[mekanoplastik]

so...i might be a able to spend up to ~ $300 for a digicam and i was wonderign if anyone has any advise...

so far i like (for what i have read)

big ones:

olympus c-4000
minolta s414

small:

Dimage Xi
Olympus D-40 ( i really like this one...)

also seem to be ok:

canon a70
CoolPix 885

i rather shoot for less than $300 but it seems to be the best price range, for example the minolta has 4 mpix, aa batt, aluminium body and uses cheap media.....

i want the camera for general use, i dont care much about zoom, but i care about sturdiness and resale value, also important is the use of regular batteries and manual controls options...

 

[CD44hi]

Hey Mekanoplastic,

My wife bought a Canon Powershor A60. She's very happy with it. She mainly uses it for importing pictures into documents(lowRes) at work and emailing me her day to day happenings. From what I've heard from other people who own Canon digital cameras, they are reliable.

In terms of resolution, I guess it depends what is your goal, if you want to print the pictures, then the higher the resolution the better. If you want web/computer, I guess 3-4 MP should be OK.

regards,

CD44hi

 

[NEO]

Are you talking about the used one or the new one? Coolpix 885 is pretty hard to find new except on eBay. Olympus D40 and Canon A70 both use AA battery but Canon use 4 while olympus use 2 (also result in the gross weight with battery). I think you can't go wrong with either D40 or A70. However D40 which is sold on the web are mostly the refurbished one. C4000 is a good camera but C4040 with wider lense is more interesting choice. Another advantage of D40/C40xx series is that they include wireless remote in the bundle.

Minolta S414 is also a good choice (use 4AA) but resale value depreciated more than N,S,O brands. Dimage Xi is not recommended since i've read that the image is not up to the level of the compatitors.

I would also recommended Sony DSC-S75 which produces good image quality and has excellent buiild quality. The only issue is that you have to use InfoLithium with it. I recently bought Cybershot DSC-P7 and quite satisfied with it. Sony has very good image processing unit. Canon S230 is also solid and small camera with only issue of red eye (normal with small digicam) .

My choice here will be D40 since it is small and has most required features.

 

[ja17735]

go for the canon a70, has manual controls, good image quality, and a great price. The only gripe id have about it is that its got a small lcd screen and the reflective casing surrounding the screen is not the best choice for materials. The a70 is a very popular camera right now so u may have a hard time finding some in stock. (my sis just got hers and it works great) ... if u can spend a little more, the next best is a canon s45, or a minolta f300 (which for the same price as the s45 u get 1mp more) - all w/ manual controls.

 

[stuartr]

I would stay stick with Canon or Nikon -- they have the best optics. You could go with an EOS D1s, it retails for 10 grand, but you can easily find them for about 8 or less. If you are interested in something a little more economical, I would suggest trying to find a used/closeout S30 or S40. They are very compact, very sturdy cameras that have lots of good manual features and take pretty damn good pictures. I have an S30 and though I mostly shoot with a professional SLR film camera, I find that I like to use the S30 as well if I don't want to drag around 25 pounds worth of cameras and accessories.
For any used (and new) camera check out KEH photo at www.keh.com. They are a great store -- I bought a wonderful used 80-200mm f4L fd lens from them and it came to me far better than described. They have a very consistent rating system for used stuff, so buy with confidence.
For new, you can try B&H photo at www.bhphoto.com They have the A70 for 299.99, which may be a good idea. I would go for at least 3 megapixels though...I will say again, try to find a used or closeout S30/S40 they have all metal bodies and are very rugged, they take good pictures, and they have a convenient rechargable battery.
Good luck,
Stuart

edit: Also, if you have not found it yet, the best digital camera review site by far is www.dpreview.com They will have ever major camera reviewed (with a zillion pages on each) so you can search to your heart's content. This is what I did two years ago when I got the S30.

 

[crazychile]

About a year ago i selected a Nikon digital camera for work. I cant remember the model # off hand, but it was in the $500-$600 range. You can probably buy something similar in your price range now. It is easy to use and the pictures look great. We also invested in another rechargeable battery (around $60) and a memory card reader (around$40).

