Help me decide on a digital camera

[soccermom22]

I would like to buy a digiatl camera, but I have no idea which one I should get. I want one with a good zoom (my DD's are very activie with sports), but which is more important Digital or Optical zoom? What else should I look for when buying diigital? I would like to spend around $300.00.

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[poohj80]

Optical zoom is more important than digital. I just helped my sister decide on a digital camera as well. The features you need to consider most are:

1. # of megapixels - more means better quality photos but also means each photo will be a larger file so you'll fill up your memory card quicker

2. Optical zoom - cheapest cameras will have a 3x optical zoom but for sports you want the highest you can afford

3. Size of memory card that comes with camera. While looking recently most seem to only come with 16 or 32 MB cards which will fill up VERY fast. I have seen recent prices as low as $25 for 128 MB and $30 for 256 MB cards (depending on type) so shop around.

4. Easy of use - both taking pix and getting pix off the camera. We got mom a digital camera with a docking station so she could look at her pix with the push of one button.

My sister had a smaller budget than you and didn't have the sports requirement so she decdied on the Kodak DX7430 for a simple to use first digital camera. Many sale circulars yesterday have it for $200 plus they were offering a free 128 MB memory card with the purchase.

There were lots of cameras in yesterday's sale papers so that would be a good place to start looking.

 

[Dagny]

Hey there! I am a very active sports photographer myself so hopefully I can help you out as well. Previous poster is correct, Optical Zoom is way better than Digital Zoom so you want to get the most optical zoom you can. In your price range, you should be able to get about a 10 optical zoom with additional digital zoom beyond that.

When I was shopping for a digital camera, I also wanted to be able to take a series of shots (action shots) so having a "burst option" was important to me. I am able to take 6 shots in a row by holding the button down. Not sure if that is important to you or not, but it might be if you are taking sports photos.

As far as other features that are available, my camera (Fuji CoolPix) for instance, can shoot video as well as still pictures, have the option of shooting in Black and White as well as Color, determine number of megapixels to shoot in (1, 2, 3 or 6), and I can unload the pictures directly from the camera into the computer.

I would take a look at www.bhphotovideo.com - they usually have very competitive prices.

Also I highly recommend checking out www.dpreview.com. It has reviews of nearly every camera out there and will compare them for you as well as forums to ask questions.....

 

[TomD]

another palce to check is www.abesofmaine.com

I have never had a problem with them

 

[PatMcDuck]

Do your homework first at dpreview.com

There they rate all the cameras, and point out the good points and bad points. I just bought my DD one, it is a Kodak with the printing dock. Good enough to be her big holiday gift ($249 for cmaera and printer/dock) I have a Sony, 3 1/2 years old, and I love it.