[pigmode]

For $499. locally, I can get a Nikon 885, Olympus 3040, or a Sony DSC-S75. Which should I get?

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Canon Powershot S30.

 

[Vertigo-1]

Buying a digital camera is a lot tougher than just asking around for opinions for a headphone's sound I'm afraid, since there's no universal views out there on a camera's pictures.

For starters you'll want to figure out which features you want first and foremost in the camera, and then get a list of cameras within your price range (or even below your price range) that places those features at the top of the list. Take into consideration battery life, physical size, memory type and capacity of that memory type, maximum resolution capable, choice of resolutions, and number of pictures at max resolution the memory can hold.

From there, research like crazy.

It took me a good 2 weeks of research and going out into the stores and looking around before I finally decided on my Fuji Finepix 2600.

 

[MacDEF]

Vert makes a bunch of excellent points. That said, if it were me, I'd go with Nick's suggestion and get the Canon

 

[DarkAngel]

Memory is not a big issue since one of the first things anyone does is immediately replace the puny (8,16mb) flash memory card that comes free with camera with a 32, 64 or 128mb card...simple cheap upgrade.

Also plan on getting aftermarket photo editing software since the software that comes free with camera is usually not that great.
(specifically Nikon but I suspect most other cameras also)
The photo editing software that comes with Win ME called "picture it publishing" is also not very good. This is one of the huge advantages of digital camera, the ability to edit image
on your computer, so get some good software.

Most digital cameras have similar features acessed through LCD screen menus. I would play around with menus to see how easy they are to use/understand for performing basic functions without even looking at instructions.

And of course compare the obvious features........megapixel capacity and lens optical range (digital range is lower resolution)
and overall design control layout of camera.

Oh, also does it look cool, I have a Nikon

 

[pigmode]

...for the great advice!

 

[CaptBubba]

Memory is an issue, because if you buy the sony you will be stuck with their proprietary memory stick cards, which are too expensive when compared to compactflash or smartmedia. Also find out the maximum memory size you can put in it, 64MB is fine, but 128MB is obviously a bit better.

Also check out the interface. USB is the standard. How long is the cable? How accesable is the port on the camera? What type of driver is it, TWAIN or storage class? I would reccomend buying a separate card reader (they cost about $25 at Best Buy) because they tend to be quicker and can be usefull if your batteries for your camera are dead. Plus, if you loose your camera's software, you arn't stuck.

Does it use AA batteries, or a proprietary battery? AAs are larger, but you can just swap them out when they die and they are farily cheap ($15 for 4 NiMH) so you can buy lots of extras. Most other batteries are smaller and last a little bit longer than AAs, but when they are dead you are stuck, unless you shelled out $40+ for a spare battery.

There are a host of other things, like how long is the shutter delay, which is the time between when you press the button and when it actually takes the picture. Also find out how long it takes the flash to charge, on some digital cameras it can be over ten seconds!

Just remeber, the camera is only a tool: you could take a crappy digicam and take good pictures. You could also take Nikon's top of the line digital camera and take some really awful pictures.

 

[pedxing]

Memory is an issue (this is getting repititve).

Smartmedia card standard only goes up to 128 MB at this time and it sounds like they are not going to make them any bigger. Compact Flash can go up to 1 GB right now and some cameras that accept Compact Flash 2 or something like that can use microdrives.

Here is a website for cameras (which you probably know already since its so popular):

www.dpreview.com

The website reviewed the Canon S40 and Olympus 3040 and the Nikon 885.

If you need something to grab with, get the Nikon or the Olympus. The S30 or S40 is a little awkward to hold because it is compact.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally posted by CaptBubba Memory is an issue, because if you buy the sony you will be stuck with their proprietary memory stick cards, which are too expensive when compared to compactflash or smartmedia. Also find out the maximum memory size you can put in it, 64MB is fine, but 128MB is obviously a bit better.

Good point about the Sony memory system, not sure why they don't use compact flash memory cards which are very cheap and easy to use

Guess I assumed most new lower priced digital cameras used the compact flash type 1 cards, here are some other types

Memory

 

[aeberbach]

If you must have a digital - Canon Powershot S330.

Or think about this - if you use a quality 35mm camera you'll have negatives that will be better than digital for the conceivable future (yes I know all about Foveon etc.) and you can scan negatives fairly easily. The combination of a film camera + a negative scanner can cost you as much as a digital SLR, but right now you get better quality, and it will keep getting better as scanners improve. If you shoot digital that's as good as it will EVER get. I guess it depends on what you intend the pictures for.
The people on photo.net seem to think the Canon Stylus Zoom is phenomenal value at under $200, with a lens rivalling many SLRs. Then as you go up the scale, Ricoh GR-1V, Leica Minilux, Nikon 35Ti, Contax G3, etc. etc.

 

[sunshine]

I would recommend you visit the discussion forums at www.dpreview.com. It is the discussion forum of choice for digital camera users as this forum is for headphoners.

 

[CaptBubba]

aeberbach, that is true, but you still have to pay for processing. The thing I love about digital is that you can take as many pictures as you want and toss the bad ones, without spending a dime on processing. Processing can really add up quickly if you want to take a lot of pictures.

And if you find a picture that you want printed professionaly, there are good dye sublimation printers and now some film shops allow you to bring in a flash memory device and they will print the contents (some photo shops use digital printers now). It is almost as expensive as getting film developed and printed, because the paper is what costs so much, but you can print only the pictures you want.