Digital Camera Advice

AliceinWDW

AliceinWDW

Member
Original Poster
Hey everyone, I was hoping to get a little help/advice about buying a digital camera. I am absolutely clueless when it comes to this :confused: I'm looking for a camera that won't be too expensive ($300-$400 range hopefully). I don't know megapixels.. but I do know this :drevil: I would be interested in good detail for printing out and blowing up the pictures. And last but not least a halfway decent zoom. I dont know what to look for or where to start so any advice would be very helpful. Thanks and have a great day!!

Barb
 
DisneyCP2000

DisneyCP2000

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by AliceinWDW
Hey everyone, I was hoping to get a little help/advice about buying a digital camera. I am absolutely clueless when it comes to this :confused: I'm looking for a camera that won't be too expensive ($300-$400 range hopefully). I don't know megapixels.. but I do know this :drevil: I would be interested in good detail for printing out and blowing up the pictures. And last but not least a halfway decent zoom. I dont know what to look for or where to start so any advice would be very helpful. Thanks and have a great day!!

Barb
Click to expand...

Here's a website that offers all the latest and greatest digital cameras. >>>here<<< I believe they also have information about how to purchase one and what to look for when buying a camera. In general, the higher the megapixel the better. But since you're looking to blow up photos I think 3MP would be the minimum size (anything under will make you photos look grainy).

My cousin has a Minolta Dimage F100 and the photos come out pretty good. Plus the reviews on cnet are pretty good. Hope this helps.
 
no2apprentice

no2apprentice

Well-Known Member
Go with as much camera as you can possibly afford. Check out the review sites so you know which models are worth considering. As far as zoom, for the price range you want, I don't think you'll be able to get a zoom higher than 3x optical. Disregard the digital zoom numbers, focus on the optical (get it? focus? never mind). As others have recommended, go for at least a 3 MP camera. If you want to go larger than 8X10 enlargements, you'll probably need to consider 4 MP. Although, you'll need one heckuva printer to do 11X14. So you should be okay with 3 MP.
 
jojoyner55

jojoyner55

New Member
For many, many years I was always a Nikon user. They still make the best film cameras. But in looking for a digital camera in the range you are talking about, I found some negative things about Nikon's cameras. So I bought an Olympus - and I am a compete convert. A remakable camera. My advice to you is to look carefully at the best Olympus you can afford: this is backed up by reviews in a lot of magazines.
 
DisneyPhD

DisneyPhD

Well-Known Member
I had a Nikon digital camera, it wasn't good and I took it back (costco is wonderful that way). I have always bought Olympus flim cameras and really like them. I think the new digital one they are adversieing is good, but haven't tried it. My complants with the Nikon was it was way to slow, you missed any good shots waiting for it to turn on.

We now are the proud owners of a Canon 230. It is an Elph camera, 3 mp. It is small, fast and easy to use. However the zoom is only 2 times. We get around this by cropping and zooming in on the computer later. The rechargeable batteries last long, but only give you warning it is running low for about 3 shots, then it is dead. (we bought a spare) Also I wish the flash was a bit more powerful or had more options.

Besides those minor complaints we LOVE this camera and are so glad we got it. The normal price is 399.
 
mikebrakes

mikebrakes

New Member
I used a Fujifilm FinePix digital camera on my last trip. We actually got it free when we bought my father XP for Christmas a year and a half ago. Not the best camera, but for what I paid for it (nothing) you can't beat it.

It is a 1.3 magapixel camera, image size 1,280 by 960 pixels. The photos I've printed come out nice and sharp. (Except for indoor shots where I use the flash. They come out blurry.)

The main complaint I have is, you need to use fresh batteries or it doesn't work. If they aren't fresh, the camera keeps turning itself off. Sometimes it wouldn't even turn on. I went through three sets of batteries in a week!

My dream is to get a digital back for my 35mm camera. I have two different Nikon cameras and several lenses. With the digital back, you can change lenses. The only problem is, the backs are between the 3-4 THOUSAND dollar range. Since my father lets me use his, I'm in no hurry to get the digital back.

The more pixels, the better. 1.3 works fine for outdoor shots, but as I said, ALL indoor photos I take seem to come out blurry. At any size. Go with the largest pixel size you can afford.
 
AliceinWDW

AliceinWDW

Member
Original Poster
What kind of accessories should I be looking at? :veryconfu ?
By the way I'm still looking around. My plan is to try them out in the local stores and when I find one I like I'll most likely buy from Tiger Direct or something like that....
 
SpongeScott

SpongeScott

Well-Known Member
Memory cards
rechargeable batteries or regular batteries
carrying case
charger for batteries
adapter for interfacing between camera and computer

We bought a Fuji FinePix and these are some things that we had to/chose to buy with our camera. Probably laid out around $600 for everything.
 
disneytati

disneytati

New Member
Hi, guys!

I am also thinking of buying a digital camera. But I have a question: does any digital camera take pictures of fireworks, or other effects? Another question: how do these memory cards work? How can I transfer pics from the camera to my pc? Do I always need memory cards?

