Tell me why I need a digital camera

[Denine]

My camera is on it's very last legs and I am researching new cameras.

Please tell me why a digital is so mcuh better than a camera that uses film.

What is your favorite camera that is in the $200 or less range, regular or digital.

We travel a lot and I like to take zoom pictures. My cameras never seem to have enough zoom power. So, I take a lot of scenic pictures and then the ususal family photos.

Any help?

 

[Rex Rules]

I am not known to take the best pictures, so the reason a digital is better for me is that I can look at the picture in the little screen and delete it if it is bad and try again.
I like to take the pictures, but have to admit it is DH who does all the stuff with the computer. But it sure is handy to be able to email pics to our friends and family.


OH MY GOODNESS!! Just noticed I was visited by the Tag Fairy! I am so excited! Thank you TF!!

 

[NMAmy]

This is odd but I was just going to start a thread asking why it's pretty much impossible to find a film camera anymore? I've been searching online & here in town and can't find anything but single use cameras or digital.

DH has a digital but, frankly, I suck at getting the pictures printed. I do much better with a film camera.

So, no answer to your question, but you may find yourself stuck with a digital anyway.

 

[Briarmom]

I will tell you how I feel, and I am SURE that I am the only one who feels this way, but here it goes.

I hate our digital camera. We NEVER have 'real pictures' anymore. I know, I know, we can print them out, but we never do. And since my parents have a (very nice) digital camera, I don't have any pictures of my kids with them. They live far away, so we don't see them a lot. Before they got the digital, they would send TONS of pics after a visit, now I get a few. And the reverse is true as well. I don't send as many pics to them since we got a digital. I like 'real pictures.' I guess I am weird that way.

 

[diznygirl]

Because when you travel you never have to worry if you will run out of film and where can I buy and I can't believe how much it costs.

Because you never have to go to the store to drop off your film and then make another trip to pic up the pics.

Because instead of getting 5 prints of the same picture, photo mailers and paying for postage, you can email the pics instead.

Because you can upload them to Shutterfly and print photo books - they make great gifts too!

Because 35mm is obsolete!




Edited to inspire those who don't get their digi pics printed: You can set up a web page so easily to share photos - Shutterfly, Photobucket, Yahoo. You can also upload them to these sites to be printed. You can also take the card to the store and use the Kodak machine to print photos. There are lots of options!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I will tell you how I feel, and I am SURE that I am the only one who feels this way, but here it goes.

I hate our digital camera. We NEVER have 'real pictures' anymore. I know, I know, we can print them out, but we never do. And since my parents have a (very nice) digital camera, I don't have any pictures of my kids with them. They live far away, so we don't see them a lot. Before they got the digital, they would send TONS of pics after a visit, now I get a few. And the reverse is true as well. I don't send as many pics to them since we got a digital. I like 'real pictures.' I guess I am weird that way.

You are not the only one. I just love my film camera for the exact same reasons you do. I KNOW I should get a digital because film is becoming obsolete; but I just can't let go of my film.

 

[LisaR]

I will tell you how I feel, and I am SURE that I am the only one who feels this way, but here it goes.

I hate our digital camera. We NEVER have 'real pictures' anymore. I know, I know, we can print them out, but we never do. And since my parents have a (very nice) digital camera, I don't have any pictures of my kids with them. They live far away, so we don't see them a lot. Before they got the digital, they would send TONS of pics after a visit, now I get a few. And the reverse is true as well. I don't send as many pics to them since we got a digital. I like 'real pictures.' I guess I am weird that way.

I agree with you 100%!

Lisa

 

[Chicago526]

I just take my memory card to Walgreens and have them printed into "real" pictures (don't put it in the Koday Photo center, use the other machine they have, ask the employee at the photo desk, they'll help you). It's cheaper than printing at home with a picture printer. I also have them make me a photo cd so I can print my own copies later, or just pop it in the dvd and have a slide show!!! So, to me it's no differant than having a film camera, I still have to drop it off at Walgreens. But I have the added bonus of not having to buy film, run out of film at the worst time, and see the bad pictures I take right away so I can re-shoot!

 

[Barb D]

I have a film camera and a digital camera, and I never ever use the film camera any more. It's just too much hassle to take the film in, get prints of even the bad pictures, etc. Then I either have to buy the CD (including the bad pics) or scan the pictures if I want to e-mail them. I buy photo paper for my printer, and print out only the ones I want. The first week of school I took pictures of my kids, printed them out on photo paper, and had them in a frame on my desk at work the same day.

Briarmom, why don't you buy one of those little printers that prints photos straight from your camera? That would make it easy to print out the pics you want and send them to your mom.

 

[jennyl772003]

I love having a digital photo album so that I can share all of our pics with friends and family.
I love that we were able to take 300 pictures on our trip. We would not have done that with film.
I love that I don't have to develope anything to see my pics. I would never remember to take the film in.
I love that my camera is so small.
I love being able to order pics online.
I love that I can get rid of red eye before printing the pics. My son, due to an eye condition, always has red eye.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I use snapfish to have my pictures printed. They're 12 cents per photo and they mail them right to you within a couple of days. You just upload them to the site and order that way. You can also get calendars, mugs, mousepads, etc. done. I'm really into photography and I just love my digital camera. It was my birthday present to myself this year and it was worth every penny.

 

[MosMom]

Because they make you cool.

 

[DVCLiz]

I was a digital holdout for many years, too - although I had a digital camera, I still couldn't quite get it together about how it all worked.

Yesterday I braved the storm, so to speak, and went to Target, where there is a film department/kiosk at the front of the store. The employee walked me through the whole thing. I loaded my little card from my camera into the machine and burned all of the photos onto a CD. One CD holds 120 pictures and costs $3.99. Now I can go to that CD anytime and email pictures or print them again - I guess this is the modern equivalent of the negatives.

