Shopping For A Digital Camera

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Lila64 said:
Is there anything decent that you can recommend under $200? I really didn't want to spend that much, but I also don't want to just throw money away on something that is crappy or won't last.
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Anything that says "Nikon" on it. :wink:
 
I bought a Canon Power Shot A560 a few weeks ago and have really liked it so far. It's easy to start using and takes very good pictures. The 16x zoom allowed me to get some great close-up shots at a concert last week (you can see a few in the Wilco thread :wink: ). It also takes great video. I'm still learning the more advanced features, but so far I'm very happy with the purchase.

I think it sold for around $200. I had some gift cards that I used toward it, and I also bought a 1 GB memory card, since it only came with a 16 MB one.

I originally planned to get the A550 because it was cheaper at the store where I had the gift cards, but for only about $40 the A560 has red-eye reduction and a feature that focuses on faces when you're taking pictures with people in them.
 
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Lila64 said:


Um... everything will be on automatic mode, so...
and it's hard comparing pics. I ain't a tech geek (no offense) :nerd:
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I've seen your old camera and it sounds like you/Maddy aren't into manual settings and junk like that, so personally I think ANY Canon or Nikon you can get within your price range will be just fine. You can get lower end Canons and Nikons for less than $130.

Just a note about zoom though, don't buy based on digital zoom. In fact, completely disregard it and turn if OFF as soon as you get the camera. In most cameras I've used, the digital zoom is actually worse than just zooming out 4x optical and then cropping the picture down to 16x on the computer. In short, digital zoom is useless and destroys photos. It's basically the camera cropping the photo beyond the max optical zoom, and the camera does a worse job of cropping than your computer would.
 
Well...still not sure what to do, but I think I found that I can get the Canon 7.1MP Digital Camera, Powershot A550 from Sears thru 7/4/07 for $139. Seems to be a great price.

I also saw this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J47W12...e=380333&creativeASIN=B000J47W12&linkCode=asn

I'll need a memory card, and I guess SanDisk is the way to go, right? I have one in my crappy camera, a 512. I see on Amazon (above) a 2GV SanDisk Secure Digital SD Memory 2GB (Bulk) for $14.54, and 1 GB Secure Digital SD (bulk) for $5.69. Any recommendations there?

The same cards at Sears appears to be $39.99 and $24.99 respectively.


:reject:
 
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You're good to go with anything from Amazon, I've never had a problem. It'll be brand new, just like the one you could get from Sears. :)
 
I know I won't have a problem with Amazon. I just didn't know if there were good/bad memory cards. And it sounds incredibly cheap. Just checking :up:
 
:stealinglilasthread:

i'd like some advice too. i have a canon sd200. i really like how easy it is to use, and i love the shape/size/weight. it is perfect for stuffing into my pocket.

however, im getting kind of tired of it for the following reasons:
1) many of my pics end up blurry
2) it only has 3x zoom. now, maybe the zoom sucks because it is only like 3 megapixels.

so, my questions are:
do more megapixels = closer zoom?
i just bought this camera in 2005, and it works great. i'm just tired of the zoom thing, but do the other powershot sd models have the same closeness of zoom?
would it be worth going up a few models?
does anybody want to buy a canon powershot sd 200 from me? ;)
 
1) Do you have any examples? It would help to know what the pics are of, what the ambient lighting is like, if the flash was going off, etc.

2) Is it 3x optical or 3x digital? Most of the cheaper point-and-shoots are still at 3-4x optical zoom. They often have extended digital zoom as well, but do yourself a favor and disregard it, turn if OFF. Basically, digital zoom does not really zoom in like optical zoom does, it just crops the picture and blows it up. The issue is that most of the time, if you take a picture and open it on your computer in any photo application and crop it yourself, you'll get a better quality than if you let the camera crop it for you with a digital zoom. If you were using digital zoom with a 3MP camera, yes that would explain poor quality. I have a 3MP camera (also from 2005 when 3MP was pretty standard) with a 10x optical zoom and the zoom has very little affect on the picture quality, provided I'm holding the camera steady or I have it on the appropriate manual settings. On most cameras, you have to turn off the digital zoom or anytime you zoom it will go past your optical limit and then you have crappy pics. There should be a setting in one of the menus where you can turn if off for good. If you can't zoom in far enough using the optical zoom, you're better off zooming in as far as you can and then cropping it on your computer later on.
 
Liesje said:
1) Do you have any examples? It would help to know what the pics are of, what the ambient lighting is like, if the flash was going off, etc.

