Camera for the average person

[Jobie]

I just want to thank everyone for your help. I've learned so much in the last 24hrs. After looking at some of the links you've posted, I think the Canon 5MP Powershot A610 looks good to me. It's $209.54 at Walmart, but I did find it about $10 cheaper through one of the links that was posted. Also, I think I will get the 1gig memory card (and probably another smaller one) so if I shoot any video, all my memory won't be used up. Circuit City has a very helpful chart on memory cards on their site. Tomorrow I plan to go to the store to see it in person.

So thanks again everyone. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Sams has the 2GB SD cad for $60!

 

[CanadianGuy]

My roomate just got the 6 megapixel Pentax Optio digital camera. Cost was around 125$ ... and it's a great camera for the price.

J

 

[jann1033]

some one mentioned night shots...if you have a self timer or can get a remote for it , ( not sure if they sell remotes for digitals, mine is for a film slr) it helps with shake and either use a tripod or a wall or something stable to put the camera on, other wise you'll get blurred shots( i am the queen of shakes so have learned from lousy shots )( i got a nice tripod for my film slr a few yrs ago for around 50 and i think most cameras that take a tripod are universal mounts)
mine retracts( legs) so it fits in wdw lockers and i brought it out for fireworks etc.
shutter lag.. i got a 133x 2gb memory card from ecost( $60-15 rebate, and of course i've seen a few cheaper since i bought it) and it's amazing how much it helped other daughter's easy share 4 mp shutter lag. not sure what speed her old card was and still might be a pain to get action shots in sucession but has much improved...also formatted her old card which she had never done

 

[traces7]

Glenda,


I will say I LOVE this camera. DH got it for me because I have been toying with the idea of starting a children's photography business. The response time is great, I don't have to make the kids "do it again". I love the LCD screen and how it flips.

My favorite feature...the timed pictures, and being able to take 10 shots with the self timer at once. My FIL doesn't like to take pictures, so I just make him sit once for the family shot.

Enjoy!

I've been thinking about getting a Canon A610 or A620. Can you give me more details on your camera? How does it do on inside shots? Does it take good pictures? I noticed in the store that it seems a little noisy when you zoom in and out, what do you think about this? I really appreciate your help! I'm having a hard time deciding but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the A620, I took some pics at the camera store and they printed them out for me and I like the results.

 

[msgrimm23]

i have the kodak easyshare z740 and printer dock it was the best thing i ever bought and i have i 1 gb memory card in it that holds over 600 pictures. if you click the pic i have that was taken with it. you can also record small videos with it too.

 

[EnnEss]

speed of the camera taking pics is a big concern for me. Lower end cameras are always slower than mid range cams. The type of mem or amount of stuff on the mem card won't affect it.

When I looked into it canon was fastest, this was last year. They were fastest almost right across the board at all levels. I didnt take into account any non camera brands. I konw this is debatable but brands like HP (which my dad has and I despise because of the size and weight and no extra benefits that come along with this size and weight) and others I just leave out when I researched cameras.

Canon does start to toss some really cool features in at the 250ish range that other companies dont do too well below the 400+ range. They have a kinda of manual focus available that lets you adjust a lot more than nikon's various modes (for example). I do love nikon though and for high end slrs i wouldnt buy anything else!

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

I've been thinking about getting a Canon A610 or A620. Can you give me more details on your camera? Sure
How does it do on inside shots? I am very pleased with inside shots. The only ones I am disappointed with are shots with the zoom inside during my neices basketball game. A little fuzzy - but this is in Auto mode as I haven't played with the settings yet.
Does it take good pictures? I am very pleased with the pictures. My old camera was the Olympus D-550 only 3mp and the Cannon is thousands times better. PM me if you want and I will send you a link to some of my pictures on shutterfly.
I noticed in the store that it seems a little noisy when you zoom in and out, what do you think about this? Truthfully, I never thought about it until I read your post. And I got this camera for Christmas. I then took my camera and listened to the zoom. It is louder than the Olympus but I didn't find it too loud. And no one has ever commented to me on it being loud.

I really appreciate your help! I'm having a hard time deciding but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the A620, I took some pics at the camera store and they printed them out for me and I like the results.

The only additional comment I have is my friend took my camera to take a picture of my family and she commented it was heavy. I don't find this. I am comfortable with the weight and it feels very comfortable in my hand. I just went to www.dpreview.com and the only difference I see between the 610 and 620 is Pixels 5 vs 7 and the storage card included 16 vs 32.

Enjoy!

 

[jann1033]

speed of the camera taking pics is a big concern for me. Lower end cameras are always slower than mid range cams. The type of mem or amount of stuff on the mem card won't affect it.

this was from a digital review place about memory cards( forget which one)

"Speeds
Some memory card manufacturers, including SanDisk, Lexar and SimpleTech, are releasing new models with higher speeds. These cards are more expensive, but for some photographers they're worth the price, because it takes less time for the image to be sent to the card - and so shot-to-shot time can be reduced. While the casual photographer may not notice the difference, this speed is crucial for photographers who take live-action shots in continuous mode - like at a sporting event, for instance."


so i don't think it will take it from 2 mins to a nano second but i know the faster card i bought definitly changed the speed of my daughter's easy share...enough that is isn't as annoying to me at least. haven't tired to take an action shot with it ( which was when i really noticed the slowness) but regualr shots we both noticed the difference...which i didn't think we really would having read the above. so if it's annoying, it might be worth a shot

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Canon A620

after lots of reserch, this is my 1st digital camera.

high MP (7.1) 4x zoom. this means that you won't get camera shake which is very common in higher zooms (even with image stabilization) BUT u can zoom intot he pic and crop after the fact, and still print out an amazing pic (because of the high MP!)

very easy to use. turning lcd screen. (flip out) great options. great reviews. very happy with this camera so far!

 

[Glendamax]

I know it's taken me awhile, but I just want to thank all of you for your help. Like the previous poster, I too settled on the Canon A620 - 7megapixels. I just got it in the mail today. I looked at other Canons that were similar in size in stores, before ordering it from Amazon.com for $219.00 (I couldn't find it in a store). Target is selling it for $299.

Of course today when I got to work, I saw a copy of Consumer Reports magazine laying around, reporting on digital cameras. Right away I felt a sense of dread, thinking they were going to trash my camera. But, it ranked #1 under compact cameras! The two best buys they listed were: Sony cybershot DSC-W5 and Canon Powershot A520.

Again, thanks for all of your help and patience with helping me select my first digital camera.

 

[Glendamax]

This weekend I got to use my camera at a wedding, and I loved it! I took 102 pictures, and about 4 short movies. I had a 1gig memory card, and used just over half of it. So I've decided that I need to buy another 1gig card AND a 2gig, for my trip in September.