Nerm Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I’m looking into getting a digital camera in the next few months and I was wondering if anyone had advice for me. I have seen some digital photos in the past and was not impressed. I have a few questions. Has the quality improved in the past 2 years? Do any digital cameras come close to film quality? What do I look for in the description of the camera that will tell me how good the quality will be? Can you improve/alter the photos with software? Any brands to look for or stay away from? I can afford a good camera, but I’m not the type of guy who is willing to pay double for a gadget because it is the newest model or has rarely used bells and whistles. Also, any recommendations on where to get hardcopies of the photos? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 The resolution of the camera is determined by the number of pixels, counted in megapixels. One megapixel is one million pixels. I believe your average camera right now is 3-5 megapixels, with top of the line cameras being 7-8 megapixels, but someone who knows more could tell you for sure. For reference, a computer monitor set at 1024x768 resolution would have 786,432 pixels, or .786 megapixels. The quality has definitely improved in the past few years. As far as recommending specific brands I'll leave that to those who have experience with cameras, as I don't own one. There are printers available to make hardcopies of your photos right at your desk. A friend at work had one and the quality was impressive. Nowadays you should be able to take a CD of your pictures into most photo development stores and they can print them out on photo-quality paper for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halter91 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Kodaks are very easy to use. Canon's are nice, but they are a little more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manichispanic Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I bought a SOny Cybershot that I find great for the price and has easy to use features and great price. edit: I would recommend that you go to a store, and feel the camera in your hand, see how easily you can navigate through its features and see if it has any quirks you dont like. For ones you do like, write down the Make and Model and type it onto google and find some reviews to see what other people think. I went through about 40 reviews before finding one I like, however i only handled maybe 10 cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 First question is how much do you want to spend? Second is how much will you use it? Third is are you looking to gain knowledge with the camera learn about photography? If you answer these, I can give you a recommendation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mardi gras skin Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Check out "highest rated" on the left hand side of the page. Personally, I'm biased toward canon. http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
du7st Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Excuse me for leeching off this thread but I'm also looking for a digital camera. I'll spend as much as $400 for the camera (not including extras like memory and batteries). I am willing to spend a little time messing around with it to get better picture quality but I have no background in photography. And besides my upcoming trip, I will most likely use it only occasionally. My biggest concern is that I want to use it in Europe but I don't want to have to go through the hassle of trying to recharge the batteries while over there. So that leaves me either buying a camera that uses cheap regular batteries that don't last long or a camera that takes a long lasting but expensive battery. Either way I see it you get screwed. Is there a solution to this dilemma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Originally posted by du7st Excuse me for leeching off this thread but I'm also looking for a digital camera. I'll spend as much as $400 for the camera (not including extras like memory and batteries). I am willing to spend a little time messing around with it to get better picture quality but I have no background in photography. And besides my upcoming trip, I will most likely use it only occasionally. My biggest concern is that I want to use it in Europe but I don't want to have to go through the hassle of trying to recharge the batteries while over there. So that leaves me either buying a camera that uses cheap regular batteries that don't last long or a camera that takes a long lasting but expensive battery. Either way I see it you get screwed. Is there a solution to this dilemma? By far the best digicam site out there is DP review. . . www.dpreview.com another good one is. . . http://www.steves-digicams.com/ The best camera out there (midrange) is the Cannon EOS 350D. It's an 8MP DSLR camera which can do some amazing things. Right now, it's $1K, but it is sweet For around $400 you can find exactly what you are looking for. Go to the sites I listed above, they have a lot of great stuff. I do a lot of practice photography, and I'm nowhere near as good as a professional, but I love learning about it. If you have any questions, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSUHeckler Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I got a Fuji FinePix A210. I found it on eBay for hundred bucks used. It came with a case and a 128 MB card that comes in quite hand so I dont hafta upload the pics to my computer right away. I got it because my friend has the same one. Decent features for what I need/want. It takes good pictures with i think three different qulaity setting. I'm happy with the lowest personally. It takes video too, but I don't believe and audio with it. The only con is that it eats up batteries. Instead of buying rechargeable batteries I just take them out when I know it will just be sitting around a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizz Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I