Digital Cameras

[PrincessPatty]

Not sure if this is where this is supposed to be but.....
Im looking at buying a digital camera for our upcoming trip in Sept. Im looking for something easy to use with fast shutter? higher megapixels, and higher optical zoom. I want all this and a good price if possible. Or share which cameras you have and why you like them...Thanks in advance!

 

[spiceycat]

my kodak was cheap - but it takes an okay picture

find some good camera cheaper here

www.overstock.com

 

[DisneyGirl83]

I love my Kodak EasyShare DX7440. It's my first Digital Camera and it's so easy to use. It takes great pictures and is super easy. It's 4.0 megapixels with a 5x optical zoom. It was a Christmas present from dbf but I believe it was around $299. I looked at a lot of cameras and I am really happy I picked this one. Try checking the best buy website often, sometimes they give an extra 15-20% off for purchasing online. Good Luck.

 

[HappyLawyer]

i just purchased my first one, a package at best buy for 239 camera and printer it is kodack or kodak and i love it

 

[PrincessPatty]

Thanks for your replies..keep 'em coming!

 

[bluejasmine]

I bought an HP for our Aug trip and have been playing around with it. I really like it but I would advise you to buy your camera ahead of time so you can get use to it and learn the features so you will have everything down for your trip..

 

[FanOfStitch]

I purchased a Canon SD500 Powershot. 7.1 megapixels 10X digital zoom and some other stuff. It was on the pricey side, but the pictures are beautiful. The colors really pop.

 

[kizmac]

I have a Panasonic FZ20....5.0 mega pixel it has a 12x optical zoom 48x digital zoom! Love it It is a bit on the larger side but I am used to SLR so it is actually smaller to me and the zoom is fantastic. They have an FZ5 that has the same 12x op zoom but it is a much smaller digicam.

I have also owned Canon digitals and highly recommend them. I was looking to get DH the A95 or A520 since he prefers a smaller cam. Love canon for their excellent image quality and easy user interface. Don't even have to read their manuals.

 

[snyderla]

I purchased a Canon SD500 Powershot. 7.1 megapixels 10X digital zoom and some other stuff. It was on the pricey side, but the pictures are beautiful. The colors really pop.

I bought one of these, too. Just arrived yesterday. It is really small and I love it. I bought it online at beachcamera.com for $419, plus 12 shipping. I went to google and did a search to compare prices. (I tried to buy it from Dell first, but they cancelled my order because "supply couldn't keep up with demand". I'm glad they did because it saved me $80!)

Lori

 

[csaag]

What do you call inexpensive?

~$250 will get you the basic model, one with 3x optical zoom, 3 megapixels.
Often models will skip the optical zoom to give you more megapixels.
3mp is plenty good for printouts of 4x6 or 5x7.
I wouldn't try a camera w/o optical zoom.
Digital zoom is worthless IMO

I have a 2year old Kodak with 3x OZ & 3MP. It's good - poor in low light.
Daytime pictures turn out very nice; nighttime pictures generally don't. The shutter is open too long in nightmode and hand shaking or subject movement blurs the picture in nightmode.(If I use a tripod with a still subject the pictures are fine)

Mine takes audio/video also which is very useful. It's only halfspeed (i.e 15 frames/sec as oppossed to a camcorder's 30 frames/sec) but the video is easily acceptable. Many beginning models will only record video.

I burn all my pictures/video to a DVD which anyone can do themselves if you have a burner & software.

Let me also add to be careful if you go to the water parks.
I just picked up a waterproof see-through camera bag (basically a clear vinyl bag with a clip to keep it shut & a strap) so I could bring it on the slides & protect it from rain/splashes

 

[jw50]

When you say at a good price what kind of price range are you looking at?

High megapixal and high optical zoom are going to run the price up pretty quickly, high optical zoom more so than high megapixal.

Is small size and light weight important or would a digital SLR be ok to get the high MP/high optical zoom (definitely not cheap for a top SLR).

Also don't forget that with high megapixal you are going to need high capacity storage media, probably a couple of 1 gig SD cards (or whatever media the camera you decide to buy requires) which will add about $120-150 to the cost of the camera.

Your best bet may be to go some place like Best Buy and look at the different models, decide which one best suits your needs and budget and then go online to see what the best deal is that you can get from a reputable source.

