What would you do? (camera)

[dkal95]

*Ramblings ahead*
I have one final step in the planning of our trip and I just can't decide what to do.

I have a Kodak CX something or other digital camera... I like it somewhat... but it doesn't take good pictures when zoomed in and it's response time is really slow.
But it is digital and I can do more with the pictures once I get back home as far as resizing, cropping, making into black and white etc....
And the other perk to it is, I can delete any junky pictures.

Here's my delima, if I go ahead and take that, I'll need a bigger SD memory card....I have no clue what size I'd need.

Or should I just go to Sam's and buy a couple of 5 packs of those disposable cameras? The perks to those are they are a lot faster as far as response time goes, if I lose one I won't be out a bunch of money. I can get those put onto a disk when I have them developed so I could probably crop and play with those some that way too.

I don't have the money to get a new digital camera, that's what I really want, but I just can't afford it.

So would you take the digital camera I have and just buy a bigger memory card?
or
Would you just buy a bunch of those disposables?

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

 

[kldmom2000]

Personally, I'd buy the bigger memory card. I've tried the disposables on many occasions and have found the quality of the prints to be very poor-plus you don't know what you've got until they get developed..... GL with your decision!!!!

 

[alloyd1170]

Either get another memory card or buy a new camera (theyve really come down in cost these days)! Another option would be to make a few trips to Walgreens to have the pics transferred to disk, but that will take time out of your trip. Dont waste the money on the disposables. I finally got my dad away from them and using a digital! The quality isnt good. If you fly, you will have to pull each camera out at security to avoid having the film ruined (they say it wont be, but I never took my chances with film and security). Theres no zoom feature on disposables either.

alison

 

[frstimer128]

I have used a digital camera as well as a nice regular one with an automatic zoom. Although it is nice to plug the camera in and play with your photos right away, nothing beats the qaulity of photos made from negatives. I either get my pics on CD at the time I develop them or I bring them to my sisters house and use her scanner (FREE!!) and put them on a disc which I bring back to my house. From that, I can edit pics the same way as if I did digital. The zoom on my camera is high so it gets great pics. I love it!

 

[frstimer128]

I was concerned about ruining film in the detectors but if you put the film in you carry on, it won't get ruined during that screening. It's the scanner they use for the checked luggage that could ruin your film.

 

[whtyger97]

My guess on why the zoomed in pictures look bad in that your camera has a digitial zoom. If you decide you want a new camera you'll need to look for one with optical zoom.

If your camera is atleast two megapixels I'd buy the bigger memory card, because you should be able to use it in the next camera you do buy, and you'll be free to take so many more pictures.

My moms DFinance like to crank down the quality on the pictures he takes so he can get alot more on the memory card, but my advice is to use the highest possible setting of your camera, if your not using it you really should just have bought a cheaper camera.

Don't forget to factor in developing when trying to decide what way to go, personally I love being able to take 100 pictures and only print out 30.

 

[safetymom]

Film can be damaged going through the scanner for carry ons. I would just buy a larger memory card. You will also find the digital takes a sharper picture than the disposable.

 

[dkal95]

Thanks for all of your advice, everyone!

My camera has 3xdigital and 2x optical... or vice versa LOL can you tell I'm not a real camera expert?

It's a 2.1 mp and I always use it on the best setting.

I still don't know what to do. It was so hard to save and budget for this trip, we will probably not have another one like this for a very long time (DH's job was outsourced to India shortly after we put the plans in motion, so he lost his job) and all I will have is my pictures and our memories... cheesy, yeah, I know... but it's true. I want really great pictures from our trip.

I think I'll probably just go with a card like most of you suggested... now to just figure out how big of one I'll need. *sigh* I don't know why I'm making this so difficult! LOL

 

[garettdoyle]

Keep in mind that the disposable camera don't have zooms, so I am not sure you will be "fixing" the problem with your current digital by going disposable. Also, even optical zooms on cameras (digital or film) can be problematic, as it is difficult to keep the camera steady enough to take a picture. Instead of trying to zoom, walk closer to the object and your pictures will also come out much better, regardless of the camera type (digital, disposable, film, cheap, expensive).

Our best pictures from our trips are of the people, not the attractions. Whether its the castle or some firework show, some professional photographer has taken a better picture of it and you can buy the postcard.

Make sure your camera creates good memories. I can't stand seeing families yell at their kids (or other adults!!) trying to get everyone to pose for that perfect picture.

 

[dkal95]

Originally posted by garettdoyle

Make sure your camera creates good memories. I can't stand seeing families yell at their kids (or other adults!!) trying to get everyone to pose for that perfect picture.

I agree with you here! MIL does that and it makes us all NUTS!!
I love un-posed pictures!

 

[turnerx5]

dkal95:

Make sure you turn OFF your digital zoom. One reason you may be getting less than great pictures is the use of this "feature."

The optical zoom uses traditional glass elements to reduce the picture field. The digital zoom is a computer program which interprets what it sees to "zoom" in further. In many, but not all cases, use of a "digital zoom" results in muddy/noisy pictures.

If you've been using your digital zoom, try turning it off. What you lose in zoom will be made up for in picture quality.

Hope this helps.

 

[BevS97]

I would go digital but don#'t use the digital zoom (it just makes the pictures grainy)

to get the best photos you need to take lots and lots, and with the digital you have that option.

extra memory has come down dramatically in price, so get some extra cards and make sure you have lots of batterys.

get the biggest card you can afford, mine is 256 meg which is probably bigger than you need, but better not to run out.

 

[mrskay9]

Do you/or know anyone who has a laptop computer? You could borrow it and download your pics at night. Make sure your driver is loaded on the laptop. Or maybe you could rent one at like a rentway place. I had a friend who rented a DVD player for a trip from a rentway. They probably rent computers too.

just a suggestion. don't know if it would be cheaper than buying cards that you may not use again.

hth

 

[Brian Noble]

Once you have more space on your camera, you'll find that you can't imagine ever not needing it. Don't worry about buying a memory card for "only one trip"---you will use it countless ways.

I've found that unless you are doing sophisticated editing (color correction and the like) or printing *large* prints (bigger than 4x6) the *second-highest* quality setting on my (2-3 Megapixel) kodak is just about indistinguishable from the highest. That will get you more space.

These cards have become quite inexpensive over the past few years. If it's been a while since you looked, you might be surprised at how affordable the extra space will be.

 

[dkal95]

I found a 256MB one at Sam's club for $36.99 or something close to that. I think that's the one I'll go with.
Do you all think that's enough space?

I experimented a bit with my camera out in the back yard and zoomed in on some things without using the digital zoom and it was 100% better!!! So THANK YOU to all of you that suggested turning of the digital zoom!!!