Well, sorry for the ignorance, I know nothing about digital cameras and need lots of advice. The worst problem is that it is not me who will actually buy it, my aunt is going to travel to the USA and buy one for me (in Brazil, this kind of camera costs 4 times the price there in the US), so I will not be able to talk to the salesperson. And even worse, I will have to write everything down for her to show this person, as she cant speak english...

Please, help me...
 
DisneyCP2000

DisneyCP2000

Well-Known Member
Hi disneytati, long time no see :animwink:
Well here's the scoop on some of the questions you asked.

Taking pictures of fireworks and such...find a good camera that has a setting for taking night shots. It's a special setting that will make the camera take a 'longer' shot.

Memory cards...there are a bunch of them out there and they all serve the same purpose. The camera uses them as film. All the pictures you take get stored on memory cards. Usually the bigger the memory card the better. Most of the companies out there tend to ship 8-16MB cards which don't do much. Consider them a 24-36 exposure roll of film. If you purchase a 128-256MB card you'll never run out of room on the card and you can take more than 100 pictures. You camera battery usually runs out before you run out of film with these cards :lol: . As for connecting to a pc, on some cameras you can do it through the camera or you can by a separate device to send it to your pc.

If you find your perfect camera, make sure you make a printout for you aunt, that way she'll have a picture reference too.
 
RU42

RU42

New Member
Originally posted by disneytati
Hi, guys!

I am also thinking of buying a digital camera. But I have a question: does any digital camera take pictures of fireworks, or other effects? Another question: how do these memory cards work? How can I transfer pics from the camera to my pc? Do I always need memory cards?

Well, sorry for the ignorance, I know nothing about digital cameras and need lots of advice. The worst problem is that it is not me who will actually buy it, my aunt is going to travel to the USA and buy one for me (in Brazil, this kind of camera costs 4 times the price there in the US), so I will not be able to talk to the salesperson. And even worse, I will have to write everything down for her to show this person, as she cant speak english...

Please, help me...
Click to expand...

CP did a good job covering your quesitons. I just had a couple thoughts to add:

Memory (as CP pointed out) is the second most important part of your camera choice. It is your 'film' for taking pictures. There are different types of 'film' for digital cameras. Some write on CD looking disks, some use memory sticks, some use compact flash, and others.

As one who lives in that industry - my recommendation is the Compact Flash media. Prices are reasonable, they are sturdy, and work well.

The most important feature is picture quality measured in Megapixels. Buy the most you can - up to a point. As a prosumer (step above amateur) I would say the a 3 megapixel camera should do you well. They are very reasonably priced right now. I purchased one a year ago on eBay for $500 - the same camera (a Canon G1) would be less then $300. The G2 which replaced the G1 is dropping like a rock because of the new G3. I am very happy with my G1. On a trip to WDW, I purchased 2 - 128 Compact Flash cards to take pictures. I never ran out of 'film' in a single day nor did I ever run out of battery.

2 further thoughts:

1. eBay - be careful. I made sure I went with someone with huge positive feedbacks. Also - need to make sure it is a North American models, not an import. They do work different. Again, seller reputation is important. If in doubt - ask them befire buying. The nice thing about eBay, you can save yourself some $. I might even have the name of the person I bought my G1 from if you are interested.

2. Downloading pictures. As CP mentioned, most camera's will allow you to hook the camera directly to the computer. When traveling - you need to either have extra 'memory cards' or a laptop to download your pics to each night. I got by with my 2-128 cards because I took my laptop and transferred all the pics each night. If a laptop is not in the picture, the G1 will take 70 hi-rez shots one one 128 compact flash card.

Sorry for being long winded. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

RU
 
RU42

RU42

New Member
I looked up the old eBay seller anyway...in case anyone is interested. The selelr is:

bestpriceaudiovideo.com
(that IS the eBay seller ID as well as his website.)

Rigth now, a G2 is on auction, 4 days left, $1 but reserve not met, GIN for $489.

RU
 
disneytati

disneytati

New Member
Hey, guys! It is so good to be back to the forums!!! (I had pc problems for almost a year!!!!:fork:

Thanks a lot for the tips! I will check everything out in websites, and print everything for my aunt... I will go into the stores websites as well, maybe it is going to be easier for her. She always goes to best buy, circuit city, and etc, and maybe if I can find the right camera in a specific place, things get easier. I was going to travel with her, and then I would talk to the person, and ask all the questions I wanted, but I am 5 months pregnant, and nobody wants to let me take an airplane to the US...:(

The idea of printing the picture from the website is a very good one!!! I will do the same thing with the WDW DVD I asked her to bring me, as she can't ask any castmember for assistance, unless the CM speaks portuguese. Yesterday she was saying, Oh, what am I going to do there without my private translator??? (The private translator is me:lol: ), I am the only one in the family who speaks english.

I just can't wait for buying this camera!!!! I want to take pictures from Fantasmic...

Thanks everyone!!!
Kisses from Brazil!:kiss:
 

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