View Full Version : Want to get a Digital Camera
It seems that Digital cameras have gotten to the point where even the cheaper ones are still pretty good, and capable of producing satisfactory pictures.
I found a great resource, www.dpreview.com
but I don't really know much in the way of models and brands and names and basically what to look for.
Of my limited searches I'm thinking probably one of these
Sony DSC P72 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Sony/sony_dscp72.asp)
Canon Power shot A75 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a75.asp)
Canon Powershot S230 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_s230.asp)
Nikon Coolpix 3200 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_cp3200.asp)
also This one (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Samsung/samsung_d370.asp)(samsung digimax 370) is pretty cheap...looks tempting
I don't really know what to look for I guess. 3.1 MP is fine, video clips is dandy, 16MB is okay, though more is always better right? Mac friendliness is required.
NosferaDrew
2004-09-06, 18:28
I've had a Canon PowerShot S1 forever. Canon stuff works seamlessly with iPhoto.
A friend has a Sony V-1. That's pretty much a semi-pro camera, but the pictures are amazing!
It's time for me to upgrade my camera and I'm thinking about getting the Sony W-1 (the V-1's little brother).
Looking at the cameras that you're interested in, I'm guessing that you want to spend around $200.
Standard batteries are usually a good idea since cameras that use propritary or less common batteries (like my old S1) can be unusable if you run out of juice and don't have your charger with you.
16Mb is nothing. You'll definitely want to get a larger capacity memory card.
And, to me, videos shot on a still camera almost always suck. Get a DV camera if you want video.
Steve's Digicams (http://www.steves-digicams.com/) is a good site for reviews too.
The actual reviews at DP Review are good. The forums are a horrible joke. Aside from the goofy software they use, 80% of the people in there have no idea what's going on and are constantly speculating about things which they have no information on or technical understanding of. And when they're not speculating, they're whining about everything their favorite manufacturer doesn't do (then they invariably write a "give me this feature or I'm leaving for brand X" post. Gets old fast.
That said, none of this is surprising, considering Phil refuses to allow someone (anyone) to moderate his forums. It's a shame because otherwise it would be by far the best photo site on the web.
Thanks for hte input, Are there any cameras(companies) notorious for NOT working well with macs?
alcimedes
2004-09-06, 18:55
i just bought a Canon A80, and have loved every second of it. great camera, and i'd highly recommend it.
I've got a Sony DSC V-1 and I highly recommend spending the extra dough if you can. It's the first digital camera that has really enabled me to set aside my SLR film camera comfortably. I've been able to get some amazing prints that have impressed pro photographer friends.
It's only real drawbacks are battery life and it's a bit chunky to carry around.
Quagmire
2004-09-06, 19:11
If you can spend around $349 I would recommend the Pentax Optio S4i. You get ultra compactness with 4 mega pixels. In my area you have to fight for the camera since it is so popular.
Wrao, your link is wrong. You meant http://www.dpreview.com :)
I have a Canon PowerShot A60 that I love to death. The A75, as far as I know, is the 3 MP version (mine is only 2MP). It's awesome. There's a zoom lens, full manual settings, extra lens attachments in case you want to later get a telephoto or wide-angle lens, and the movie mode is not half bad. Obviously the movies are going to suck but hey, at least it'll record for more than 30 seconds, and the movie will have a decent framerate, a high enough resolution to see most things clearly, and good enough sound to get the idea of what's going on. I've used it a few times.
By the way, I have a 256 MB CF card for it. You could probably get by fine with 64 MB, but 256 MB is only about $30 these days, so why not? That's enough for over 200 photos at the highest quality setting.
Oh yeah, and you should get a set of four rechargeable AA batteries and a charger for it. It comes with just four non-rechargeable batteries. Not a good setup for a digicam. The nice thing about taking a lot of batteries is that allows it to go a long time without replacing them.
LudwigVan
2004-09-06, 20:00
And when they're not speculating, they're whining about everything their favorite manufacturer doesn't do (then they invariably write a "give me this feature or I'm leaving for brand X" post. Gets old fast.
:lol:
Gee, that sounds awfully familiar.
But back on topic... I'm bookmarking this thread for my near-future purchase of a still digital camera of my own. My thanks to Wrao for starting it.
I've only really seen the difference between sony and cannon as far as UI goes, but I prefer my A40's interface much more. It's just better thought out...although it's still nothing amazing. That is actually one of the reasons I'm so happy with it, and have been able to live with a measly 2MP. I'll need bigger soon I guess, but I do have 160mb compact flash for it I got for free from my work, so that is another plus :D
Canon
Canon
Canon
your best three choices!
