adivce and how to buy a digital camera

[trip0d]

well i thought it was time for me to own my own camera. i really dont know much about digital cameras or what to look for in one. im in the market for a decent size..not to big not to small, medium weight..lower the better.

what are some things i should look for?

[Kendan]

What is your budget?
Here are some good sites for reviews and all sorts of info:

http://www.dpreview.com/

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

http://www.shortcourses.com/choosing/contents.htm

[trip0d]

prbably no greater than 300 could go as high as 400 but want to keep it around the 300 range..ill check out the reviews too

[michaelkahl]

I just bought a Canon Powershot A80 and I love it. You can find them for $351 on newegg...they take compact flash cards and can do 3 minutes of video with audio. It's a 4megapixel camera and has great quality and color. the detail in the photos is just incredible. The battery life is another good feature. It uses AA batteries, but you can use those NiMH batteries and get hundreds of shots with the flash and LCD on. It doesn't compare to my SLR cameras for photography, but for fun pics and remembering events it's awesome. Point & shoot with incredible quality and tons of features. The new digic chip is nice in these cameras. It feels faster than other digital cameras I've used. It comes with a 32mb card, but I bought a 256mb card for it too. I tired a Nikon coolpix 4300 and hated it, horrible battery life, and the color wasn't as good. Hope that helps.

[mrgreenjeans]

I've got a Nikon Coolpix 990 I wouldn't trade for anything, however, the menus and learning curve can be steep, but the options and variables are never ending. I bought my wife a Kodak 4260 (?) with a docking station due to its' ease of use and ability to do one touch downloads. The prices have come down considerably the past year and a good 3.2 mp camera can be had for the price range you've quoted.
I'd read the reviews and do some hands on research. Get a large storage card with one a common format, several manufacturers tend to rely on their own proprietary storage cards (Sony comes to mind, however they do make good cameras)and definitley get one that uses AA bateries and invest in a recharger. With the AA's if you do run down, replacements for that critical shot, and they always die just when you need them, are at the nearest corner store.

[bluediamond]

Stick with either cannon, nikon or sony. All three of these manufacturers have solid cameras. Personally I have a Sony and I love it, I have taken thousands of pictures with it and I haven't had one problem. I would say the sony and the cannon will be more user friendly than the nikon.

[GravY]

I have a fuji finepix s602.. love the camera and it's manual control.. but its all on what you want, size, weight, do you want more manual control or point and shoot and price range?

the above sites Dpreview and Steves will give you good info, I will add one more Megapixel.net..

[Fightingpiper]

I have an Olympus Camedia C700 which offers good picture quality. Although its a bit bigger than some I love the optical zoom on this thing. That was the biggest selling point for me when I bought it. DOnt get one with a digital zoom as all that does is just blows up the picture to make it look like its zoomed in.....
REVIEW (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/c700uz.html)

[JCLW]

I've had good experiences with Canon, and mixed with HP.

My first Digicam was an HP 618 which I loved - It provided basic manual control, took decent pictures, and had a relatively fast (Pentax) lens and low noise sensor for dark/night shots. Unfortunately, it grew legs and walked away :cry:

I liked the 618 so much I went looking for another, but they didn't make them anymore so I bought an HP 720 (without doing my homework first). No manual control, slow lens, crappy construction... I used it for ~8 months and then decided to ditch it (together with my Canon SLR body) for a dSLR. Went with the Canon 10D because I already had a few Canon EF lens. The 10D is incredible, but then again it's in a different league.

I'll second the nomination for the Canon A80 that michaelkahl provided. Decent lens, manual controls, CF card (and microdrive) support, plus the great Canon DIGIC processor.

I know this suggestion is going to be over budget, but the Canon G series is worth looking at if you're into photography or take lots of pictures in dark locations. A G3 would give you a much better lens (wider angle and faster), more manual control, ability to shoot in RAW mode, and comes with a Canon BP-511 LiIon battery (and charger). They came out over a year ago so even though they list at $700 you can find them new for $400-$500, and even cheaper refurbished.

[itshondo]

Check this out at Newegg - http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=12&DEPA=7

[secretweapon]

You got to decide what you will mostly use the camera for? Lots of low light indoor shots? Action or candid shots which requires a fast shutter lag/ startup time? How much zoom do you need and do you want movie mode? Do you want point and shoot abilities or do you want to get creative sometimes and use manual controls? Also will you primarily store the pic on your computer or will you print them out? You mentioned you want the camera to be medium sized, does it have to be pocketable? These are all contributing factors. Once you get an idea from these factors the decision becomes much easier. I went through this during Christmas and probably read about and tested every single model available :D Eventually ended up with a pentax optio 555. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

[Sophisticated]

Originally posted by michaelkahl
I just bought a Canon Powershot A80 and I love it. You can find them for $351 on newegg...they take compact flash cards and can do 3 minutes of video with audio. It's a 4megapixel camera and has great quality and color. the detail in the photos is just incredible. The battery life is another good feature. It uses AA batteries, but you can use those NiMH batteries and get hundreds of shots with the flash and LCD on. It doesn't compare to my SLR cameras for photography, but for fun pics and remembering events it's awesome. Point & shoot with incredible quality and tons of features. The new digic chip is nice in these cameras. It feels faster than other digital cameras I've used. It comes with a 32mb card, but I bought a 256mb card for it too. I tired a Nikon coolpix 4300 and hated it, horrible battery life, and the color wasn't as good. Hope that helps.


you can get the A80's for $289.99 on Pricegrabber:D

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=48/topcat_search=1/form_keyword=canon+powershot/ut=447f6ac6a276b4fa

[JCLW]

[off topic rant]
I was just flipping through that pricegrabber link and noticed that the Powershot Pro1 cameras were going for US$1000!!! Sure it's 8mpixel, and comes with L glass, but the CCD sensor is useless above ISO 200 (http://www.hardwarezoom.com/viewcontent.jsp?ReviewID=202&PageNo=12), and even at ISO 200 it's not great. For US$900 you can get a EOS 300D (Digital Rebel) (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos300d/) that can be used up to ISO 800, and even ISO 1600 isn't as bad as ISO 400 on the Powershot Pro1 (judging by the reviews). Of course the default lens the D300 comes with isn't the best, but you can pick up a Canon 28-135mm for a couple of hundred, never mind the choice of hundreds of other Canon, Tamron, and Sigma lens'.
[/off topic rant]

[secretweapon]

The CCD sensor is not useless above ISO 200. It's just that sensor sizes are limited in this kind of configuration. Granted fixed lense cameras may not have the same image quality as a DSLR but it does have it's own advantages such as movie mode and convenience in not switching lenses thus avoiding a lot of the hassle. Canon is using the same sensor the new sony 828, this would explain some of the problems the camera is having. i'm sure they will want to develop their own sensors to use in their next revision. Besides, try to get a canon L lense covering the same range as the pro1 and a DSLR body and you'll see a dramatic price increase.

[JCLW]

I understand where you're coming from and you're quite right, the Pro1 offers simplicity and features that the D300 can't match.

From the reviews I've seen I still think if you're just after great pictures the D300 with a consumer lens will give better pics then the Pro1 with the L lens. It is hard to find something equivalent to the 28-200 offered by the Pro1, but the Canon 28-135 IS is a decent lens and gives the equivalent of 45-216mm on a D300. You're missing a bit on the wide angle side, but you do get the image stabilization.