[Jason]

Can anyone recommend a good all round digital camera?

I've been looking at the the Nikon S1 and S2 and also at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7.
Does anyone have any good/bad experiences with these models?
All comments welcome.

[usurp]

well it depends on your budget. that can make a big difference.

[Jason]

No more than £250 / $450.

[usurp]

Well I am not a Canon fan myself but they do make some good low budget cams so i would check those out and Sony also. I prefer Nikon for the more expensive stuff.
Check out the Canon PowerShot A95, this should easily fit in your budget with enough money left over for a memory card and rechargable batteries.

also bookmark dpreview.com and steves-digicams.com for cam reviews.

[thegelding]

on a related note...my youngest wants a digital camera that takes good action shots (she works on the yearbook at school)...has a budget of 1000...what do you think is best for action shots and also daily use?

thanks

g

[elvia]

I have a Nikon D70 and I love it. You can find one for around 800 to 1200 at some of the online camera shops. Its 6.1 megapixel. Like I said, I Love it

[Stevuh]

I personally own a Canon Digital Rebel, the Rebel XT is $1000.00. has a 8.1 MP and come with a good lens. My camera has served my great even compared to the nikons that are supposed to be better than mine is.

Though whne it come to SLR's the important part of the camera is the Glass in the lens. The body won't mean much unless you get a good lens.

GOOD LENS (plus some know how) = GOOD PICTURES

If you don't wanna dive into SLRs then look into the Fujifilm S5500. this is one of the most used cameras in my major. takes good pictures is semi-SLR (screw on new "lenses") takes good shots. all that jazz. Other than that look into the the Canon PowerShots between 500-800 dollars.

[thegelding]

oh, and not to hijack jasons thread...

jason, great reviews here...

g

here

buyers guide by price

[elvia]

Yea, you always want to buy a fast lens. the faster the lens, the more control you have. What that means is the larger the aperture, the slower the lens. So, a aperture of 2.8 is faster than a 5.6 the numbers seem backwards. Anyhow, just check around on the internet. The net knows all

[usurp]

i also have a D70 and its really cool. I recently got my brother a D70 for $749 from amazon without a lens.

[Stevuh]

Originally Posted by elvia Yea, you always want to buy a fast lens. the faster the lens, the more control you have. What that means is the larger the aperture, the slower the lens. So, a aperture of 2.8 is faster than a 5.6 the numbers seem backwards. Anyhow, just check around on the internet. The net knows all

Not to nit-pick or anything =P but Aperture setting is the size of the hole that light travels through to get to the film or the sensors in a Digi Cam. The larger that hole is the faster your shutter can go with out the picture becoming underexposed. 1/4000 of a sec Shutter should and can only be used in Very bright situations with a large aperture setting f2.8 - f4 only.

[gjas15]

I have an Olympus Camedia C-765 4MP 10X zoom. Cost me about $300. Its a good camera for point and shoot type stuff, but the ISO speed is a little slow for low light conditions. (600 I believe) So if your shooting outdoors this would be a great low budget camera. Autofocus is pretty fast and it will also let you manually adjust everything: Aperture, Shutter speed (from 15 sec to 1/1000), and Focus. Realtime histograph transparent menus, the only thing I realy dont like about this camera is it doesn't like to remember the quality you set it on the last time you used it. So everytime you turn it on you have to remember to turn the quality to max.

Oh and it also can take uncompressed pictures.

[geneman]

Also check DP review they have pretty much all the categories covered. They were very helpful when I was buying.

One thing though, consider the size, personally I got stuck with a perfect camera that's too big, so I don't use it as much as I would like to. My next camera will be small... may give poorer quality, but it beats no pictures...

[Windswept]

I live in a major bird migration corridor for the North American continent. When I put various kinds of birdseed out, I'm amazed at the incredible variety of the little blighters that show up in my yard.

I don't have a digital camera, and am not actively shopping for one now because I just spent $4,000 on a new air conditioner, and $3,400 on car repairs.

But I will *eventually* start actively looking for a camera that will have extremely high quality zoom characteristics for the purpose of capturing pictures of some of these cool birds that dine at my house.

I don't know where to begin. I'd *really* like to be able to buy such a camera at Costco, but there's seldom anyone there handy for answering questions.

I don't know much about birds either. But when migrators from across the continent use my yard as a way-station, I figure I would be foolish to pass up the chance to get some good shots of them.

