Digital Camera Advice

bob · 02-03-2005, 09:56 AM

I'm looking for some advice on digital cameras... I'm going to be leaving on a two month or so trip soon, and will be without a laptop to download pictures from my digital camera. So I'm looking for some possible solutions....

One is the Sony camera that burns to the mini CD-R's, but I don't know anyone who has had this type of camera, so I don't know how well they hold up.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
bob

QuikSand · 02-03-2005, 10:01 AM

I'm in the market as well... so far, based on input from Consumer Reports and a few informal sources, I'm thinking about the Canon A95, and watching for a "hot deal."

But I'll be watching this thread as well...

bob · 02-03-2005, 10:04 AM

Not sure how well this will work for my purposes. To be more specific, I'll probably be taking roughly 25 - 50 pictures a day over a two month period.

gstelmack · 02-03-2005, 10:10 AM

Bob: What resolution do you shoot at? I can get 120 4MegaPixel shots on a 256MB CompactFlash card, but I keep it at high res and low compression. If you're taking low-res shots, a couple of memory cards would be cheaper than a whole new camera.

Quiksand: Find a good camera store and talk to them. They'll be able to show you different models, point out the pros and cons, and help you get the right one. I've got a Minolta DImage (S404 I think, but don't quote me) that's worked wonderfully and takes great pictures. It's biggest selling point was that I could hold it comfortably as opposed to these thin little rectangles everyone else wants to sell. Resolution and Optical zoom (NOT the digital zoom that just zeroes in on a small part of the picture which you can do yourself in a paint program) are the other key features.

flere-imsaho · 02-03-2005, 10:13 AM

I've got the Canon Powershot A70 and it's great. It's 3 megapixels, which for me is more than enough. It's also outragously easy to use, but has a bunch of manual adjustments you can make if you so desire.

If you go to my picture gallery (www.kamilewicz.org/gallery) and take a look at the pictures from my brother's wedding, you can see what the pics turn out to be like. (The photos from our wedding were before we had a digital camera).

I did a lot of research myself, but found the folks at Wolf/Ritz camera knew what they were talking about and didn't try to rip us off.

gstelmack · 02-03-2005, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

... found the folks at Wolf/Ritz camera knew what they were talking about and didn't try to rip us off.

Same chain helped me purchase my Minolta. That's two FOFC thumbs up.

cartman · 02-03-2005, 10:30 AM

It also depends on what kind of pictures you are going to take. Are they going to be mainly indoors of people or things, or more outdoors of buildings or scenery? If outdoors you will want something with a lot of optical zoom. Digital zoom is a very poor substitute. The best optical zoom digital camera out there I've seen is the Kodak DX7590. It has a 10x optical zoom, by far the most I've seen outside of the Digital SLRs that allow you to use regular changeable lenses. It's also a 5 megapixel camera, and can be bought for between $350 and $400.

Passacaglia · 02-03-2005, 10:50 AM

Heh, that's so funny...lurker's thinking of getting a digital camera, and we live probably within five minutes from a Ritz Camera walking and I don't think either of us even thought about it.

bob · 02-03-2005, 10:56 AM

[quote=cartman]It also depends on what kind of pictures you are going to take. Are they going to be mainly indoors of people or things, or more outdoors of buildings or scenery? If outdoors you will want something with a lot of optical zoom. Digital zoom is a very poor substitute.[quote]

I will be taking mostly outdoor pics, but will take indoor pictures as well....

Any one with any advice on the storage issue?

cartman · 02-03-2005, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob

Any one with any advice on the storage issue?

You can get 512MB or 1GB memory cards for under $100 now. Either of these sizes will hold several hundred to a thousand pictures, even at the highest quality settings. That should be more than enough to hold you until you can get back to a place where you can DL the images.

terpkristin · 02-03-2005, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm in the market as well... so far, based on input from Consumer Reports and a few informal sources, I'm thinking about the Canon A95, and watching for a "hot deal."

But I'll be watching this thread as well...

My folks bought me the Canon A95 as a graduation gift. I took it on my recent trip to San Diego.

Some of the best pictures I took can be found at http://gimpygal.blogspot.com and all the pictures I took (and kept) can be found at http://photobucket.com/albums/v641/kpilotte/ (there are over 400 I think).

I LOVE my A95. My only complaint is that holding it steady to focus at any of the digital zoom ranges is hard. But that's to be expected.

~tk

terpkristin · 02-03-2005, 11:20 AM

Dola,
I had a 1 GB card with me when I went to San Diego. It could store 700-some-odd 5 megapixel pictures. I didn't fill it.
I also had bought myself a 512 GB card, spent about $40 on it after rebates. My folks got me the 1 GB card for Christmas, but I know they got it pretty inexpensively.

Highly recommend it.

