HELP - need recommendations for a good digital camera [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

TinksMagic54

10-09-2006, 04:43 PM

thatduffgirl

10-09-2006, 05:06 PM

What kind of usage are you going to need?

Okay, my two cents:

With digital cameras, I would avoid Kodaks. They have substandard lenses and are not a proven brand when it comes to digital.

Canon and Nikon are both pretty good brands. It just breaks down to how much you want to spend. $200 or less will get you a digital camera that will suit the needs of 90% of the population.

If you are looking for a general use camera, you can't go wrong with a Canon Powershot A530. Generally, they are around $150, but Amazon has it on sale for $130 right now with free shipping. Shop around to get the best deal. The only thing that kinda bugs about this camera is there is a small delay in between shots. If you want to be able to snap a bunch of action photos then you are going to have to pay quite a bit more for a more hyped up camera.

mrsbug

10-09-2006, 06:30 PM

Another vote for the Canon powershots. I have the Canon A610 and love it. The flip-out LCD screen is great! And the picture quality is superb. I get better results with that than I do with my more expensive prosumer camera. Beach Camera. com usually has great package deals on cameras, with a memory card, case, rechargable batteries, etc. I've purchased both my last 2 cameras through them and been very pleased.

I also agree with staying away from the Kodaks. I've never been impressed by their photo quality and the 2 we've had have been nothing but problems.
Good luck! I love digital camera shopping. ;)

FormrCastMbr

10-09-2006, 06:31 PM

I love my Sony Cyber Shot!

luvhockey

10-09-2006, 08:13 PM

I have the A95 with the flip out screen which I think is the 610 now. It can be totally auto or totally manual like an slr. It takes great pictures.
Try researching at steves digicams. Link below. It is a great website.

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

2giddy4wdw

10-09-2006, 09:33 PM

I have to vote for Sony. We have 4 in our household, my mom has one, and both sister in laws have Sony. Very easy to use. They have many different ones out now and are all reasonably priced. Some have a Carl Zeiss lens which is supposed to be a very good lens. I would definately check out many of them before settling for one. You could check out www.abesofmaine.com.

JPN4265

10-10-2006, 04:30 AM

Frantasmic

10-10-2006, 06:25 AM

Check out www.cnet.com, digital camera review.

Here is a link to their top picks in the 6 megapixel ranges:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6530_7-6509038.html?tag=txt

I love my Canon and the posters above have given you the best Canon's out there for your buck.

daddyof2

10-10-2006, 06:31 AM

With digital cameras, I would avoid Kodaks. They have substandard lenses and are not a proven brand when it comes to digital.

I love my kodak easy share i had a 1.3mp a few years ago and now have a 4mp and iI love it great pics easy to use I have no complaints :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

my 2cents get at least a 3.5-4 mega pixel :thumbsup2

the 2 photos below are from the 4mp and i printed out great 8x10 prints of the one on the right

GIOny

10-10-2006, 06:35 AM

eeyore55

10-10-2006, 07:04 AM

Just to throw another brand into the mix, I love my Fuji. It's a Fine Pix and a year old now, but so much easier to use than my husband's Nikon Cool Pix that he bought this year. And people that have seen it remark how nice it is.

Lori2816

10-10-2006, 08:01 AM

Just to let you know...DD has a Kodak and loves it. Picture quality is always great. She has been using it for over a year with no complaints.

mickeymousemom

10-10-2006, 09:20 AM

We just bought an Olympus FE-190 and we LOVE it! We've had two Kodak Easy Shares and honestly, they stink. DH scoured the internet looking for the best reviews for a great camera under $200. The Olympus was it. It's a 6.0 megapixel and takes amazing photos. Something we learned while looking this time around was to make sure we got one with image stabilization. Otherwise your night shots rarely come out worth a hoot. We had bought a Fuji camera right before this one and the night shots were terrible. We weren't into having to set it up on a tripod just to keep it still everytime we shot at night. DH found the reviews of the Olympus(which is a great camera company) and he took the Fuji back. There is a world of difference where the night shots are concerned.

