Digital Cameras
 

Really, this is travel related as I always take photos on my trips, but my camera finally died. I am looking for a camera with zoom and wide angle with at least 6 megapixels. Any camera suggestions? Any website suggestions? It's hard to tell where the best deal is. I have checked overstock, costco, amazon, smartbargain and 42 street photo.

www.dpreview.com

Pis

There was a recent thread on the Africa board that might be of use to you:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34689483

I have a Fuji FinePix S51000 Its only 5 mega pixel but its a great camera.

It can be overwhelming buying cameras. B&H and 42nd St would have good prices on the newest equipment out. Costco and other discount stores would have competitive prices but may or may not have the latest models. Look at cameras with just those features you want. It wouldn't be worth the extra money for additional features that you rarely use.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

I use my camera much like you do and fretted over this decision for almost three years. I have previously used a DSL film camera, but its high zoom lens died and I needed either a lens replacement or to get into the digital age. Last summer, Sony and Canon came out with a 5+ megapixel camera with 10+ optical zoom. The Sony was the only one with the option to add a wide-angle lens. The Canon is the Power Shot S2 IS. You can find both of them at the above link. I ended up with the Sony DCS H-1. The ONLY thing that I dont like about this little jewel (which I believe is common on most digitals) is a glare on the display screen that makes it difficult to 'zero in' on subjects in bright light.

Recently, I noticed that Nikon has a model with 5+ megapixels and 10X optical zoom.

Be careful as you make your selection because optical zoom and digital zoom are two entirely different aspects. Digital will not substitute for optical. Either of these three cameras has sufficient optical zoom...IMHO.

Good luck to you. If you wish 'user imput' on my Sony, you can email me at [email protected]

You didn't mention budget, but if you want a camera that takes a great picture, get a Canon Digital Rebel. It's a digital SLR, meaning you can use all of Canon's EOS lenses on it, so you can go as wide or tight as you want. The latest Rebel is about $1000 (with a decent kit lens), over 8 MP, and smaller than the one I have (last year's). Costco sells the Rebel but I'm not sure where the best deal is on them. They'll probably have a rebate come January if you can wait that long.

The downside of the Rebel is that it's not a tiny camera that will fit in your pocket. I guess it depends what your goals are.

Andrew

I'm still waiting for those digital cameras to become cheaper. You must remember that in order to arrive at the same quality as a 35 mm camera you should have a digital one of 50 mb which of course does not exist.I also think you should look for a camera with a good lens as this is the most important part of the camera. Panasonic has one with a Leica lens ,an optical stabiliser and an optical zoom lens of 420 mm.

The Canon S2 would be a good candidate--I think 4MP. The features make it VERY user friendly-12X zoom. I have the S1 and LOVE it. The moveable LCD screen allows a lot of options for framing the picture also.

I'd recommend buying a Canon. Great optics company, and they make their digital cameras with most controls manual via dial or button, so you don't have to very often go into the menu on the LCD screen which may not be easy to read in the sunlight. In this regard, Canon is the closest to what you would have dad in a film SLR camera. Also Canon's software is incomparable for editing and e-mailing. Also rec. getting a model with rechargeable battery, and get a spare battery. The batteries and charger are small, very portable.

P.S. One of the best sources over the internet is B & H Audio Video. They are a real "bricks and mortar" store for many years in NYC who also sell via the web and are very reputable. They are helpful for questions over the phone. Prices there are always very good, sometimes among the best.

NIKON and CANON interchange as #1 & #2 throughout their product line.

Coke or Pepsi?
Nike or Reebok?
Honda or Toyota?
It goes on...

Between the two, NIKON is known for their superior optics. Don't let the above poster mis-lead you.

With a DSLR camera, you should have at minimum, a 18-70mm and a 70-200mm lens, spare batteries & charger, UV & polarizing filters, and a solid tripod. Rent a mule to carry all of your gear. Optical zoom is far preferable to digital zoom.

You might also consider whether you want/need/will notice the difference between CCD or CMOS for image capture and processing.