 

[csaag]

I can get ~375 pictures on a 256mb SD card with my 3mb camera.
256MB cards can be had pretty cheap today.

The key is unloading the photos.
We're bringing our laptop with us for the sole purporse of downloading each day's pictures when we get back to the hotel. I doubt I'll fill up the memory card in 1 day (discounting video).

If you don't have a laptop then I'd agree that you either don't go crazy taking pictures or buy a big memory card(s).

 

[tn_disney_addict]

Sony Cybershot 7.2 MP for me! It is small and takes incredible pictures. Not sure how much I paid for it - I've slept since then and once my head hits the pillow, it's all gone and I have to start fresh .

I have a 1-gig memory card and it takes TONS (a few hundred) pictures. I learned the hard way to download every night, as one year, I had a camera that used mini disks - used a disk the entire trip and you guessed it - it got corrupted and I never got to get a single picture off of it. I tried all the software that would supposedly fix it and even sent it off to the west coast to see if some company that specialized in it could help - no good.

Anyway, I made my short story long - Sony Cybershot

 

[Tinkerbellz]

The key is unloading the photos. We're bringing our laptop with us for the sole purporse of downloading each day's pictures when we get back to the hotel. I doubt I'll fill up the memory card in 1 day (discounting video).

csaag, we brought a laptop with us on our Thanksgiving trip. All I can say is WHAT A LIFESAVER! We took, on average, 300+ pictures a day. We made it through the trip with

1-256mb card
2-64mb cards

Downloading every night and clearing the cards was great.

BTW we have a
Canon PowerShot S1 IS Digital Camera
Megapixels: 3.2 Megapixels
LCD Screen Size: 1.5 in
Optical Zoom: 10 X
Digital Zoom: 3.2 X

Takes phenomonal pictures. Paid $450 at Wal-Mart last summer.

 

[kizmac]

Sony Cybershot 7.2 MP for me! It is small and takes incredible pictures. Not sure how much I paid for it - I've slept since then and once my head hits the pillow, it's all gone and I have to start fresh .

I have a 1-gig memory card and it takes TONS (a few hundred) pictures. I learned the hard way to download every night, as one year, I had a camera that used mini disks - used a disk the entire trip and you guessed it - it got corrupted and I never got to get a single picture off of it. I tried all the software that would supposedly fix it and even sent it off to the west coast to see if some company that specialized in it could help - no good.

Anyway, I made my short story long - Sony Cybershot

A friend of ours has one of these and his pictures are amazing! He even sells his photos online. The only thing that keeps me from getting one is Sony uses the memory stick and I have a ton of CF cards already. Awesome cam though!

 

[kizmac]

I can get ~375 pictures on a 256mb SD card with my 3mb camera.
256MB cards can be had pretty cheap today.

The key is unloading the photos.
We're bringing our laptop with us for the sole purporse of downloading each day's pictures when we get back to the hotel. I doubt I'll fill up the memory card in 1 day (discounting video).

If you don't have a laptop then I'd agree that you either don't go crazy taking pictures or buy a big memory card(s).

I just bought one of these for uploading my SD card to while at Disney. Transcend Digital Album I love it! It's a cheaper alternative to a laptop if you don't already have one. $284 at www.zipzoomfly.com

 

[PrincessPatty]

Thanks again everyone! I have Sony 5 megapixels, 3xoptical zoom on lay-a-way at walmart, I like it, but just wanted to see everyone elses ideas. I figured I would spend 3-400$ on a good camera, which hopefully will last me for awhile.

 

[csaag]

Came downstairs yesterday morning & turned on the PC.
Heard a sizzling/crackling sound accompanied by a flash of light coming from the back of the tower case. Then that familiar burnt smell.

My power supply shorted out. Worst of all, after buying & installing a replacement, I discovered that my hard disk was also shorted out. Unusable - with 3 years of photos on it.

Luckily I somewhat recently backed up all my docs/pics/music to a DVD.

So the lesson is - if you're storing photos on the PC, buy a DVD burner and BACK UP REGULARLY.

 

[jlb21]

Recognize that with a 10x optical zoom, you almost always need a tripod to keep the camera steady at that distance. If you go for a 10x optical zoom camera, make sure you spend to get one that has image stabilization. Otherwise save the money and get a lower optical zoom camera.