Digital camera help needed please

[Art&Kim]

The kodak z710 is an awsome camera for the money. 7.1 mp, 10x zoom, small enough to fit in a small fanny pack and takes fantastic pics. It's under $200 at amazon.com, with no sales tax. Check out the user reviews.

 

[MN_Cruz'n]

Just a comment...

Don't get hooked into spending extra money on Mega Pixels. David Pogue of the NY Times recently did an "experiment" on photos containing 3 different levels of pixels, and 99% of people can not tell the difference between the three, even when blown up...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/t.../Reference/Times Topics/People/P/Pogue, David

Anyway, the point is, Optical Zoom and Lens Quality are much more important in getting a quality picture versus the number of Mega Pixels your camera possesses.

I have a Canon A620, and love it! I like the flip out screen that I can adjust so I can take shots over my head and still see the viewfinder. (Great for the parades when you don't have a front row seat) And it takes really good pictures! I have been a 35mm SLR user for years, but couldn't justify the cost of the Digital SLR. I have not been disappointed. The camera has a lot of manual controls, so you can tweak your photography as much or as little as you want.

No, I can't put it comfortably in my pocket, but I can put it in a fanny pack without issue, which is perfect for me.

As for "delay", I don't find it an issue, if you use the camera properly. Most Digitals (including my Canon) have a "half-press" function on the shutter release to take care of the focusing and metering. If you know you are going to be taking a shot, half press and hold shutter release to get the camera to "read" the focus and exposure settings. Then, when your subject is ready, press the shutter release the rest of the way. If you press the shutter release "all the way" in one movement, the camera still has to go through the metering and focusing, and that's where you get some of the delay. Also, if you are concerned about the delay between taking photos (cycle speed), the biggest contributor to this delay is the speed of your memory card. The memory cards included with the camera have a slow data transfer rate (i.e. "cheap"). So, since the camera has to save each photo to the memory card, the faster the data transfers to the memory card, the sooner you can take your next shot. Bottom line, when you buy a bigger memory card (which you will want to do), make sure it's a fast card.

Here is a terrific web site about digital cameras....

http://www.dpreview.com/

best of luck!

 

[crazymomof4]

We have one and at the time a few years ago it was supposed to be a good one. Well, I hate it because there is a slight delay, so when taking pics of people the delay ruins the pose.

I could have posted the same thing. DH picked out our first digital camera. He thought it was a good one, but it turns out it had too many "bells and whistles" which made it too complicated to use for me! Since 2003 I have hated this camera. There were times I literally wanted to throw it across the room! My major complaint was the shutter lag. It was soooo long. I take a lot of pics of the cats and kids and so many great shots were lost waiting for the the camera to take the darn pic after I pressed the button! Forget taking pics of the parades at WDW!
So I swore I would not take another WDW trip w/ this camera! I was afraid of making another bad choice and hating the new camera too so I did a lot of research. I typed "best budget digital camera" into the search box and got many lists of what were considered the best cameras in the under $200 range. I found that the one that kept showing up on most of the lists was the Canon Powershot A540 or A530 (the only difference between the two is the megapixels- oops, sorry, also the sz. of the LCD) The A530 happened to go on sale at a local store for $129.99 so I got it last weekend. I immediately fell in love with it! It is so simple to use! Just point and shoot! The shutter lag time is at least half of what the other camera's was. Every pic I have taken with it so far has been perfect! It even comes with a cable to hook the camera up to a tv so I can do a slide show in our room at Pop Cent. while we are down there!

See:
http://holidays.about.com/od/gadgetgifts/tp/under200.htm
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/photo_and_video/digital-camera-reviews/index.html
http://www.digicamreview.com/2006/09/best-budget-digital-cameras.html

 

[F-L-A]

The kodak z710 is an awsome camera for the money.

Don't do it. I had one for all of a month. No image stabalization = nothing but a grainy blur in low light. Even if you keep it perfectly still - it won't cooperate. I ditched it and got a Sony H5.

 

[writersblock42]

I have the cannon A620. The best way to get fast photos is to put it in shutter speed priority mode and crank up the shutter speed. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the pictures come out slightly darker than they looked through the view

 

[northriver]

My mom bought me the Cannon SD630 for Christmas. I love it, no complaints. They all take a bit of getting used to so my recommendation is to get one sooner thatn later so you'll be comfortable with the features before your trip.

I am an eBay seller with two kids and so I use my camera every day for a huge variety of things and for taking short video. My last digital was 3 yrs old and the picture quality sucked, plus the delay for taking shots, AND deleting was just unacceptable. The new one was about a third the price of my old one. So in my opinion, these little camreras are totally worth the price!

Finally, I get my prints online. I have not been satisfied with using my home printer - both the cost and the quality is unacceptable. One more thing to look into. Online is great now that I have highspeed - but it was a real chore when I was on dialup.

 

[jls886]

I have a great 35 mm camera but I really want to get a nice digital camera. We have one and at the time a few years ago it was supposed to be a good one. Well, I hate it because there is a slight delay, so when taking pics of people the delay ruins the pose.

Can anyone recommend a digital that has a fast speed that is not a small fortune?

Thanks!

Hi there! I am by no means a camera expert but I'll tell you what I know. I have a Kodak v550 that is compact and fits anywhere. I dropped my first one and broke it and didn't think twice...I bought the same one again. I had the same requirement you did about the delay. There is absolutely no delay, it takes the picture instantly. My sister has a Canon Powershot 450 elph (or something along those lines). It is even a little bit smaller than mine, but less user-friendly, and also takes instant pictures with no delay.

 

[tzuhouse]

I got a Nikon D70s in 11/05, just before our trip. Not only is it the most awesome camera I've ever had but I can take pictures as fast as my finger will hit the button, as long as its not too dark. I can't begin to tell you how much I love this camera.

Mary

 

[Marion]

Canon PowerShot's any of them. Great cameras we have three of them s500 & 2 s600
We love them

I second that. We had to replace our last Canon and I went with a Fujifilm A600 and I hate it. I wish I had gotten another Canon.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

We have the Kodak easyshare and it's an awesome camera and light weight. It's 5.1 mega pixels and it was a little over $100. We got it at Target last year. Just a suggestion, it takes great pictures!

 

[jacksmom]

Anyone have the Kodak Easy share V570?? Would love a review!

 

[mmessler]

Any thoughts? I'm trying to decide between the two, and the price difference is that the A550 is about $100 cheaper. The A630 has that neat flip around viewfinder, but that alone is not worth it to me if the features and image quality are identical or near so.

 

[drakethib]

I have a great 35 mm camera but I really want to get a nice digital camera. We have one and at the time a few years ago it was supposed to be a good one. Well, I hate it because there is a slight delay, so when taking pics of people the delay ruins the pose.

Can anyone recommend a digital that has a fast speed that is not a small fortune?

Thanks!

We were in the same boat as you with the camera.

We bit the bullet and bought a Nikon D50 SLR.

About 700 bucks but a great investment

 

[bytheblood]

I have two digital camera that both take awesome pictures.

A DSLR Nikon D50 and a point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix 4300. I am forever sold on Nikon. The picture quality for both are outstanding and I have never been disappointed with the print quality.