Everyone is different in what features are most important to them in a camera, but ours seems to do great in every department, and its very user friendly. And like someone else said...stay away from Kodak. With a little work you can find a much better camera in the same price range! Good Luck :thumbsup2

ktnlxismom

10-10-2006, 09:38 AM

I just recently bought a Cannon Power Shot A540. I really like it, Big screen, yet compact. I haven't learned all the features yet but it's easy to use. http://www.buzzlife.com/forums/images/smilies/pics.gif

I'm so glad this thread came up! We are also looking to buy a new digital camera. I am looking at the Canon PS A540 and the Kodak Easyshare C875. I'm guessing the general concensus is that the Canon is a better camera than the Kodak? I'm hoping to get some great lowlight shots during our trip this Christmas, like Main Street and the Castle at night. Would the Canon be good for this?? Thanks for your help! pixiedust:

tink55

10-10-2006, 09:56 AM

Another vote for Canon: PowerShot A620. I had several Kodak cameras previously, and yes, the lenses are inferior. I wanted better resolution (for those great landscape shots of WDW) and got 7 megapixels with the A620. It takes beautiful pictures and can use regular batteries (unlike Kodak cameras).

scootch

10-10-2006, 11:21 AM

I like Sony camera's. Be sure to get one that is rechargable.... otherwise you will be buying tons of batteries and one also with a quick shutter speed. At least 4 megapixals also....

TinksMagic54

10-10-2006, 11:22 AM

DisneyFairy19

10-10-2006, 11:23 AM

I def. recommend Sony.. I have had Sony for years... and I love it

kmccartney

10-10-2006, 11:32 AM

Glad this came up... We have (okay, had, since DH ran ours over with our truck, the truck won) an Olympus Stylus 300. We loved the camera.... but now that we have to replace it we are trying to decide if we should buy something else or replace it with another Stylus.

mickeymousemom

10-10-2006, 01:49 PM

ANother tip here, and this is what we did: Find a few cameras that you like, either online or in a store. Write down the styles and Google for the reviews of each camera. You'll get plenty. I think it's the Circuit City website that actually has reviews of each camera by the customers themselves. It was very helpful. Also, when we finally decided on our Olympus(which, I forgot to add, is very small and has its own little battery charger..very easy to take with us), we found an online price that was cheaper than the same one at our local Best Buy. Dh printed out the page with the price, took it in and Best Buy matched the price! It was so easy, and we didn't have to worry about waiting on it to get here or pay shipping costs.

pbnjrockette

10-10-2006, 03:34 PM

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE my Olympus cameras (one with 10x zoom) the other is an 8mp Stylus. Although both cameras use the more expensive XD card (look for a sale or rebate) the clarity and sharpness of the pictures run circles around my husband's Panasonic and son's Sony.

The new Consumer Report (Nov) just did a digital camera review.

makinorlando

10-10-2006, 03:38 PM

Thank you everyone for your responses -- I knew if I asked the question here that I would get valuable responses :thumbsup2

It seems Cannon is a leader in this group--are they easy to download to the computer? What if I bought an additional memory stick so I could download all my Disney pictures and then burned them to CD or printed them when I got home? :wave:

I have a Canon S2 (now S3) and I love it! If you would like to see some samples check out the links in my signature..

Pictures are very easy to download to a computer directly from the camera with a USB cord or I use a card reader.

Canon does no use a memory stick - it uses SD cards.

I would suggest having at least one extra card for your trip.

Personally even though I am local and make day trips, I always download my photos right away and back up to a CD for safe keeping.

Yzerbear19

10-10-2006, 05:18 PM

The first thing you want to make sure is that the camera has OPTICAL zoom. A lot of cameras say they have a ton of zoom, but its DIGITAL zoom which will blur your pictures. So you want to make sure that whatever camera you get it has OPTICAL zoom. Most come with at least 3x optical zoom and then some digital. I never use the digital zoom on my camera.

I have to stick up for Kodak. My first digital camera was a 2 megapixel Olympus camera. It was OK, but back in February 2005 I was looking to get a new one before we went to Disney World in April. A fellow coworker used to sell digital cameras and was very savy about them and recommended the Kodak camera. The one I got is 4 megapixels, with 3 optical and 4 digital zoom. It takes amazing pictures! I've printed a lot of them off as 8x10s and they are beautiful! The colors are rich and vibrant. I love my Kodak camera. I had originally wanted to stick with the Olympus brand, but after reading a lot of negative reviews went with the Kodak and haven't regretted it since.

My camera uses 2 AA batteries and you can use rechargable batteries. In fact I recommend rechargable batteries since digital cameras drain batteries. If at all possible use the view finder, not the LCD screen to take pictures, this will help to prolong the life of your batteries.

Check the link in my signature to see pictures taken with my Kodak camera. The pictures there are a bit lower quality because Yahoo shrinks them, but they still look good.

I'm actually looking at getting a new one before we go to WDW in January and it will more than likely be a Kodak camera.