2) Is it 3x optical or 3x digital? Most of the cheaper point-and-shoots are still at 3-4x optical zoom. They often have extended digital zoom as well, but do yourself a favor and disregard it, turn if OFF. Basically, digital zoom does not really zoom in like optical zoom does, it just crops the picture and blows it up. The issue is that most of the time, if you take a picture and open it on your computer in any photo application and crop it yourself, you'll get a better quality than if you let the camera crop it for you with a digital zoom. If you were using digital zoom with a 3MP camera, yes that would explain poor quality. I have a 3MP camera (also from 2005 when 3MP was pretty standard) with a 10x optical zoom and the zoom has very little affect on the picture quality, provided I'm holding the camera steady or I have it on the appropriate manual settings. On most cameras, you have to turn off the digital zoom or anytime you zoom it will go past your optical limit and then you have crappy pics. There should be a setting in one of the menus where you can turn if off for good. If you can't zoom in far enough using the optical zoom, you're better off zooming in as far as you can and then cropping it on your computer later on.
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1) http://picasaweb.google.com/exwhyzee/Bonolulu
i think it usually happens in a dark environment. i've tried both flash/noflash...and both suck sometimes.

2) first off :lol: your response made me think of a mazda commercial. but to the situation at hand...i checked the specs and it is a 3.3mp w/ a 3x optical zoom. ETA I just realized it has a 3.2 digital zoom. i don't know if it is automatic or not. i'll have to read the instructions and figure out how to turn it off if it isn't already

i also have a question about video. if i turn my camera sideways, it takes the video sideways. is there any way i can change that?

Thanks Lies! :hug:
 
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unico said:


1) http://picasaweb.google.com/exwhyzee/Bonolulu
i think it usually happens in a dark environment. i've tried both flash/noflash...and both suck sometimes.

2) first off :lol: your response made me think of a mazda commercial. but to the situation at hand...i checked the specs and it is a 3.3mp w/ a 3x optical zoom. ETA I just realized it has a 3.2 digital zoom. i don't know if it is automatic or not. i'll have to read the instructions and figure out how to turn it off if it isn't already

i also have a question about video. if i turn my camera sideways, it takes the video sideways. is there any way i can change that?

Thanks Lies! :hug:
Click to expand...

1. Do you use manual settings? All of my concert pics were way worse than yours until someone taught me what the manual settings do and which to use at a concert. I don't even post/share my pics from before that point! Often with indoor pics and very low lighting, I'll still use manual settings and change the flash output to be a bit less, so I can use the flash indoors at close range and not have crazy eyes and whiteout skin.

2. I know on my Canon and my mom's that the digital zoom was on by default and if you didn't know exactly when to stop at the end of the optical range, it just keeps going. Before I gave my mom her cam, I disabled it and didn't even tell where what it was. The digital zoom on a lower-end, lower mega pixel camera will give you a "noisy" pic that looks more like a cell phone pic than a Canon pic.

3. As for the vid, if you have access to a PC, you can rotate a vid in Windows Movie Maker. On a Mac, I'm not sure but maybe neutral or oneblood can tell us.
 
Lila64 said:

I'll need a memory card, and I guess SanDisk is the way to go, right? I have one in my crappy camera, a 512. I see on Amazon (above) a 2GV SanDisk Secure Digital SD Memory 2GB (Bulk) for $14.54, and 1 GB Secure Digital SD (bulk) for $5.69. Any recommendations there?
Click to expand...

It really doesn't matter. I've used everything from very small brands to the big ones. I personally like Lexar the best as I've never had any trouble with them.

What I'd recommend is if you want a 2GB card, get 2 1BG SD cards instead. I never like to keep all my photos on one card because if something goes wrong, you're screwed. So anytime I was going on a big, long trip where I knew I'd go through hundreds of shots, I'd take several smaller cards with me.
 
anitram said:


What I'd recommend is if you want a 2GB card, get 2 1BG SD cards instead. I never like to keep all my photos on one card because if something goes wrong, you're screwed. So anytime I was going on a big, long trip where I knew I'd go through hundreds of shots, I'd take several smaller cards with me.
Click to expand...

I agree. I took about 2GB worth of cards with me to Africa b/c I was so paranoid one would become corrupt or get lost or stolen. Also, if you use a card reader, then if your card is out and you want to quick snap a pic, or if you forget that the card is in the reader, you have a second card to keep inside the camera.
 
Went with the Canon Powershot 550. Hope it was a good move. Couldn't pass up the $140 price.

Thanks for the tips on the cards. I never would have thought of it. I will probably order them sometime this week :up:
 
Sheesh! You can get 1GB SD cards for $9.99 on newegg. When I bought my camera three years ago, I got a 1GB card for $60 and that was a deal.
 
I know - it's shocking! That's why I posted to make sure I was not going crazy. I think I'll pick up a couple of 1GB SD's at $5.69. Can't go wrong there!

Maddy took some pics on the 4th. When I have time, I will have to load the software and her pics. Probably a few days, as this is my main work computer
 
Lila, I also posted this for Maddy in the pics thread....

You can also do it without the software. My new computer hasn't had the Canon software on it yet. You can plug the cord into the computer and a box should come up...choose the Microsoft Picture Viewer and then you can load the pics. Or, if you go into My Computer, you will see your camera there, double click it, then click Get Pictures From Camera in the top left corner.
 
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