The EOS 350D is a great camera from CANON.
The D50, D70, D70S are great cameras from NIKON.

Anyway, I recommended dpreview.com because there is an online forum which has provided invaluable knowledge over the years. (w/o kliques!)

tovarich, you are not entirely correct to say digital hasn't yet reached the quality of 35mm. For the 4x6 prints that 99% of the people wind up printing, NO ONE will notice the difference between a 3MP digital camera and a 35mm print. In fact, the consumer photo places that most people use for prints do digital scans of 35mm negatives anyway, so you are still getting a digital print - instead of the camera doing the "scan" the negative is being scanned.

So only when talking enlargements does the quality even become a topic of discussion. I can tell you that I can get amazing enlargements even from my 6.3MP Digital Rebel. Even 24"x36" poster-size prints look amazing. I've had numerous people gape in amazement that the beautiful large framed photograph they are looking at is actually digital, not 35mm film. Digital actually has some benefits over 35mm in terms of quality. I shoot scenic photos at the golden hour (dusk/daybreak) and the noise level of my Rebel is very low, most noticable in the sky. 35mm shots can be noisier in my experience, even with good film.

Only with extremely large prints - larger than 24x36 - does 35mm offer significant quality advantage. I have a very large print hanging at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, and they obviously needed something better than a 6.3MP image. So I got a 100MB scan of a 35mm image for them instead. But, these cases are rare even for a professional photographer. Certainly for the average photographer who likes to make typical enlargements, you don't need anything near a 50MB image file. 6MP will work just fine.

Andrew

Thank you for many helpful information here for those who are, like myself, thinking about switching to digital. Still using old faithful Nikon SLR. I need something with interchangable lenses. I would like to use my old Nikkor lenses that I spent thousnads of $ for.

Pis_Pistofferson, what do you think about new Nikon D200 with 10.2 mega pixels? This toy is going to be available mid-December for about $1700.

Mama, if you are happy with your SLR, why switch to digital? Nowadays many developers will include a digital versions of your pictures along with the negatives and prints and/or slides.

Why switch to digital? Obviously there are huge cost advantages if you shoot a lot of pictures. Plus you get instant turn-around. In Europe last September I could look at that day's pictures on my laptop every night and even re-take stuff if I hadn't gotten what I wanted. Also, because I know digital is "free" I feel free to experiment on stuff I might not normally try. 9/10 of these experiments come to nothing but 1/10 of them is worthy and may not something I would ever have wasted film on.

Because you can use interchangable lenses from Canon or Nikon film cameras on those companies' digital SLRs, and some people have huge investments in lenses, the cost of getting a digital SLR may not be much compared to your total investment. And you don't have to throw away the 35mm camera - you can use both.

One disadvantage of the cheaper digital SLRs like the Canon Digital Rebel and the comparable Nikon models is that their sensors cannot see the entire lens. Sometimes this is referred to as a multiplcation factor. For the Rebel it's 1.6X, meaning a 28mm lens really becomes 44mm. Good if you like to zoom perhaps but a drawback if you wish to shoot wide-angle shots. Fortunately these cameras come in "kits" with a basic wide-angle zoom lens attached. But anyone hoping to use a bunch of existing lenses should be aware of this before plucking down money on a new digital SLR.

Andrew

many thanks gretchen and xkenx. your info is very helpful. i'm checking out your suggestions and will try and learn something new to replace my trusty non-digital canon. too many bad pix of the colorado plateau.

Take a look at the new Kodak cameras. http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...q-locale=en_US The P880 offers a wide angle lens; also telephoto lens available.

Hi ,

What ever camera that you buy don't go cheap on the memory. With eough memory you can take all your images at the highest quality. Also you'll find that you will be taking more "back-up" images. I suggest at least a gig.

When you have decided on the camera, go to www.jr.com for low prices and good service. It is one of the few online low price stores I truely trust.

You don't say how much you are prepared to spend, but you might consider the Nikon Coolpix S4. 6.0 megapizelx, 10 opitcal zoom, 16 scene modes. Look to pay about $329.99.

Keith

Keith