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Digital cameras again...

4K views 35 replies 22 participants last post by  robtpainter 
#1 ·
What would you recommend in a non-waterproof camera in the $150 range? I am looking for something simple just to send a few pictures to relatives and friends and don't need a lot of pixels or complexity. Most of the reviews I read are obsessed with the latest and greatest and treat last years cameras like they are just a POS. Last year's cameras would probably be far more than adequate for me.

I realize this is a really general question but there has to be something modest out there that just works as advertised and will meet my entry level needs. Any ideas? And please, don't suggest anything over $200. That is my drop dead maximum,everything included. Ive
 
#3 ·
There's lots of digital cameras out there in the $100.00 range. You just have to do a little looking. There are some by Samsung and Olympus, that don't go over $150.00. I got a Samsung for my granddaughter that Costs only $129.00 and it does everything except give you change back. 7 megapixels. Just look these up on the internet.

And I got it at Walmart.

Jim
 
#5 ·
Not the answer you really want, but . . .

I have a two month old Olympus Stylus 725 SW; it's a very cool, sturdy and compact camera. It's waterproof to 16 feet and shockproof to 5 feet (it's been dropped several times already, with no apparent issues). Ive, I know a guy who just fell in the Yakima and had on one of those waterprooof Simms fanny packs; the fanny pack wasn't so waterproof, and his digital camera and cell phone are now dead. Talk to many fisherperson who use digital cameras, and you'll hear many stories about the digital camera croaking when being immersed in water. It only takes one incidence like this before the 725SW has paid for itself . . .

Just a little something to consider.
 
#7 ·
The truth is, cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Olympus (any of the big names really) will do fine. When looking at point & shoot cameras, you are really comparing price more than anything. A $150 camera from Sony will be just as good as a $150 camera from Nikon. Same for two $300 cameras. Stay away from weird off-brands, stick with the guys who have the R&D budgets to make a good camera.

That having been said, I have had 4-5 Canon point & shoot cameras and loved them. I get to play with a lot of gear at my www.photo.net job, and the Canons have always done me well. I did recently get a pentax optio W30 to use as my fishing point and shoot. But if it weren't for that, I would have just kept getting Canons.
 
#8 ·
I am a buyer that needs to handle the product and see if it works for me. I agree with the poster who says thaqtany of the big players will have the same quality camera at similar price points. I bought the Nikon 4800 because of the shape and the inexpensive media cards they had. Some of the real small and thin cameras made it hard for me to hold it steady and hit the shutter button. I know you will be happier with a that fits for you and Suzie.
Check them all out on your next trip at Mall-Wort in Colville.
I like the Nikon, I am working on my third but Nancy wont let me take it fishing.:confused: :confused:
Blessings
jesse
 
#9 ·
Lots of good input here. I've been on the net for hours now reading reviews and running down suggestions from you guys. So far the camera that appeals to me the most is the Canon Powershot A560. Two things get my attention-the 2.5'' screen and the fact that it has a separate viewfinder. Most of these small cameras have no aux viewfinder and almost every review says that the screen is difficult to impossible to see in sunlight. It is a little larger than most as well and would be easier to hold onto than those tiny pocket cameras.

I can buy it for $166 with a 2 gig memory card, a price that is in my range. Any opinions on this specific camera or the less expensive A550? The 550 can be had for around $125 but I kinda shy away from the 2'' screen. Ive
 
#13 ·
Sorry, I disagree that it's a "Scam". There are a lot of deals that are out there and with the thinking that buying somewhere else that is cheaper is a scam is leaving the buyer out of tons to room to save money. You are right though, check resellerratings.com if you're buying from an online store you're not familiar with. My favs: Newegg, Buy.com, Amazon, Target, and Outpost.
 
#11 ·
I use the A550 predominantly now. I've used the Kodax C380, Canon A250, Canon G4 and Nikon CP (not sure what model, but it was 5.1 mp).

The 550 is a good value and there's a nice improvement going from the 550 to 560. The viewfinder is not THAT hard to see outdoors- I mean if the sun is bearing down right on top of you, sure but c'mon- what do you expect?


Pros:

- Decent to good battery life for a value P&S camera

- Very respectable burst speed for a point and shoot- about 1.5 fps with a fast memory card.

- Decent on speed

- Good color accuracy- most Canons are pretty accurate.

- some good adjustable settings when in manual mode- automatic mode is pretty serviceable in most siutuations, though.

- decent Macro performance for a value camera.

Cons

- Very noisy ISO performance when you go above 250. This can make it difficult to take good photos in low-light conditions without playing with the settings.

- No face-detection technology- this is a really neat feature found in the Canon SDx series and higher.

