Reccomend a digital camera?

Ok, so the birthday is coming up soon and I have requested a digital camera to replace the 1.4MP floppy based Sony Mavica I have yet to break (and I have tried!). I know that MP's are not the only factor in determining a good camera but I am stumped by so many seemingly good cameras out there.

Here are my limitations and requests;
~$250 (trying to keep the cost down because of some trips coming up.)
Don't really need any video recording capability.
Something able to withstand my Klutzy ways...
Zoom would be nice.
interchangeable lenses would be good, but due to the cost limitations, I don't expect this.

Not too restrictive except for the cost...

These are examples of what I am looking at, but since I am _really_ a noob at digital camera's I am not sure if I would be wasting my money on them or not;
(LINK DEAD, LOOKING FOR A BETTER ONE)
EDIT: Or this one... http://newspaperads.mercurynews.com/...14623830&type=

the second one looks really nice. I reccomend abything cannon, they are nice and really easy to use. BTW are you really gonna need that much zoom? I used to have a 10x but to take a picture at that level you need a tripod.

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Originally Posted by public_eyesore

the second one looks really nice. I reccomend abything cannon, they are nice and really easy to use. BTW are you really gonna need that much zoom? I used to have a 10x but to take a picture at that level you need a tripod.

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Thanks I have always like Cannon too. I will be replacing a SLR and point and shoot 35mm film camera with this digital one, so the zoom would be nice for those nature shots (yes I occasionally get out of the house :glasses: ). I do have a tripod (3 in fact), so that is not a biggie.

BTW how's the weather in So-cal? Heading down to Irvine in the next few weeks for a customer visit.

I know squat about cameras as well. I use CNet.com as a litmus test for most consumer electronics. I trust their reviews and have had good experiences in the past from there. Give them a shot, maybe they can recommend something.

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Originally Posted by nil8

I know squat about cameras as well. I use CNet.com as a litmus test for most consumer electronics. I trust their reviews and have had good experiences in the past from there. Give them a shot, maybe they can recommend something.

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Thanks, heading there now.

BTW the link expired as it was a comparison and they empty the cache every 5 minutes

Hey AB :)

I've got this Kodak Z7590.
I'm no camera expert, but I really like this one.
I don't treat it "that" good, and it has lasted for over 2 years now.
Great pictures.

My only gripes would be that it's 5.0 mega pixels, and that I bought it for a little bit more than what it costs right now. :(

Other than that, it's a great piece of equipment.
Get the camera dock, it makes life easy for recharging the battery, as you only place the camera om top and go.
There's a button you can press on front of the cradle, and it "activates" the USB connection... and the camera pops up as a removable drive.
I suggest you don't install the Kodak software... just copy/paste/move with explorer...
I dunno.

Hope that helps! :)

I agree with the Canon recommendation. I've had two of them so far, and love them to death. Picture quality is awesome, super easy to use, and they hold their value too.

They are especially sharp in daylight, but like most digital point and shoot cameras, they can be a little bit dull in lower light situations. If you are going to use it for pics of mods and stuff, make sure you get a tripod, or learn to use the timer and set it down for maximum sharpness. :)

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Originally Posted by Lukifer122

I agree with the Canon recommendation. I've had two of them so far, and love them to death. Picture quality is awesome, super easy to use, and they hold their value too.

They are especially sharp in daylight, but like most digital point and shoot cameras, they can be a little bit dull in lower light situations. If you are going to use it for pics of mods and stuff, make sure you get a tripod, or learn to use the timer and set it down for maximum sharpness. :)

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Thanks for the info, I am looking at the canon A710 now. I do have a tripod (a mini for traveling, a midrange wobbly tripod for easy stuff and an aluminum reversible (mounts on top and bottom of the slide)) and some lights for low light pictures. Not real photo lights but I have diffusers to take the edge off.

After a trip to the local electronics store to hold a couple of these camera's I really like the feel and features of the following camera's;

Canon A710
Olympus SP 510
Fuji S5200

Still looking though...

The top three brands are Canon, Nikon, and Fuji. I found a really good camera though that is also quite cheap. The quality isn't super great, but you can't beat the price for what you get. Here's the link. You can get it for about $150-175.

http://www.norcent.net/main/product_....asp?prodID=84

I have a buddy that is HEAVY into the whole digital camera scene, whether it is the compact point and shoots or the Pro SLR's. So when I have questions like that I always check with him. There are 2 things that he has always stressed to me, beyond good optics, good optics, good optics. The first thing is not really an issue now a days, but I will say it anyway. Find a camera that doesn't need proprietary software to retrieve the photos. Today most camera are designed to be a plug and play storage device so they just show up like a USB flash drive. The second thing is, a camera that uses good old fashion batteries like a double AA or so. You can always get lithium ion rechargables to use. The reason behind that is if you are ever out and about oh lets say some place like Disney World, and your batteries go dead. You can most likely track down some AA batteries, whereas if its a proprietary rechargable battery you pretty much out of luck. Also I have had pretty good luck with Olympus digital cameras. Just something to consider.