Yzerbear19

10-10-2006, 08:40 PM

Just wanted to add that you will also want to purchase a camera bag for your camera. It will help to prolong the life of your digital camera.

GIOny

10-10-2006, 09:56 PM

I'm so glad this thread came up! We are also looking to buy a new digital camera. I am looking at the Canon PS A540 and the Kodak Easyshare C875. I'm guessing the general concensus is that the Canon is a better camera than the Kodak? I'm hoping to get some great lowlight shots during our trip this Christmas, like Main Street and the Castle at night. Would the Canon be good for this?? Thanks for your help! pixiedust:

To be honest with you I haven't used the camera http://forum.digital-digest.com/images/smilies/gif/camera.gif under those circumstances but I have no doubt that it will work fine in lowlight because all the pictures I have taken so far are great. Another reason I like the camera is because it uses regular AA batteries, so I don't have to go hunting for some obscure camera batteries:woohoo: . You can buy rechargeable batteries if you want but so far I have been doing fine with Duracel (they say "digital camera" on the package, they cost a little more then the regular batteries). You will also need to buy another memory stick, it comes with a very small one (only approx. 16 pictures). The best way to judge is to go to the store and get a feel for the camera, hold it, take pictures, see if it feels comfortable. That's what I did. I went to the store wanting to buy a totally different camera, but once I saw the powershot A540, I knew that was the one I would be happy with. BTW, I see Frankie in your signature, is he a pugpug: ?? I have a pug, his name is Ralphiepug: . :wave:

wiggles02

10-11-2006, 09:25 AM

Another vote for Canon. We just bought the S3. DH loves it, but I haven't figured how to turn it on yet. We just got the new Consumer Reports (Nov) and they did review digitals. That might be of help! Good luck!

kimmikayb

10-11-2006, 09:34 AM

Great thread...I'm in the market for a new camera too. I am not happy with my Kodak.

ransom

10-11-2006, 11:24 AM

My vote is for the Canon SD700-IS. It received some of the highest rating by people who actually used the camera. I have only had it for a very short time and I am very pleased with it. It takes GREAT pictures, does digital movies, and is small enough to fit in your pocket. :thumbsup2

That one gets my vote, too. We have many cameras, but this is the one that gets used the most. It's very small, but takes fantastic pictures. We agonized over that purchase for a long time, but DW and I are very happy with the SD700-IS we ultimately bought!

TinksMagic54

10-11-2006, 11:57 AM

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and sample photos -- this is great information - keep it coming!!!! :Pinkbounc

phantom728

10-11-2006, 12:27 PM

We have 2 digital cameras, the first is a Kodak Easyshare, sorry can't remember the model no, but its a year or two old. We took it on our cruise in January and it took fantastic photo's and many of those were landscapes, which a few I blew up to 8x10's with no distortion.
Our second is a Sony Mavica which burns right to a small CD. The photo quality is fantastic, but it is built more like a tradition camera, so can be bulky.
I love them both and will be bringing each one to WDW in Dec for my various shots.

pbnjrockette

10-11-2006, 02:10 PM

Yeah!! My Olympus Stylus 800 came in #3 on the Consumer Report review (Nov). My only complaint is that I wish it had an optical viewfinder. Screen is quite large and works well even in sunlight but I do like the option of a viewfinder (more and more compacts and subcompacts are omitting them).

TaraPA

10-11-2006, 02:14 PM

I did a lot of research & decided on the Canon Powershot A610 (previously the Canon Powershot A95). I needed a high quality, general use camera & this is perfect for me. I've owned it for about 8 months now & it produces the clearest, crispest pictures I have ever seen. It has a ton of functions that I haven't even used yet, but someday I will read the manual & learn them all.

It is SIMPLE to download pics- you just plus in the USB cord (comes with it) and they just pop up on your computer screen (there may be software to download - if there was, it was included & DH did it - I am computer illiterate!)

It is OPTICAL 4x zoom which is much crisper than digital zoom, and it is 5 MP which is about as high as you can go & still keep the price reasonable.

It takes regular AA batteries which is great but you MUST use rechargeable or you'll be replacing them every day.

It uses an SD memory card, I purchased one at the same time as the camera. Staples had the best price on this camera at the time I bought it.