got the fujifilm A330. A great camera for point and shoot. Its 3.2 mega pixels. When I bought the camera, the guy recommended it as the best in my price range. ($150) He said you can't tell the difference between it and any of the more expensive 4 mega pixels. He said you have to go up 2 mega pixels to see a difference. I also bought a 128mb card to go with it and I was able to take 140 pictures on the card. As far as getting prints, Walmart.com allows you to upload, crop, resize and remove red-eye on your pictures and then they will print them in 1hr for just .19/picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. S Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 around september 03, I bought my first camera, a Kodak CX - 6330, its pretty outdated now, but its immediate higher model, CX-7330 is still available. du7st, with 400$ you can find a really nice digital camera. Im sure by now a good 4 or even 5 megapixel camera is for that price (i havent looked up prices/reviews in a while). The websites given above by chomerics are good ones though that I have used before. Another decent resource, even though its not professional, are user reviews. I feel that professional reviews are the best, but they may be overly critical, I usually look at those reviews, and also type in the product at amazon and look at the user reviews and see if they compare or contrast. With batteries, I thought my camera drained batteries pretty easily, but when I went to Ireland back in december 03, I used one set of Ni-MH rechargable batteries for 4 days, with constant turning it on and off, mainly to save power, but it probably wasted more. It showed the low battery sympbol for more than a day before I finally changed them. You can find battery life reviews on cameras as well. I had spare normal AA batteries in case I needed them, and what I heard is that since all a charger does is charge your batteries, that it already acts as a convertor, so you cont have to worry about the voltage difference (your current plug is 110 volts or so, and a battery is only 1.5 volts, so it makes sense that a 220 volt plug should not harm still, correct my if im wrong). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
du7st Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by Mr. S around september 03, I bought my first camera, a Kodak CX - 6330, its pretty outdated now, but its immediate higher model, CX-7330 is still available. du7st, with 400$ you can find a really nice digital camera. Im sure by now a good 4 or even 5 megapixel camera is for that price (i havent looked up prices/reviews in a while). The websites given above by chomerics are good ones though that I have used before. Another decent resource, even though its not professional, are user reviews. I feel that professional reviews are the best, but they may be overly critical, I usually look at those reviews, and also type in the product at amazon and look at the user reviews and see if they compare or contrast. With batteries, I thought my camera drained batteries pretty easily, but when I went to Ireland back in december 03, I used one set of Ni-MH rechargable batteries for 4 days, with constant turning it on and off, mainly to save power, but it probably wasted more. It showed the low battery sympbol for more than a day before I finally changed them. You can find battery life reviews on cameras as well. I had spare normal AA batteries in case I needed them, and what I heard is that since all a charger does is charge your batteries, that it already acts as a convertor, so you cont have to worry about the voltage difference (your current plug is 110 volts or so, and a battery is only 1.5 volts, so it makes sense that a 220 volt plug should not harm still, correct my if im wrong). All 110volt devices I know of need a simple step-down converter to work in 220volt outlets. If I was only going away for 4 days I wouldn't be worrying about it but I will be gone for 3 weeks. I would rather not bring a charger and converter with me since I will be packing very lightly. I think I prefer to go without a charger and just buy batteries. Time to do some research I guess. Thanks for the help guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 i was with my gf who got a canon a95 from best buy for 149+tax. as i checked out the other more or less expensive camaras, i noticed that i can't tell the difference. a camara is a camara. its not like its an electron microscope. how much resolution is really necessary to take a pic of your mom in front of a waterfall? :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In Flames Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 i bought a fuji finepix e550 on ebay for the gf for xmas. 6.3 mega pixels, it came with case, tripod, and 2 sets of batteries w/small charger, it also came with the standard 16mb card, but also extra was the 256mb card, which allows around 150+ super quality photos, it also takes around 9 minutes of high res video. it cost me around 5 bills. very nice camera!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 www.buydig.com I bought a Fuji FinePix 3000 on that site for about 50 less then what they wanted at Circuit or BestBuy. It also came with a bag, lens care kit, filter, as well as an extra memory card. Check it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gibber Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 FYI, Consumer reports always ranks Fugi Film Cameras as the best bang for the buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by rdsknbill www.buydig.com I bought a Fuji FinePix 3000 on that site for about 50 less then what they wanted at Circuit or BestBuy. It also came with a bag, lens care kit, filter, as well as an extra memory card. Check it out Bill, it looks like a scam site. I'm not saying it is, but there are a TON of digital camera scam sites out there. They are based in Brooklyn NY and here's how they work. THey offer prices which are "lower" then prices advertised elsewhere, but there is a catch. You have to buy "accessories" in order to get your camera. THese "accessories" are outrageously priced and they will not let you buy the camera without them. THey usually call you back to "confirm" your order, then pressure you into buying a couple hundred dollars worth of junk. This is how they make their money, and they will NOT sell a camera without an accessory package. I'm not saying the above site is one of those sites,but it sure looks like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerm Posted April 28, 2005 Author Share Posted April 28, 2005 First, thanks for all the responses. I'll check out the links. They look like they can answer a lot of the questions I have. Originally posted by chomerics First question is how much do you want to spend? Second is how much will you use it? Third is are you looking to gain knowledge with the camera learn about photography? If you answer these, I can give you a recommendation. 1. I'm looking to spend $400 or less including extra memory and good batteries. I can go a little higher if it makes a big difference. 2. My wife and I have a baby on the way (our first, and yes I'm excited... and terrified). I have the feeling that we will be taking a TON of pictures indoors. Other than that, we tend to take pictures on vacations and holidays, probably less than 200 pictures per year (except for baby). 3. I’m not interested in photography really, just want good quality family pictures. I would probably also be interested in photo editing. Things like getting rid of redeye, centering the photos, and zooming in and out a little. Nothing that is too complicated or that takes an ounce of artistic talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by Nerm I’m looking into getting a digital camera in the next few months and I was wondering if anyone had advice for me. I have seen some digital photos in the past and was not impressed. I have a few questions. Has the quality improved in the past 2 years? Do any digital cameras come close to film quality? What do I look for in the description of the camera that will tell me how good the quality will be? Can you improve/alter the photos with software? Any brands to look for or stay away from? I can afford a good camera, but I’m not the type of guy who is willing to pay double for a gadget because it is the newest model or has rarely used bells and whistles. Also, any recommendations on where to get hardcopies of the photos? Thanks! Photo quality, but more than that, camera performance has improved markedly over the past two years. However, if you get a closeout deal on a camera that came on the market 2+ years ago, it might still be worth it, if you value image quality mostly. If you're like most people and print only 4x6 or 5x7, you'd be hard pressed to tell a difference between digital and 35mm film nowadays. If you want to know about the quality of a camera (pictures? performance? features?), read reviews. DO NOT judge it by the number of megapixels, or how long the zoom is. You most definitely can improve your pictures with software after the fact (to a degree, at least). I'm no fan of Kodak, HP, or Samsung (and some now defunct ones), but there are legit reasons to consider those brands. Definitely stay away from the cheapo brands (Argus, Concord, and the like, basically names you've never heard of, however). If you want to print the digital pictures, there are a number of online sites, and (though I have no experience with the following) I've heard that CostCo and Sam's Club give you good bang for the buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by du7st Excuse me for leeching off this thread but I'm also looking for a digital camera. I'll spend as much as $400 for the camera (not including extras like memory and batteries). I am willing to spend a little time messing around with it to get better picture quality but I have no background in photography. And besides my upcoming trip, I will most likely use it only occasionally. My biggest concern is that I want to use it in Europe but I don't want to have to go through the hassle of trying to recharge the batteries while over there. So that leaves me either buying a camera that uses cheap regular batteries that don't last long or a camera that takes a long lasting but expensive battery. Either way I see it you get screwed. Is there a solution to this dilemma? If you want to avoid having to recharge batteries, look into cameras that take AA's. However, DO NOT buy Alkalines for them (unless no other options are available). Instead, buy a few sets of long-lasting (also somewhat pricey) lithium AA's. They won't be too cheap (try Ebay), but still affordable and a solution for your dilemma. Battery life has improved a lot since the early days of digicams, and lithium batteries are powerful. In a pinch, should you ever run out juice, you can always buy an extra set of cheap AA's to get you a few more shots. Also, remember to turn off the LCD for image composition should you run low and use the optical viewfinder instead. If you decide after your trip that you will continue taking lots of pictures, buy two sets of NiMh rechargeables and a charger, and you're set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by PSUHeckler I got a Fuji FinePix A210. I found it on eBay for hundred bucks used. It came with a case and a 128 MB card that comes in quite hand so I dont hafta upload the pics to my computer right away. I got it because my friend has the same one. Decent features for what I need/want. It takes good pictures with i think three different qulaity setting. I'm happy with the lowest personally. It takes video too, but I don't believe and audio with it. The only con is that it eats up batteries. Instead of buying rechargeable batteries I just take them out when I know it will just be sitting around a while. Just so you know, NiMh rechargeables tend to last longer on one charge than Alkalines for the entirety of their battery life in digicams. If you don't want to buy rechargeables, at least get lithiums. Alkalines are just not a good