Camera question for Dan, PhotobearSam or anyone.....

[Pam]

I posted this on someone else's thread a couple of days ago - but it seems I killed that thread!

17 yr. old DD wants a digital camera for Christmas. She, how do I put this, can at times be destructive with cameras - dropping them, etc. I don't want anything very expensive and it doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles. Just a camera for her to take out with her friends to football games, on the band bus, Church Youth Group camping trips, etc.

Is there something out there in the range of $150-175 that will do the job? I've done web searches, but quite frankly, I am overwhelmed with all the information and I seem to get more of the expensive models popping up.

Any recommendations? Also - DS will be taking a Philmont hiking/camping trek in New Mexico next summer and will need a digital camera due to backpack size/weight limits.

Pam

 

[Pam]

Come on guys, if you look - you must post!
I need help!!!
Pam

 

[Rajah]

Unfortunately, I can't give you any advice on this one -- the camera I use is in the $500 range now, and all the others I know are that expensive or more. I know cheaper ones exist, I'm just not sure what they are. Sorry, and good luck!

 

[brerrabbit]

I don't know if I can give you a lot of help but I can tell you what I did when I bought my digital camera. I went to Yahoo and looked at the digital cameras offered there. I then read a post here as well as on a couple of other boards that told me the features I should look for. Then my wife and I were out shopping one day and went to Best Buy. We happened to talk to the area manager for cameras and he spent thirty minutes telling us the different features of the camera and asked us what we would use the camera for and how important certain things were. What I was told to look for was the higher optical zoom factor 2x, 3x etc. which is more important than digital zoom. Apparently optical improves picture quality while digital only increases the size of the pixels. The other thing to look for is the number of pixels the camera captures. The more pixels the better the quality of the picture. The other thing is the type of media storage the camera uses. Is it a Sony card (expensive) a Flash card or a third kind I can't remember. You can check the prices of each kind at most electronic stores. Finally, you need to know how the camera interfaces with your computer. Most just plug into you computer through the USB port. However Kodak cameras use a base that does the interface and simoultaniously charges the battery of the camera. The cost of the docking station is extra so I stayed away from Kodak. In the end I bought a HP camera at Sears of all places.( I got a $75 gift card at Sears as a rebate and some free developing of 25 pictures online) It was $399 and had 3x optical zoom and 2x digital zoom. The pixel rate was high and a 128MB memory card for it cost $89. I came with a 32MB card and that held about 36 pictures at the medium resolution setting.(100 at low resolution and 16 at high resolution). On our trip to WDW in June I took 224 medium resolution pictures on the 128MB memory card. I don't have a laptop so I could not download the pictures each night and that was why I bought the bigger card.

Oh yeh and the last consideration is type of battery, does it need to be recharged or can you use AA batteries. Mine uses AA's and that was more convientient on vacation because I could just carry extras for when I needed them, however it was more expensive because I went through a lot of batteries.

My advice would be take the information and search online for the most features you can find in the price range you want to spend and choose one from that.

Hope some of this helps even though I can't give you a specific camera recommendation. By the way I love my camera and use it all the time.

 

[TheLionKing]

I would go to a large store with many models and talk to the sales people.

More pixels usuaully means better pictures especially if you want to print them to paper.

You will probably forgo any fancy abilities like manual shutter or apeture control but that is not a big deal for a beginner.

As far as indestructable, I don't know if any one brand is more or less susceptible to damage.

If you are concerned about damaging the camera, then going cheaper is a good idea. You might look into extended waranties and whether they cover damage from dropping. I wold guess that they probably do not.

 

[helenabear]

Pam, I did a quick search on amazon.com and I found a few cameras that might work. For $190 (if you don't mind going up a few $$$) you could get this Fuji FinePix 2650 which is a 2 mp camera and it actually has an optical zoom on it. The rest of the cameras I found in that price range are all 2 MP and only have digital zoom which means the lens doesn't zoom but the software does it for you. That usually gives worse quality shots. The rest of the cameras I found that had optical zoom were about $250.

You might want to ask Zurg as well about it. He's good with cameras.

 

[Pam]

Thanks, everyone! I personally am a diehard 35mm fan - and own 4 Minoltas with all the extra lenses, etc. I also keep a Kodak Advantix in my purse at all times.

We have one of the big, bulky Kodak digital cameras - the first one that came out - we paid over $600.00 for it at the time and you had to really mess around to download the photos.

DD is a little reckless with cameras - she's a teen! I hate to spend $$$ on something that she either won't like or will promptly break!
Pam

 

[Dan Murphy]

Looks like you got some great thoughts here, Pam, nothing I think I can add. Just wanted you to know I did see it.

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

I don't know very much about digicams in that price range, but just a thought about you worrying that she's going to drop/break it... would it be possible for you to get insurance on the camera? It couldn't be *that* much money on a $150 camera, and could save you a lot of worrying. Just a thought!

 

[PhotobearSam]

Hi there... I'm sorry I'm so late with this. We don't even own a digital camera yet but my DH is looking at buying one for our next trip but it's in the $400 range and I know it's got 2.1 megapixels??? but that's it.

I am a die-hard FILM fan. Not APS but 35 mm fuji film and 4x6 prits. I wish I could help but I'm going to use the posts already here to buy ours.

By the way...thanks for asking for my help in your tittle of your post. That's a first for me and I felt soooo loved when i did see it.