Digital camera for dummies?
 

Would like to purchase a new small camera for next trip. But don't want a million bells and whistles. Just something easy, small and that takes great photos. Any suggestions?

Check out these sites:
http://www.dpreview.com/
and
http://www.dcresource.com/

I recommend a small point-and-shoot camera. Personally I prefer more zoom over more resolution.

Hi bashful,

I agree with lin. Unless you need to make prints larger than 8x10 you don't really need more than 2 Mpx.

3:1 optical zoom is very useful, 4:1 is even better.

Don't bother with digital zoom, all it does is enlarge a fuzzy picture.

I have a Canon A60 that I like very much. It has lots of overrides, should you ever want to use them, but does very well on "auto".

The only thing you have to learn is how to turn off the flash.

You can find one on www.amazon.com for about $150.

Go to a store displaying many different digital cameras. Go back several times. Buy one and try it for a while. If you are not happy return it to the store. I did this several times. But you do have to do your homework to see if it what you want. Some really good ones are not too expensive, $98.00 to 179.00

One general recommendation, since model recommendations get obsolete quickly: the digital cameras, especially point and shoot, have very poor wide angle capabilities. In Europe I found this lack of wide angle capability to be most annoying as many shots needed to be taken at close proximities.

bashful,
I recently purchased a Nikon Coolpix 3100. It is a small, lightweight, point and shoot. 3 mp, standard 3X zoom. It is very easy to use, takes very nice pictures and has some additional features that come in very handy and are very easy to use. The one feature I like the best so far is a 'museum' setting. It takes great pictures without using the flash. Hopefully, will come in handy on trip this summer. I think it is selling for around $250, but may be less since they just introduced the 3200. No benefit, IMO, to newer model. They added sound for a video feature that I will never use and changed the memory card to a more expensive type. I bought mine online and paid no tax and no shipping.
Hope this helps.

I have a Minolta Dimage Xi (3.2 M pix, 3.0 OPT AND 3.0 DIG ZOOM) which I bought in 1/03 - since updated.
It is 4.6 oz and fits in my shirt pockets. Needs a 128 or 256 SD card to be really amazing.
M

Hi bashful,

Just saw an ad for the minMinolta Dimage Z1 3.2MP with 10X optical zoom.

$317 at amazon.com. If this is your price range, it is a good buy.

I am a reasonably technically challenged Aussie! I recently purchased my first Digital camera which is a Ricoh Caplio G4 - it has various functions including a wide angled lens - is extremely easy to use and I am thrilled with the results.

I would recommend the Minolta Dimage G400. It is small, very easy to use for a beginner, takes good pictures and the camera looks pretty. I friend of mine has it and I have used it. As a basic point-and-shoot it's one of the easiest I've tried.

I've had a Dimage since last July and I just love it -- it's so tiny, there's never any reason not to have it handy to capture hte moment.

Bashful,
Ira is right on. If you aren't going to enlarge prints to 8x10, don't spend a lot on more megapixals. I have a Nikon Coolpix 2.1 (2 megapixal), a Nikon Coolpix 3.1 (3 megapixal), and a Minolta Dimage A1 (5 megapixal). I have taken the same shot with all three cameras and cannot tell the difference when viewed on a 4x6 print. The 2.1 Coolpix was just over $100 US and the A1 was just under a $1000 US.

I really like the Coolpix because you can put it on "Auto" or you can do some really creative stuff with all the optional bells and whistles. You can use AA batteries and it also uses the less expensive compact flash card.

As long as you have a good optical zoom, a 2 megapixal will do just fine. There are lots of deals out there on 2 megapixals as manufacturers are unloading last years models.

here's a question from a digital dummy:

If even standard film these days can be processed into prints and/or a CD or disk, what is the advantage of having a digital camera?

elaine, in the past 30 days, I took well over 1,000 photos. Consider the cost of film and processing.

Other advantages of digital:

1) If you intend to use the photos online, they are ready immediately without your having to have them processed. You can put them on a web site or email them minutes after you take them.
2) You can see immediately if there is a problem with the photo.
3) It is easy to take many additional shots and then delete the ones that do not appeal. I take 2-3 photos for every one I keep.
4) Easy to store and transport.
5) Compact and lightweight cameras

Keith

we bought the cannon s410. i think it was $324. it is teeny tiny and fits in your pocket that you wouldn't know it is there. we also bought a 256mb card. we took about 200 pictures on the card. it has 4.1 megapixels. it takes beautiful pictures. we blew some up to 5x7 and 8x10 printed them at home and they look great. i wouldn't get any more megapixels.

thank you Keith
the digital photos I've seen especially when printed, and taken with a top-of-the-line camera, have a strange quality to me, as if they were enhanced beyond reality. I suppose it's a similar reaction to when some music fans criticized the sound of CDs when they replaced LPs.

