Digital Cameras

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Peacefrog

New Member
Hi all,
Don't know if I'm posting this in the correct place, but I need some advice . I'm looking to buy my first digital camera for my upcoming trip to WDW. I'm pretty technologically challenged. I'm looking for a middle of the road camera to take pics of the kids and family etc. For those of you who have one, what kind do you have and what are the pros and cons of it. Also, what kinds of things should I be looking for when shopping for one. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
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Mystic

Mystic

Well-Known Member
I have a Canon Powershot A700 and it was about $450 Canadian. The great thing about this camera is it's as easy to use as a point and shoot but gives you the ability to use features more along the lines of a professional camera. On the point and shoot side of it, it has settings specifically designed for taking pictures of landscapes, people, kids and pets (allows for some movement of the children/pets), foliage, night shots and fireworks. These are all preset options. The most important thing to look for is the optical zoom. You want a high optical zoom over a high digital zoom. This will allow for much clearer close ups.

Also shop around but go with an open mind. What we did was we took samples of other pictures we'd taken on our film cameras and pulled them out to show the sales people the types of photos we liked to take as well as the types of shots we wanted to be able to take (night shots in MK for me). Right off the salesman recommended a camera to us and he took the time to show us everything the camera could do and just how easy it was to use.

I don't know when you plan on hitting the World with your new camera but I would suggest getting it ASAP and playing with it lots before you go. That way you know how to use the camera BEFORE you get to your vacation. You don't want to be trying to figure out how to use your camera while missing all those prime vacation shots.
 
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JimboJones123

JimboJones123

Well-Known Member
Decide if size is better or not for you. Some people like bigger cameras, so they don't put their fingers in the lens. Others like less bulky. 5 megapixl is good enough. Most printing places Max out at 4. Unless you are making 8X10s, 5 would be good enough. Make sure you get a 1 Gig mem card. It is well worth it. A 5 Mpxl will take 400+ pix, then you can delete when you want.
 
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majortom1981

Active Member
kodak

I have a kodak z700. 4 megapixels and is about$150 - $200 dolalrs.

I used it about 2 weeks ago when I was in disney. I alsu used a 1 gigabyte sd card.

This camera takes beutiful photos. Also takes movies at 640 x 480 resolution.

The kodak digital cameras are really great for begginers .
 
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jjgoo

jjgoo

Member
I have had a Cannon Powershot S40 for a couple of years now. I love it and have heard other people who like the Cannon they have.

You want at least 4 megapixels. And get a large memory card (1gig) that way you can set the camera for the highest quality pics.

Go to the store and see what feels good to you in size and weight. Also look at the buttons on the camera, do they seem intuative or do you think it would take you hours to figure out the settings? Unless you want to spend a lot of time reading or getting frustrated figuring out how to bring up the picture you just took you want something easy for you. Everybody is different too, a camera that seems easy to you may annoy the next guy.

Borrow someone elses camera for a week! Nothing works better to get a feel for digital cameras better than having one to use and play around with. You can see what features matter to you and how at ease you are with the camera. I did this when I was looking for one and it helped so much.

One final bit of advice. Get one with a rechargeable battery. Yes you could loose the battery or charger and be stuck. However, I have found that my rechargeable battery lasts and lasts through many shots (even after a couple of years of use it gets a nice full charge) and my fiance who uses AA batteries is constantly having to replace her batteries.

Good luck!:wave:
 
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soccer9miahamm

soccer9miahamm

New Member
I did a lot of research on my digital camera to make sure I got the perfect one. I ended up buying a Canon Powershot S3 IS. It has amazing zoom, image stabilization, video taping, the ability to take pictures while video taping, color accent where you can pick one color in a scene and the rest is black and white, and stitch assist, which can put shots together to make a panoramic. There are many wonderful features and is fairly simple to use. The image quality is amazing as well. I highly recommend it!
 
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durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
Check out the Fuji f10 snd f30 both have great low light capability, the sony dsc-t9 and t10 they are super compact and pocketable with good battery life, and the canon digital rebel xti for a great into dslr whichvery well wil give you better pics than the photopass cameras and the ability to make a sharp print past 8x10.
 
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Peacefrog

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks all for the advice. I hate making these purchases. I always feel like I'm banging my head against the wall. Kind of like this :brick:. My wife jusy got me a new video camera for Fathers day, and it seems I'll never know all it can do unless I go get a degree. I'm going to WDW in Dec so it'll give me enough time to play with it and make my mistakes early. Also, do you need to have a certain printer to print out pics, or does it just require photo paper?
Thanks again
 
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hcswingfield

hcswingfield

Active Member
majortom1981 said:
I have a kodak z700. 4 megapixels and is about$150 - $200 dolalrs.

I used it about 2 weeks ago when I was in disney. I alsu used a 1 gigabyte sd card.

This camera takes beutiful photos. Also takes movies at 640 x 480 resolution.

The kodak digital cameras are really great for begginers .
Click to expand...

The other nice thing about Kodak digital cameras is that many of them come with a "loading dock" that makes it VERY easy and quick to download the photos to your computer and to email them to friends.
 
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majortom1981

Active Member
hmm

Any newer ink jet printer will print good pictures. As long as you use photo paper.

If you buy anew printer the canon printers are good because the ink is sperated into its different colors.

Most inkjet printers have the colors all in one cartridge so if yellow gets used up you have to buy a whole new cartridge.
 
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sandman50

New Member
hcswingfield said:
The other nice thing about Kodak digital cameras is that many of them come with a "loading dock" that makes it VERY easy and quick to download the photos to your computer and to email them to friends.
Click to expand...

I have the Kodak EasyShare C340 with printer dock and so far I like it alot.
I am also photo challenged and this camera really does work well without to much effort.Also cool to make a hard copy right from the camera.Pics come out looking just like 35mm.With glossy finish.Also not to expensive either.

rich
 
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Pumbas Nakasak

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
Its sad that people are willing to give up superior quality images from a film camera, to get the instant gratification of a digital, where the colour balance is wrong and the highlights washed out.

Then you dont print half the pictures youve taken anyway!

Just think how many rolls of film you could have processed printed and burnt to CD buy not buying that digital camera.


Alternative View point Courtesy of Fuji Film
 
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Peacefrog

New Member
Original Poster
my desire for digital is more economic than the need to have the pics quick. I spend more money on film pictures because my 4 year old likes to take pictures of the floor, the sky, the wall, etc. With the digital, I'll have more control over what I decide to keep and to erase.
 
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durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
Wishmaster said:
I've got a sony CyberShot something or other and it takes ok pictures, but the batteries run out out REALLY fast. It's rediculous.
Click to expand...
Depends on what cybershot you have, some of the lower end models don't last long, the newer higher ends take between 300-500 pics on a single charge.
 
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