digital camera recommendations. Brand/model

[Guest]

BC and Stick

 

 

 

I just bought the 707 and I gotta tell ya, it's an awesome camera...absolutely no regrets. Sorry to hear your feelings on Sony. Agreed their stuff is expensive, but I've always been happy. The Canon Powershot G2 is really nice as well. Huge benefit is the 1G microdrive in comparison to the Sony memory stick. For whatever reason I decided on the Sony.

 

 

 

echo the statement about dpreview.com....excellent site...should answer any questions you may have.

 

 

 

my .02

[Guest]

shutter lag sounds like a 'framing' nightmare.. hard to get the shot you want with the delay.

 

 

 

My Dazzle Video Editor set up has a lag that drives me loco.. it's not even a second, but it make pulling a '.jpg special frame' off the video tape more difficult..

 

 

 

I can live with the lack of lens options , I'm spoiled with zoom lens covering from 28 - 300, but could live with that 'sacrifice'.

 

 

 

The credit card size & 1" deep digital cameras only have digital zoom, no optical zoom.

 

Is the digital zoom usable?, it's not to useful on my Sony Camcorder.

[Boo Radley]

Hi,

 

Wasn't aware of the shutter lag problem in digital cameras (I'm still using an old 35mm film camera). Seems like a major disadvantage in going to digital? (something the digital camera manufacturers appear to de-emphasize).

[Guest]

re shutter lag:

 

from a review on ZDNET on the $400. credit card sized Kocera

 

>>>The S3 made it hard for us to shoot spontaneously; if we hadn't first set the focus, the camera paused for up to 2 seconds after we pressed the button. <<<<<

 

 

 

http://zdnetshopper.cnet.com/shopping/0-8920578-1401-0-0.html?ty=5&st=20

 

 

 

2 second shutter lag, would drive me bonkers, litterally took my breath away.

 

Useless except for taking pictures of temples. ( .. or a BG before noon! )

 

 

 

the reviews comment on lag & it seems to vary from brand to brand, even model to model.

[think_too_mut]

I've got Sony DSC 505F, you know that one, with a big objective.

 

 

 

2.1 MegaPixels. Never used it at the highest available quality. Still, have probably 1 thousand pics in my PC.

 

 

 

My advice:

 

- your camera must have a viewer. If there is not one, your LCD screen will eat up your batteries very fast. See what one of previous posters is saying about that.

 

 

 

- Sony has dropped the price of 2.4 Megapixels compact cameras. Should be around 250US$ now.

 

 

 

-if your PC has an USB connector, make sure your camera does as well.

 

 

 

- lots of megapixels - not really important unless you want to print and frame the pictures. (A3 for example is possible with 2.1 Megapixels).

 

 

 

- pics you see on the Internet are usually around 1 Megapixel and that is more than enough.

 

 

 

- if you are going to email your pics, remember that for emailing you won't want to use the highest possible quality.

 

 

 

- pics take up the space. It is not same if you have to store a 200-300k pics or 2-3MB pics that high quality shots leave behind.

 

 

 

- To appreciate a 4Megapixels pics at it's full you need a screen and a video card that professional image editors (or architects) use. 2500US$ screen and video card.

 

 

 

- To take pics at the highest possible quality, you would often need a tripod as the slightiest shake may distort your work. Know of those Japs with tripods?

 

 

 

- for the record - read somewhere that the professional conventional cameras can do 17 megapixels. And that 8US$ disposable ones are at 6 Megapixels.

 

 

 

 

[tomc12]

You need to be more specific about what you mean by high-resolution pictures and also if you take a lot of people pictures. For example, the pixel requirements for a 4" X 6" print is a lot less than an 8" X 10", so if you are interested in the latter, choose at least a 3-megapixel camera. A 3-megapixel camera set for the highest resolution/lowest compression will make a 9 Mb file. That makes a good 8" X 10" picture, but uses up a lot of storage space. If you are taking 72 pictures a day, you will need a 1 gigabyte microdrive for storage, 2 of the 512 Mb cards, etc.

 

Digital cameras also differ in their set points for colors-if you take a lot of people pictures, you will want one with more red like a Nikon.

[Guest]

I have a canon, and I like it a lot. I am going to be getting a newer model before my next trip. I also use a canon digital vid cam. For me I like the idea of sticking to camera makers like canon or olympus or kodak. I would rather have a camera company making an electronic item, rather than an electonics comany trying to get into the photo business. Also sony uses a non-standard storage method (memory stick) or worse yet the floppie on the older models.

[think_too_mut]

Just found a picture of the camera that might suit most of the needs - Sony DSCP31. Shoud be 220-240 US$.

 

 

 

>Also sony uses a non-standard storage method (memory stick)

 

 

 

If you use the supplied USB cable you'll see nothing out standard.

 

 

 

Certainly, I have nothing special to say about Sony.

 

That is all I know. I haven't used any other cameras.

 

 

[Guest]

the fuji finepix series is the best for general digital photography. imho, they're the best value for point and shoot cameras. they also come with a usb cable to hook up any computer to download the pics.

[Guest]

this is a pretty good review of the digital camera market.

 

 

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/02q3/020723/index.html#three_categories_for_three_types_of_photographs