Digital Camera Illiterate

[disneybride16]

I'm looking to buy my FIRST digital camera before our disney trip and I know NOTHING about them. What should I be looking for? I would like a camera with a good zoom and one that will allow me to enlarge pictures and still look good. But resonably priced. What kind of memory should I look for? Any preferences? I would like to take pictures of some fireworks too. Any suggestions? Thanks lots

 

[AbbysFamily]

Lots of questions - In general don't worry about memory type. You have tons of choices (I personally love Canon)...
You need to pick a couple of things -
Budget - Define reasonably priced... $100, $200, $500?
Good zoom (3x or 10-12x??) Most 'smaller' cameras are around 3x... If your willing to go with a bigger camera - you can get more zoom.

Fireworks are HARD... But you can get OK with some cameras.
Enlarging shouldn't be a problem - 3 megapixels can go to 8x10 with no problem. More than that is fine.

A GREAT deal right now is a CANON S1 IS... This is a great camera at a good price since the S2 IS just came out. I bought the S2 and LOVE it.

 

[disneybride16]

The price $200 - 300 most. The zoom the best I can get for the price...what's considered a good zoom? Ultimately, I want a camera that'll last me but not break the bank. I told you I was uneducated...hahaha Thanks for your advice

 

[AbbysFamily]

3x is typical zoom, But there is several at 10x or so now.

My recommendation for best DEAL right now would be the Canon S1 IS. About $250 or so online (look around - pm if you need more info or have more questions)...

Great camera.. Theres a guy on the boards here who posted GREAT spectromagic pictures with his!

It takes great 'automatic' shots and has plenty of manual settings too.
Great zoom, great camera - good features.

 

[disneybride16]

Thank you so much!!!!

 

[Alacrity]

Be careful on the zoom if that is important to you. More will get you closer but check for optical zoom versus digital zoom. Digital zoom is processed in the camera and will begin to degrade quality. The more megapixles you go with though the less degradation. I don't tend to use digital zoom so optical zoom is more important.

I also like Canons and Nikons. All the Canon shots I have seen have been really good.

 

[KAMommy]

I have a Kodak with a 10x optical zoom. My previous camera had a 4x and I found that the quality of my pictures suffered. I like to edit and crop my pictures - which is nearly impossible with a digitally zoomed in picture. I love the Kodak. It has great auto settings, and easy overrides. I have taken fireworks, which turn out okay. But my Spectro pictures are phenomenal (the trick is to edit them and up the color just a bit).

In short, if I were looking again I would look for first a good optical zoom (at least 6x) then appropriate megapixils (so you can edit...I would recommend at least 4). Beyond that, you just want a camera that feels right in your hand.

 

[almacdonald]

My advice, make a list of things that are important to you.

If you have a set spending limit look for a camera that is $100 less than that amount. If you take your new camera box with you on vacation you'll be disappointed. You need tha extra $100 for batteries, memory card and a case. If you chose a camera that takes AA batteries be aware that typical alkaline batteries won't last very long especially with the screen turned on, maybe 25 pictures if you're lucky. Invest in at least 2 sets of Ni-MH batteries, they're rechargable and last MUCH longer. Also, most cameras come with a small memory card (16-32MB) or internal memory. With your camera set to a resolution that will allow you to enlarge pictures you'll get very few pictures on the factory card no matter what MP rating your camera is. I would reccoment 512MB for a 3MP camera or 1Gig for a 4+MP camera. I took about 800 shots on a 1Gig with a 4MP camera.

Now, as far as brands go, Canon is a GREAT camera brand (that's what i have!) Just be leary of the Canon S1 IS, there have been some problems with the automatic flash not popping up.

Just to reitterate, taking pictures of fireworks (or anything in the dark for that matter) is REALLY tough. The slower shutter speed will cause any slight movement to be a blur in the photo. Look into getting a mini-tripod if you want to take some night shots. They're pretty cheap ~$20 and can easily fit into a camera case.

And one more piece of advice. Pack a ziplock bag in your camera case. Put your camera in the bag if it starts raining or if you're riding any water rides. Everything stays nice and dry and functional!

