Digital Cameras

[Busby]

I'm kind of browsing the selection of digital cameras and debating about whether or not to purchase one. I personally would think I would use it a lot (especially since I'm going to college next year ) but still not quite sure whether or not I should.

What do I need to look for besides megapixels and digital zoom? I'm lookin to spend around $300 (max $350). I do have Firewire and USB 2 and such. I don't want freakin floppy disc or CD or anything. Memory sticks are cool but I don't have a reader so I'd want that USB transfer or I'd invest in a reader.

[nexus_7]

optical zoom is what you want over digital. thats what gives you quality zoom pics.

And most if not ALL cameras jsut let you plug them into the PC to trasfer pics. no need for a floppy adaptor or card reader.

Greg

[FlyingPenguin]

A card reader costs $20 at Walmart. YOU WANT THE CARD READER. It's a hassle connecting a camera via USB and often the interface software is crap. TRUST ME get a card reader.

Like Nexus says, optical zoom is a must. Digital zoom is a joke. I disable it on both my camera and camcorder.

If you plan on taking ANY night ot indoor shots then you also want a viewfinder in addition to an LCD. The LCD display is worthless in low light. The camera can still take a great picture, but you can't see the subject to take it.

There's so many cameras to choose from, you'll go numb. Best thing to do is ask for recommendations and then compare.

[MegaVectra]

Originally posted by FlyingPenguin
It's a hassle connecting a camera via USB and often the interface software is crap. TRUST ME get a card reader.

I have never had a camera WinXP wouldnt work with. No need to install the camera software if using XP.

Go here for reviews on many digi cams. http://www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.php?lang=en

[VooDoo]

YOU WANT THE CARD READER

why is the card reader so importment

if there is a hook up just use that

me

[two slow]

I debated for a long time about the card reader. I never got one. My camera came with a usb cable and I just leave that pluged in the port.
This is where I recommend you look for reviews. dpreview

[BillyGoat]

I love the card readers, the nice thing is you can take them anywhere and just hook em up to the usb port and look at your pics

[NascarFool]

I currently have a Sony Mavica FD88. It has served me well in the past four years. Too bad it uses floppy disks. I was eyeballin' the new cams at BestBuy the other night(I hope the wife noticed) . They have gotten so small. My old Sony is a 1.3mp with a 16x digital zoom. It still works great but using a floppy is getting to be a pain. Most of the pics I post on PCA were taken with it. Let us know what you decide on and definitely post pics you take with it.

[nexus_7]

I agree with FP. A card reader is Alot easier to deal with. espically if you get one of those all in one units. I jsut picked up one that reads somethign like 8 kinds of memory card things. I would get an internal one now adays. put it in the floppy bay, Hell, who uses floppies any more (sorry Fool ) but its just easy. but if you dont have the $ to spend, dont bother.

Besides that. I cant say how much I would SHOULD have went with a smaller camera. My small sony fits in my pocket but I should have goten a smaller one. Thats always how it is though. there are soem new cannon alphs and olympus cameras that are crazy small and still take amazing pictures.

Greg

[FlyingPenguin]

Card readers are also generall faster than the interface on the camera in my experience. I just bought a replacement for my old car reader - found a Kodak 6-in 1 reader for $25 at Walmart.

I can highly recommend Canon cameras. I have a Canon Powershot A40 I love. It's 2 Megapixel and I believe they've replaced it with the A60 which is 3.2 Megapixel - looks like the same body though.

[NascarFool]

FP, how good of a closeup will that cam take ?

[Busby]

Ok I've narrowed it down to 2 cameras, ironically they are the same manufacturer and series and just alike exept for the Megapixels.

The Canon PowerShot A70 and the Canon Powershot A60.

The A70 is a 3.2 Mpixel camera while the A60 is a 2.0 Mpixel.

A60 Specs - http://www.imaging-resource.com/CAMDB/c ... %5B%5D=455
A70 Specs - http://www.imaging-resource.com/CAMDB/c ... %5B%5D=454
A70 Review - http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A70/A70A.HTM
Another A70 Review - http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/canon- ... eview.html

I can't seem to find a review of the A60. The A60 is around $250 while the A70 is priced right around $300. I was reading user opinions about the A70 and everyone seems to love it. Is it worth the $50 to get the 3.2 over the 2.0?

[FlyingPenguin]

Unless you're doing serious desktop publishing, 2 MegaPixels is more than enough. My Canon A40 can do 1600x1200 and I get great prints from that.

One thing: you will want to buy rechargeable batteries. Using Alkalines really isn't practical.

Get some good NiMH AA batterys - 1800MAh or better.

I'm using this charger and eight 1800 MAh batteries (2 sets of 4 batteries and I always keep one set in the camera and one in the charger): http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mhc401fs.htm

The charger and PowerEx batteries were highly recommended on a Photography review site I came across, and I've been very happy with them.

Nascar: Camera does fine closeups. It'll also do macro, but I've been too lazy to read the manual to find out how.

The Powershot series of cameras are great. If you just want to point and shoot, leave it on auto. If you want to play pro photographer you can manually override everything.

[Busby]

How much is enough for CF cards? 128MB? 256MB?

Does the brand of the all-in-one reader really matter?

[nexus_7]

well, a 2megapixel at max resolution will give you about 120-150 pictures on a 128 stick from what I remember. so double that for a 256'er.

Greg