I can't say eough good things about this camera! I've had Olympus & Vivitar in the past & the Canon beats the pants off of both of them!

deekaypee

10-13-2006, 12:04 AM

When I was looking into buying my digital camera, I really benefited from looking at the information on the Digitial Camera Resource site: http://www.dcresource.com/

The information there was almost overwhelming, but I was able to choose a camera that fit my needs, budget, etc. I ended up with a Casio Exilim, which I'm happy with as I become a better photographer and for its portability; I carry it almost every day. The site also helped me to decide on a camera for my FIL, a Nikon D80 that he loves (and one which I will to upgrade to when I've "earned" it).

tinan

10-14-2006, 12:34 PM

Great customer service too! My oldest dd brought this camera with her on a school trip to a Relay For Life. Unfortunately she allowed someone else to use it and of course they dropped it scratching the lens. I called customer service in which they said to send it in and I explained the entire story. They said that this would not be covered under warranty as it was accidentally dropped and that the estimate was $181 to get it fixed. Well much to my surprise they fixed it for $0!!! It takes excellent pictures and even though you are not looking for video it does take that as well. My other dd has a Kodak easy share and it takes some nice pictures as well even though others have commented on the inferior lens and it takes video as well. DH took video of the fireworks at Disney with the Kodak and they came out nicely.

meloneyb21

10-14-2006, 03:17 PM

WOW, I'm in the market for a digital camera too! Great recommendations! I'm off to research some more....

CajnMom

10-17-2006, 01:04 PM

Last June I bought a Kodak P850 and love it. I'm a novice and it is so easy for me to use. All the features are so easy to get to that even I can figure it out. I wanted a camera with 10X plus zoom for my kids sports activities and other distance shots. This camera has 12X zoom and is 5mp. The lcd screen is viewable in bright sunlight too, as I was pleased to discover. I did not buy the EasyShare dock or printer, but haven't found the need for it either.

kitner25

10-17-2006, 02:23 PM

I just recently bought my second Canon Powershot A710 IS. I really like my first Powershot A70, but had a need for better zoom. The picture quality is great and easy to use.

kimmikayb

10-17-2006, 09:53 PM

I just recently bought my second Canon Powershot A710 IS. I really like my first Powershot A70, but had a need for better zoom. The picture quality is great and easy to use.

Where did you buy your A710? After doing some research I decided this is probably the camera for me....went shopping tonight and couldn't find it argggg! I was at Target, Wal Mart, Staples, Office Max and Best Buy. I guess I could get it over the internet, but I prefer getting it from a local store. Was it around $400? Thanks!

kitner25

10-18-2006, 05:49 AM

I bought my 710 on the internet since it could not be found locally. I paid $399 for it but if you belong to Costco they have it on their website for $349. Good luck.

cybrkitn

10-18-2006, 08:40 AM

My DH just bought a new digital camera for our upcoming Dis trip next week. I don't remember if it's a Nikon or not.

I do have one tip for you though. If you have a Best Buy near you, check online for any sales. If you find one for a digital camera that you like, make sure to print it out and bring it with you to the store. The sale prices in the stores are different than online. However, Best Buy does honor the online sales price as long as you have the back up paperwork with you :thumbsup2
We did this and it turned out that the online price was cheaper than what the store had. Needless to say, we were able to get the digital camera from the store at the online sale price.

the who #3

10-19-2006, 10:28 AM

i just spent 16 days in europe with a casio ex-z600 and took over a 1000 pics. only 2 were bad and that was the fault of the user. camera was stolen on the final airport leg, so i have to buy another one. the casio is great, very slim and pocket small with a large screen. i really did enjoy it. :thumbsup2

looking at the ratings i have decided to try the sony cyber shotthis time. the pink one yet. :goodvibes

whogirl'smom

10-20-2006, 01:22 PM

We just took our new Canon S2 ,with image stabilization, to WDW last week and I LOVED it!! :love: I am not a "techie" at all and I was able to take some great pictures! It is only 5 megapixels, which worried me at first, but all the shots are so clear and it has 10X optical zoom, which makes the difference. For that reason alone, I would recommend any camera you pick to have the 10X zoom, because I could get close up shots of many things far away in the parks, that made it look like I was right on top of it. (Like the Tree in AK)
This camera also has video mode, which I know you said you're not looking for, but talk about easy! With a 2GB card, I have a total of about 6 minutes of video, 400 pictures and room for around 200 pictures or 3 min. of video left. Good luck shopping!

