HELP - need recommendations for a good digital camera

[TinksMagic54]

DH and I decided this year I would get him a new Camcorder for Christmas and he would buy me a new digital camera.

DH has already spec'd out his camcorder but I haven't made a decision as to which camera I want.

The Christmas Club check is in and we want to buy these before Thanksgiving so we can use them and get used to them before our Christmas trip. I don't need a movie camera as part of the digital camera because DH will use his camcorder.

Suggestions???

 

[thatduffgirl]

What kind of usage are you going to need?

Okay, my two cents:


With digital cameras, I would avoid Kodaks. They have substandard lenses and are not a proven brand when it comes to digital.

Canon and Nikon are both pretty good brands. It just breaks down to how much you want to spend. $200 or less will get you a digital camera that will suit the needs of 90% of the population.

If you are looking for a general use camera, you can't go wrong with a Canon Powershot A530. Generally, they are around $150, but Amazon has it on sale for $130 right now with free shipping. Shop around to get the best deal. The only thing that kinda bugs about this camera is there is a small delay in between shots. If you want to be able to snap a bunch of action photos then you are going to have to pay quite a bit more for a more hyped up camera.

 

[mrsbug]

Another vote for the Canon powershots. I have the Canon A610 and love it. The flip-out LCD screen is great! And the picture quality is superb. I get better results with that than I do with my more expensive prosumer camera. Beach Camera. com usually has great package deals on cameras, with a memory card, case, rechargable batteries, etc. I've purchased both my last 2 cameras through them and been very pleased.

I also agree with staying away from the Kodaks. I've never been impressed by their photo quality and the 2 we've had have been nothing but problems.
Good luck! I love digital camera shopping.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I love my Sony Cyber Shot!

 

[luvhockey]

I have the A95 with the flip out screen which I think is the 610 now. It can be totally auto or totally manual like an slr. It takes great pictures.
Try researching at steves digicams. Link below. It is a great website.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html

 

[2giddy4wdw]

I have to vote for Sony. We have 4 in our household, my mom has one, and both sister in laws have Sony. Very easy to use. They have many different ones out now and are all reasonably priced. Some have a Carl Zeiss lens which is supposed to be a very good lens. I would definately check out many of them before settling for one. You could check out www.abesofmaine.com.

 

[JPN4265]

My vote is for the Canon SD700-IS. It received some of the highest rating by people who actually used the camera. I have only had it for a very short time and I am very pleased with it. It takes GREAT pictures, does digital movies, and is small enough to fit in your pocket.

 

[Frantasmic]

Check out www.cnet.com, digital camera review.

Here is a link to their top picks in the 6 megapixel ranges:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6530_7-6509038.html?tag=txt


I love my Canon and the posters above have given you the best Canon's out there for your buck.

 

[daddyof2]

With digital cameras, I would avoid Kodaks. They have substandard lenses and are not a proven brand when it comes to digital.

I love my kodak easy share i had a 1.3mp a few years ago and now have a 4mp and iI love it great pics easy to use I have no complaints

my 2cents get at least a 3.5-4 mega pixel

the 2 photos below are from the 4mp and i printed out great 8x10 prints of the one on the right

 

[GIOny]

I just recently bought a Cannon Power Shot A540. I really like it, Big screen, yet compact. I haven't learned all the features yet but it's easy to use.

 

[eeyore55]

Just to throw another brand into the mix, I love my Fuji. It's a Fine Pix and a year old now, but so much easier to use than my husband's Nikon Cool Pix that he bought this year. And people that have seen it remark how nice it is.

 

[Lori2816]

Just to let you know...DD has a Kodak and loves it. Picture quality is always great. She has been using it for over a year with no complaints.

 

[mickeymousemom]

We just bought an Olympus FE-190 and we LOVE it! We've had two Kodak Easy Shares and honestly, they stink. DH scoured the internet looking for the best reviews for a great camera under $200. The Olympus was it. It's a 6.0 megapixel and takes amazing photos. Something we learned while looking this time around was to make sure we got one with image stabilization. Otherwise your night shots rarely come out worth a hoot. We had bought a Fuji camera right before this one and the night shots were terrible. We weren't into having to set it up on a tripod just to keep it still everytime we shot at night. DH found the reviews of the Olympus(which is a great camera company) and he took the Fuji back. There is a world of difference where the night shots are concerned.

Everyone is different in what features are most important to them in a camera, but ours seems to do great in every department, and its very user friendly. And like someone else said...stay away from Kodak. With a little work you can find a much better camera in the same price range! Good Luck

 

[ktnlxismom]

I just recently bought a Cannon Power Shot A540. I really like it, Big screen, yet compact. I haven't learned all the features yet but it's easy to use.

I'm so glad this thread came up! We are also looking to buy a new digital camera. I am looking at the Canon PS A540 and the Kodak Easyshare C875. I'm guessing the general concensus is that the Canon is a better camera than the Kodak? I'm hoping to get some great lowlight shots during our trip this Christmas, like Main Street and the Castle at night. Would the Canon be good for this?? Thanks for your help!

 

[tink55]

Another vote for Canon: PowerShot A620. I had several Kodak cameras previously, and yes, the lenses are inferior. I wanted better resolution (for those great landscape shots of WDW) and got 7 megapixels with the A620. It takes beautiful pictures and can use regular batteries (unlike Kodak cameras).

 

[scootch]

I like Sony camera's. Be sure to get one that is rechargable.... otherwise you will be buying tons of batteries and one also with a quick shutter speed. At least 4 megapixals also....

 

[TinksMagic54]

Thank you everyone for your responses -- I knew if I asked the question here that I would get valuable responses

It seems Cannon is a leader in this group--are they easy to download to the computer? What if I bought an additional memory stick so I could download all my Disney pictures and then burned them to CD or printed them when I got home?

 

[DisneyFairy19]

I def. recommend Sony.. I have had Sony for years... and I love it

 

[kmccartney]

Glad this came up... We have (okay, had, since DH ran ours over with our truck, the truck won) an Olympus Stylus 300. We loved the camera.... but now that we have to replace it we are trying to decide if we should buy something else or replace it with another Stylus.

 

[mickeymousemom]

ANother tip here, and this is what we did: Find a few cameras that you like, either online or in a store. Write down the styles and Google for the reviews of each camera. You'll get plenty. I think it's the Circuit City website that actually has reviews of each camera by the customers themselves. It was very helpful. Also, when we finally decided on our Olympus(which, I forgot to add, is very small and has its own little battery charger..very easy to take with us), we found an online price that was cheaper than the same one at our local Best Buy. Dh printed out the page with the price, took it in and Best Buy matched the price! It was so easy, and we didn't have to worry about waiting on it to get here or pay shipping costs.