What are some things to look for in a digital camera?

[princessmomma]

I am going to step into the 21st century and purchase a digital camera for our Christmas Disney Trip. I am looking for advice on what things to look for in a good camera. Can someone give me some suggestions?

I am looking for a middle-to-high end camera. How much will this cost me?

There were a lot of "Day after Thanksgiving" sales on digital cameras last year, so I want to be ready to battle to crowds and buy one!!

 

[Eeyore2U]

The three things I would look for is at minimum 4 megapixel, a real viewfinder and a good optical zoom.

I have a Canon Powershot G2. It's a 4mp, 3x optical/10x digital zoom. You can some of the pics from our last trip in the links below. The only thing I wished it had was a better optical zoom. The digital is zoom is grainy.

You may want to post this on the CB. There are many differing but great opinions on this subject over there.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I wish my digi cam had a function to let it take pictures at night. I think its called a bulb function.

 

[Carl]

Go to http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291580207
and have a look at my Europe pictures. They were taken with a Minolta Dimage 7i. It is 5 mp with a 7X optical zoom and every manual setting you can imagine. It uses CompactFlash cards and will accept the IBM microdrive.

 

[Dan Murphy]

DID'er Zurg has a nice review for folks new to digital.

http://wdwig.com/digital.htm

Here are some other links for help.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/bguide/0,guid,12,page,1,00.asp

http://www.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera.htm

http://www.digitalcamera-guide.com/

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I love my Nikon Cool Pix 5000. 5 megapixels, wonderful optical zoom, holds a very high capacity compact flash, takes nice night time pictures and is very easy to use, you can also add lenses to this one. I have a wide angle and a 2x tele. I think it will run you somewhere between 750-1000. The prices have dropped, figures, since I bought mine, also, NIkon is offering a rebate on this camera. www.nikon.com you can buy them through ebay.

 

[shep]

I have a kodak with a 3.1 MP and it does a wonderful job...
Wal-mart has a 3.2 Kodak for $154..looks like a pretty good deal...
Good Luck!!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

After selling Kodak digital cameras for farrrrrrr to long, and after having to refund or exchange them because they are totally unreliable and prone to failure, I would never recommend one to anyone, even if it was free. I don't like internal memory in a camera, that fails you are dead in the water, even if you can buy more to increase capacity.
I would stick with Nikon ( I am very biased here), Minolta, Cannon,
and Fuji. I would avoid, at all costs, Sony, Kodak and HP.
I sure don't mean to insult anyone who has one of the ones on the "avoid" list. Yours many work very well and without problems, and I am delighted for you. BUT.....after selling them and printing photos from them, I am not at all impressed and, so were the customers.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

I just got the Cannon Powershot S30. It is 3 megapixels and 10x optical zoom. I absoultely love it (so far LOL). I just went to disney on ice yesterday and got awesome photos using the sports mode. It is so easy to use and has a big lcd screen, along with a clear viewfinder. It uses a compact flash card. The only thing annoying is the battery - they are expensive and don't last that long before you have to recharge them, but hey, christmas is coming up and extra batteries are on my santa list. I was told unless you print out larger than 8x10, 3 megapixels were fine. I looked at the powershot S40, but to tell you the truth, the pictures were not as crisp as the S30.

 

[Dan Murphy]

A couple more general suggestions.....

Try to get one that uses lithium-ion batteries, and if not, then use nickel metal hydride. Alkaline or ni-cad will put you in the poor house. Also, for memory, compact flashcards are by far the most popular, giving you the most availability in the future and best chance for 'sales' at 'average' stores. 3 mpixel should be fine, as said, for anything up to 8 X 10, unless you are really going for pro. Optical zoom is real zoom, digital is simply enlarging image, which can be done in editing. Don't get fooled by big digital numbers. By definition, for me at least, I would say you are talking $600-700 and up for a 'higher' end' camera, $500-700 for mid-range.

This is another super review site.

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

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I love my Olympus D-550 zoom. The pictures are just incredible and it is not a battery hog even when using the LCD screen. I was just on a 7 day vacation in Cancun and did not have to change my batteries once (I use rechargable Ni-MH batteries). It's 3.0 megapixel and a 2.8 optical zoom (plus there is a digital zoom but I never use it as I know it causes photos to become grainy). Good luck in your decision.

 

[spoiledbrat28]

Miss Jasmine, I just purchased the same camera last night. If you can give me any input on the camera. I would appreciate. Arrival date is for Dec. 4 and we leave the 8th for disney. I am new to digital camera but I am a fast learner. I hope A friend of ours has an oylumpus and loves his. This one is a lot like his and I manage his fine. Put any points would be great . Thanks a bunch!





We arrive in Disney Dec 8th - Dec. 18th!!! First timers!! Way to excited