idea in high-drain devices like digicams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by Mr. S around september 03, I bought my first camera, a Kodak CX - 6330, its pretty outdated now, but its immediate higher model, CX-7330 is still available. du7st, with 400$ you can find a really nice digital camera. Im sure by now a good 4 or even 5 megapixel camera is for that price (i havent looked up prices/reviews in a while). The websites given above by chomerics are good ones though that I have used before. Another decent resource, even though its not professional, are user reviews. I feel that professional reviews are the best, but they may be overly critical, I usually look at those reviews, and also type in the product at amazon and look at the user reviews and see if they compare or contrast. With batteries, I thought my camera drained batteries pretty easily, but when I went to Ireland back in december 03, I used one set of Ni-MH rechargable batteries for 4 days, with constant turning it on and off, mainly to save power, but it probably wasted more. It showed the low battery sympbol for more than a day before I finally changed them. You can find battery life reviews on cameras as well. I had spare normal AA batteries in case I needed them, and what I heard is that since all a charger does is charge your batteries, that it already acts as a convertor, so you cont have to worry about the voltage difference (your current plug is 110 volts or so, and a battery is only 1.5 volts, so it makes sense that a 220 volt plug should not harm still, correct my if im wrong). Agreed, user reviews sometimes tell you whether a missing feature really matters in real life, or whether the ergonomics are really an issue in day-to-day use. Just a note on the batteries--you most certainly can charge the batteries abroad, but if you're bringing your own charger, make sure it's rated for 100-240V (and you'll likely need an adapter for the different plug). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by Leonard Washington i was with my gf who got a canon a95 from best buy for 149+tax. as i checked out the other more or less expensive camaras, i noticed that i can't tell the difference. a camara is a camara. its not like its an electron microscope. how much resolution is really necessary to take a pic of your mom in front of a waterfall? :whoknows: Well, the A95 is considered one of the best sub $400 cameras. I'm amazed your gf got it for $149, I thought it still runs in the mid-200's? I agree, though, for the average consumer, 3-4MP is PLENTY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by chomerics Bill, it looks like a scam site. I'm not saying it is, but there are a TON of digital camera scam sites out there. They are based in Brooklyn NY and here's how they work. THey offer prices which are "lower" then prices advertised elsewhere, but there is a catch. You have to buy "accessories" in order to get your camera. THese "accessories" are outrageously priced and they will not let you buy the camera without them. THey usually call you back to "confirm" your order, then pressure you into buying a couple hundred dollars worth of junk. This is how they make their money, and they will NOT sell a camera without an accessory package. I'm not saying the above site is one of those sites,but it sure looks like it. Very good advice. Before you buy online, always check out the reputation of the store. Stores from Brooklyn are especially suspicious. However, in this case, buydig.com (AKA beachcamera.com) is a legitimate, trustworthy site. They are not the best in customer service, but it's not a bait-and-switch, and they sell legit US market cams. Before buying online, always check out resellerratings.com Enter the store name/URL, read the user reviews. Not all stores that don't have a perfect rating are necessarily bad (for example, I've never had problems with buy.com, which doesn't have a great rating), but if almost every customer tells you it's bait-and-switch, it probably is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebac Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by Nerm First, thanks for all the responses. I'll check out the links. They look like they can answer a lot of the questions I have. 1. I'm looking to spend $400 or less including extra memory and good batteries. I can go a little higher if it makes a big difference. 2. My wife and I have a baby on the way (our first, and yes I'm excited... and terrified). I have the feeling that we will be taking a TON of pictures indoors. Other than that, we tend to take pictures on vacations and holidays, probably less than 200 pictures per year (except for baby). 3. I’m not interested in photography really, just want good quality family pictures. I would probably also be interested in photo editing. Things like getting rid of redeye, centering the photos, and zooming in and out a little. Nothing that is too complicated or that takes an ounce of artistic talent. If you answer the following questions, I might be able to give you more specific advice. (The following survey is adapted from poster Rex914 from dcresource.com) * What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? * How big will you print the pictures? * What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) * How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) Note that there is a tradeoff in image quality vs. optical zoom and size. High-zoom and ultracompact cameras tend to have smaller sensors and lower image quality, so please don't say "10" for image quality and high zoom/smallest size possible. * How important is performance (speed) to you? Digital cameras suffer from shutter lag, so you might have one camera that takes GREAT pictures, but you're often a second to slow, and another that takes good pictures, but it takes them virtually instantly. * Do you care for manual controls or do you prefer the camera do the work for you? * (If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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