Digital Camera

[BuddhaTB]

I've been looking around for a digital camera lately. I'm not in any hurry to get one, but I would like to make a decision by June/July as to what model I want. I'm looking for a 3 megapixel camera with a pricetag of under $400. I would like something thats small and portable as I plan to take it around with me a lot, so no bulky cameras. I'm planning to use it to take photos of friends, family, cars, and etc. So basically indoor and outdoor photos.

My question is, what digital camera does everyone use around here and what's your opinion on it. Also, what brands and models would you recommend for me?


cfitz, you don't need to answer.

[lightningbaron]

Hopefully Digital Camera Reviews will help:
http://www.dpreview.com

They have have owner opinions and a side-by-side comparison as well.

A few considerations to take into place: power source (AA, proprietary rechargeable), storage media (xD picture cards, compact flash, smart media, etc...), construction (plastic, metal), optical zoom (at least 3x), etc...

After a couple of hours on the site, I am looking strongly considering the Olympus Stylus 300 Digital (3 megapixel, point and shoot), went to Amazon.com, priced it with an additional battery and 128MB xD picture card. The total is approximately $450 USD.

I currently own the Olympus C5050 Zoom, an overkill compared to what you are seeking.

edit: In choosing my camera I chose not to go with Smartmedia and I believe the current limit is presently 128MB maximum?

[CowboySlim]

BuddahTB,

I have the Canon PowerShot A40. It has 3x optical zoom, 2Mp and uses 4 AA cells (but you also use the Maha system). The have other models that have more Mp and use their Lithium hydride rechargeables.

My daughter has a Fuji A303, 3Mp, 3x optical zoom, 2 AA cells. It has a unique and new energy management system and she gets significantly more shots a set of batteries than I get on four.

I'm very happy with mine but would really consider the Fuji if I had to replace mine.

Check here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Also, check the editor's reviews at CNET.com and the readers reviews there and at Amazon.com.

Slim

[hammad]

hi

i think minolta dimage f 100 is good , around (275-599) us $ according to cnet price list

more portability, minolta dimage X (199-378) $

or the improved dimage xi (339-449) $

or dimage xt (around 400)

all 3mp minolta dimage x series

or if u are a cannon fan like me

the new digital elph powershot s230 (333-402)$


olympus d 550 is best in its price range (209-299) $


i think you should prefer the minolta dimage f 100 if you can sacrifice some portability for great image quality ,a near slr minolta GT lense
and autofocus as well as video with sound.

the minolta dimage series has the best design and smoother optical zoom and it improved as the model no increases (X, XI ,XT) but it cant match the image quality of the digital elph s230 .

cannon 230 is a great camera for the price if you can except a 2x optical zoom lense and sacrifice some advance controls present on minolta f 100.

lastly the olympus d 550 is the best bang for your buck, available at around 200 $ .i think its the best bargain. with a 2.8x optical zoom and a very good image quality.

[gq]

The best 3MP one to have is Canon A70
It has:
3.2MP
3x Optical Zoom
use 4 AA batteries
Record Movie with Sound
12 Shooting modes
use CompactFlash, It means cheaper photo cards compare to SD or Xd cards.
It is smaller than pervious Canon A40.
Canon Ax0 series got very good reviews
Current Price $300 (US dollar) but cheaper pirce can be
found, if you use staples coupon or dell coupon, you can get it for
about $250
Fuji ( fine Pix A3??) and Olympus D-560 are nice and a little bit cheaper
and have less features, and use Xd Card. They are good cameras.

Olympus C740 (3.2MP) have 10x Zoom use XD card and AA batteries, if you love 10x zoom, it is the camera to have, but you have to carry a tripod to use 10x zoom. Regular price $500.

Minolta S414 have 4x zoom and 4mp use compactflash and AA batteries
it is another good choise. Regular price is $400, but not many store carry Minolta.
Minolta F100 or F300 use SD cards and they are more expansive.

Most 4mp camera is 3.9 mp so it is not much differents between 3.2mp and 4 mp.

[cfitz]

cfitz, you don't need to answer.

Well I'm gonna do it anyway!

Gq makes a good point. Here is a diagram I made up for myself a while back while comparing 3 megapixel cameras to 4 megapixel cameras:



Combine the fact that "4" = 3.9 and "3" = 3.2, as qq mentioned, with the fact that linear resolution goes as the square root of the total number of pixels, and you will find that moving from "3" to "4" doesn't gain you a whole lot in terms of increased resolution.