:D
I'm pretty tempted to get this (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/p73.html)(Sony DSC-p73)
it's only $252 from newegg.com that's not much more than it's younger brother(that I mentioned earlier)
what does the tribunal think?
alcimedes
2004-09-06, 21:12
i've used a variety of cameras. i would say that, for the price, your best bet is a Canon. $ for $ they seemed to have an excellent product. i've owned/used Sony's, Kodak's, Nikon's and Canon's. the camera i bought with my own money was a Canon.
Sonys are okay, but not as good. My main problem with them is their Memory Stick media. It costs about twice as much as Compact Flash media.
wow, This (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a310.asp) Canon A31, is REAL cheap, like $133 was the lowest price I saw.
and it seems pretty good. any opinions?
Ludwig: yes there is a similarity, particularly to the AI of old... but even in AI's worst rumor-mongering and whining days, it's no comparison at all to the nimrods in the DP Review forum. Truly hopeless.
As for cameras: I would say Canon makes the best consumer point-and-click type cameras up to about 5MP. You really can't go wrong with any of the A60, A70, A80, etc.
At the $1000 and under DLSR category (interchangeable lenses), I think Nikon's D70 is very hard to beat, though I'm biased because I own one. At the price points beyond that, Canon is the clear leader right now, distressingly enough.
Fuji is about to release the S3 Pro (uses Nikon lenses and has a Nikon-manufactured body), which uses a very different kind of sensor technology. Hopefully this will reduce noise and greatly expand the quality of shadow and highlight details in a photograph, and perhaps "net resolution" as a result. That camera will probably compete image quality wise with all but Canon's very best (1Ds MkII), and should output files equivalent to about 9MP relative to cameras that use more traditional sensors. This, even though Fuji claims 12MP (there are technically 12 million pixel sites but it's not clear what algorithms Fuji will use to combine those 12 million pixels into an image).
Nikon is long overdue for their next flagship camera (think of the wait and hype being analogous to the G5 with Apple - it's been a long time coming and the technologies have really changed). Some think they'll announce it this Fall and ship it later. I'll be happy if it shows up by next Summer and I can afford one (it will probably be close to $4000).
Sonys are okay, but not as good. My main problem with them is their Memory Stick media. It costs about twice as much as Compact Flash media.
Yeah, that does suck about memory stick. I bought one 512MB stick and that's all I need. I liked the image quality of the Sony enough that I was willing to buy the spendy memory.
Anyone else have any input?
Well, that other Canon you found is basically the same price as the PowerShot A60. The A60 is only 2 MP vs. 3 MP for the A310 you found, but the A310 doesn't have a zoom lens. I don't know about any other differences, that's just what I saw from glancing over the specs.
I would recommend the Sony F717 since they are selling at a very good price now and i own one.
5MP camera, battery life is incredible, never have to worry about it running out. Memorysticks have become really cheap now and i love the fact i can use the same memory sticks on my Sony UX40 PDA. So now i can take pics and then email them from my pda if i want to.
The camera has tons of features including nightvision and a Hologram AutoFocusing system.
You dont buy a camera every year so make sure you buy one that will be with you for a long time.
wretched
2004-09-08, 01:45
I own a Canon Powershot A70 (the A75 is just the new version of it), and I love it. It's 3.2 MP, the only problem I really had with it is that the batteries it has isn't rechargable, so you have to buy yourself your own rechargable batteries, which I did. The battery life is pretty good, the camera can last 2 weeks without recharging the batteries, ofcourse I'm not taking pictures everyday in large amounts, I take a lot of pictures a few days at a time.
The Canon is really easy to work with and from other digicam's I've seen it doesn't seem as confusing or anything and It also works well with a Mac :)
bassplayinMacFiend
2004-09-08, 09:33
It's probably out of your range but I wholeheartedly recommend Canon's Digital Rebel. This camera gets me excited about taking pictures. I've never had a camera do that before. dSLR is definitely the wave of the present, hop on board! :D
The battery life is great, I can take about 400 pics before the battery needs charging, and that's with using LCD preview and such.
psmith2.0
2004-09-08, 09:51
I'd go with the Canon A75. Small, light, good zoom (optical), affordable, nice resolution, etc.
I'm a Canon kinda guy...
I don't really know what to look for I guess. 3.1 MP is fine, video clips is dandy, 16MB is okay, though more is always better right? Mac friendliness is required.