Battery life is good, and that seems to be one of the major drawbacks of most cameras. We replaced a 2 yr old Olympus that used AA bateries and you were lucky to get 20 pictures out of a set of batteries. Go with a rechargeable battery and buy a back up. You'll save money in the long run.

 

[ja17735]

at the 300$ price level its a pretty even playing field in terms of optical quality (some different brands even use the same lenses). so your choice of brands isnt too important in those terms, unless you are buying a no-name camera brand. If you stick the the main camera makers (canon, nikon, sony,olympus, minolta) or companies that make nice glass (leica, contax) you should be fine. One important thing to look for is that all the elements of the lens are glass, not plastic. All cameras in the range seem to have some barrel distortion and that nasty purple haze that lines highlights...

Where brand selection can come into more play is the camera body layout and menu layout. If you've used canon before you'd probably be more comfortable with chosing another canon, same goes for the other brands. Once you get used to one way of doing things, it almost becomes unintuitive when you try to use another brand's setup.

Another aspect of brand choice is their image processing software. This is also subjective in that some brands tend to give different priorities in terms of how an image is processed (as mentioned dpreview.com is a great source for sample head-to-head comparos of images). From what I've seen Nikon and Canon routinely outperform other brands.

resale value for digital cameras is pretty dismal . If you stick to major brands, or specialty brands you could get a few more bucks (sorry hp, ricoh, etc) but not much. Basically, dont base your decision on resale value, they will all be worth nil soon enough. With the rate that technology is improving in digital imaging hardware and software soon we'll be seeing 10 mp consumer grade cameras in the not too distant future (pro level d slr's are already heading up to the 20 mp mark). So base your decision on current value, not future resale value. Buy a camera that while will be your main d cam now, will be a nice backup later.

All that said, id x out the xi and s414 from your list and definately consider the a70 (tho it is a plastic body i think). hope that helps

 

[screwdriver]

here is a heads up for a used nikon coolpix 880 - i dont know the seller but i just came across it and maybe it is a good deal.

FS:Nikon coolpix 880

 

[fractus2]

Quote:

Originally posted by stuartr edit: Also, if you have not found it yet, the best digital camera review site by far is www.dpreview.com They will have ever major camera reviewed (with a zillion pages on each) so you can search to your heart's content. This is what I did two years ago when I got the S30.

That's a great resourse stuartr..., thanks.

 

[mekanoplastik]

thanks for all the comments....finding the right camera is like finding the right audio equipment..difficult and expensive!

i still think the d-40 and the c-4000 (or 3040 if i find one) are the main contenders. ( i like how they feel in my hand) .the only think i dont like is the small media they use (only 128 max) , the minolta is still a great deal (i am triying to find it faults but for $300 is difficult)....the a70 is nice but i read somewere about issues with its slow operation (?) .. i am doing some research as it seems a very nice camera, even thou i think canon stuff is ugly

one question for the digital camera guys...how is the b&w performance with digital cameras? is is done with the camera or with photoshop filter?

 

[stuartr]

Quote:

Originally posted by mekanoplastik How is the B&W performance with digital cameras? is is done with the camera or with photoshop filter?

Definitely do it in photoshop. It is more effective, and it allows you to have both a color and a B&W copy if you decide later that you prefer color. That said, a good black and white film like Ilford FP4 plus will always look better to my eyes than photoshop (unless it is extremely well done). Something about silver halides tug at my heartstrings. But definitely do it in photoshop, even if you only have Elements (which is a great program, and all I have...but all I really do is scan in slides and negatives and correct the color/crop etc.).

 

[cyberhazard]

Go to The Imaging Resource. Indepth reviews on almost every digital camera.

 

[Mr.PD]

I bought a Canon S30 back in January. It was a bit over the $300 mark at $369. You may find it cheaper now. It is a nice pocket camera, and takes very good pictures in all sorts of lighting conditions. It's weakness is macro and vistas, both extremes of the camera world. Everything in between is great. Some of my pictures are in this thread. I have had one photo professionally printed in an 8x10 format and it came out very nice. My 5x7's are all sharp and clear.

I had Sony Imagestation do the printing and am very happy with their service.

 

[wallijonn]

ja17735,

thanks for the link.

http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/

Cyberhazard,

man, some of those pics (you'll have to go into test image, and then look at the full size) are awesome.

thanks.