Digital Camera Recommendations

Alptraum · Jan 3, 2003

I am thinking about finally getting a digital camera. I am not super into photography or anything so I don't need anything super great. I was thinking of something in the $199 to $299 or so price range. What are some good choices in that range? At the moment I am thinking I'll end up with a Sony (maybe the DSC-P7. At $368.99 it goes over the range I just mentioned but its close enough). However I am mainly just basing this on the fact that I have used tons of Sony stuff over the years and its all worked well. I am open to other brands. Should I look at Kodiak? Fujitsu? Others? Basically I just want something simple to take decent quality pics with.

rb56 · Jan 3, 2003

I think Sony would be a good choice, I would also look at Canon and the brands you mentioned.

Get something with 2+ megapixels or more at any rate, you will be glad you did when you want to crop and print a larger picture. I would look for something with a 3x or 4x opticial zoom and a decient display to frame your shots. Get one with a GOOD software package (Adobe, etc.) if you can, it makes all the difference if you are just starting out.

I bought a Kodak DC215 several years ago, it was a 1.3 megapixel and it worked great with limited cropping as long as I didn't print over a 5x7. It also worked well for pictures printed to the web. (See signature site for examples). I now use a Canon G1 and I love it.

fatbaby · Jan 3, 2003

canon a40 for $200-$250

the kodak ones take excellent pictures, but are rather bulky...

low-end fuji cameras use sd memory or their own "xd" memory, which i think are the devil

Ausm · Jan 3, 2003

The Canon A40 is hard to beat for the price and also quality

Ausm

TP · Jan 3, 2003

i just got the Olympus Camedia D-380 for Christmas.. from target.. for $179.. 2MPixel.. very happy with it.. check my website out for some samples.. look under the "daily" link.. those are unedited shots..

Alptraum · Jan 3, 2003

Thanks for the advice so far. I am thinking I'll probably go with a 3+ megapixel one at this point but Ill still check out the a40 and the d-380.

JOSEPHLB · Jan 3, 2003

Olympus and Canon

I had an Olympus a while back.. The picture quality was awesome.

I now have the Canon Powershot A20. This is a feature rich camera for the budget minded. It should be in the $199 range by now. I bought mine back when it was $299.00

Macro2 · Jan 3, 2003

3 megapixel plus. I believe Fuji has one in you range or Canon on sale.

Alptraum · Jan 3, 2003

3 megapixel plus. I believe Fuji has one in you range or Canon on sale.

Lol, as is not uncommon my range went up after I really started looking. I am thinking more in the $300 to probably $400 max now for the 3+ mega pixel. That Sony I mentioned has 3.2 for $368. Ill check out some Canons and some others in that range too. I'll probably end up with the Sony. I was mainly interested to hear if there were some brands you should stay away from or some that are way better then others. So far I have enjoyed the advice so far. Thanks.

Ausm · Jan 3, 2003

G\L finding a decent 3 + megapixel camera in your price range

Ausm

Alptraum · Jan 3, 2003

G\L finding a decent 3 + megapixel camera in your price range

Well, it seems there are a number so I dont think it should be too hard. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong though.

Sid59 · Jan 3, 2003

bump for CanonA40

robcrawford · Jan 3, 2003

I just bought the Sony you mentioned. It works quite well and it seems to be a good value (the same features as their 4.0 MP model, but less $). It's my first digital camera, so I can't compare it with much else, though.

haut · Jan 3, 2003

I've got a Canon Powershot S330 Digital Elph and love it to death. Thats not to say its better than the A40 (which has a couple more manual controls), but it does have some advantages. First, the rechargeable battery rocks and you gotta buy one if you get the A40 (or youll keep buying alkalines or lithium ones). Next, the size and metal case are both great. The Elph is heavy-ish, which feels good and solid. Go to www.dcresource.com and check out the reviews, theyve got sample pics and everything else you need to know (very in-depth reviews). Good luck!
--Ryan

Macro2 · Jan 3, 2003

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=942466&highlight_key=y&keyword1=s30 Text

Macro2 · Jan 3, 2003

From pricewatch...I've seen this camera at best buy too.

Product Description Price MaxTotalCost
Price + Max Shipping Dealer/Phone/State
FUJI - Cameras - Digital
Info...