Wrao: Out of all the cameras that you list, I would pick the Canon PowerShot A75 (or one of its siblings in the PowerShot Axx line).
First, Canon has the best Mac software package, especially for stitching together multiple images into a panorama. Second, it uses AA batteries, which are infinitely cheaper than proprietary batteries that cost 50 bucks a pop. (As others have said, I still recommend that you get NiMH rechargeables. They're inexpensive.) Third, it uses Compact Flash memory, which will get you the most MB/dollar of any storage medium. Finally, the PowerShot Axx series are very ergonomic: not too small to hold steadily, not too large to carry along with you at all times.
Escher
(As others have said, I still recommend that you get NiMH rechargeables. They're inexpensive.)
Most importantly, regular alkalines are eaten alive by electronic devices like digital cameras.
It's probably out of your range but I wholeheartedly recommend Canon's Digital Rebel. This camera gets me excited about taking pictures. I've never had a camera do that before. dSLR is definitely the wave of the present, hop on board! :D
The battery life is great, I can take about 400 pics before the battery needs charging, and that's with using LCD preview and such.
I used to use a non-digital Rebel quite a bit, very nice camera. put my dinky Ricoh to shame. That said, the ricoh was still pretty decent, and hey, it's the eye that counts.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I think I'm going to go with the canon, the memory thing is the clincher, I looked at prices for 512 and 1GB of compactflash and it was way cheap compared to the sony stuff.
I went with the powershot A75. So far so good.
I got a 512 MB compact flash card, so I can take over 500 pictures at 'fine' setting and around 300 on 'superfine'
the quality is good enough for my uses(non artsy, non professional, random shots)
The camera is snappy(ha!), boots up in no time, takes pictures instantly(unless it has to focus) The menus are straight forward enough, I still gotta learn them though.
OS X integration is slick, as is the panorama picture mode on the camera where you can stich pictures together on the spot.
I'm totally excited about this purchase, I already took 80 pictures, and intend to go out taking more tomorrow.
Thanks everyone for your advice.
i have a Sony 717 but would highly recommend also that you get the Sony V1. Its selling for $379.94 only which is very cheap on amazon.
check out the dpreview. u get a 5MP cam with full manual control if you need it. You get the Hologramic AutoFocus system and night vision mode. and all in a very nice sized cam.
Akumulator
2004-11-05, 04:24
Well, usurp... It looks like he got the powershot A75. I'm also considering getting an A75 since I found one for $156 on Pricegrabber.com (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?sort_type=price&masterid=2301610&isbn=&pid=)
I think that almost anything by Canon would be most acceptable. One thing most people overlook is the instruction manual. I bought a Casio 4MP camera and the manual was two pages and gave absolutely no information.
My cannon manual was a mini book. I think it had different languages, but it was at least a 40 page booklet....about the size of those orange mini bibles people hand out.
I am helping my parents chose a camera for my sister, and I think we are going to go with the A85. It sucks because it'll be nicer then my A40, but I'll just use her camera from now on :D
yeah i noticed he got the cannon but figured he could still return it :)
my brother has the Cannon A70 and we got one at work. Its a decent cam loaded with options and features, for the price its hard to get anything better. but for a bit more the V1 is a better cam, with better pics and more features.
And hey if you got a old floppy disc lying around, beak it open, take the disc out from inside the plastic casing, go outside during the day time with your V1, turn on nightvision mode, cover the lens of the camera with the floppy, and you have yourself some infrared shooting! It really works.
You know what would be slick?
If you could get a little USB/bluetooth attachment for your digital camera, and then transfer pictures to your computer via bluetooth.
this isn't possible is it?
I'm also thinknig about a canon powershot. Can anyone tell me what format the movies are in ? Can they be opened in QT?
Yes. It shoots the movies in MPEG format which is pretty much compatible with everything. The movies get large fairly quickly, but they're not a totally useless size (320x240...) and they do have sound, albeit kind of crappy sound. Also, they're limited to three minutes long (much, much better than the 30-60 seconds on many cameras).
In a pinch, you can use the camera as a voice recorder. That's kind of useful. I don't use the movie mode very often but it's nice to have. Some things just can't be captured by a single still frame.
.... Some things just can't be captured by a single still frame.
Well, maybe they can't if you're a bad photographer ;)
*hugs and kisses*
You obviously don't know my friend Coby and his Happy Dance.
wrao even if it would be possible, it would be atleast 10 times slower. Not practical. There is a cheapo brand cam in the market though which has bluetooth. But the reviews said it sucked.
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