I looked briefly at some of the links above, but didn't have the time to read as exhaustively as might be necessary to get even a hint of where to begin my search for a decent camera. I suppose, from what everyone's saying, that $1,000 is a general benchmark price for a moderately decent camera?

[FFL]

Check out the Canon PowerShot A95, this should easily fit in your budget with enough money left over for a memory card and rechargable batteries.

Unless you aren't comfortable without having a SLR-style camera body and using multiple interchangable lenses, this would be my recommendation also.

[MCQ]

Originally Posted by Windswept I suppose, from what everyone's saying, that $1,000 is a general benchmark price for a moderately decent camera?

Depends on who you ask, and what you mean by "moderately decent". I think $1,000 is very high-end consumer, low-end hobbyist range, since $1,000 can fetch one a digital SLR (i.e. Digital Rebel, D70, etc). An average consumer camera is probably around $250-$400, with $500-$800 getting you more features (whether it be more megapixels, zoom, manual features, etc).

[elvia]

MCQ is right about the prices, Also when it comes to Really good quality zoom lens you can expect to pay more than you pay for the camera For me, a good quality zoom would be in the range of 4 to 5 thousand dollars. thats for a great fast lens. Mind you, I don't have one of these, but I wish I did

[thegelding]

actually carol, you can get great and easy cameras for about 400 bucks...my sony is amazing and i take great photos with it...but it is not very good with high speed shots (soccer games, football games etc)...for people and landscapes and buildings and animals not zooming past it is great...try some 4 mp consumer models in the 400 bucks range, should be good for you...birds are weird...i get great shots with my camera of hummingbirds, but they tend to hover...but most of the shots you will get will be birds sitting or feeding, so you will be fine...even really expensive camera will have a hard time with birds flying just because you have a hard time keeping focus and such

g

[thegelding]

three choices so far (this is for xmas, so i have some time to shop about):

Canon Rebel XT--about $850 on internet with lens. specs:Canon Digital Rebel XT (body w/ EF-S 18-55mm Lens) Black 8.0MP Digital Camera High-sensitivity, high-resolution, single-plate color CMOS sensor, 8.2MP gross, 8.0MP effective 1.8" LCD

nice camera...small and light, but plastic body...too light? too small?? probably not for my daughter...i would likely want a slightly larger, slightly heavier metal body.

Nikon D50: same price with similar lens...6.1 MP vs. 8 with canon...but slightly bigger and better built body....plus my wife and i have a nikon camera from high school that we still use and love (though we mostly go digital now)

Nikon D70s: little more bucks for some added features

Canon EOS-20D: if we want to spend extra bucks this is the way to go...but 1300 for camera...1700 for camera and lens...but this is one sweet camera...

still leaning towards the D50 just because she is only 16 and she can get a nicer camera in a couple of years if she really does well with this one...and doesn't lose it...or lose interest

g

[holbox]

Get ready for a big laugh .........

I've been a big Nikon fan. Camera , lens - the whole bit. Shot 35 MM pictures that you could count the hairs on peoples head. There's lots of great equipment out there, but I doubt that anyone would say that a Nikon is at least among the very best, and I had their best.

Went digital a couple years ago.

Bought a "Fujifilm 3800" for a couple hundred bucks. Bought it just to play with digital till I decided which Nikon I wanted.

I honestly couldn't want a better camera! Size, features, etc. Takes crisp clean photos and iPhoto lets you goof around with the pictures.

Takes AA batteries. Has postage stamp cards that hold hundreds of photos.

I can't think of a reason to spend big bucks when this little jewel does such an awesome job!

[Stevuh]

the d50 sounds like the camera for you because your old lenses for your 35 might be usable with the new one. BTW the rebel is very well built. mine has taken a beating and i can;t complain about it. best of luck in this though.

[thegelding]

holy crap...never thought about that...my 25 year old lens might work with a brand new digital camera?? sweet...i have a telephoto lens and close up lens and all kinds of crap...


g

[tannenhauser]

i like the Pentax ist.
its much smaller than any other digital slr, much lighter, has amazing lenses for it, takes great photos and is a pleasure to hold

[GSpotter]

Originally Posted by thegelding holy crap...never thought about that...my 25 year old lens might work with a brand new digital camera?? sweet...i have a telephoto lens and close up lens and all kinds of crap...g

Mechanically, they will fit a D50, but you will lose the automatic exposure settings. When you feel comfortable setting aperture and speed manually, then you can use your old lenses. If the resulting pictures are good depends very much on the lenses. Some old lenses work better with digital cameras, some don't.