~tk

gstelmack · 02-03-2005, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cartman

You can get 512MB or 1GB memory cards for under $100 now.

Unless you are at Disney World when you fill up the 128MB card you had with you

Oh well, the rest of the trip was fantastic

Swaggs · 02-03-2005, 11:40 AM

Do some research on battery life. That is my biggest complaint with my Sony. The pictures it takes are great, although it does not zoom real well (it actually works better to take the picture from afar and zoom with the computer).

bob · 02-03-2005, 12:01 PM

Gotcha - sounds like the best idea is to go with 2 1 GB memory cards along with a good 5 megapixel camera.... Works for me... That would give me about 23 pics per day at 700 pics / card.

sterlingice · 02-03-2005, 01:14 PM

I have a Canon A80 (the 4MP Predecessor to the A95 in that it's got the swing out LCD). When I was shopping- I was looking for just one thing: picture quality and every review agreed that the Canon's have the best picture quality and advanced-type features. If you want movies, go Sony, if you want something simple but solid go Kodak, etc- but Canon's have the best picture quality. I have not been disappointed one bit with that aspect. However, I did have to send it in only 2 months after I got it with a dead LCD. I haven't had a problem since, tho. My girlfriend has the A75 and it has even better features so the A_5 series must have even better stuff.

SI

Craptacular · 02-03-2005, 10:40 PM

I'm guessing neither of you (Bob and QuikSand) are in the market for a digital SLR, but if you are, go for the Nikon D70. The rebate got bumped up to $200 now, if you get the kit with the 18-70mm lens, which is absolutely the way to go. If you're thinking of making photography more of a serious hobby, or making large prints, the DSLRs are the best choice. However, the mid-to-higher-end point-and-shoots now offer sufficient resolution and good optical zoom (ignore the completely useless digital zoom) for a reasonable price, so they are still a great choice for capturing images of the people and places you'll see. My family has always been a Nikon family, from film on into digital. The Coolpix line has a great range of cameras at different pricepoints, and there are currently rebates form $50 to $200 on eight of the cameras.

Bob, for your trip, you may want to consider getting a couple of 512MB cards in place of a 1 GB. It's not likely, but things can go wrong with the cards, and it would really suck to lose all of your photos. Getting multiple cards may reduce the risk. It's not like they take up lots of space either.

Solecismic · 02-03-2005, 11:21 PM

I bought Angela the Canon A85 for Christmas. I had bought the A5 a few years back, and it's a great camera - I still use it a lot. The A85 is even better - truer color, less red-eye. It also uses AA batteries (we use rechargeables), which is a nice convenience because digital cameras eat batteries quickly. We got a Canon Pixma printer as a gift, and with those together, I've been amazed at the quality of the prints we can produce in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, they're all G-rated.

Draft Dodger · 02-03-2005, 11:41 PM

a good online resource for cameras is dpreview.com. Their reviews are very in depth, so be prepared for a lot of reading. So, it's definitely ok for QS...not so sure about the rest of you.

they do sell hard drives now with the ability to dump pictures from flash cards, but they seem to be pretty pricey (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...160-001&depa=0)

Kristin is right - flash memory has become dirt cheap now, so it probably makes sense to grab a couple of 1 gig cards. Just do some tests before you go to make sure you know how much storage you need.

Personally, I have a Canon S400 and I love it. Very simple to operate, which for me is good (Kristine seems to know what she's doing from her pics...I just like to point and click and pray).

terpkristin · 02-04-2005, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craptacular

I'm guessing neither of you (Bob and QuikSand) are in the market for a digital SLR, but if you are, go for the Nikon D70. The rebate got bumped up to $200 now, if you get the kit with the 18-70mm lens, which is absolutely the way to go. If you're thinking of making photography more of a serious hobby, or making large prints, the DSLRs are the best choice. However, the mid-to-higher-end point-and-shoots now offer sufficient resolution and good optical zoom (ignore the completely useless digital zoom) for a reasonable price, so they are still a great choice for capturing images of the people and places you'll see. My family has always been a Nikon family, from film on into digital. The Coolpix line has a great range of cameras at different pricepoints, and there are currently rebates form $50 to $200 on eight of the cameras.

Bob, for your trip, you may want to consider getting a couple of 512MB cards in place of a 1 GB. It's not likely, but things can go wrong with the cards, and it would really suck to lose all of your photos. Getting multiple cards may reduce the risk. It's not like they take up lots of space either.

My sister has an older 2 MP Coolpix. It works great as a point and shoot, though the computer interface leaves a bit to be desired. I'm not sure if that's still the case. All my film cameras are Nikon's and if I could afford it, I'd get the D70 in a heartbeat. Then again I love photography.

