|   digital camera | lamar
Mar 28, 2003 4:51 AM | | I am in the market for a digital camera and want to know what kind of luck anyone has with their paticular brand. What is the best camera for around the 400.00 range. thanks. |
| Have you gone here... | ®andyA
Mar 28, 2003 5:26 AM | | * http://www.pcphotoreview.com/defaultcrx.aspx
I used this resource extensively when I bought my Canon S30 early last year. There's lots of good info on there so be sure to check reviews.
Like I said above I got a Canon S30. At the time I bought it they were running ~450. They're much cheaper now, but also there are other models out there to look up.
I love my s30. It does what I want it to do. You'll get lots of other suggestions too. So get as much info as you can stand.
My 2¢
Randy |
| Not sure about the $400 range, but... | MongooseMan
Mar 28, 2003 5:41 AM | | I picked up a Fuji FinePix 2650 for $200.
It has 4 picture level setting from 640x480 to 1600x1200.
It has a 7.5X zoom and buit-in lens cover.
Takes great pictures and runs on 2 "AA" batteries.
It also take movies without sounds.
I purchased a 64 mg card for $40 for it and it will now
hold 497 pictures on the lowest setting and 101 pics on the highest setting.
Easy to download and has great battery life.
I bought some rechargable batteries and have only change them once in 4 months.
Hope this helps some.
 |
| re: digital camera | meloh1
Mar 28, 2003 8:13 AM | | Kinda depends on what you want to do with it. Does size matter? Wide angle or telephoto important? Family photos, action shots, landscapes? Durability a factor? You're generally looking at 3-4 megapixels in the $400 range and that's the sweetspot now for digital cameras. If you could provide some info on how you intend to use the camera I could make some recommendations. |
| Sorry for butting in here | chickenlegs
Mar 28, 2003 12:32 PM | | Sounds like you're knowledgeable in this arena.
My priorities for a 3.0 - 4.0 MP digital camera:
1. Price, < $400
2. Action MTB pics
3. Landscape MTB pics
4. Needs to fit in my camelbak Mule zipper pocket.
5. Durability - is there a particular model to avoid? Am I wrong in assuming they are all reasonably durable?
"Wide-angle and telephoto" - can you explain a little more about this and what the options are?
Thanks for your help. |
| Sorry for butting in here | meloh1
Mar 29, 2003 8:45 AM | | 1. <$400=no problem, lots to choose from
2. Action MTB pics=fast shutter speed if you want those stop action pictures and a fast cycle time between pressing the shutter and actual shutter release. Digital cameras are a little different from standard cameras. There is a lag between pressing the shutter release button and the actual taking of the picture. In action shots it's important to have a camera with a minimal lag time. Try out some cameras in the store to check this item.
3. Landscape MTB pics=wide angle lens. Also good for group shots or interiors where you want to take in a wide area. 28mm should be good without introducing alot of distortion. Look for a good quality lens, glass is generally preferable but there are good plastic lenses too.
4. Needs to fit in Camelbak=no big telephoto lenses, they require larger camera bodies to accomodate the telephoto lens. Stick to 3x optical zoom or less. Don't pay any attention to the digital zoom number, it's meaningless hype.
5. Durability=not all cameras are created equal, some are more durable than others. Get one with a metal case, this really narrows down your options.
Here's a couple of cameras that come the closest to what you want. I'll give you the links to Steve's Digicam, one of the best sites for digital camera reviews on the net IMHO.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/stylus300.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/canon_s30.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/a303.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/fuji_f601z.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/s3l.html
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/dimagexi.html
There are many more but these are some of the best. Each has it's own strong points. All will take great pictures. I like the Xd cards that Fuji and Olympus use. Thery're about the size of a nickel. Get another card when you buy the camera for more picture storage. 16mb is just not enough and that's what most come with. |
| Canon S200 | BamaSS
Mar 28, 2003 8:57 AM | | I've had a Canon elph S200 for over a year now and love it. Sure it's only 2.1 megapixels but that's enough unless you wanna blow up your pictures and use them as wallpaper on a 17" monitor. Yoou don't need 3MPs unless you're professional. For most trail-side photos 2 is excellent. I think the newer version is now the S300 which is more MPs and about the same price ($300 ish).
Some good things about it....
- The ONLY small camera with a 100% metal case. It's been bashed around in my camelback for ages and still looks like new - no danger of it cracking.
- Cheap
- Small, has no protruding lenses or bits, a compltely square case that is really small and fits in a shirt pocket.
- great battery - lasts for about 70 photos with flash.
- takes movies - can shoot excellent mountain bike vid's.
- comes with excellent software for stiching together panoramas, editing things e.t.c. makes storage of albums really easy. |
| big fan of Canon | pixelninja
Mar 28, 2003 9:51 AM | | Personally, I'm a big fan of Canon products. I own the now-discontinued G1 and love it. The only thing I don't like is its too big to carry in my camelback, which is why I'm currently looking at the Powershot S230 or S400. Both made with the all metal Elph body.
If you might want to blow your pics up to 8x10, get a 3 megapixel or better.
http://www.dpreview.com is my personal favorite digicam review site. |
| Question on the S230 | chickenlegs
Mar 28, 2003 9:54 AM | | Can you shoot panorama (and many different shapes and sizes)? Is the S230 just a more recent version of the S30? |
| Question on the S230 | Ride Biker
Mar 28, 2003 8:07 PM | | the Canon S230 is not related to the Canon S30. The S230 is compact, and has less manual controls. The S30 is larger (not by much) and has more of the traditional manual controls as well as automatic mode. Both cameras do "stitch assist" panoramas. Both camera will take great pics.