Here's a nice link with Nikon lens reviews: http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_surv.html

I have a D70 myself and I'm very pleased with the camera. I had some old manuel lenses for my FE-2, but as their quality wasn't very good, I sold them all and bought AF lenses.

Edit: I should have mentioned, that the exposure metering with old lenses works on the high end Nikon DSLRs.
An overview about which kind of lenses work with which body can be found here: http://www.bythom.com/lensacronyms.htm

[GSpotter]

Originally Posted by Windswept I suppose, from what everyone's saying, that $1,000 is a general benchmark price for a moderately decent camera?

As someone already mentioned, when you buy a (D)SLR, the most important factor is the lens. Basically, the camera is only a glorified black box. It is always amusing to see people with $2000 (or up) DSLRs which complain about the bad quality of their pictures - which were made with a $200 "Superzoom" (i.e. a lens full of compromises) ...

Birds are rather tricky to photograph, as they are very small (and rather fast ). To get them "large enough" on a picture, you either have to come very close or have a rather 'big' lens. Otherwise you might get a bad surprise when you search the bird on the pictures and only find a small colorful spot...

I have a Nikon D70 and a 80-400 VR as tele. It's a great combo but not exactly cheap. (Unfortunately, Nikon has a hole in their lens portfolio between the cheap consumer lenses and the high quality pro lenses. :/ )

Here are some quick intros to bird photography:
http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net/BirdPhotoBasics.htm
http://www.web-nat.com/bic/ont/tipsindex.html

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by thegelding actually carol, you can get great and easy cameras for about 400 bucks...my sony is amazing and i take great photos with it...but it is not very good with high speed shots (soccer games, football games etc)...for people and landscapes and buildings and animals not zooming past it is great...try some 4 mp consumer models in the 400 bucks range, should be good for you...birds are weird...i get great shots with my camera of hummingbirds, but they tend to hover...but most of the shots you will get will be birds sitting or feeding, so you will be fine...even really expensive camera will have a hard time with birds flying just because you have a hard time keeping focus and such g

Yeah, not interested in trying for shots of birds that are 'flying'. But a lot of cool-looking birds hang out in my front trees, about 20 feet up from the ground. Would a $400 camera be able to zoom in for a good, high-resolution close-up of a sitting bird at 20-25 feet?

[GSpotter]

Originally Posted by thegelding still leaning towards the D50 just because she is only 16 and she can get a nicer camera in a couple of years if she really does well with this one...and doesn't lose it...or lose interest

Maybe you can get a closeout deal on a D70. The differences between a D70 and a D70s are rather small. Or you might get her an additional lens instead. E.g. the 50mm/1.8 is very cheap and very sharp at the same time. On a DSLR it is a great portrait lens.

I think this is also a problem with the compact digital cameras: Their chip is so small (and often the minimum aperture so high) that the minimum depth of field is so big that you cannot make nice portraits with an unsharp background.

[gsxrboy]

I just picked up a Canon 350D (or Rebel XT for you US folks), and bolted on all my old Canon EOS50N (film slr) lenses to it and bingo, happy times.. As mentioned above the glass is the difference, you can *easily* spend 3x the camera bodies price on a range of lenses in quality glass.. I got me Canon 20-35 f3.5-f.6, Canon 50mm f1.8, Sigma 70-200 HSM APO f2.8

[Stevuh]

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_t...sterid=2594563

this is possibly one of the coolest cameras out there. Kodak makes some awesome stuff. The best part about this one is that you can get a model that has lens mounts for Canon Lens, or one that uses Nikon Lens. That aside it has some pretty awesome features. But that price kills me (a little) every time I look at it.

[cyrusmekon]

Thought id share this with you after the talk of taking pictures of birds. Here is one my friend took when we were in Salzburg last month. This happened to be at the top of the mountain that there is a cable car ride. For those of you have been you know what im talking about.

Picture was taken from a point and shoot digital. I think its beautiful, set as my desktop.

Sorry had to share that with you. And yes it was a nice day!!!!!!