 

[disneybride16]

WOW thank you so much. I appreciate all the info, that's what I was looking for, basic info. This is what I got, optical zoom is more important than digital. I can always crop them later. Canons are good, try to get 4pixel or more. Umm fireworks I shouldn't focus on just hope for some pixie dust.
Should I hesitate on a camera with AA batteries? I know I'll have to get extra memory, any particular memory that any favors? I don't even know all the different kinds. Honestly, any info is appreciated.

 

[JenLoy]

I just purchased the Olympus C-5500 Sport (5.1MP) for $224.00. It has 5 optical zoom and 4 digital zoom, 2 in. LCD screen. The flash is a pop-up. It also takes video with audio. So far I'm really enjoying it. I'm trying to learn all the ins and outs before our Dec dis trip. I agree with the previous poster about buying 2 sets of rechargale batteries. Another important thing to think about is to make sure the camera has a viewfinder. A lot of new digitals comming out only have the LCD screen. Sometimes when I'm taking pictures outside it's hard to see through the LCD screen so the viewfinder has been invaluable to me.

 

[AbbysFamily]

WOW thank you so much. I appreciate all the info, that's what I was looking for, basic info. This is what I got, optical zoom is more important than digital. I can always crop them later. Canons are good, try to get 4pixel or more. Umm fireworks I shouldn't focus on just hope for some pixie dust.
Should I hesitate on a camera with AA batteries? I know I'll have to get extra memory, any particular memory that any favors? I don't even know all the different kinds. Honestly, any info is appreciated.

Pick your camera first, then come back and ask about memory - in general places online are cheaper, but walmart, etc is ok for in town purchases.

As for the AA cameras, I PREFER cameras with AA (not custom packs).. You get a couple of sets of NIMH batterys for MUCH less than the price of an extra battery pack, and you can always BUY batteries if absolutely necessary... Your custom pack runs dead and you are done.

 

[almacdonald]

We have 2 digital cameras, a point and shoot, 4MP, 3X optical zoom, proprietary battery Canon S410 and an Olympus C730 Ultra zoom, 3MP 10X optical zoom, AA batteries. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. As far as batteries go though, I bought an extra battery for the Canon for $80 CAD (camera came with 1 battery). The battery takes about 1.5 hours to charge. So, basically I will shove a fresh battery in the camera each morning before heading to the parks and take the spare with me. I haven't managed to go through 2 fully charged batteries YET, but it could always happen. WIthout flash i can take about 400 pictures with the 2 batteries (using the LCD). For the Olympus, a Ni-MH charger and 2 sets of batteries cost approximately $80 as well (can vary based on the "strength" of the batteries and the speed of the charger which can range from 30 minutes to 8 hours!) You can take about 400-500 pictures (no flash with the Ni-MH batteries as well). Now, a camera that uses AA batteries doesn't usually come with batteries (though some sony's did for a while). It is definitely cheaper to buy a 3rd, 4th etc set of batteries for this camera as compared to a camera with a proprietary battery. AND, if in case you ever do completely drain your AA batteries you can use alkaline batteries to capture a few important shots. (wow that was long winded)

As for zoom. Look at the OPTICAL zoom only. Digital zoom is kind of comparable to how you zoom in on your computer, when you zoom in things become pixelated (looks boxy). Digital zoom decreases picture quality dramatically. I have it turned off completely on my camera. You can always zoom in on your computer later!

Now this is just a personal opinion but often times you paying for more than you get with a sony camera. Another disadvantage is that they use memory stick type of memory vs compact flash or secure digital (SD), both of which are cheaper than sony's memory stick.

If you're looking for a decent point and shoot camera, Canon is GREAT, Fuji and Olympus are both REALLY good, Kodak's are simple to operate, Konica/Minolta have (generally) the quickest between shot time, HP can make an alright camera for a decent price but do some research on the lens first, some are pentax, some are not.


Disclaimer: Brand reviews are general and my opinion only. Check www dot stevesdigicams dot com for comprehensive reviews of nearly every camera ever made!!!

 

[CleveRocks]

Another factor to consider is convenience. Do you want a smallish camera you can fit in your pocket, or is this not important? If you want a smaller camera, the trade-off is you're limited in the amount of optical zoom that can fit. After all, lenses take up space!

There were 3 cameras I had my choice whittled down to, but I ended up buying my FujiFilm E550 because it has 4x optical zoom, the largest optical zoom of any of the small pocket-sized cameras I looked at (most had 3x, one had 3.2x, I think). My camera is a 6.3 megapixel model. It's probably more than I need, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with that. When I take 35mm pics I love to enlarge to 8 x 10 or 11 x 14, so I figured I'd want as much leeway as possible in enlarging my digital pictures, as well.

