Digital camera questions (yeah I know yet again)

[AnnMorin]

I know this has been asked before but that was when DH was not planning on possibly getting me one..so now that he is considering it for an aniversory gift I need some answers. I know NOTHING about digital cameras. Here is what I would like in one and then maybe someone could point me in the right direction.

I would like a better zoom than our regular film camera. Our film camera is a pentax with a 60mm zoom. It is very hard to get pictures of the wildlife in our backyard with that. The foxes are pretty used to me and let me get kinda close but a better zoom would be a huge plus. Now on the digitals I see 2x, 3x,4x zoom on the pentax it says 60x. Does that mean the digitals can't zoom hardly at all?

I am not sure about printing the pictures at home, how do you hook up the camera to your computer? Do you need something special to do that? Can you print the pictures at a regular film develop place and is it more expensive?

What are megapixals and how many do you need?
what about memory cards, do you need extra?
What is a dock and do you need one?
and lastly how to you charge it?

Thanks so much for revisiting this again. I plan to print out the answers to show DH

Oh yeah.. one last (and probably the most important) thing. What is the CHEAPEST one can expect to pay for a digital camera that takes decent ( but not professional) pictures.

 

[Zurg]

as a full service Evil Emperor I wrote an opus on Digital Cameras and WDW. Cllick here

It is a tad old but a good place to start. Look it over. Then post your additional questions and I'll be happy to join with others giving you enough contradictory advice to really get you confused.


Zurg
Evil Emperor

 

[AnnMorin]

Wow Zurg.. that is quite the maifesto !
So now I think I want the bigger zoom? yikes I have to read it all again. Do I need a new printer.

 

[adamak]

I'm by no means expert, but I did go through all the researches. Definitely read Zurg's page first.

I have a Canon Powershot S200 camera. It's good enough for me. 2 Mega Pixels, 5x zoom.

Zooming -
You'll need more zoom power if that's what you primarily do. There is a different between optical zoom and digital zoom. Read his article on it.

Setting up -
My camera comes with a cable. You hook the camera up to the cable, and the cable plugs into your computer USB port. That's it. You install software on your computer so it will recognize your camera. Once that's all setup, each time I plug my camera in, my PC will ask if I wanna upload the pictures.

Printing -
I have not print out any of my pictures, but yes, you can save those pictures onto disk, then ask your local print shop to print it out. Or you can use online services. Just email them your files, and they'll ship you to products.

Mega Pixels -
The higher the better quality. Depends on how much you can afford. I have only 2. These days, I wouldn't choose anything less than 3.

Memory Card -
My camera comes with only 8MB. The more memory, the more pictures it can hold. E.g. if you shoot with the highest resolution
each pic will be larger size, therefore 8MB card will hold less.

I bought 256MB card, good enough for me. Depends on how often you upload the pics. If I go to WDW for a week, 256 can hold enough. But if I'm going to Grand Canyon for 2 wks, then I better take my laptop with me to upload the pics. Some people bought a 1 GB card, and still run out.

Dock -
My camera doesn't need a dock. Some cameras come with a docking station for you to put the camera on, so the PC will "see" it. Mine comes with a cable.

Charging -
Mine comes with a travel size charger. I take the battery out of the camera, plug it in, and it'll be charged within 3 hours. I have an extra battery just so I can rotate.

Hope this help!

 

[AnnMorin]

wow thanks to both of you I am starting to "get it" I am still a bit overwhelmed but thanks for all the info!!!!!!

 

[Zurg]

if you wnat to do nature picture syou will wnat a long zoom 6 to 10x

you will also want to have a tripod or something if you shoot a lot with full zoom.

good places to read about specific cameras

http://www.steves-digicams.com
http://dcresource.com

 

[Carl]

The above addresses will give you info on many different cameras. Look there. FYI, the 60mm zoom is about 1 1/2 X. So, most digital cameras come with more than that. Don't pay any attention to digital zoom. It is worthless. Look at what the camera offers with optical zoom. Sony has some cameras with large zoom range and Minolta also has an 8X zoom. I try to stay away from cameras which use memory which can ONLY be bought for that camera. I try to buy cameras which use compact flash, as it can me used in many different cameras. That way, if I buy a new camera, I will probably be able to still use the memory.

 

[AnnMorin]

Thanks guys I have a lot of reading ahead of me. It is very helpfull to know that my old cameras zoom was only 1 and a half, I was nervouse thinking it was 60x and I never saw anything like that in a digital..gotta start reading.,thanks again!