Gq, do you own the A70? I recommended the A40 to a friend about 8 months ago, but she went with the Sony P51 instead and has regretted it.

I'm a Canon fan myself (I bought the S30 after convincing myself that the extra pixels of the S40 weren't worth the cost, decreased sensitivity and potential banding). The Sony cameras don't seem to have as natural a color, and seem to have more sensor noise.

Hammad, what I'd like to have for carrying around all the time (if it weren't so darn expensive) is the S400.

cfitz

[eliminator]

mine is a Sharp VE-CG40U 4MP - awsome deal for under $300 @ Fry's

Made in Japan/Canon optics 3x optical zoom/movie_sound mode/extra crisp, new technology 1.5"LCD



http://www.dcviews.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
http://www.dcresource.com/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm

[hammad]

very fine

now lets update our information and views

i think that eliminator has showed us the best deal if

one can make it from FRY. his sharp looks very much like a cannon G2
and at that price no digicam can compete that

even the nikkon cool pix 5000 in image quality

another very serious choice is cannon powershot A 70 which i had forgot

it has two advantages over the new digital alph s400
it has a full vga with sound movie capture and a much better optics and image detail then the s400.
the sony cybershot are also good but they are a good multipurpose cameras for the family and are not for serious photographers.

while the olympus c 740 has a reputation of noisy zoom lense and blurry images.
and is not consider very portable.

[BuddhaTB]

I've liked all the comments so far, so keep them coming.

My only complaint is that some of you guys are recommending me cameras that aren't too portable. I want something that's small and tiny, so I can take it with me anywhere. I'm in my young 20s and I don't want to be carrying around a camera bag where ever I go. So you get the point about that. This will be my first camera, so I don't need anything for a serious photographer. Other than that, you guys have given me plenty of models to go read reviews on and to compare sample pics. Thanks for the info.

More user opinions wanted!

[Dartman]

I have a Sony DCS-85 and it's a 4 meg camera. I paid 499 but I had a bunch of Sears gift cards I saved up It has a excellent Carl Zeiss Lense and 3xoptical plus 3x digital zoom. It takes great point and shoot pictures, can pretty much be set to full manual mode and does small MPG movies with sound. It has been discoed so you might be able to find one a lot cheaper then I paid for mine if anyone still has one in stock.
It feels like a nice SLR in you hand, the included battery last a long time, and the display is very good on the back. The only down side is the damned memory sticks but they are made by several manufacturers now so the price and availability is much better now, still more then others a bit though.
The newer Sonys appear to be junk compared to mine, smaller and cooler but a crap Sony lense and mostly 3 meg or less res.
The Digicam site mentioned is excellent, go check it out, that's where I found reviews of mine that made me feel all warm and fuzzy about my choice

[eliminator]

I've liked all the comments so far, so keep them coming.
My only complaint is that some of you guys are recommending me cameras that aren't too portable. I want something that's small and tiny, so I can take it with me anywhere. I'm in my young 20s and I don't want to be carrying around a camera bag where ever I go. So you get the point about that. This will be my first camera, so I don't need anything for a serious photographer. Other than that, you guys have given me plenty of models to go read reviews on and to compare sample pics. Thanks for the info.
More user opinions wanted!

Check those weblinks (with reviews) in my post & go for the most portable option !

[Turkeyscore.com]

I would get the Canon A70. I have a Canon a40 and am very happy with it. The ones i would not recommend are Kodaks, HPs, and Olympuses. (I have seen the image quality of 3 megapixel Kodaks and olympuses, i think the 2 megapixel a40 has better quality.

[Dartman]

I tried a HP and besides being a bit cheaper, till you got the not included $80 docking bay, it didn't look as good as the Sony and the Sony came with everything you needed to get started.
So watch out for the not included but needed to use thing

[BuddhaTB]

I'll tell you guys one thing thats for sure, I'm not buying a Canon A-series this time around. I want something really portable and the A-series does not fit that need at all. It's just too bulky for almost everyday use. I know the picture quality is great and everything, but that would be better for a 2nd or 3rd camera for me.

[Turkeyscore.com]

OK, if i needed portability, I would get a Canon Elph series. well, not the whole series, cuz carrying around a bunch of little cameras does get kinda bulky. What i mean is, get one from the Canon Elph Series.

