Can you recommend a digital camera for WDW?

[nile455]

I want one with a really good optical zoom so I can get closeup shots of tall attractions like TOT, Cinderella's Castle, Splash Mountain, etc. My budget is under-$450. Any recommendations?

 

[TZMOM]

I'm sorry, I can't help you on this one, but I'm interested in what others have to say re: digital cameras. I want to buy one as well, but just can't make a decision!!!

Anybody out there - HELP!!!!

Jane

 

[barrie]

TZMOM - I have a Fuji FinePix S5100 that I am very happy with. It's both automatic and manual. This allows me to take decent photos and play around with learning how to be a real photographer. It's got a 10x optical zoom plus 2x digital zoom. I think it's running about $400 now. Here's a link to a pretty detailed review of it: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s5100-review/index.shtml

This is my third digital camera and I have really been having fun with it. It also looks quite impressive when I am using it - people think I really know what I'm doing, but it's all an illusion!

Good luck with your shopping! Barrie

OOPS - I guess I responded to the wrong person...it's early here on the west coast...

 

[MNSusan]

I love my Olympus Camedia C2100 with 10x optical zoom, which I bought a few years back for around $400. The C765 is the new model of the same camera, selling for about $320 or so. Here's the amazon.com page for it.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-9406937-4057748?v=glance&s=photo&n=541966

Good luck!

 

[MNSusan]

p.s. Here's a photo of the ToT I took with my Olympus C2100

 

[ctdisneydad]

I feel the best camera to purchase is the cannon A75 $199.00 ( 3.2 megapixel ) or A76 $299.00 ( 4.3 megapixel ). These cameras have a lot of automatic features which allow you to make great pictures without needing a lot of shooting knowledge. It has both automatic settings, pre-set scene modes ( fireworks, indoor, beach, snow ), and manual settings for the more experienced person. I own the A75 and took some great pictures of the night parades, fireworks and day shots and when printed out to 4" x 6" size you cannot tell it was shot with a digital camera. You can also purchase lens adapters for wide angle and telephoto which give the camera more options than most.

 

[cobbler]

I have a Kodak Easy Share cx6330 with 3.1megapixel and I tell you it takes some really quality pictures. I have a few my dad swore were postcards they were so good.

You can take movies on them and they have some neat features like night mode, sports and others. I love my camera.

I have a 256mb chip (sandisk kind- looks like a stamp) and I took 256 pictures at my recent WDW trip and could still take about 60 more.

 

[nowellsl]

I have a Nikon Coolpix that is great! I also like the Cannon A75. They run about the same price. (around $200.00) The zoom is only 3X optical but anything over that and the price jumps up by about $100.00

 

[oogieboogie]

Canon S1 IS is great. It's only 3.2 mp but with a 10x optical zoom and image stabilization it's a really great deal for around $350.

Plus it takes regular AA batteries instead of proprietary batteries, and it has a lot of manual settings so you can take fireworks pics. I like the fact that it has image stabilization which means you don't get blurry pics when you're running your zoom lens to the max.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

It may be one of these above, but Best Buy just got (over the last month or so) a new Olympus 7.1 MPL and 5X Zoom in a small size for under $500. Cant recommend it because I dont own one but I would have bought it if I had waited. Looked awesome.

 

[philliplc]

Canon S1 IS is great. It's only 3.2 mp but with a 10x optical zoom and image stabilization it's a really great deal for around $350.

Plus it takes regular AA batteries instead of proprietary batteries, and it has a lot of manual settings so you can take fireworks pics. I like the fact that it has image stabilization which means you don't get blurry pics when you're running your zoom lens to the max.

i just got back yesterday from a 9 day trip and took over 400 pics with a canon S1 IS. worked great. optically it's supurb. resolution is only 3.2, but that's plenty for up to 8x10s. the image stabilization is a major plus in low light and for using the 10x zoom - i was able to hand hold with great results at 1/15th of a second for pics of festival of lion king, osborne lights etc.

main drawback is it's not really a pocket camera, although it is one of the most compact 10x zooms on the market. it does fit nicely in a small fanny pack which was very convenient for me. it will slurp a set of alkaline AA's very quickly, however i was able to take ~150 pictures many with flash on one charge with a set of nimh rechargable AA's. it also uses standard compactflash cards, which are getting quite inexpensive (just bought a 512mb for $29!)

 

[barrie]

I wish my camera had the image stabilization. I often will opt not to zoom in all the way because it may be fuzzy. Also nice that the cards are so cheap. I just paid $47 for a 256MB x-D card at Costco (and that was the best price around). The Canon S1 IS sounds like a nice one.

 

[philliplc]

here are some shots i just took this past week with a canon S1 IS, all of them hand held, some with telephoto at as low as 1/15th second

http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/epcot00.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/epcot01.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/epcot02.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak00.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak01.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak02.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak03.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak04.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak05.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/ak06.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/mgm00.jpg
http://www.harborside.com/~philliplc/mgm01.jpg