Digital Camera vs. 35MM Camera

[bogino]

I'd like as much feedback as possible (preparing for my 04/06 cruise) as to whether you enjoyed working with a digital camera or a good 35MM camera and why for your cruise pictures. Your comments are greatly appreciated. If you used digital and felt they were fantastic then tell me about the camera you used.

 

[Joe & Joanne]

Hi
This is a mouthful! We recently went to Alaska for a month. Purchased a digital camera (Cannon G-1) prior to the trip. Took the Nikon and Pentax as well. Took about 3 rolls of film with the 35mm cams but over 6000 (six thousand) with the digital. Each day I took about 200-300 pics (two 128mb cards) and at night I edited the pics I did not want and kept the rest. We up with about 3100 keepers. Can't imagine the cost of getting those developed and then not keep 2900. (about $1,600.00 @ $6.99 per roll). Of course we would not have taken so many if we only had the 35mm, but then again..... Paid for the camera already. The 35mm pics came out as well but I had to scan them into the computer after they were developed. When we got home we put them on a slide show presentation on (6) CDs and we can print what we want, when we want. The digital camera with a 128mb card can hold up to 133 pictures when shot at very good resolution. Most cameras come with a 64mb card that would have been inadequate for our trip, but suits most folks ok. The bigger ones cost about $25.00 off the web. There are some accessories that will allow you to leave your laptop at home, store your pics daily and still see your pics. Most digital cameras allow for a hook up right to the tv in your room (via RCA type jack) so you can see them there. The camera and accessories cost about a grand total. You can even change the look of the pics, borders, titles, effects etc. Before you get the camera, decide on your storage media and ease of transfer, then buy the camera that will support the storage device. You can of course buy the type with camera and printer hookups but I do not think they allow for flexibility. Email me for some links!

 

[SuAnne]

I have been debating what to do for our cruise as well. I think I will take both. As much as I love my digital camera, my old Miolota Maxxum 5000 takes the best print pictures and I just can't part with it! I'm also going to get a couple more 128mb cards for my digital so I can take lots and lots of pictures.

 

[Pluto4President]

I bought a small Sony DSC-P5, not P50, before our WDW trip this past Nov. Got tired of carrying around our big 35mm. All I can say is WOW! Small, fits in your pocket, light weight, and takes post card perfect pictures. Great resolution. Here's a sample from Castaway Cay, I reduced the actual size.

 

[inkkognito]

We moved from the 35mm to the digital world at Christmas, 2000, when I have hubby a very nice Sony as a present. He LOVES that thing and refuses to use anything else. In my opinion, here are the pros and cons of digital:
PROs
You know immediately if the photo turned out, and if not, you can take another one.
It is easy to use the photos online (probably not an issue for you, but a big one for us, since we have a website)
Depending on the camera, you might have the capability to get sound and take a short video clip too.
CONS
The prints don't come out as good when you print them out, and they take forever. That makes hard to show other people your photos unless you are in front of a computer. Having prints is the one thing I miss most.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Annie]

Digital all the way. You can take tons more pictures and are certain you'll be pleased with them later. I take pictures of things that I never would have considered before and have gotten some of my most prized pictures that way. I also love that I can take many different pictures of the same scene (perhaps from different angles) and then choose the best one later. We end up with much better quality shots by using the digital. We use a Nikon CoolPix 950. It's got a lot of great features, but can also be as simple as point and click.

I never bothered with a photo printer. Those things are way too expensive and cannot compare to professional printing (in quality or price per print). I select which pictures I want prints of and order them from a place online called DotPhoto. It doesn't cost me much more than regular developing and I only pay for prints I want. They also are one of the few online places that will print matte which is a must for me.

