Recommend a digital camara, please

[TwingleMum]

I am buying a computer for Christmas and want to surprise my DH with a digital camara and printer/scanner. I know NOTHING about this. Some of you Dis'ers take amazing pictures that you've been kind enough to share. We have 3 boys under 4 yrs old so the camara would get a lot of use. My DH has talked about having the computer be able to help with pictures and video. Do the pictures you print out at home look as good as the ones you have developed by Kodak?? Thanks so much. HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I love my Canon Powershot A85. It is 4mp's and is about $299 when not on sale.
I find it cheaper, easier and better to just let CVS (formerly Eckerds here) develop our prints in the 1 hour lab. It is so easy and the quality is great. I don't have to worry about whether the ink will last or not and it is actually cheaper than ink and paper and the time it takes to do them myself! I like glossy prints, and this is what they do here. I think I can actually upload them to the CVS site and just pick them up-have not tried that yet. Usually just drop off and pick up when I am out and about.
I have done the occasional printing on our printer, but I don't prefer to do that.

 

[jrydberg]

I have a Canon G4 and love it. I haven't taken a regular film picture since I got it a year and a half ago. The G4 combined with a Canon i950 photo printer yields amazing results. I cannot tell the difference between pictures I print out and ones I have developed.

A good site to look at reviews for cameras and printers is: www.dpreview.com

More information than you'll ever want to know

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by jrydberg
I have a Canon G4 and love it. I haven't taken a regular film picture since I got it a year and a half ago. The G4 combined with a Canon i950 photo printer yields amazing results. I cannot tell the difference between pictures I print out and ones I have developed.

A good site to look at reviews for cameras and printers is: www.dpreview.com

More information than you'll ever want to know

Sounds like you need to find a better film developer or the right film or camera lenses While digital pictures are great and nothing matches the convenience, output will never compare to film. My guess is, you have a better quality camera and printer in your digital solution.

To answer the question, dpreview is a good site. Knowing your budget, experience with cameras, and they type of pictures you typically take will help you narrow your choices. I can tell you that with kids, depending on the type of digital camera you have, you might be frustrated initially with the pictures and the inherent shutterlag in digital cameras often results in missed shots if your subject is moving.

 

[TwingleMum]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm hoping to spend under $500.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just putting in my 2 cents here. I am by no means an expert on either computers or digital cameras. But for the last two years I've had both an HP computer and an HP digital camera and I really like them both. The systems go together nicely and the software installed on the computer makes it very user friendly. We just bought an HP notebook preloaded with their Image Zone software which we plan to take with us on trips to upload and edit the pictures at will. You might want to check it out. If I upgrade my camera I will probably still buy another HP though I don't think they're all that popular. Good Luck.

P.S. Check out www.walmart.com for digital camera basics information. They had the best price on the notebook we wanted so we bought it there (they are the biggest US retailer of HPcomputers).