FUJI FINEPIX A303 Price for PHONE ORDER MUST MENTION PRICE WATCH - Finepix A303 3.0 Megapixel 3X Optical/3X Digital Zoom Digital Camera Price: $ 269

Ship: $18.00 - 25.00
Updated:10/24, 3:38 PM
$294.00 U-Save Gelt Ltd.
Info...

877-904-1999
212-904-1895 -- P.O.'s accepted

NY

Maqo · Jan 3, 2003

If your price range is really up to $400 now, I would *highly* recommend the Canon Powershot S30. It's got more professional grade features than any other camera its price range and the quality is on par with their high-end SLR's (if you've ever had the pleasure of using one). I can't recommend any of the mini cameras as the battery life tends to suffer compared to their larger counterparts. I own both the S30 and an EOS 1-N, and am amazed at how many functions they have ported to a digital camera...

As far as what to stay away from, don't get anything that doesn't come with a rechargeable battery, or that doesn't use a CompactFlash card (by far the best $/MB ratio).

Alptraum · Jan 3, 2003

I'll ook into the S30. Its within about $10 of the Sony I was thinking about so its not much of a jump. Features don't matter to me at the moment as much as quality. For instance fstop and things of that nature are basically gibberish to me, lol. Though that may change once I start taking more photos.

Macro2 · Jan 3, 2003

I gave you a link to a S30 for 300 or so.

Alptraum · Jan 3, 2003

I gave you a link to a S30 for 300 or so.

Lol, so you did. I think I have been half blind most of the day. I'll check that out and see if the deal is still good. Even if its not and the normal price is $349 now thats not bad. Thanks.

Macro2 · Jan 3, 2003

$349....humm...
if you go to that place...some kind of *wallet.com and type in S30 at forums>hot deals you might even get it for $279 as some coupons are stackable.

Regards, * = fat

Lvis · Jan 3, 2003

Originally posted by: Macro2
From pricewatch...I've seen this camera at best buy too.

Product Description Price MaxTotalCost
Price + Max Shipping Dealer/Phone/State
FUJI - Cameras - Digital
Info...

FUJI FINEPIX A303 Price for PHONE ORDER MUST MENTION PRICE WATCH - Finepix A303 3.0 Megapixel 3X Optical/3X Digital Zoom Digital Camera Price: $ 269

Ship: $18.00 - 25.00
Updated:10/24, 3:38 PM
$294.00 U-Save Gelt Ltd.
Info...

877-904-1999
212-904-1895 -- P.O.'s accepted

NY

My local Target had this camera too. 299.99 About the same price if you factor in shipping. Do you own this one? Not many reviews of it on the net..

Macro2 · Jan 4, 2003

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/a303.html LINK STEVE DIGICAMS

I have no experience with the camera except seeing and holding it it. i liked it because it was small. Not much bigger than a Canon S230 etc.
As far as quality, Fuji has a good reputation.

Slogun · Jan 4, 2003

Here's my two cents.

I love my Canon S30 I bought about a year ago(the pictures are out of this world). But if I was shopping for a new camera now, I would get a Canon S230.

They go for around $300. In my opinion, you can't do better for ease of use, picture quality and quality construction than Canon these days. Have you seen that S230? It is SMALL, something my S30 is not.

I also enjoy taking 30 second video clips on my S30, and they are decent quality. However with the S230 you can take 3 minute video clips with sound (no sound on clips with that Fuji above). The video clips on my wife's sony mavica are not so hot.

When figuring out the cost of a new digital camera, you also need to consider a larger memory card (I've seen 256MB compact flash cards on sale for as low as $50, normal sale price around $100). You also may want to consider an extra battery.

You can read reviews on all these cameras, check sample photos and see what owners are saying on forums for each brand at dpreview

I just checked that site, the Canon S230 is also known as the "Canon Digital IXUS v3." It is the camera getting the most "hits" at dpreview in the past week.

ChefJoe · Jan 4, 2003

I spent a lot of time considering cameras... was going to go with an Oly D550 for a while, then heard about canon's reputation for digicams, compared some screens... A40 looked ok for the cost, but ultimatly was deciding between the 230 (2x optical zoom, new processor... ultimately decided that it felt a little small in my man-hands) or the S30 (a little larger)... I was going to wait for an S35 (rumored to be an S30 with fast processor that should be in the works.... no announcements) but couldn't pass up the $100 savings on teh S30. If you want to spend $500 on it, you may want to look at the S45.

If you start looking at the menus, the oly's have menus that are like childrens crayon... that really sold me on going with canon.

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