Camera Shopping
 

I have a digital camera. It's something to the effect of a Digimax 220. I hate it, because it makes a lot of noise (beeps constantly & doesn't save 'don't beep, damnit' setting) and uses a USB connection.

I have some christmas gift-money, and I'd like a better camera. My price range is roughly $300 US, but I'm open to spending more if I can rationalize it with something to the effect of, 'if I spend more now I won't want a new camera in a few years.' The big features I'm interested in are a nice user interface/menu system (that beeping thing really bugs me) and a Firewire connection, because my Powerbook is cool. Also, my grandfather had a Nikon Coolpix 905, and I really loved whatever you call the thing where the LCD can pivot relative to the lense, but that's just sort of icing on the cake. I have a number of NiMH AA's and a nice charger for them, but that's also just some extra sugar. I'm not too concerned about pixel count, because my current camera wasn't exceptional a year or two ago, and I figure things are probably better now. My end medium is most likely web, because my printer is nothing special.

In the event that y'all don't want to do my shopping for me, are there any broad tips, such as things that I should keep in mind, good URLs to check out, or horror stories that are only vaguely related? (I'm up for specific recommendations, too.)

Skunks, I have an Olympus C-4000 and find it difficult to hold comfortably, using the eye piece. That makes it hard to hold steady. Using the screen is even harder to hold steady. When there's plenty of light it's OK but that's not always the case.

Digital Photography Review - It's the best damn site out there for what you'll be researching.

And CR is always infallable.

I have always been a fan of Fujifilm . I had a 110 camera years ago and figuered out that fujifilm had the best , most vivid color .
I would always look for their one time use cams.
A few years back i bought a Fujifilm mx1200 1.3 mega pix, flash card ( get a flash card reader , VERRRRRRRRY good investment ).
It is a decent little cam .
Those links above are good , so it this one ,
http://www.imaging-resource.com/INDEX.HTM

Canon Powershot
 

I use one of these with my Powerbook. Granted, it's a 2MP model, but iPhoto loves it. I plugged it in and it worked. It's USB, but it works just fine.

It's small, has a good UI, and takes CF media. There's a lot to like here with this.

That, and it gives excellent (read: They can be expanded to 8.5*11 full-page pictures) quality.

Mitch

Skunks, I love my Coolpix 995. If you find one of those or the newer (but already discontinued) Coolpix 4500 used or refurbed, give it a try. (I have had good luck buying used stuff from www.bhphoto.com.)

The other camera I had my eye on was a Fuji Finepix 3800... out of my price range at the time. A 6x optical zoom (I'm a big fan of at least 4x because you have very few lens options unless you're going with a digital SLR which is obviously out of your price range... and digital zoom is useless IMO, so you can discount it in your comparisons) plus a very compact, well-designed package ... definitely worth a look.

I agree with That Guy, dpreview.com is great. stevesdigicams.com is also worth a look. For more general photography advice, but still with some camera discussion, check out photo.net.

My advice would be to not worry about the firewire connection for the camera. I don't think they're very common, at least not at the low end of the price range, and you're better off going for photography features that are important. You can certainly get a firewire memory card reader to match whatever card format your camera uses.

I'm currently looking for a new digital camera. Inertia will probably lead me to get another Olympus camera.

I've always used <a href="http://www.imaging-resource.com">Imaging-Resource.com</a>.

I think that the most fundamental criteria are:
1. pixel count
2. memory type

Does anyone know where I could find comparisons of the various different flash memory types?

I'm actually wanting an external flash for my 995. I'm currently held up by my desire to not pay $40 for the cable, so I'm waiting for one to come up on ebay that I can snag.

DPReview has an exhaustive examination of different Compact Flash cards. I don't know of similar resources for other formats, but I'm sure they're out there.

Yes, I found the dpreview compactflash comparison, but I want to find something that compares all of the types of formats.

The most important thing for me is: which type of memory is most likely to be used in the camera I buy after this one?

A different one from the one used in this one.

