Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 34

Digital Camera recommendations?

My wife and I are going to take a big trip in the not-too-distant future, and one of the things that we're looking to purchase in advance is a digital camera. I think we've decided on getting one with 3 or more megapixels--we're probably going to be taking mostly nature/scenery shots.

I've done the searching on the various review sites--Consumer Reports, Consumer Search, etc.--and I'm now looking to this gadget community to see if anyone has any recommendations.

Any opinions--be them positive or negative--would be appreciated. Thanks in advance....

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: St Petersburg Fla
Posts: 224

Kodak 4900

Been very pleased with the camera. Takes excellent pictures.

Read bunch of reviews before buying and the reviews were positive.

Downside is that the cradle for charging and transfering pictures is extra. Should come with the camera. I didn't get it. I use the USB cable and I have a better battery charger.

Along with the camera, I bought the Canon s900 to print pictures. Don't use the film camera much anymore.

Got the printer and camera on sale at Best Buy and took advantage of 18 month payments with no interest. Nothing better than a free loan.

Registered: May 2000
Location: Cleveland, Ohio 44067
Posts: 242

We have an Olympus C-3040Z 3.3 MegaPixel Camera. We like it a lot and it takes great pictures and has a decent zoom. It takes very nice outside pictures but it particularly excels indoors! Battery life is very good, even when using the LCD and the options and functions are fairly intuitive.

Two things however that bother us are the batteries which need to be taken out of the camera in order to be recharged and the lens cover which you must remember to remove before switching the camera on.

BTW, reading the reviews from other users at CNET is good too!

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What does it look like I am doing...I am kickin' my @ss!!!

Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 44

I agree with checking out the C-net reviews.

I just purchased a HP 812 (4 MP) on Thursday and have been very happy. I needed a quality unit for business and one small enough and simple enough for my wife to use.

The only item about the camera that was noted in the reviews was the small number of adjustments that can be made with the cameral.

Personally, I don't know squat about all the "real' photographer setting so I like the set-up a lot. It takes great pictures. If I need to adjust white balance or some other crazy item, I can do it with computer software. I've use the Higher feature cameras before and didn't have a clue what those setting were for anyway. If youi are a professional photographer, this isn't for you... but if you and your wife need a good, simple and compact camera, this could be good choice.

It also has a lot of easy use features like automatically e-mailing pictures or loading to the web at your request with just a couple buttons. It was a great choice for us.

FYI, it retails for $400, which is great for this type of cameral. Last week Office depot was giving away a free camera case and a couple extra memory cards (which you wll need... be sure to pick a card(s) for at least 64mb, 128mb would be best) If that deal isn't going on right now, Gateway is selling it for ~ $370. It's the best price I saw for the camera from a "name" place. I don't trust the other 50 little camera shops on the web... seen to many negative comments.

Hope this helps.

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Dan

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 734

Check out CNET but then go to www.steves-digicams.com and www.dpreview.com they are more technically oriented but they have full size preview shots, which are great.

Last edited by KRamsauer on 10-22-2002 at 08:30 PM

Registered: Aug 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

The best websites for reading Digicam reviews are DC Recourse and DP Review. Kram had it backwards.

That said, I will add my 2 cents. A camera is ONLY useful if you take it with you! For my trip to Hawaii I used my Canon Elph 100, which was awesome at the time, and small enough to come with us on our travels all over.

Around 9 months ago I purchased the Sony DSC-P7 and it is incredible. It is a little bit bigger than the Elph, but still VERY slim and portable. But the O/S is VERY easy to navigate and the camera has MANY settings. This camera is a little on the expensive side and it does use Memory Stick, but I am very happy with it and can answer any questions about it if you need.

Good luck!

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 734

quote:

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Originally posted by BladeZ
The best websites for reading Digicam reviews are DC Recourse and DP Review. Kram had it backwards.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

I presently have two digital cameras: a Canon EOS D30 and a much smaller Sony. The D30's a big, expensive camera with interchangable lenses, while the Sony's the one I toss in my suitcase for snapshots.

The D30's biggest drawback is its size and weight; if Canon would make a replacement with roughly the same form factor as their EOS IX I'd seriously consider getting it. Other than that, it's a very sweet and reliable camera able to use a pretty amazing variety of lenses.

Sony has a nice line of small digital cameras. They use Memory Sticks, but you can get a PC card adapter which lets you use a PCMCIA slot as a drive. If you have a Sony laptop, it likely comes with a Memory Stick reader.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

This past May I got an Olympus Camedia Brio D-230 for about $130 (Wal-Mart). it's 2 Megapixels, uses Smartmedia, is small, and takes better pictures than any film camera I've ever owned (including the SLR I had in college). However, I think it's been discontinued, as the only retailer I've ever seen with it is Wal-Mart, and I had to go to one that's out-of-the-way just to find one after I finally decided to get it.

The current issue of Consumer Reports has a review of current digital cameras (still and video).

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 138

Olympus 510

Comparable current model is the Olympus 520. I love my camera. It takes great pictures, is extremely light weight, and connects to my Mac/iPhoto like a dream. The software that came with it was excellent. Good tech manual, too. However, in making your choice I would look at my tech stuff and see what kind of media predominates. In my case it was SmartMedia, so the Olympus fits right in with my other stuff (most of which represent Handspring modules, including the MemPlug and the mp3 player). Thus, I always seem to have and extra SmartMedia card in one of my carrying cases. I've seen the Canons, as well. They are fine cameras though I believe they use compact flash.


Anyway buy the best camera you can afford with the type of media you like to use and you will be happy. Either Canon or Olympus if my group of friends is a significant sample: we are all happy campers.

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When I get a little money I buy books; if any is left, I buy food and clothes.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

Of course, the big question is the one that's touchiest to bring up -- how much are you willing to spend on a digital camera?

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 34

The Decision

Thanks for the help, opinions, site links, etc. If you're interested, I've gone with a Fuji FinePix 3800. Purchased it from Gateway this morning, expecting it in a week or so.

Thanks again....