OceanStateKelly

10-20-2006, 03:50 PM

I have a Kadak Easy share(dx7590 Has a German lens Schneider-Kreuznacdh) and I think it take good pic's -- And If thats not cutting it I use my daughters Nikon D50 takes the best. I'm more of a SLR user but I bought this one to thought in my bag and go, If your looking for a point and shoot any of the top names will pretty much be good- I would think more about how far it will ZOOM... Most of the time these little camera have very small zoom on them. So think about what you want in a camera and go try them out.

neonurse

10-28-2006, 03:29 PM

I was looking at the Canon 620 but it came down to price. I bought the Sony Cybershot 4.1 mega pixels. I love this camera. :love: On our trip to Disney last year was my first time using it. At firt I was taking pictures on my old camera and the digital because I didn't trust it. But soon I discovered that I love this camera. You can plug it in to the TV at the hotel and see the pictures on the large screen and delete what you don't want. Also I purchased the 1gig card which I have yet to fill up. The only thing with the 4.1 is that if you blow up a picture and crop it, it can sometime seem a bit grainy...not bad though. I think if you can afford it go for the sony with higher megapixels. :cheer2: I thought that I wanted all the added features with the Canon but now after using the camera for a while I realize that I didn't miss out on anything. I think my boys got tired of hearing me say that I loved my camera. It is so wonderful to see the pictures right away...to know if you captured the moment, and save film too. This camera takes great pictures. :woohoo: The best thing is that it only takes 2 AA batteries so that if you charge all 4 and have 2 spares with you at all times. Canon 620 takes 4 batteries (or is it 710) .

:mickeyjum

dohgusgus

10-28-2006, 03:57 PM

Even though I don't personally own one, I would have to say Sony Cybershot. Both my cousin and my uncle have it & it is slim, lightweight, and takes great photos. :thumbsup2

meloneyb21

10-28-2006, 06:11 PM

Does anyone have any experience with the Canon Powershot SD630? How do you like it? I know all about it not have IS, but other than that, are there any other cons? I really like this camera and the SD700, SD800, and SD900 are too expensive for me right now.

torinsmom

10-28-2006, 09:30 PM

Well, I LOVE my Kodak Easyshare Z650! It has 10x optical zoom and is so easy to use too. The pictures I took this September at Disney were terrific and the video is good and has sound as well. This is my 3rd Kodak and I have been really pleased with them. My 12 year old son took the picture in my sig with my Kodak.
Marsha

withthemouse

10-28-2006, 10:53 PM

does anyone have the canon s2 or s3? I wanted to know if they enlargements are just as good or do they start to look grainy? We have the A310 but i think we need to upgrade. :)

TinksMagic54

10-29-2006, 03:23 PM

Just wanted everyone to know I settled on the Canon A710. Now I can't wait to get to Disney and take tons of pictures!!!! :thumbsup2

sequins

10-30-2006, 08:58 AM

We have a digital rebel, canon slr and we would never go to anything else///6.3 mp and extensive battery life...will be bringing it to the world in 26 days

goaliewife

10-30-2006, 03:37 PM

I love my Sony Cyber Shot!

Another vote for the Sony Cyber Shot 7.2 mega pixels. Wonderful pictures, easy to use.

SmithFamily2003

10-31-2006, 04:18 AM

I bought the Casio Exilim for my upcoming Dec. trip, because I wanted a small digital to go with my Minolta Dimage Z6. I was worried about how small the Exilim is, because you can literally put it in your back pocket. But it still takes great pictures. It also takes great night shots.

ME?

10-31-2006, 08:39 AM

I need a camera for sports (football) and for Disney around the $300.00-$400.00 range

MILLZ

10-31-2006, 09:03 AM

DH and I decided this year I would get him a new Camcorder for Christmas and he would buy me a new digital camera. :banana:

DH has already spec'd out his camcorder but I haven't made a decision as to which camera I want.

The Christmas Club check is in and we want to buy these before Thanksgiving so we can use them and get used to them before our Christmas trip. I don't need a movie camera as part of the digital camera because DH will use his camcorder.

Suggestions???

EASY CHIOCE GO WITH THE SONY CYBERSHOT I THINK ITS MODEL DSC -H5 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT ITS THERE 7MP CAMERA WITH A GREAT ZOOM IVE ALWAYS HAD SONY AND THEY ARE GREAT WHAT I REALLY LIKE ABOUT THIS ONE IS EASE OF OPERATION....WHEN YOU CHANGE THE WHEEL FOR CERTAIN SETTINGS IT TELLS YOU WHAT THEY DO SHOOT IN LOW LIGHT SHOOT IN MOTION ETC ITS A GREAT CAMERA:hmghost: :hmghost: :hmghost: CAMERA RETAILS 425-475