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

I have a Canon s30 and I love it. It is a 3.1 megapixel camera and we get great pictures from the camera for the most part. My dad has had a digital camera for quite so time and my wife and I hesitated on buying one for a while because we were not sure the pictures were as good as film pictures. We finally bought one and after taking a few pictures the first week and having some printed I was disapointed with a few pictures. After a few days I got out some film pictures and guess what, they are not perfect either. A few things I saw in the digital pictures that bothered me was red eye, a few out of focus, etc. The film pictures had exactly the same problems but we were never that critical of them. We just looked at them and enjoyed them. So I would recommend a digital camera 100%. The things you can do are amazing. If you want actual prints of the pictures you can do them yourself or there are printing services such as ofoto.com (kodak) or dotphoto.com. The pictures I got from ofoto look just like pictures you would pick up if you dropped film off. You just upload files to their web site and you get the pictures back very quickly in the mail. I also have a program from ulead.com called DVD Picture Show, they have a trial at the website. This program is simple to use and with a cd burner you can make VCD's that will play on a lot of DVD players that shows your pictures on the TV (vcdhelp.com has a list of players that work with VCD's and CD-R's, if yours doesn't work Wal-Mart has an APEX DVD player for 80.00 that will). I made a slide show of our Disney Cruise and added the music "When You Wish Upon a Star" and the pictures look really good on my 46 inch TV. Most cameras come with software that allows you to print several pictures with bacgrounds and words, etc. on photo paper. My camera came with a program called Photorecord and it is very simple to use. It makes colages that look really good. I have a 125.00 printer that prints these very nicely, it dosen't take an extremly expensive printer. The digital pictures are easy to store and organize.

We also purchsed, for our kid's great grandparents, cevia frames. If you haven't seen these they are a digital picture frame. They plug into a phone line and download digital pictures that you upload to the web site. They cost about 100.00 with rebates (I think) and there is also a small charge for the service. It is a great way to share pictures with relatives that are far away and don't have a computer. Once it is set-up the person that has the frame doesn't have to do anything.

One thing you may want to keep in mind is that the 400 pictures you used to take may only be 300 with a digital camera. If you are like me you take 2 or 3 pictures of everything with a film camera in case one is bad. On the other hand you may take twice as many. With a digital camera you can review the pictures on the cameras LCD and delete the pictures that you do not like. I bought a 128 meg Compact Flash Card for 80.00. If I take pictures with my camera at the highest resolution it will hold about 80 pictures. The price of these cards continues to drop so look around.

dpreview.com has a ton of information.

I would recommed the camera I have although I can't tell you it is any better than any other. I like the size, it is not too big but it is also big enough to be able to get a good hold on. One thing I would suggest is that you buy at least a 2.1 megapixel camera. We did at one time have a camera that was about .5 megapixels that we got from my dad when he upraded and although the pictures were good to e-mail they were not that good to print.

As you can tell from the length of my message we are very excited about our camera. We have put the film camera away and only use this. We had a new baby three weeks ago and the day after he was born we had pictures sent by e-mail, pictures sent to great grandma's frames, VCD's sent to great grandma's, colages printed and displayed at the hospital, and announcments printed.

I want to add that I work in sales for a livestock nutrition company. I am not a photographer or a computer expert. Most of this stuff is very easy to do with the programs available. It does not take a lot of time. My computer is several years old and although it is slow to do some of these things it works well. You don't need a new computer to do this (don't tell my wife this though because I have about got her convinced that I do).

 

[Matty02]

as a teen, I like the disposable 35mm cameras. In all honesty, i never really know what the picture will turn out like and its more fun that way. However, I did bring a digital and I like being able to see the pictures. I am traveling on the 23rd on the Magic and I am sure I will have a bunch of disposable cameras and my digital along too. Its more fun to capture random craziness as a teen with a camera where I cant say "wow that looks stupid." It was a great way to bring back the memories of the people I met a few days after I got back from the cruise!

 

[WDWLVR]

For us digital is the way to go. The only other camera we bring is a waterproof disposable for Castaway Cay. For most vacations we don't ever print out any pictures, but we do for our cruises. I've found though that I can make a much better album by using the digital pictures and doing montages than just printing out pictures. Our cruise albums take on more of a scrapbook feel and I've gotten lots of compliments on them.

 

[ruvidu]

We are camera crazy. We carry a digital, a 35mm SLR and a 35mm point and shoot. My only problem with the digital is that the flash is only good for about 8-10 feet. This is true with most point and shoot cameras as well. If you make a photo at night it has to be close. Another drawback is that the viewing screens are hard to see in bright sunlight. I usually use the viewfinder to make the photos and then find a dark place to view and critique them. I agree with the point of ordering prints online. We use shutterfly.com. They do a good job and are reasonable, (4X6 = .49). We are lusting after the new Dimage 7 right now at a cost of $1000. It has so many features plus it lets you attach an external flash. Maybe I will win the new SC lottery and can get me one. Yeah, right.
I agree with the 2.1 mp standard. It will do you a good job.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Upload your photos to www.shutterfly.com. They'll print them for a reasonable price, plus you can more easily share them with friends/family or have prints sent to their homes as well.

 

[Joe & Joanne]

Hi
Does anyone have a preference on the disposable underwater cameras and where did you get the best price? Do any of them come with a flash?