicams" help me on the decision of my little camera, which so far has been great. Also try dpreview.com.

[Illah]

Thanks guys!

After a bit of research and some reviews, I settled on the Fuji FinePix 5000S (I think that's the model - I forget exactly). It's the only full manual SLR with all the goodies under $500 that isn't a behemoth (minolta had one that looked like a camcorder!).

--Illah

[MaxiKana]

lllah could you tell me your experiences with that camera... im thinking of getting the same one...