The S30 has been discontinued, as well as the S40. Now you can get the S45 (which I have and love) or the S50 (difference is 4 megapixels vs. 5 mp). The latest versionof the S230 is the S400. check out the forums on this site, lots of discussion on everything digital camera related.
http://www.dpreview.com/ |
| Yes, you can also do short film clips. | Twilight Error®
Mar 29, 2003 4:09 AM | | The software isn't as easy to use or good as Photoshop, but its certainly adequate.
I've got an S230, I bought an extra battery and a 256mb CF card and spent a total of just over $550. I could have gotten a camera with better resolution for that price, but the Elph had the features I was looking for - Li-Ion battery, CF memory, steel body and good resolution.
This is a pic I took yesterday morning of an Instigator that I'd just finished tapping and facing. The resolution is set to maximum and I'm standing about 3' away using a slight zoom.
.jpg) |
| Like my Sony - Cybershot 3.2 | JmZ
Mar 28, 2003 11:09 AM | | Model DSC-P71. It was around the $400 mark.
It has plenty of adjustments, takes nice crisp photos, has held up well to taking some racing pics. Takes about 100 shots on the included batteries (with screen, and flash on, more without).
The only things I don't like about the camera are:
1) Not supposed to use standard AA batteries in it. Only Ni-MH.
2) Sony Memory Sticks are not as common as some of the other cards out there and tend to cost a bit more.
Otherwise it has the right feel to it, didn't have any real screwey ideocyncricies (sp??) like some of the other cameras, and it was a decent price.
JmZ |
| The new DSC-P8 is $400 | J.S.
Mar 28, 2003 12:21 PM | | The new DCS-P8 is pretty much the same... 3.2 megapixel, 3x optical zoom. However, it now uses Infolithium batteries -- these are very nice. My P5 uses Infolithium, and they hold a very long charge (much longer than my mother-in-law-to-be's Cannon S3). Best of all, they fully recharge in well under an hour.
Sony digital camera controls are very intuive and easy to figure out. The navigation menus have written english text like "Delete" and "OK" instead of cryptic symbols you try to fathom.
Sony is a winner =) |
| re: digital camera | J.S.
Mar 28, 2003 12:15 PM | | I'm a big fan of Sony digital cameras. Although their memmory stick format isn't as common, their superior optics, battery uptime, quick-chargability, and customer support more than make up for this.
For the $400 price range, here's the new P8:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=0ugGY_nvm5IGYsdrdRUMaLbjTE1q1uCn1wk=?ProductID=3SAKC0%2eNK4gAAAD0IV40_jQ7&Dept=dcc&CatalogCategoryID=
Pros: very compact, 3.2 megapixel, digital + optical zoom, huge list of features, 780maH Info-Lithium battery for long uptime, very good picture quality
Cons: memory stick not as popular.
One of my biggest gripes about digital cameras is uptime -- they chew through AA's like potato chips, usually giving less than one hour of screen uptime before dying out. I don't want to carry bags of spare batteries. Info-Lithium easily goes double the duration of AA's. Furthermore, they charge relatively quick (less than one hour to fully recharge) and are normally stocked at stores like Circuit City should you need a replacement. Lithium batteries have no memory issues either, so you don't have to fully discharge them before recharging.
Although Memory Stick is unpopular, it easily interfaces to any PC via USB cable through the camera. Memory card adapters are common these days, so this becomes a non-issue. =)
Last but not least: picture quality. The color accuracy on the latest Sony's are very difficult to beat. The higher end Sony digital cameras use Carl Zeiss lenses, but I don't think that's a factor here =)
Good luck on your purchase. |
| look here | etal
Mar 28, 2003 12:38 PM | | I just bought a digital camera in the same price area. The first thing to do would be to look at reviews and get a better impression of what you want. Take a look at these sites:
www.dpreview.com - very proffesional reviews and the best great forums
www.steves-digicams.com - more user oriented reviews but has more models listed
If you get a camera from a respectable company you cant really go wrong. I would look at cameras from canon, olympus, minolta, fuji and nikon. Basically you have to decide what features are most important to you. Where the models differ is camera size ,zoom length and manual features. When you have narrowed it down to two or three models then you should post a more focused question on a fotography forum.
Hope this helps
et |
| re: digital camera | sasquatch
Mar 28, 2003 9:41 PM | | I just bought the canon A70. Its not quite as small as the Elphs, but it's small enough to fit in your pocket, and has full auto and full manual settings, records videos, can take 8 shot action sequences t 2.5 shots per second, uses AA batteries, and is only $350. Check out reviews at dpreview.com or steve's digicam review. Both sites gave it great reviews. Im still learning to use the advanced features, but Im happy with the auto shots so far. Good luck! |
| Sony DSC-P7 | PilotNtx
Mar 29, 2003 9:43 AM | | I bought the Sony DSC-P7 a while back, and it falls right in your price range. It is awesome. It has 3.2 megapixel quality and does 16 fps video along with it. It's very small, though not quite as small as the canon. I take it mountain biking with me every weekend. Make sure that if you get it, you get the 128 megabyte memory stick to go along with it. That way you can take as many pictures as you want during your ride, and still have lots of memory left to get some short videos of you and your buddies clearing some technical sections. It's great. Good luck man. |
| Sony DSC-P7 | Giant Tom
Mar 29, 2003 6:53 PM | | I have the P7 also and love it. I carry it around in a Camelbak phone holder that attaches to the shoulder strap. You hardly even know it's there.
Tom S. |
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