Digital cameras..

[ddisney333]

Hi all. My question is what Digital Camera do you recommend? We are in the market for a new Dig. Camera and not sure of what brand is better. We would like to buy the camera and experiment w/it before our December trip to Disney. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Dee

 

[Nanu57v]

We have a fujifilm, and I love it. I've had it for over 3 years and it works great. I even dropped it several times. Because mine is really old, its only 1.3 megapixels. We've been looking for a new camera too. I also like the canon cameras. How much are you looking to spend? Also, are you more interested in a quality inexpensive camera, or the latest in technology (did you know they make 11 mp cameras?)

 

[turnlisa]

I have always been a big non-believer in digital cameras. Most of our friends have purchased expensive ones and the pictures looked grainy. I finally gave in and purchased a Kodak EasyShare 3.1 -- and love it! The pictures are absolutely breathtaking, it is easy to use and the batteries seem to last a long time. I purchased it at BestBuy for $180 (on sale), but it normally only retails for $200. You can also take some video with it and pictures in black and white and sepia. I can't wait to use it on our trip in November!

 

[Barbday62]

We too got a Kodak Easy Share 5.0 and the downloading is done with a dock station and you only push one button. We got ours for $275 the day after thankgsiving. The movie clips are fun too. It can be as long as your memory allows. It has sound too.

 

[thekimber]

Two great sites for digital camera reviews are:

www.dpreview.com
www.steves-digicams.com

You need to ask yourself some key questions:

What is your budget?
Do you want lots of control (SLR) or lots of automation (Point & shoot)?
What type of pictures will you be taking? (most likely, snapshots during your awesome trip )
What will you be doing with the pictures -- printing 4x6s, just saving them for hard drive/email/website, enlarging to poster size?
Do you already have lens for a certain brand of camera? Or a very strong preference (or dislike) for a certain manufacturer?

If you can answer those questions, I'm sure we will have lots of suggestions.

 

[disneyfan551]

I agree, read the review sites! Everyone has their own opinions and thinks that theirs is the best, when they don't really have anything to compare it with! I researched for quite a while, before I settled on the Minolta DiMAGE Z1, with a 10x zoom and I love it. Take the time to research and determine what your needs are! Good luck!

 

[trracers]

Sony Cybershot is great! I have had it a month or two. Bought a 1 gig memory stick that holds a TON of pictures until I get around to downloading. Very compact.

 

[Suzanne74]

I agree with others. read reviews and go to stores and look at pics. If you aren't leaving anytime soon - you are better off just looking at stores and buying online a reputable store - online prices are much cheaper than most stores.

With that said, I have been thru a lot of cameras. I am a phot junkie and LOVE digital cameras. The best part about taking them on vacation is that you know from the LCD if it actually was a good pic right there and take another if not.

You have to think of many things - how much you are willing to spend, what size printouts you plan to do (only 4x6's or some 8x11 etc..) how easily you can learn, how much you actually WANT to learn and what size.

Canon, Olympus, Nikon and Minolta tend to be a little higher in price, have a good reputation, great lends and solid crisp pics but may have a ton of "extras" you may never need.

Kodac tends to be very user friendly and the dock stations (Easy Share) are a great way to get the perfect "family album" size pics without cropping or using computer software. They don't have all the extras that you may want down the line if you get digital cam savy.

Others like Panasonic, Casio and Fugi also make cameras that tend to have more "bang for you buck" I personally have a Casio 5pm camera that works just as good, if not better then on of my canon's.

Also - if you really only plan on using your cam for emailing pics or just small photos then you don't need anymore that a 3 mp camera - 4mp would be a luxury. Anything over that IMO would be overkill for this need. If you want to make enlarged pics and do family portraits etc... then I would say at least a 4mp camera.

My BIGGEST thing about a camera is how it feels for you and how user friendly it is to get a great pic quick. I have a Canon 4mp Sureshot that takes incredible pics but it is so small without any grippers that I always feel like it is going to fall out of my hand!
I thought I would love the pocket size camera but for me - it was too small.

The Nikon's on the other hand have this grip like area on the right side that is perfect for holding and the zoom and on off buttons are all right there. Very "one hand" friendly that is good when you have kids and are chasing and trying for a great pic at the same time!! So do take into consideration where certain butons and dials are on the camera to make it as easy as pssible for you.

So - look over some reviews - the above websites are great and check places like amazon.com and epinions.com too if you find a few that are worth your interest and can't decide.

HTH

 

[ddisney333]

Hi all. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. OK, here is what I am looking for:

1. My price range is $300-600
2. Picture taking for vacations(Disney),birthdays,holidays,family gatherings etc.
3. I will be printing picture sizes of 4x6 and maybe some 8x11.
4. I will be using the pictures in my scrapebooks.
5. I would like a nice size zoom for taking pictures of my kids when they are on rides etc. I want to be able to see that they are my kids and not just guess.

I hope this helps. I checked out the two websites that thekimber gave me they are great. I just read that Konica Minolta just released a new camera called the Dimage Z3. The review about this camera sounds awesome. It has a 12x zoom.

Anymore help would be appreicated. Thanks again.

Dee