Digital Camera

[Chief]

I'm doing home work prior to buying a Dig. Camera. Most of you have cameras now. I'd like feed back regarding anything you may have learned and camera's you would recommend. The Camera will be used for general family pictures. Price is not an issue.

You may EMail me if you like.

 

[SoCal Tbird]

The newer camera's have more mega pixels. My Sony DSC-P1 has 3.3 mp. I found out the hard way that Sony is not the way to go. It uses expensive memory sicks to store the pictures. You can copy the pictures to a CD but you need a CD burner. That was a waist of time because Sony's software is different than the others and the local photo shop can not process them. You can buy a Sony digital photo printer but you need to buy the special sony paper for it. It is expensive and is back ordered for two months. I have to send my pictures to a web site, Shutterfly.com, to have them processed. Stay away from Sony.

 

[Gobird]

Chief, I also have a Sony but mine doesn't have a chip, it uses a standard floppy. I don't have any problem with it. Model #FD 83. It is about 2yrs. old so don't know what the new ones are like. I'm sure you will get lots of advice on this.

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02 T-Bird
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond

 

[pbocciardi]

Chief, I absolutely love the camera that we used on the Route 66 trip in November. It's the Canon Powershot G1, 3.1 megapixels. (The G2 just became available at 4 megapixels.)


Keep in mind, too, that those photos have been converted to jpegs, which are much lower resolution than the photos the camera took.

[By the way, I had first tried a Kodak 3-megapixel camera but brought it back because the TIFFs were too large AND not good quality.]

Good luck!

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[Howlee]

i have a Sony DSC-S70 3.3 meg camera. The pictures outside are great, the ones inside if close enough are also fine. the built in falsh is not strong enough for pictures farther that say about 10 feet. The picture is still clear, but the colors are off. This can be fixed a little with my epson printer software.
Transfering my pictures to my computer (windoz)is no problem, using the camera, i just plug it into a usb port and and use any program that looks at JPEG's. My brother inlaw with a mac also does it the same way.
The price on memory sticks (storage device) is a little higher that the others, but much smaller and compatable with all sony stuff.
Just another opinion, Also the Sony will take short movie pictures where not all others will. good hunting john

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Blue/Blue Prem. w/full accent
In my Garage as of 1/25 #6333 LIC: BLU TB

 

[rt2esq]

Chief,

I bought an HP Photosmart 215 (2.1 meg) over a year ago. I loaded it up with an $80 dollar card that holds up to 150 shots.

It's perfect for family gigs and does the trick as a first generation camera. I am thinking of upgrading for professional purposes later and probably will take a close look at Consumer Reports or another mags reviews.

Good Luck,

RT2ESQ
Triple Black #1049

 

[LON O'CONNELL]

I have a Sony that I bought last October but am not sure what model number it is. It uses a standard floppy disc or can use a memory stick with adaptor to slip into floppy slot. Have been very happy with the camera thus far.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

 

[Tom M]

Chief:

We got one of the tiny Canons, the S110 Digital Elph. It's not the megapixel champ but if you need a small camera it does work very well.

Others with more space have reported excellent results with the Nikon Coolpix 990 & 995.

Outstanding digital camera reviews are available at http://www.dpreview.com/.

Good luck.

Tom M

 

[DavidA]

Obviously there are many makes and models to chose from. I bought an Olympus D460 a year ago and have taken many many pictures on various bike trips. The pictures are terrific even though the resolution is 'ONLY' 1.4 megapixels. However, the latest model has higher resolution. I DO recommend that you consider one that uses the data card rather than the Sony Memory Stick and also one that has a built-in USB port for transfer of the pictures. Mine requires a USB reader that the newer ones do not need.

 

[K6RU]

I have used a Kodak for several years with good results. Just upgraded to a DC3400 with 2 Mpixels and a memory card. Got the USB card reader so camera does not have to be on for download like my original one.

Recommend upgrading memory to 32 Mb card.

Very pleased.

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Chuck

 

[Tommy Tbird Blue]

Chief,

I love my Olympus D450, which is about 4 years old. We just bought a Olympus C4040 and it's even better. More features, more pixels. I like the fact that I can get more memory (128M card for $79) and I don't have to buy proprietary stuff -- i.e. memory sticks.

T

 

[10of11]

Take a look at an Olympus C-700. It has 2.11 megapixels. Enough resolution for enlargements without requiring too much memory. Olympus cameras have great lenses and plenty of features. The major advantage of this camera is 10X optical zoom yet fits in your jacket pocket. You won't know how great this camera is until you try it. Let's you take pictures you would pass up if you only have 3X optical zoom. Don't count on digital zoom, it reduces the resolution. It uses SmartMedia memory, comes with 8MB (not enough). I bought a 64MB chip for about $30. It holds over 100 pictures. Camera connects to computer through USB and appears as a hard drive for uploading pictures. I've had it since June 2001, if you have any questions, e-mail me.

 

[tbird]

Originally posted by SoCal Tbird:
The newer camera's have more mega pixels. My Sony DSC-P1 has 3.3 mp. I found out the hard way that Sony is not the way to go. It uses expensive memory sicks to store the pictures. You can copy the pictures to a CD but you need a CD burner. That was a waist of time because Sony's software is different than the others and the local photo shop can not process them. You can buy a Sony digital photo printer but you need to buy the special sony paper for it. It is expensive and is back ordered for two months. I have to send my pictures to a web site, Shutterfly.com, to have them processed. Stay away from Sony.

They just dropped the prices of the memory sticks this week.
http://www.sonystyle.com/digitalimaging/Promo31.shtml

As long as you buy a camera with 1 megapixels or greater you will be fine. If you want out cheap, get a Kodak. Olympus makes very good cameras. I use a variety of cameras at work and the 1.1 megapixels are just fine.

Tbird

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[Chief]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm in a processing mode now!

 

[Birdman93]

I use a Canon Pro-Digital 5000 for my studio, when resolution is not a problem-I can shoot and enlarge up to 8X10 without degradation. The camera cost over $11k new-and I still prefer film over digital for what I do.

Basically you will want a camera that has at least a 1.1 megapixel CCD-anything lower than that will result in lower quality photos.

Something else to consider, if you haven't thought about it, is a good quality digital camcorder-JVC and Canon would be the better options. Prices have come WAY down-and most offer still-shot capability-the JVC uses a memory stick for stills, and DV cassette for video.

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[Kristi]

I have an Olympus D-460, which I love. Except the flash, which is a little funky regarding the red-eye reduction. But it has the digital and optical zoom. I got the additional power cord for when I download to my pc, saves batteries. I use the 9-pin cord to download instead of pulling the card. The picture resolution can be changed on the fly. It's a 1.3 m-p and I've had it since last summer.

I'm watching ads for digital cameras for my bro'. Best Buy has an Olympus on sale this week, D-510, 2.1 megapixel. It's a good deal for someone starting out. Also, watch the Best Buy, OfficeMax online sites. Sometimes they offer a bonus (like free shipping or memory card) above and beyond the printed ad.

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