After I burned the CDs, I highlighted the pictures I wanted, and then went back about an hour later and picked them up. $.20 per picture, and the quality is very good - I was surprised, because I'm used to seeing them printed from my home printer, and that quality is iffy.

Now that I've done it once, I've lost the fear of it and I'm in the market for a really good quality digital. The machine was very easy to use, too - all touch screen with printed instructions and a voice telling you what to do.

I'm so proud of myself for finally figuring this out!!!!

 

[tiger95]

I like digital because of the instant feedback. It lets me experiment more and get some more interesting shots. That said, I hold on to me film camera, because it just a littler faster for shooting actions shots and the like.

BTW, for printing I use Walmart.com. I upload the pics, and within an hour I can pics them up and pay for them at my local WalMart. 19 cents each, and in my experience, the quality is excellent

JD

 

[Hygiene99]

I was a digital holdout for many years, too - although I had a digital camera, I still couldn't quite get it together about how it all worked.

Yesterday I braved the storm, so to speak, and went to Target, where there is a film department/kiosk at the front of the store. The employee walked me through the whole thing. I loaded my little card from my camera into the machine and burned all of the photos onto a CD. One CD holds 120 pictures and costs $3.99. Now I can go to that CD anytime and email pictures or print them again - I guess this is the modern equivalent of the negatives.

After I burned the CDs, I highlighted the pictures I wanted, and then went back about an hour later and picked them up. $.20 per picture, and the quality is very good - I was surprised, because I'm used to seeing them printed from my home printer, and that quality is iffy.

Now that I've done it once, I've lost the fear of it and I'm in the market for a really good quality digital. The machine was very easy to use, too - all touch screen with printed instructions and a voice telling you what to do.

I'm so proud of myself for finally figuring this out!!!!

Next time Try Burning the Cd at home on your Pc.
If you have the software .. we have Kodak and I can load pictures into computer and Burn to Cd..Then send them off to have them printed..

 

[Free4Life11]

I use snapfish to have my pictures printed. They're 12 cents per photo and they mail them right to you within a couple of days. You just upload them to the site and order that way. You can also get calendars, mugs, mousepads, etc. done. I'm really into photography and I just love my digital camera. It was my birthday present to myself this year and it was worth every penny.

I was going to say the same thing. I hated my digital camera until I discovered Snapfish. The prints are VERY good quality and reasonably priced. I like that I can order just the prints I want AND edit them. The editing feature is great because you can crop it, adjust color, etc. right online. It takes some time but I like it.

I hate the picture makers in the store because if you have a lot of pictures, I wouldn't want to be standing in the store editing them. I'd rather just sit at the computer with a soda and take my time playing around with the different options.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I went to digital because I like the instant gratification of seeing the pic I have just taken and being able to delete it if I don't like it. I am very into photography but was hesitant to experiment a lot with my film camera because I knew that I'd have to pay for all those pics that didn't come out or that just looked terrible, plus I'd never be able to remember which setting I used on which pic to get a certain result. My digital files include all information, they tell me what shooting mode I was in, the white balance, etc.

I also was very lazy when it came to film. I would take it out of the 35mm and just put it on top of my dresser, it took months for me to take it to be developed. I still have about 5 rolls of film from LAST YEAR just sitting there, waiting. I have ordered almost 500 prints through www.winkflash.com between february and now from my digital camera, 12 cents per print, it takes 3 days to get them, 99 cent flat shipping, very good rates on enlargements.

Just an example...I ordered 200 prints through winkflash for a total of $17.00 with a coupon code I found online, some of the prints are 4 x 6 and some are 5 x 7 enlargements. When I take my film to be developed it costs $5.99 for 24 prints (4 x 6). I also find it easier to upload and order from home.

 

[Towncrier]

Years ago we had a fairly expensive Olympus 35mm SLR camera. DW couldn't operate it, so we bought an Olympus point and shoot 35mm camera. The day we did, the SLR went into a closet and hasn't been out since. Fast forward to a couple of years ago. We bought our first digital camera. Before we purchased it, we used to buy 35mm film in bulk at Sam's Club. Once we had the digital camera, we used up the remaining 35mm film and put the Olympus point and shoot camera in the same closet as the old SLR. Now we have a second digital camera (that uses the same memory sticks as the first one) and we are 100% digital.

My suggestion is that you look for one of the older Olympus series digital cameras that uses rechargable AA batteries and has a 10x optical zoom. That should give you enough zooming power and rechargable AA batteries can be had for a song. We run through batteries more quickly than memory sticks on our digital camera. Just my 2cents.

We pick the best digital photos and upload them to Shutterfly or Wal-Mart and have prints made for our photo albums. The downside of digital is that, unless we make prints, nobody ever gets to see our photos. Maybe that is an upside for them.

And if you insist on having a 35mm film camera, I know where there are a couple of unused Olympus ones just waiting to find a new home.

 

[CharlesTD]

To be honest you don't need a digital camera and we prefer the images our 35 MM camera shoots over our digital camera. We have one for conveniance but we still carry our 35 for those must have shots. We have a Nikon D70 digital SLR and we also carry a Nikon F80 35MM SLR I still love the images from the 35 so no to be honest you don't need a digital camera. Plus if you run out of film it is cheaper to go buy another roll than to run and get teh card burned to a cd or buy another memry card for the camera.

 

[ducklite]

I shot off 1000 photo's a week ago at a Velvet Revolver concert. I'll trash 800 of them right off, and whittle down to the best 50 or so from there. I can do that with digital, it would be a mortgage payment to get them all printed on film.

Sorry, can't help you with a camera suggestion, both of mine were out of that price range.

Anne