[eliminator]

ok, how's this ?:

http://www.dynamism.com/spyz/gallery.shtml

.. or this ?:

[BuddhaTB]

^^^^ Now that's Small.

[CowboySlim]

BuddhaTB,

As I sit here with my Canon A40 in my lap, it doesn't look too bulky for me. (The bulk is in the four AA cells.) But I won't make value judgements for others.

cfitz made a good point about 4 Mp vs 3 Mp and let me extend that thought. 3 is a requirement for good photos larger than 8 x 10. I've made great 8 x 10s with my 2Mp Canon A40. If you need more than that, you are beyond point-and-shoot, family snapshot photography.

For small size the Canon Elph suggestion was good and the Fuji A303, 3Mp, that my daughter has is real small. I disgree that the price of the xD picture card that the Fuji uses should be a concern. I bought my daughter one at Amazon for $35 (64Mb). Of course being a newer technology, they are currently somewhat more expensive than Compact Flash, but that differential will disappear as they become more common.

Slim

[gq]

My mother have the Canon A70, it is small, it could fit in a packet.

[Turkeyscore.com]

My mother have the Canon A70, it is small, it could fit in a packet.

I could fit a small car in a pocket...

[BuddhaTB]

My mother have the Canon A70, it is small, it could fit in a packet.

You must have some big pockets or something. The last time I checked, the A70 could not fit in my pocket and still look normal. I don't want a camera that's protruding out from my pocket, looking all wierd when people walk by.

[hammad]

it seems that portbility is very important for you
otherwise a70 was a good choice

how about the digital elph s230

http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s230/index.html

and

minolta dimage xt

http://www.dimage.minolta.com/xt/index.html

since the s400 would be expensive, i cant recommend it over the 230.

and the minolta dimage f100

http://www.dimage.minolta.com/f100/index.html

OLYMPUS D550 that will save half of your money

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_secti ... roduct=867


by the way , is it the cl55 amg

[BuddhaTB]

by the way , is it the cl55 amg

Thanks for the info hammad.

Its actually a CL 65 AMG. It's powered by a hand-built AMG tuned twin-turbo 5.98L V12 putting out 612HP with 737.6 ft lbs of torque @ 2000 rpm. This makes the CL 65 AMG the most powerful AMG model to date, promising acceleration to 62 mph in only 4.5 seconds.

[lightningbaron]

I disgree that the price of the xD picture card that the Fuji uses should be a concern. I bought my daughter one at Amazon for $35 (64Mb). Of course being a newer technology, they are currently somewhat more expensive than Compact Flash, but that differential will disappear as they become more common.

Slim

Cowboy Slim - Not sure if you are in the US or not or if you have seen Best Buy's ad for this week. They are offering a Fuji 128MB xD picture card for $54.99 and comes with a $15 MIR. In New York City, it amounts to approximately $45 for $128MB xD picture card after sales tax and MIR.

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=111 ... 3&scat=537


BuddhaTB - Sorry to go off topic a bit.

[gq]

Here is some size infor:
A70
Dimensions (W x H x D)
3.98 x 2.52 x 1.24 in./ 101.0 x 64.0 x 31.5 mm (Excluding protrusions)

S400
Dimensions (W x H x D) 3.43 x 2.24 x 1.09 in./ 87.0 x 57.0 x 27.8 mm (Excluding protrusions)
S230
Dimensions (W x H x D) 3.4 x 2.2 x 1.1 in. / 87.0 x 57.0 x 26.7 mm

Minolta DiMAGE F100
4.33 x 2.06 x 1.26 inches


Olympus
C-50
Size 3.9” W x 2.3” H x 1.6” D (99.5 mm W x 58.5 mm H x 41.5 mm )
Stylus 400
Size Size 3.8" W x 2.2" H x 1.3" D (99 x 56 x 33.5 mm)


A70 is somewhat larger , but S400 is not much smaller, I guess It won't
fit in your packet and look normal neither.
you option seem to be buy one of really thin one.
1. DiMAGE Xi
3.33 x 2.83 x 0.79 inches
but it looks really bad.
2. Canon PowerShot SD100 Digital ELPH
85 x 56 x 24 mm (3.3 x 2.2 x 0.9 in) slightly smaller than S400 or S230

3. Casio EXILIM EX-S3
90 x 57 x 12 mm (3.5 x 2.2 x 0.5 in) 3.2mp no optical zoom
Maybe this is the one you looking for.