- Color saturation can produce some weird side-effects when a scene is dominated by one color. No-biggie if you're comfortable with Photoshop.

- no ability to add-on aftermarket lenses. You have to go up to the A6xx series for that. Not a real big deal if you're using it mostly for fishing.
 
#35 ·
Cons
- Very noisy ISO performance when you go above 250. This can make it difficult to take good photos in low-light conditions without playing with the settings.
For what it's worth, Fuji should be mentioned in the "name brands" category for exactly this reason ... they have the least noisy ISO performance due to the design of their sensors.

This is important any time you have strong contrast across the image, e.g., sun highlights and areas in shade.
 
#19 ·
This is for those people that like to drop their digitals in the water. If you get them back out of the drink. Don't try to turn them on as you will short everything out. Just take out the battery and the card and let it dry out on it's own. After about three days of sitting in the sun you can put everything back in and away you go. I did this with my Olympus Stylus 500 and it was good to go after three days.

Still going strong three years later.

Jim
 
#28 ·
This makes me wonder if perhaps removing the battery and card and placing the camera in the fridge would work. It's what they tell you to do with cell phones, and I've found that to work. It dries gently by removing humidity. I haven't dropped my digital camera in the water. Yet.
 
#20 ·
Josh mentioned that most cameras in a given price range are approximately equal (I'm paraphrasing here). I think that's largely true however, I've found that some cameras are more software friendly than others. Had a nice Olympus (that Shamu drenched with warm saltwater) that shot fine pictures but the menu was always a bit tough to navigate. Replaced it with a Nikon and was very pleased with the navigation. Not to say that one is inherently better than another, but that software can be a big factor to look at. "Is it intuitive?" is a good decision point. Some seem overly complicated and use almost alien language.
 
#21 ·
I agree with David. The newer digitals are way to complacated(sp) for us older types to understand. It would be nice if they wrote the instructions so one could understand them. With these newer digitals, you can take video with sound, stills with good background They have so many different shooting modes one just can't or don't understand all of it. Well at least I'don't. All I want to do is tske pictures of fish, if I ever catch any that is and you don't really need all those different shooting modes. But they are there.

I tend to babble now and then and I guess that this is one of those times. :beathead: :beathead:

Jim
 
#22 ·
Recently upgraded from and old Nikon coolpix (served us very well) to a Cannon A710 (more than you want to spend but a great camera. So I would a rec a Cannon in the $150 range, online you can get alot of camera fo the money. You can also find lots of reviews of specific camera's if you norrow it down to a few, I found that very helpful.
 
#23 ·
Ive, I've got a 1.3 mp Olympus that's about eight years old. It's a point and shoot, with a little zoom. I got a new Olympus 720 which is the waterproof/shockproof guy. My older one has sat idle the past many months. I've got the discs and cords and everything. Works fine, takes AA batteries. You won't win any photo contests with it, but for shooting and sharing pics, it's what I used it for. I use it as a back up now. Interested? Make me an offer, I'll go cheap. If not, cool.

Jeff
 
#24 ·
Canons make great point-n-shoots. Occasionally Sony, Fuji, others come up with good ones, but the most consistently-decent compact camera maker is Canon by a large margin, IMO. You won't go wrong with a canon is another way of saying that.

If it's possible, try to hold one before you buy it. Some people will find a certain shape or button size or certain whatever just annoying as heck, and it doesn't bother the next person at all. So if you live anywhere near a decent store it's worth holding one first.

I've always been a big fan of Li-Ion batteries because they didn't have the issues of NiMH rechargeables. But now-adays it seems like many Li-ions aren't that big and don't offer anything remarkable for battery life, so AAs become a legitimate option again. I do recommend these instead of the other NiMH rechargeables--and you're going to want rechargeables if you use the camera much at all!:

http://www.amazon.com/Eneloop-Batte...6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186430735&sr=8-2

(I believe they make a two-battery/charger kit too if your camera were to only use two batteries.)

Ordering from B&H isn't a bad idea, but be warned that they're not in the business of helping you make a decision. (IOW, know what you want before you call, or better yet just order online.). Many people order from Adorama as well. I bought my pentax optio WP through Buy.com, and once I got their weekly emails onto my spam list, all went well. ;-) I've also ordered from Beach Camera in NJ with good luck, and from Samy's in SoCal. Ordered a lot of computer stuff from Newegg. :thumb:

Good reviews can be found at:

http://www.dpreview.com
http://www.dcresource.com
http://www.imaging-resource.com

I know the latter two have "buying guides" and "picks" lists, etc.
 
#26 ·
Kinda off topic but sorta on topic.

