Digital Camera - Need Input

Since we bought it primarily to photograph our young daughter, that ended up being a real hassle because she is never still for that long! We've started using our 35 mm camera primarily, but I still like having a digital camera so we can post pix on the web.

VH (aka GroomZilla)

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Note: I am not an expert. Just a friendly neighbor.

JennyN

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HI:

Bump this thread up.  We have decided to get it together and get a digital camera. My questions are:

1)  If $$ was no object what would you buy?  And dollars to donuts, what do you think is the best value out there for DC's?

2) What do you own now and are you happy with it?

3)  What was the most important feature you considered when buying a camera?  

My DH is consdiering a higher end Canon (sorry stats elude me at this moment)--any comments?

cheers----------------Sharon

"People who possess great qualities, do not need to show off".

Well I'm in the middle of researching a 2nd digicam. We currently own an Olympus C-4000, which we love, but I want an ultracompact travel camera right now as a supplement. Even though the C-4000 is a compact it's still too bulky to slip into a purse or pocket.

I keep switching my top 3 choices. In fact, I re-switched them again last night. For me, picture quality, size, and battery life are the three biggies, and the current top three are all small enough and supposedly have great picture quality---depending on the review.

1) Pentax Optio SV---because it has a 5x optical zoom

2) Panasonic Lumix DMC FX-2 or FX-7--has optical stabilization to combat camera shake, but has poor battery life

3) Canon S410--supposedly shoots great pictures but is rather slow.

Also on my list, that I may swap back in or out of the top three as more user reviews come in, are the Canon SD300 (smaller than the S410, but pictures not as good), the Sony P150 (reviews have been great, but user reviews have been mixed--plus batter life is supposed to be impressive), and I'm waiting for the Sony DSC LI to be released. I doubt it will perform as well as the Sony P150 due to sensor size, but it's dimensions are attractive. Ideally, the Pentax 750Z would be smaller, since it's gotten amazing user feedback for its picture quality, but it's a bit too bulky for my needs.

Oh, and all this is subject to change by the day. I may add or take any camera off the list depending on what I read!

What are you going to use it for and what is important to you?  Are you going make enlargements?  Are you going to take video?  What knid of media do you want?

If you want a very small camera (I have a Canon s500) and it suffers as do all compacts from red eye and not the best lens optics.  I also have an older G2 that takes better pictures, is slower and much bigger. For best pictures, an SLR is better.  For smaller size the Canon Ss and Sony W1 is a good match of quality and size.  New Nikons are nice as well. 

I almost always use the s500 now.  I do get disappointed with the optics and some exposures, but I was previously using a 35mm SLR.

Hi:

Thanks for the input, so far. I would prefer a camera that is not too large/heavy (that said fitting into a small handbag is not requsite) , provide clear images without necessarily having a long movie mode feature.  My DH likes the Canon PowerShot A95, which seems a good balance between the features I want and with a decent price tag.  However, the Olympus C-770 also caught our eye, but it is quite pricey.  Getting to touch and feel a number of brands is what I plan to do in the next few days--with the Christmas fliers out in full force I can hardly avoid cameras and the like even if I wished to! 

cheers---Sharon

"People who possess great qualities, do not need to show off".

My favorite camera review sites are: http://www.dpreview.com/ (which also has the most active forums)

http://www.imaging-resource.com/  - check out the "Dave's Picks" sections as well as the reviews

http://www.steves-digicams.com/ 

http://www.dcresource.com/  --- fewer reviews, but they're more "real world" reviews of the cameras they do review

1. I'm pretty happy with the one I bought recently - Konika Dimage A2.  I thought it was the best value prosumer.  Key things I liked:
- good reviews and a great camera with more featues than I can use yet.
- all in one lens.  It's nice having a decent zoom built in so I don't have to swap lenses like in my film SLR
- some type of anti shake technology.  Really helps on the zoom shots
- Std memory solution so easy to buy extra memory for a long trip.

Todd(aka Ricardo, aka Cowboy)

My first DC was a Sony CyberShot. I was young and naive and bought into the marketing hype that a Japanese make=superior product. I regret that decision and have recently started looking for a new camera again. The sales associate at the store confirmed that buying a Sony for the name will do me no good. He showed me sample pictures taken from a wide range of cameras and indeed, the Sonys' colors were just a tiny bit off.

We both agreed that the pictures taken from Canons were the most true to color. Canon is not known to be sexy and sleek like some of the other Japanese cameras are but I think this time around I will go for performance rather than for looks.

Hmm...now that I think about it that sounds like good advice for man-hunting, too.

Hope this helps.

Hi:

Thanks for all the input.  Bought an Olympus C-770 and am very happy.  Now to learn all the bells and whistles! 

cheers---Sharon

"People who possess great qualities, do not need to show off".