Digital cameras?

[Onix]

Hey guys, I need some advice. My wife wants a digital camera for her B'day and I would like to get one for around 100 dollars and under 150. It has to be easy to operate and have a good resolution. If someone can give a sugestion it would be great. Thanks and take care.

 

[Ari]

H-Fellow ONIX !!

I think this site will help a lot. They test everything. The prices starts at $ 180 and by this level, they recommend FujiFilm FinePix A101. Check it out...

Clic Here


I only have used Sonys and I like then very much. But I know Nikon, Fuji and some Minolta are OK also.

Talk to you latter about it.

Best

Ari

 

[hongda]

Sony's have a tendency to be expensive. For quick point and shoot I would look at the Canon Elph's. They're just cute

 

[Onix]

Obrigado Ari. Thanks for the link. And yes Hongfda, Sony is a bit overpriced. Cannon is a very good choice, I'll check it ou. Thanks.

 

[Ari]

Quote:

Originally posted by Onix Obrigado Ari. Thanks for the link. And yes Hongfda, Sony is a bit overpriced. Cannon is a very good choice, I'll check it ou. Thanks.

_________________

Oi ONIX !!

See you speak Portuguese very well !!!...

Yes, Hongfda, I forgot about Canons. But I do not like Elph's optics. I have one and it's very very bad.

Um abraço

Ari

 

[hongda]

Well cnet gave Olympus a pretty good rating
http://electronics.cnet.com/electron...?tag=pdtl-list

and lineup of 2 MP cameras.

http://electronics.cnet.com/electron...1.html?tag=txt

I use a Nikon 995. Very nice. But the optical viewfinder has something wrong with it

It appears a filter or something is offset and I see a very fine line if I use the optical instead of the LCD. doesn't show up in the pictures though. Just annoying. My friend has the Sony 5MP. Extremely nice. But then we're talking $1k US.

 

[kerelybonto]

I have a 2.1Mpixel Olympus Camedia D-510 Zoom, which is a good camera for the price, which is higher than you want. (Although you can get them refurbished starting around $170; check Yahoo! Shopping.) But I'll give you some general thoughts:

Basically, I don't think any digital camera under 2MP is worth it, unless you just want something to have fun with. The picture quality is decent, but ... I don't know, it's definitely not film. Any sub-2MP photos you won't want to print and you probably won't want to look at on a computer screen except zoomed way out.

That said, take a look at the attachment, which is a panorama shot I took this summer in Colorado.

kerelybonto

[Edit: Picture's too big, of course. I'll try to post a link.]

 

[kerelybonto]

Okay, click here to see a sample picture. I didn't post it directly because it's a wide panorama shot and will screw up the tables.

That should give you an idea of the resolution of that class of camera. I can post lots of other pictures if you want to take a look at different kinds of shooting environments.

kerelybonto

 

[Ari]

kerelybonto

What a place !! Just add good music and everything will be fine....

Best

Ari

 

[Ari]

ONIX

Digital imaging is great today. It is really getting close to film quality. And for that you don't need to go very hi end.

I understand your budget for that. But to approach film quality, you will need to be around 3 MP and hi-er.

I think this "entry level" thing make us expend more and more money. You keep expending until you get there. And "this there" start at 3MP.

Sure I have (everybody does) budget limitations. But some times is better save before buy.

First time I got close to "film quality" pics was whit a Sony DSC 70, 3.1 MP

Best

Ari

(edit) PS: Onix, I went to your pics page. You are a tremendous artist... You will go for a 5 MP camera indeed (sooner or later)... Sorry for your wallet...

 

[Onix]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ari ONIX Digital imaging is great today. It is really getting close to film quality. And for that you don't need to go very hi end. I understand your budget for that. But to approach film quality, you will need to be around 3 MP and hi-er. I think this "entry level" thing make us expend more and more money. You keep expending until you get there. And "this there" start at 3MP. Sure I have (everybody does) budget limitations. But some times is better save before buy. First time I got close to "film quality" pics was whit a Sony DSC 70, 3.1 MP Best Ari (edit) PS: Onix, I went to your pics page. You are a tremendous artist... You will go for a 5 MP camera indeed (sooner or later)... Sorry for your wallet...

Hey Ari. Thanks. Those pictures are like four years old, taken with an old Mavica. And some of the other images are just made using Adobe Photoshop. I'll love to get a good digital cam, like the Sony Cd one, but rigth now all I want is something my wife can use with no problem to snap pictures of my baby. A better cam can wait for a while. Thanks for the comments

Kerely: I'll check that cam. Nice quality on the image, but there's some sweep in the lower and upper parts of the image. But the picture quality is great. Thanks for the recomendation.

Hongda, thanks for the info, I'll check it out.

 

[kerelybonto]

The distortion around the edges is due to the stitching process. It's not in the pictures themselves, but I was shooting freehand, so they weren't all exactly level, and that makes for imperfect stitching.

I agree with Ari about needing around 3MP to really compete with film, especially for prints. I know I'm eventually going to get a much nicer camera, probably in a few years when I can get a 5- or 6MP SLR for under a million bucks. Then I'll be set.

Digital cameras really are a lot of fun, especially since it's free to take pictures. Film gets pretty expensive, and if you just like to shoot, the cost constraint gets in the way. There's no such thing with digital cameras once you buy a decent sized memory card. (Another thing I liked about the D-510 Zoom was that it came with a 8MB card but also a mail-in offer for a completely free 64MB card. 8MB is really way too small. 64MB is plenty for my camera's resolution.) Another reason to avoid Sonys is that they use their own storage media, which is more expensive and arguably not as good as what's used in other cameras. The best type of media compatibility to look for is SmartMedia, which is a bit better than CompactFlash. Microdrives are actually the best, of course, but you won't find them on anything but the high-end cameras.

kerelybonto

 

[Mystyler]

It might be a bit pricy or to complex, but the Canon G2 is an excellent camera.

 

[lini]

Onix: If you're not much into big printouts, a 2(.1)-megapixel-cam is fine enough, I'd say. Just be sure to get something with an optical zoom - 3x ranging from ~ 35 - 110 mm (recalculated to standard cameras) is fine, 2x ranging from ~ 35 - 70 mm is good enough. I have a Fuji FinePix 4700 Zoom, by the way, and I'm quite happy with it - the auto white balance is not so great with aritificial light, if you don't use the flash, though. Maybe you can already find something like that used for your desired price... A Casio QV3000 also wouldn't be a bad idea, though it's a bit bulky imo.

Greetings from Munich (yeah, home again... it was a long day, yesterday - stating at Friday 7 a.m. local time in San Jose, ending today at 4 a.m. home local time after an additional party => 36 hrs...

)!

Manfred / lini

 

[Onix]

Hey guys, thanks for the help. I'll settle for the Camedia. Looks simple enough for the wife.