flygirl

does anyone here have either camera, and reco either one (or not)?

I'm in the market for a new pocket digital and these are both 7MP.

thank you!

suehoff

We just bought (for our upcoming trip)the Sony 7MP which accdg to Consumer Reports got the highest ratings. It's really small, pix look great so far, and it's relatively simple. Dell had a 20% deal so we went for it. Good luck on research.

nonnafelice

Be sure you really need a 7 megapixel camera before you spend that extra money. Most people are perfectly okay with a 3 - 4 megapixel camera. If you want to make large prints or do a lot of cropping, you might want the larger format, but those huge pictures will take up a lot of room on your computer, and will mean you'll get fewer pictures on a card in the camera.

Walt Mossberg has some good general advice on buying a digital camera at:

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050420.html

ucsun

wow...7MP. i bought a 4MP last year and i don't think i shoot in 4MP many times. i agree with nonnafelice...make sure you understand what the MP mean. it really has to do w/ how big you intend to make your photos. as a rule of thumb, regular sized printed photos would be stellar w/ 3MP.

personally, next time around i want a camera w/ more optical zoom...

hlocke1

Hi there flygirl --

I have the S500 (the 5 megapixel version) and it takes incredible pics for a point-and-shoot camera. I took it around Italy last year and was able to have the pics made into a 9x12 coffee table book... and they look nice and crisp. So, I'd either recommend that version (especially now that it has dropped in price) or say go for the SD500. You just can't beat the size...

Good luck - Heather.

flygirl

thanks all!

my current camera is a 4 MP Canon but apparently it's decided to quit working - it won't read any memory cards anymore and is cranky on power-up.

I do admit I don't always even use the full 4 MP (I have a only a 256K card right now so it's my fault, memory is cheap) but there are times I wish I had used the whole 4 MP:

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/54195/photo54.html

I did blow the above up (at 2 MP) to 20x30 and it looks fairly decent but obviously not perfect.

this time I'm getting at least two, 1 gig cards and will use them.

ucsun - agreed, 4 MP usually is more than enough! but there's always that one picture when you wish you had more...

hlocke1

Those are nice photos... love the blue shutters! The 4 mp is certainly a good camera, but I think you'll notice a jump in quality if you choose to go to the 7 mp.

I, like you, will also be armed with several gigs of memory card space this time around. Last year, I ran out of room in Venice! AAAH.

Good luck! -- Heather.

flygirl

thank you Heather! everyone loves those blue shutters! I drove by, glanced over... screeeeeeeeeched to a stop, turned around, and nonchalantly drove back to the house to get a few photos before anyone noticed. that was in Brittany not too far from Vannes.

Keith

nonnafelice, I find I get a lot of benefit from my 8 MP camera. Cropping alows for such better framing and can give the same image a totally different feel or message. Sometime I even get more the one photo out of the same picture.

It really helps in low light photos. I can can leave the lens wider angle and get more light into the camera, then crop the image to what I really want.

Keith

Gretchen

Another take on what to get a digital upgrade is for the optical zoom. This is not a "pocket" camera, but I am loving it--Canon SI with image stablization. I got the 3MP because I just do not require huge enlargements. The controls on the top of the camera are totally user friendly--aperture, shutter priority,low light, movie, panorama.

AisleSeat

I love my Canon s50 (5mpxl). I cannot imagine when I would have a need for more megapixels and they do take up memory. I shhot with a 512 memory chip and carry a 256 as a back-up. that will get me about 600 picutes adn that's more that I will shoot in a 10-12 day trip. I like the simplicity of it. It fits in my pocket and it is truly a poin-and-shoot. Very rarely do I get a bad picture.

Keith

" I cannot imagine when I would have a need for more megapixels and they do take up memory."

I have two Gigs

Also, the Coolpix 8700 (and possibly others?) lets me crop photos I have already taken and discard the original, larger image.

Keith

Keith

Dick

I use a 5 mp camera and have enlarged photos to 16x20 with great success. The "secret", as mentioned before, is to take your pics at a high resolution setting.

For any serious amatuers, I highly reccomend White House Custom color for enlargements. Superb quality at reasonable prices.

http://whcc.com/

For the curious....a few of my photos
http://www.pbase.com/dickp

Kayb95

I recently bought an Olympus C765 and I love it. I wanted a camera with a nice optical zoom, but was still small enough to carry in my purse when traveling. This one is a 4MP, has a 10X optical zoom and is a very nice size (actually smaller than my old 3X zoom camera.) I've taken some great shots with it.

flygirl

Kay, how do you like the extra zoom? I find it tends to make things more prone to shudder. I've tried to take bird pictures using the 11X on my current camera for an extreme closeup and they always seem a little blurry.

wliwl

I'm trying to buy my son a digital camera for graduation and I like the reviews at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/default.asp?view=rating

Also, before you buy another Canon, do a google on E18 error. It's a little worrisome.

topcat

Steve's Digicams has a quite thorough review of the Canon SD500:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/sd500.html

If you're amenable to a 6MP camera, also take a look at the Olympus C-60. An excellent camera in a nice compact size. Also reviewed at Steve's Digicams:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/c60.html

Kayb95

<i>&quot;Kay, how do you like the extra zoom?&quot;</i>

Actually, I've gotten some pretty clear pictures with it. If possible, I try to stabilize the camera against something stationary when using the zoom, but I haven't noticed too much &quot;shake.&quot; I've had pretty good results.

If lighting is good, using the sports mode with the zoom seems to work well.

hlocke1

flygirl -- With regards to Canon and the E18 error mentioned above, I'm on my 3rd Canon right now and have had no problems. I just like to upgrade. I own the S200, the S500, and now a Rebel XT. Canon is very reliable, so I don't think you should rule their products out. Just to be safe, I purchase mine at Best Buy with the extra warranty. If anything ended up wrong with the camera, they'll just give you a brand new one. No sending in for repairs. Good luck deciding! I also recommend dpreview.com for reviews. -- Heather.

FlyFish

Ditto on Canons - great cameras. I have three that I use interchangeably (G3, S45, S410) and have never had the slightest bit of trouble with any of them after taking thousands of photos in some pretty hostile environments for cameras.