On a related note, my dad has an older Olympus C-3030 (3 MP) camera. The ONLY thing I like better about his camera than mine is that his takes the shot quicker. Most of the Canon's and simpler Nikon's require you hold the shot steady for a few seconds. Granted, patience solves that problem...and I prefer my camera to my dad's on every other side-by-side test you could imagine. Oddly enough, while I love Nikon film cameras, and have had no bad experiences with Olympus film cameras, I've hated every Canon film camera I've used. Go figure.

As far as the many 512 cards vs. fewer 1 GB cards: I was recently talking to a friend who'd read somewhere that having more 512 cards is better...that way, if you lose one, you're not losing everything you've shot. That is the one disadvantage of the 1 GB cards, that they store so much that if you were to lose it in the trip, you could potentially lose 700+ pictures. Of course, buying (as an example) 8 512 cards is probably a bit more expensive than 4 1 GB cards...

Thanks, DraftDodger, for the kind words on the pictures.

Honestly, I take a LOT of pictures. I only keep the ones that look 1/2 decent.

/tk

sterlingice · 02-04-2005, 03:33 PM

Oh, that's one thing about the Canon A70-A95 line- it's not a little pocket camera. Most people want a little thing that they can carry around everywhere in their pocket. Myself, I want to feel like I'm holding a camera when I take a picture so this is a plus to me. It's not heavy (half the weight is from 4 AA batteries) but it's not pocket sized either.

Also, with a camera like that, as Solecismic said, rechargeable batteries are a must. I bought 2 sets of 4 AA Rayovac renewals and a charger and I just rotate the batteries. They'll last over 200 pictures including having the LCD on quite a bit so with my 256MB Compact Flash card (~230 pictures), I basically can fill it up on one set of batteries.

SI

02-03-2005, 10:10 AM	#4
gstelmack Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Cary, NC	Bob: What resolution do you shoot at? I can get 120 4MegaPixel shots on a 256MB CompactFlash card, but I keep it at high res and low compression. If you're taking low-res shots, a couple of memory cards would be cheaper than a whole new camera. Quiksand: Find a good camera store and talk to them. They'll be able to show you different models, point out the pros and cons, and help you get the right one. I've got a Minolta DImage (S404 I think, but don't quote me) that's worked wonderfully and takes great pictures. It's biggest selling point was that I could hold it comfortably as opposed to these thin little rectangles everyone else wants to sell. Resolution and Optical zoom (NOT the digital zoom that just zeroes in on a small part of the picture which you can do yourself in a paint program) are the other key features. __________________ -- Greg -- Author of various FOF utilities

02-03-2005, 10:30 AM	#7
cartman Death Herald Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Le stelle la notte sono grandi e luminose nel cuore profondo del Texas	It also depends on what kind of pictures you are going to take. Are they going to be mainly indoors of people or things, or more outdoors of buildings or scenery? If outdoors you will want something with a lot of optical zoom. Digital zoom is a very poor substitute. The best optical zoom digital camera out there I've seen is the Kodak DX7590. It has a 10x optical zoom, by far the most I've seen outside of the Digital SLRs that allow you to use regular changeable lenses. It's also a 5 megapixel camera, and can be bought for between $350 and $400. __________________ Thinkin' of a master plan 'Cuz ain't nuthin' but sweat inside my hand So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent So I dig deeper but still comin' up with lint

02-03-2005, 10:56 AM	#9
bob College Starter Join Date: Oct 2004	[quote=cartman]It also depends on what kind of pictures you are going to take. Are they going to be mainly indoors of people or things, or more outdoors of buildings or scenery? If outdoors you will want something with a lot of optical zoom. Digital zoom is a very poor substitute.[quote] I will be taking mostly outdoor pics, but will take indoor pictures as well.... Any one with any advice on the storage issue? Last edited by bob : 02-03-2005 at 10:56 AM.

02-03-2005, 11:20 AM	#12
terpkristin Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ashburn, VA	Dola, I had a 1 GB card with me when I went to San Diego. It could store 700-some-odd 5 megapixel pictures. I didn't fill it. I also had bought myself a 512 GB card, spent about $40 on it after rebates. My folks got me the 1 GB card for Christmas, but I know they got it pretty inexpensively. Highly recommend it. ~tk __________________ GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin

02-03-2005, 11:40 AM	#14
Swaggs Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000	Do some research on battery life. That is my biggest complaint with my Sony. The pictures it takes are great, although it does not zoom real well (it actually works better to take the picture from afar and zoom with the computer). __________________ DOWN WITH HATTRICK!!! The RWBL Are you reading In The Bleachers?

02-03-2005, 10:01 AM	#2
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	I'm in the market as well... so far, based on input from Consumer Reports and a few informal sources, I'm thinking about the Canon A95, and watching for a "hot deal." But I'll be watching this thread as well...