H T H

My photos in the CELLAR MEMBER ART GALLERY thread were taken with my Olympus C-700 and it's newer descendant, the C-730. They're both excellent cameras, and if I were to buy a new one today, I might go with the latest of that series, the 4.0 Megapixel C-750. The thing I don't like about that C-750 is that it only takes xD type memory, which is not my favorite (my C-730 takes SmartMedia and xD). The 10x zoom kicks ass, and the picture quality on this line is very good. It is improved with the C-740 and better, because they switched to an all-glass lens system.

If I had a little higher budget, though I'd go with the very cool 5 MP Nikon Coolpix 5700. It has 8x zoom, and lots of features. My mom got one on my recommendation, and though it is complex, once you figure it out, it's pretty powerful. With a budget even bigger than that, the Canon 300D Digital Rebel, and a 28-200mm lens, would be way too damn cool. Alas, too expensive for now.

That 5700 is just "pro-sumer" enough for me.

$646 + shipping after rebate at newegg.com, hmmm.

The business writes it off on tax, but still! If it makes it under 5 bills, I'm in.

Two more items of note on the 5700... it can use an IBM Microdrive, which is kinda spiffy... and the LCD screen pivots freely, so you can shoot from the hip, along the ground, over the head, etc without problems.

I really want one of those.

Yeah, "prosumer" is tempting. I can easily justify spending a few times more than the "300" I mentioned earlier if it's a really cool camera.

I started looking at the <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Sigma/sigma_sd9.asp">Sigma SD9</a> because that Foveon thing looks pretty sweet. But it's about a year old and somewhat expensive.

So then I went back to looking at a <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_cp4500.asp">Coolpix 4500</a>, but it's discontinued.

I talked to my dad about it, and he's a huge proponent of a good optical zoom. Enter the Coolpix 5700.

Further poking brings up the <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Minolta/minolta_dimagea1.asp">Minolta DiMAGE A1</a>, which is my current "top option". I went to a local store (well, I'm in Phoenix for a bit) and played with it for a few minutes. The viewfinders are cool, though the LCD isn't as flexibly awesome as it could be (-20-90°, one axis). A1 + extra battery + 1gb Microdrive + USB2.0 microdrive connector-to-computer-thing seems to be about $1040 from brief online checking, which is acceptable enough given the "it'll last a long time!" excuse. And it's just so cool.

Take a look at the top 10 digital cameras on epinions.com... the site uses consumer ratings, so it's a pretty good, unbiased gauge. However, it is an "all things considered" ranking, so an item's placement will depend not only on how good the camera is, but also it's price, etc.

Top ranked is the Canon Powershot S400, followed by the Minolta Dimage Z1, and then the Nikon Coolpix 5700.

Technology for the Sigma Designs cameras have (more than one year) promised to be the future of digital cameras. However cannot even find one, yet even hear of anyone's experience.

One problem with many cameras are controls much like 'resetting the flashing VCR clock'. Once the procedure is figured out, then it makes sense - until you have to remember how to do it again. Instruction booklet often rather cryptic.

For example one digital camera would use automatic focus. But by the time focus set and picture was taken, the subject had already changed. IOW this camera would not constantly auto focus. It would only auto focus when button was partially pressed. But sometimes a partial press resulted in an accidental picture. To override auto focus was another 'relearning to reprogram the flashing VCR clock' and not always fast enough.

More to these cameras than just megapixels, flash memory, and zoom. Have yet to read a good review that takes in these little nuiances - including a user friendly (can be remembered and implemented fast) human interface. Some solve that confusion by not providing some options.

USB connections - a best designed function. However do all cameras connect and print to the Cannon printer - without computer interface?

Yah, I was wondering about that. Whats wrong with using a USB?

I have an Olympus C 750 and love it.

I also just got a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC33 for my GF...erm exGF I suppose...birthday. (It's on Jan 3rd..would be really rude not to get anything...).

Anyway. I love the Olymus C 750. The best thing about it is that it takes AA batteries.