Elaine-
I love my P10 Sony Cybershot, it's 3X Zoom, 5 Megapix (which I love because I could tell the diff in the pixel when you stretch it on your comp), easy to use, very durable (I dropped it way too many times and it still works great), very compact (I can fit it into my evening purse), and has cool features that weren't hard to get accustomed to. Check out sony.com or bestbuy.com, their price has gone down since I purchased it, so I dont know how much it goes for now.

Overall, it was an excellent buy for me, and I have been telling people to get it. Good Luck.

Stick with an optics company for your camera: Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Kyocera (Yashicas and Contax), Leica, Konica/Minolta. Don't get a Fuji, Kodak or Sony: Fuji is a film company and its digicams are hit and miss; Sony uses its memory stick for saving the photos, but no other company does (i.e., return of Betamax without superior quality); Kodak's digicams are only so-so.

Check out cnet.com's reviews too. In general, Nikon and Canon fare the best. Canon's ELPH series has small cameras that take good pictures with minimal bells and whistles. If you want to spend a bunch for excellent pics with few bells and whistles, look into the Contax line.

Before you spend a lot of money on a cam, you need to decide what you are going to do with the pics.

Unless you are going to enlarge and frame your photos, you may not need much in the way of megapixels.

It's the photographer that takes the great pics..not the camera.

I used to be involved with high end cameras and darkroom development Many years ago and now use a point and shoot fim camera. I have kept up with computers but not cameras.

I am a digital camera dummy who needs rehab! Do they post the lens quality on digital cameras i.e. 6.0 vs 2.8? Also can these chips be brought to most film finishing stores and put into a kiosk where you can choose and print your photos while you wait? Or what do you do?

Yes, you can either send your memory chip to an online store, or upload the pictures via the internet and they will print them and send them to you. Or, you may bring them in to a kiosk place and leave your memory card with them. It's economical because you only pay for the pictures you want and the enlargements you like.

My two cents: the canon elph series are great cameras for traveling - compact, made out of metal for durability, and good quality.

You are welcome, elaine.
I suspect the digital photos you looked at were either blown up beyond their limit, or were printed cheaply.

Not that digital is the best media for every photo, but neither is a given film format.

I use one camera for a wide variety of photos (from scenery to parties to awards ceremonies) and recently upgraded from a 1 mp that I have had 4 years.

Occasionally I am contacted to sell photos and I am hoping the new camera (Nikon 8700 with 8 mp & 8 optical zoom) will lead to more sales.

Keith

I recently went through the same decision-making process. (If you click on my name, you can find the digital camera thread I started, which has some great advice.)

You got lots of good comments and, as you see, everyone has their own opinion about what makes a camera "perfect."

My husband and I finally settled on a Pentax Optio S4i. 4 megapixels, 3x optical zoom. $349 at Ritz Camera, and we get up to six free photography classes (and some other useless coupons!).

This camera is TINY, which makes it perfect for stuffing in your pocket and carrying around. We've already taken some interesting shots of the dogs swimming in the local river, and of a group of children at church on Sunday.

However, we decided that we really "need" two digital cameras, so we'll be buying a second one sometime soon. We couldn't get the minimum of 4 megapixels & 8+ optical zoom & small size all in one package.

So, we're still "on the hunt" for a second camera...really like Keith's pick (Nikon 8700) but are not convinced we want to spend that much money for what we do.

We'll keep checking websites and looking for specials...

Be sure and personally test any camera before you buy it. I hated the Canon Elph - for whatever reason, I felt like I was poking my eye out whenever I tried to use the zoom. But, that's just me...others hate the camera I chose because it's "too small" and they're not able to hold it steady to take shots.

So, visit the camera stores - haunt them until you've seen every one available! Ritz Camera, Best Buy and Circuit City + a local camera shop had the best selections in my area. But everybody has a digital camera center - Radio Shack, Target, Sears, et al. Visit them all!

Good luck.

Gayle

I left my 35mm camera at home, last summer when we vacationed in Italy.

Got some good photos with my digital camera and plan on taking the digital with me on vacation next month.

Many thanks everyone. Armed with this great info, I will head to the stores.

Like Gayle, we have the Pentax Optio S (but the other model) and love it. We needed the small size/weight for backpacking, but have really enjoyed it for everything else too. I am definitely clueless when it comes to all the features on these things...but I do know we have taken some great shots with it and had them made into 8X10's to frame and were very pleased.

I just bought a Nikon Coolpix 3100. Very small, simple, simple, simple to use. List was $259, on sale for $199, with a $100 rebate for a final cost of $99!! (Office Depot about a month ago). It's got 14 different settings (I just use the point and shoot one), but the basic functions are very simple, and I've caught on quickly to how to get them on my computer. Its so cheap to get prints from digital now, that after my trip, I will pick the best shots and take them to Walgreens for printing at 29 cents each, so that I have a regular photo album too.

Anne