02-03-2005, 10:04 AM	#3
bob College Starter Join Date: Oct 2004	Not sure how well this will work for my purposes. To be more specific, I'll probably be taking roughly 25 - 50 pictures a day over a two month period.

02-03-2005, 10:13 AM	#5
flere-imsaho Coordinator Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Chicagoland	I've got the Canon Powershot A70 and it's great. It's 3 megapixels, which for me is more than enough. It's also outragously easy to use, but has a bunch of manual adjustments you can make if you so desire. If you go to my picture gallery (www.kamilewicz.org/gallery) and take a look at the pictures from my brother's wedding, you can see what the pics turn out to be like. (The photos from our wedding were before we had a digital camera). I did a lot of research myself, but found the folks at Wolf/Ritz camera knew what they were talking about and didn't try to rip us off.

02-03-2005, 10:50 AM	#8
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Heh, that's so funny...lurker's thinking of getting a digital camera, and we live probably within five minutes from a Ritz Camera walking and I don't think either of us even thought about it.

02-03-2005, 12:01 PM	#15
bob College Starter Join Date: Oct 2004	Gotcha - sounds like the best idea is to go with 2 1 GB memory cards along with a good 5 megapixel camera.... Works for me... That would give me about 23 pics per day at 700 pics / card.

02-03-2005, 01:14 PM	#16
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	I have a Canon A80 (the 4MP Predecessor to the A95 in that it's got the swing out LCD). When I was shopping- I was looking for just one thing: picture quality and every review agreed that the Canon's have the best picture quality and advanced-type features. If you want movies, go Sony, if you want something simple but solid go Kodak, etc- but Canon's have the best picture quality. I have not been disappointed one bit with that aspect. However, I did have to send it in only 2 months after I got it with a dead LCD. I haven't had a problem since, tho. My girlfriend has the A75 and it has even better features so the A_5 series must have even better stuff. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

02-03-2005, 10:40 PM	#17
Craptacular College Starter Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: The Mad City, WI	I'm guessing neither of you (Bob and QuikSand) are in the market for a digital SLR, but if you are, go for the Nikon D70. The rebate got bumped up to $200 now, if you get the kit with the 18-70mm lens, which is absolutely the way to go. If you're thinking of making photography more of a serious hobby, or making large prints, the DSLRs are the best choice. However, the mid-to-higher-end point-and-shoots now offer sufficient resolution and good optical zoom (ignore the completely useless digital zoom) for a reasonable price, so they are still a great choice for capturing images of the people and places you'll see. My family has always been a Nikon family, from film on into digital. The Coolpix line has a great range of cameras at different pricepoints, and there are currently rebates form $50 to $200 on eight of the cameras. Bob, for your trip, you may want to consider getting a couple of 512MB cards in place of a 1 GB. It's not likely, but things can go wrong with the cards, and it would really suck to lose all of your photos. Getting multiple cards may reduce the risk. It's not like they take up lots of space either.

02-03-2005, 11:21 PM	#18
Solecismic Solecismic Software Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Canton, OH	I bought Angela the Canon A85 for Christmas. I had bought the A5 a few years back, and it's a great camera - I still use it a lot. The A85 is even better - truer color, less red-eye. It also uses AA batteries (we use rechargeables), which is a nice convenience because digital cameras eat batteries quickly. We got a Canon Pixma printer as a gift, and with those together, I've been amazed at the quality of the prints we can produce in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, they're all G-rated.

02-03-2005, 11:41 PM	#19
Draft Dodger Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Keene, NH	a good online resource for cameras is dpreview.com. Their reviews are very in depth, so be prepared for a lot of reading. So, it's definitely ok for QS...not so sure about the rest of you. they do sell hard drives now with the ability to dump pictures from flash cards, but they seem to be pretty pricey (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...160-001&depa=0) Kristin is right - flash memory has become dirt cheap now, so it probably makes sense to grab a couple of 1 gig cards. Just do some tests before you go to make sure you know how much storage you need. Personally, I have a Canon S400 and I love it. Very simple to operate, which for me is good (Kristine seems to know what she's doing from her pics...I just like to point and click and pray). __________________ Mile High Hockey

02-04-2005, 03:33 PM	#21
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Oh, that's one thing about the Canon A70-A95 line- it's not a little pocket camera. Most people want a little thing that they can carry around everywhere in their pocket. Myself, I want to feel like I'm holding a camera when I take a picture so this is a plus to me. It's not heavy (half the weight is from 4 AA batteries) but it's not pocket sized either. Also, with a camera like that, as Solecismic said, rechargeable batteries are a must. I bought 2 sets of 4 AA Rayovac renewals and a charger and I just rotate the batteries. They'll last over 200 pictures including having the LCD on quite a bit so with my 256MB Compact Flash card (~230 pictures), I basically can fill it up on one set of batteries. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

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