I refuse to get a camera that uses anything that is not standard. I don't care how small it is, if it uses propriatary batteries I don't want it. Reason 1: Expensive charger that may or may not work overseas. Reason 2: Expensive batteries with crap mha rating. Reason 3: Charger is USELESS to me except for the camera.

The xD memory on the C 750 is a bummer. It's about twice the price of SD media, but it's also much smaller.

I cannot complain about the C750 at all except the zoom and focus could be faster. But thats comming from somebody used to SLR cameras where the lens alone is $400.

You can find the C 750 for about $450 and the Panasonic for $220.

The reason I bought the Panasonic is the Leica lens and the fact that it's a simple point and shoot. Supposedly it does a very good job with the pictures although some complain that they can be a bit grainy....I'll find out soon enough. It should arrive today.

ConsumerREVIEW is another site with product reviews By Consumers For Consumers. Their biking communities are pretty active. It's a great place. This is one of their vertical sites:

http://www.pcphotoreview.com

Great camera, and good price!
 

If you are looking to upgrade, try this camera:

Sony DSC F717

I looked for months prior to purchasing. I finally found one that takes 5 mega pixels, and has several manual modes. The zoom is quite good, and this camera can be had for around $500 right now if you look around.

Check out my pics at:

http://www.photo.net/shared/communit...user_id=597241


I had to reduce the resolution to meet the site size criteria.

Write to me and I can tell you all you need to know about this camera.

Sorry to jump on your bandwagon, Skunks. But I have some questions too. I purposely bought a cheaper digital camera for my first one because I was sure I didn't yet know what I really wanted. Now (2 years later) I'm excited about the new Canon Digital EOS Rebel. I really like the idea of a digital SLR but I'm not sure if my reasons are legitamite and worth the extra cost. I want to be able to zoom and focus manually (without pressing a button and engaging a motor). And I like seeing the actual picture through the viewfinder. I will probably never change lenses, however. And you can't take videos with this camera (does anyone ever use this feature?). What is the big advantage of an SLR? Is there improved image quality?

Would I be just as well off with a non-SLR with a 10X optical zoom? Or should I just wait around until my savings and the cost of this camera meet up with eachother?

Canon EOS Dig Reb Vs. Sony DSC f717
 

Regarding Pete's post:

I would have recommended the Canon EOS, but I saw his price range. The Canon is way above the $$$ that are in range. If I decide to upgrade, it will be to this camera. It looks excellent and brings the cost of dig SLR way down. You can change lenses and do a lot that cannot be done with the Sony DSC. So it comes down to the almighty $ as usual.

Canon Powershot A70
 

I bought a Canon Powershot A70. I believe it was about $299 dollars when I got it with a $50 rebate in the form of a Best Buy gift card. es I took the pcitures at Plastic Forks with it.

3.2 megapixels, 3x optical zoom. It uses older technology, namely compactflash and 4 AA batteries. I prefer using NimH AA batteries in my devices to proprietary lithiums because I know I can walk into any store in a pinch and buy alkalines. Also, I can get two sets of batteries and a charger and not have to wait for a lithium to charge or spend top dollar for a second lithium.

As for beeps and clicks, the Powershot has themes where you can have different sounds or no sound for on/off, shutter, etc. It takes short AVI movie clips with sound. It has a panorama mode where you can shoot multiple pictures and part of the previous picture stays on the screen so you can interleave the new shot. The included software stitches the photos together. The software which downloads from the compactflash card (in camera or from the reader) also automatically creates folders by shooting date to organize your library.

Officemax usually has compactflash readers free after rebate. Get a 128MB compcactflash, a card reader, 2 sets of NimH and a charger, and you are set.

I also like the palm size tripods which are 3 4-inch gooseneck legs that can be bent into position.

As for digital prints, I have seen prices from 29 cents to 75 cents each for the same 4 inch digital prints. I think CVS is the cheapest right now. Get their free customer loyalty card which sometimes give additional discounts on digital developing.