I absolutely agree with what everyone said about ignoring the digital zoom. For almost all practical purposes it's a meaningless feature.

-- Eric

 

[mars315]

When I looked online for rechargeable AA batteries, there seem to be different types, like with "100" and "200" attached to them. I have a Canon A95. It came with a set of rechargeable, but my daughter has the camera at school right now, and besides, maybe there would be a better choice (more powerful) for us to get a 2nd and third set, as some have mentioned.

Michelle

 

[Tiggerbell05]

I bought my first digital camera right before my last WDW trip. I got the Kodak Easy Share 5.0. I absolutely love it. It has a 3Xoptical zoom. The real reason I love it is that I have bounced this camera ALL OVER WDW ! I have dropped it so hard that the batteries have fallen out and once the camera case even separated. Everything just pops back in place and it's still working!

I do have a couple of suggestions: Have two memory cards and don't fill them both up before you have them made into CD's. The first time I tried to have CD's made, all of the systems were down - in every park! I do like to have them burned in the parks because they have CD's with Mickey Ears.

Carry two sets of rechargable batteries, one in the camera and one in the case. Recharge them nightly and switch them every day.

Put a sticker with your name and cell phone number on your camera in case you lose it (I also put a sticker with my name and resort # on my cell phone in case I lose that!)

It was still hard not to take lots of the same shot with the digital. I have taken over 1000 shots on a 10 day trip, last time I took about 500 in 14 days (plus some cute little videos after the nice guy at the Epcot camera center showed me how!)

 

[AbbysFamily]

When I looked online for rechargeable AA batteries, there seem to be different types, like with "100" and "200" attached to them. I have a Canon A95. It came with a set of rechargeable, but my daughter has the camera at school right now, and besides, maybe there would be a better choice (more powerful) for us to get a 2nd and third set, as some have mentioned.

Michelle

I don't know what kind your camera came with, but there are 2 distinct types:
NiCd (nicad) - Older, can have 'memory' issues if you don't charge them right
NiMH (nickel metal Hydride) - Newer, better for charging better overall for cameras.

Once you pick the type (i'd go with NiMH), then the only numbers that really matter is the mAh (milliamp-hour) rating. The bigger the number, the longer the battery will last. Every battery has this on it, if not on the packaging.

The longest mAh rating around these days is about 2500 for AA batteries.
For a disney trip, go overboard.. definately 2 sets, preferably more.

 

[ukcatfan]

Another thing to consider with AAs is the charger. There are 15 minute chargers up to 8 hour chargers. One thing fairly important about this. The longer the typical charge, the more juice that goes in. I believe the range of capacity goes from about 75-80% on the 15 min. to about 90-95% on the 8 hr.

You need to find the best fit for your needs. I personally never need them charged in fifteen minutes, so I have a four hour charger. There are many "designer" brands available, but I have had the best results with Energizer.

As for fireworks, the key is to use a tripod and manual settings. Some people like to freeze the shot. I prefer longer shots that seems to have a flowing effect. I use the lowest ISO (50 on mine), smallest aperture (f8.0 on mine), and around 2-4 seconds. Also be sure that the flash does not fire.

 

[kmsandrbs]

Also a recent digital camera purchaser ..

I bought an Olympus C-770 ... which is a little older, but had pretty much all I needed.

It has 4 or 5 megapixels (from the research I did, this was really all you need unless you plan to do a lot of blowing up and want to print out high-quality pictures).

It has a 10x optical zoom.

It does video (but that's just a bonus feature ...if you want good digital video, get a digital video camera).

Proprietary battery.

Great automatic settings, but lots of ability to set manually as well.

The delay for taking a picture is long, unless settings are juggled correctly. This can be very frustrating at times.

If you like to zoom ... get a camera with 10x zoom. It will be a little bigger than those with 3x, but well worth it.

Get at least 4 megapixels.

Once you know what you want to buy ... check some of the online shopping sites. They will list several sellers and how much they sell them for. But CHECK FEEDBACK before buying. Frequently, cheaper sites come with strings attached.

We bought ours, with just about the lowest price we could find, from buydig.com. All went well, and the price with extra memory and battery was around $300.