I just purchased a Nikon D40x. Not the kind of camera this thread is really about but I needed to say I love the thing. I have had a ton of fun shooting pics with this thing over the last few days. I bought a 2GB card for it and can shoot up to 500 pics with the 2GB card and an extended life battery. Pull the trigger and shoot away. Dump it on the 'puter and delete the bad shots, keep the good ones. The fact I can shoot as many pics as I can lets me compose, shoot, recompose and shoot more along with any other setting changes I think may make the shots better. I screw up a lot of shots but I get a lot more good shots to.

Now I will go for a couple of new lenses.
 
#27 ·
I was in a big box store yesterday and picked up a digital camera. I chose between a Canon and a Casio (ultra compact variety). The casio by far had the best feel and the interface was very intuitive/lots of great features. The cost was equal. So I bought the Casio on a whim...... I get home and the thing is DOA. Seriously. I've never had such a poor out of box experience.

I'm going back tonight and buying a Canon A710. Bigger than what I wanted but after evaluating my options (SD1000 vs A710), I think the A710 is a nicer camera.
 
#32 ·
Another noob question......Since it is a 200 mile round trip to the nearest camera store on $3.25 gas I'll just ask here to see what is meant by a 'high quality' memory disc. Are they referring to high capacity ie. 1-2 gigs or is there an actual difference in the quality of the media disc out there? I intend to get a 2 gig SD model but is there one that is clearly superior to the others? I see 2 gig models anywhere from 9$ to $42 and wonder what I should be shopping for.

I hope to order later this week and am getting pumped about my first digital camera. Just as I was typing this a flock of turkeys was feeding right under the window where I sit. If I had the camera I could of taken a real closeup of their beady little eyes! And soon I hope to be sending pictures of spectacular fall colors to my less fortunate relatives that live in foliage challenged areas.

Ive
 
#33 ·
Another noob question......Since it is a 200 mile round trip to the nearest camera store on $3.25 gas I'll just ask here to see what is meant by a 'high quality' memory disc. Are they referring to high capacity ie. 1-2 gigs or is there an actual difference in the quality of the media disc out there? I intend to get a 2 gig SD model but is there one that is clearly superior to the others? I see 2 gig models anywhere from 9$ to $42 and wonder what I should be shopping for.
I would personally go with Lexar or Sandisk (Sandisk is my preference), though it seems that a lot of people use Kingston as well. I shoot mostly CF cards (and one SD card), and I've just never had a Sandisk card corrupt on me (can't say the same about lexar ;-). These things are solid-state devices...if they're made correctly they they should always work correctly, etc. So I'm not sure how the quailty factors in here, but I will say you don't want a card corrupting!

Another thing that you pay for in a card is the "speed" of it--how fast it can read and write. Compacts can't write that fast, so it's not usually a big a deal for them (you don't need to buy the fastest card made, IOW). The gist is that you don't want your camera waiting on your card, you want it the other way around. Likewise, if you're transfering over a USB 2 or Firewire port, which can handle roughly 35-40 MB a second, a card that can only read at 10 MB is obviously going to be the bottleneck.

You'll notice that sandisk has several series of cards, with each one having faster read and write speeds. (The extremem series migh be a little "tougher," made to take more physical abuse, but I don't know that for a fact.) I think right now Sandisk makes the Sandisk series, the Ultra-II, the Extreme III, IV, and IV LE. Maybe they still make the Extreme II. Anyway, I'd recommend the Ultra-II. It's got a roughly 10 MB read/write speed which is probably about as fast as your camera's going to be able to write. A high-speed reader (USB 2.0 or Firewire) would be able to read considerably faster than that, but that's waiting _after_ the shooting, not while you're trying to shoot.

I recommend an external card reader. It's not necessary...but: 1) saves camera battery life considerably 2) keeps internal heat generation in the camera to a minimum 3) usually much faster than reading images from the camera. Some cameras don't even ship with USB 2.0, and most don't utililze it even when they're compatible (they'll work w/ 2.0, but they're not necessarily using 2.0 speeds!). I've had good luck with sandisk readers too.

Sandisk has a new series of cards out with a built-in USB jack (called the + series), but I've no idea how well they do or don't work.

I really don't work for sandisk. :D I've just had very good luck with their products. And to be honest my Lexar problems have been minimal. But for similar pricing, I'll take "no problems" over "minimal" any time....
 
#34 ·
Ive - Save yourself the trip. I've purchased 3 cameras on-line from Adorama and BHPhoto in the last 3 years. They're safe and will have a better price than even the box store. And it will arrive in less than a week with regular UPS.
Oops, I guess the point of this discussion is that you need to fondle this item pre-purchase to decide which one you meld with best.
Carry on.
 
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