[zowie]

I'm still living in the 35mm world -- not about to repeat the same mistake as when I started buying CDs -- so I don't know much of anything about digital still photography, but I'd like to get one for my wife.

Can anyone point me towards a few models that'd be roughly the digital equivalent of, say, a SureShot (optical zoom, not too complicated, but reasonably good picture quality)?

If it matters, I have USB 2.0 and firewire on my current PC, but not a chip reader.

Thanks

 

[D-EJ915]

My sister has a P71/2 and it seems to work pretty well. I think they're up to P73 now, but it's a good model that's easy to use no matter what. It doesn't come with an AC Adapter, but it connects to the computer for transfers so you don't need a reader.

 

[Talonz]

I don't know a whole lot, but stay very far away from the HP line. The picture quality is mediocre and the LCD tracking is horrible. The Sony Cybershot line was nice to use, but once again, I haven't had much experience.

 

[zowie]

I'm thinking about Canon A75/85, although a touch more than I thought I'd need to spend.

Do I realistically need more than around 3 Megapixel?

 

[swalker]

try Sony W1 or one of Canon ELPH series. Both are great little cameras(although on a little bit of costly side) and take great pictures. I prefer the Sony model because of its screaming fast performance, the Large LCD and the great video quality. If you don't mind a bit of extra bulk, Panasonic FZ3 with the 12X zoom and the Canon S1 with its 10X zoom would be intriguing. My roommate has the older FZ1 and both he absolutely loves it. The long zoom comes very handy in many situations especially useful if you take pics of your children. Both cameras are still very easy too use and pretty small considering the large lenses and the image stabilization feature. Take a look at sample pics on the internet sites and decide which ones you like best.

Quote:

I'm thinking about Canon A75/85, although a touch more than I thought I'd need to spend. Do I realistically need more than around 3 Megapixel?

The Canon A series cameras are very nice but they are a little builkier than what I'd give to my own wife(that is, if i were married) But no, you do not need anything more than 3 meg pixel unless you want to print something large. Heck I don't think most people need more than 2 meg pixel as long as the camera is fast and takes nice pics. (Some of old cameras were slooooow to boot and took forever to focus) Something like the Canon A60/A70 would be just fine if you want to go cheap.

 

[D-EJ915]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zowie I'm thinking about Canon A75/85, although a touch more than I thought I'd need to spend. Do I realistically need more than around 3 Megapixel?

I'm not sure, the sony that I'm talking about takes a 2048*1536 picture and this is a good check of it's quality. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...et/D66Wall.jpg

I just cropped that picture, it's not resized at all.

 

[zowie]

Why didn't I guess that it'd be a picture of some cans? HA HA HA. Seriously, that's a beautiful shot.

ALL of those suggestions look good. Does anyone know the difference between the Canon A series and the Elph series?

 

[null]

Personally, I recommend the FujiFilm FinePix A series line of digital cameras. Good image quality for the price...

 

[cd3000]

This is the one I have my eye on. One of the most collected camera's of yore is the oly 2100 uzi and it has similar traits to this cam.


review

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cd3000 This is the one I have my eye on. One of the most collected camera's of yore is the oly 2100 uzi and it has similar traits to this cam. review

Looks like a lot of camera for the money. If I were buying it for myself that'd probably be the one. I'm thinking of going with the Elph 410.

 

[dariusf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zowie Looks like a lot of camera for the money. If I were buying it for myself that'd probably be the one. I'm thinking of going with the Elph 410.

Canon ELPH series are fine cameras, they get great reviews, are nice small size and have great pic quality. I have the Canon S230 and really like it. Sure the pics are not as great as on my now aging Minolta dimage 7 but its easy to use for my wife and super easy to take with. Pop it in a pocket and go. The S410 is a great upgrade and I was actually considering upgrading to it from my S230 but I don't print large pics to justify the higher resolution. If I want high res I just use my Minolta.

good review of the 410
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S410/S41A.HTM

 

[gloco]

My sister has a fuji 3.1mp digicam and it takes very snazzy pics. I think the model# is A310. I sat down with it on Saturday and within a few mins i was taking pics and fiddling with the controls. Although, it didn't appear to have manual controls over exposure and the like. Don't quote me on that because i didn't read the manual but i couldn't find any controls for them.

 

[AuroraProject]

Canon Elph's are a great choice, and unless you want to print big 3 megapixels is fine.

 

[dariusf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject Canon Elph's are a great choice, and unless you want to print big 3 megapixels is fine.

very true, I usually would say

3mp for up to 8x10" prints
4mp for up to 11x14" prints

 

[fredpb]

I would recommend Canon. I have an old A40, a new A75 and a new S1 IS.
The S1 IS is an amazing camera.

The quality of everything of the Canon line is great.

The A75 is about $250, and you can put it on "auto" and it will auto everything. Great camera. And you can get technical with it if you want.

The cheapest, the Canon A310, is about $150. Nice little camera, I tried one out for a while. No optical zoom though.

Watch out for any model of any make that has rechargable batteries though. I mean BUILT IN rechargables. That is just silly.