Digital Camera

[Duder 238]

I'm going to be purchasing a digital camera soon and need a bit of advice. I'm trying to get something relatively inexpensive that will take decent pictures. It's main use will be on trips, zoos, beaches, etc. I've been told by a friend (professional photographer) not to get one under 3 MP. A few people I know have some starting at a 2.1 that takes decent pics. Any suggestions?

[Guest AuNuma1]

Canon Powershot A70 is a great buy. I own the Canon Powershot A80 and it's more than enough camera for me...picture quality is excellent.

[autigger 0]

If you look at the pictures on the AU family board of my niece those were taken with a Fuji Film Digital camera that was $149 at Radio Shack and its under 3MP. I get really good quality pictures out of mine and wouldnt trade it for anything.....

[TitanTiger 20,511]

The Sony Cybershot DSC-52 is a very nice camera for the money. I have the DSC-32 which is identical except for the lack of optical zoom. Personally find it to be one of the most intuitive cameras to use and it takes great pictures. You can probably find the DSC-32 for around $150 or so, or step up to the DSC-52 and get the optical zoom for around $200 or so.

In fact, here's a link on Amazon. These are Amazon approved sellers.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/store...2308691-3027931

People will tell you that you need optical zoom to get good close ups. I've had no trouble at all getting excellent photos, even blown up to 5x7 or bigger, just using the digital zoom. You center the target and take the photo like normal, then zoom in afterward and can manipulate the center of the photo and such. Works great.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

I have a Canon and LOVE it. It is over two years old, so I am sure it is less than 3MP, and it is still excellent.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

On another note...Olympus has some great cameras as far as picture quality, but I find them horribly obtuse in usability. Nothing makes any sense. They are too complicated for their own good...or for the average point-and-shoot user.

[Tigermike 3,053]

I have a Fuji and love it. Several years ago I splurged and bought the camera. It helped that I already had lenses that fit. If you want the top end camera check out these two out.

Fuji FinePix S1 Pro ( Body Only ) Digital Camera

SLR - 6.1 Megapixels - SmartMedia card, Microdrive Compatible 16 MB - Screen: 2 in - Focus: Automatic, Manual - Built In Flash - Sku: S1

Fuji

Nikon D2-H ( Body Only ) Digital Camera

SLR - 4.1 Megapixels - Compact Flash - Screen: 2.5 in - Focus: Automatic, Manual - External, Built In Flash - Sku: D2H

Nikon

[autigger 0]

I have a Fuji and love it. Several years ago I splurged and bought the camera. It helped that I already had lenses that fit. If you want the top end camera check out these two out.

Fuji FinePix S1 Pro ( Body Only ) Digital Camera

SLR - 6.1 Megapixels - SmartMedia card, Microdrive Compatible 16 MB - Screen: 2 in - Focus: Automatic, Manual - Built In Flash - Sku: S1

Fuji

Nikon D2-H ( Body Only ) Digital Camera

SLR - 4.1 Megapixels - Compact Flash - Screen: 2.5 in - Focus: Automatic, Manual - External, Built In Flash - Sku: D2H

Nikon

The Nikon has some issues with its battery power. My mother has a nikon and it was good for a day and then she couldnt hold battery power. The service tech told her some software to download to the camera to help the issue but when i attempted to do that 4 different computers never recognized the camera as being plugged in.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

First of all, Tigermike...talk about overkill. Who needs a $2000+ single-reflex lens digital camera to take snapshots of the fam? That dang Nikon you mentioned takes 8 pictures per second! What are you shooting, the Kentucky Derby finish line?

And autigger, if your mom bought a $2500 Nikon and had that kind of trouble, I hope to God she took that puppy back to the store. I doubt that kind of camera even uses the kinds of battery your or my camera has. We use those rechargable AA Ni-Cads (I'm guessing). That kind of camera uses a rechargable Lithium-Ion battery similar to what a cell phone has.

[TrueBlue72 0]

I cannot really understand all the fuss over resolution with digital cameras. I've been using them for five or six years and even my first, with only one megapixel, made pics that could be printed and looked like photographs at 8" x 10".

I currently use a tiny Casio that is the size of a credit card and about a half inch thick, fits in my pocket, and stores 80, 2 mpx pictures before having to be unloaded. I've used the pictures on websites and for many other things and never had a problem.

By the way, most of the online things say, "best when viewed in 640 x 480; that is 0.3 megapixel resolution.

I'll take compact and convenient over high resolution that the eye can't see any time!

[TitanTiger 20,511]

I can tell the difference, and I think if you took the exact same photo with a 3 megapixel camera then blew it up to 8" x 10" you'd notice a significant difference in sharpness, tone and overall photo quality. This is especially true if you take a picture that you want to digitally zoom in on a focal point, then blow up the shot to a larger format.

And there are compact and convenient 3 MP cameras out there. Most people marvel at how small my Sony is.

[Ranger12 46]

I'm going to be purchasing a digital camera soon and need a bit of advice. I'm trying to get something relatively inexpensive that will take decent pictures. It's main use will be on trips, zoos, beaches, etc. I've been told by a friend (professional photographer) not to get one under 3 MP. A few people I know have some starting at a 2.1 that takes decent pics. Any suggestions?

Get me with me later and I will show you what I am about to buy and see what you think. It is a Kodak and it is 5 MP. My sister-in-law has the 4 MP version and it rocks.

[bammanmr 0]

Ranger12 is on the right track. Kodak has gome great new models. A friend of mine was contemplating the 5MP model, but ended up with their new 4MP (DX6490) one with the 10x optical zoom. A 10x optical zoom is like adding a 3,000$ zoom lens to an old SLR. Its only about 399.00, and IMO one of the best digital camera buys I've seen. But it's not small. But I'd take that zoom level over size any day.

[Streyeder 0]

The Canon Digital Elph series is a GREAT camera for travel. 3+ Megapixels, VERY SMALL, and GREAT pics.

There are also some great Kodaks that come with the digital photo printer docks. I got my gf one and she loves it to death. The printer dock makes great photos as well.