Just a note of warning about Norcent..

I have a 27" Norcent LCD tv that is only 4 months old, and collecting dust in pieces under my bed.

Cheap for a reason.

If you can afford a bit more for a GOOD camera, I have a Canon Powershot S3 IS, and it's about $480 Canadian right now. 6mp, super good pics, and loads of features.. I'm using it with some pretty amazing results right now.

Not an SLR, but if you have some more cash to spend and want a good SLR, you can spend about $750 for a used Canon Rebel. 8mp, and with an 18/55 F2.8 lens, you can take incredible shots.

I"m a wannabe camera nerd.

I have the previous version of the Norcent digital camera. It is really durable. The only thing that is bad is that the picture quality isn't amazing. But for a point and shoot that is so cheap, what can you expect?

I would steer clear of the Digital Rebel if you are going to go with a digital SLR. They are over-hyped. There are much better DSLRs on the market for cheaper, like the D20.

D20.. nikon? or 20D Canon?

I know the 20D is more than the rebel for cost, but I"m not sure on the D20.

Thanks for all the info guys! I have pretty much ruled out a digital slr due to the cost, and the fact that my film camera does a _really_ good job, if I need the features of an slr (not a slr, but has enough features that I don't need one).

I am really trying to replace the old 1.3 MP mavica and get something better than my phone for taking some modding pics. I am really embarrassed by some of the shots in my work log. I am taking a memory card to Micro Center today to take some pics with a couple different cameras in my price range. I am then going to compare the quality of the shots and the ease of use.

Two words though.. Canon pwnz. :D

Nikon D20 or the D200 if you really want to spend

www.dpreview.com is a great resource it will give you pros cons and also pics of the camera in action.

Also this site http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/digital-cameras/ is great for finding things within your price range/wallet prying.

I used a Panasonic Lumix mini-slr, DMC-FZ3. I got it from fleabay for £150 but it retailed for £300 new. It takes amazing shots up to 3.1 Megapixels, which is less than most digital cameras these days, but i warn you against 'megapixel wars'. The quality of the photo is in the Lens, not just the resolution.

And the Panasonic comes equipped with a Leica lens, generally considered to be the best in the world. Coupled with a 12x optical zoom, an amazing macro mode, the ability to fiddle with the settings as you would in an slr...add on the rechargable lithium-ion battery, and the only place this camera fails is the weak pop-up flash.

It really is a great camera. I'm not a great photographer, but all my photos are taken on it, and i've never missed a shot (unless i'm using Macro mode, which i still find a little difficult to use.).

Definately worth checking out the DMC-FZ5, i hear good things about that too, and i think that's a 5Megapixel model...can't remember just now though.

The camera has been dropped and beaten a few times too, and still works perfectly. I can't praise it more to be frank. My dad used to be a professional photographer and it pissed him off so much that my mini slr takes better pictures than his full pro kit that he actually went out and spent money on new parts to try and bring his camera up to spec. He's saving up for a Canon SLR body at the moment i think. (He only uses Canon and Panasonic Parts.)

-Dave

ADD:

I used to have an olympus Camera that was great, so i bought another-big mistake. The quality of their cameras has plummeted in the last few years.

The Battery life of my camera is phenomenal. I have a 1Gig memory chip in it and i've filled it with over 700 pics, all using the screen, without running out of juice. Even with my annoying friends demanding to see every damn photo after i've taken it.

-Dave

Yea, the weather is great. In the next week it's gonna drop about 15 degreees from 78 to like 63 but its awesome out here. Anyways I've owned 3 cannons, an olympus and a panasonic and I still go by my word that cannons are hig quality and are very easy to use.

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Originally Posted by public_eyesore

Yea, the weather is great. In the next week it's gonna drop about 15 degreees from 78 to like 63 but its awesome out here. Anyways I've owned 3 cannons, an olympus and a panasonic and I still go by my word that cannons are hig quality and are very easy to use.

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Thanks for the info. I also like the Cannon camera's but have not owned one since my SLR went swimming... I think my current point and shoot is a Pentax (guess I would know for sure if I used it more). Takes _great_ pictures and has taken a beating from Scotland to China, to Mexico, to Alaska and has had 0 problems. I have not heard too good of things about their digital cameras though.

Turns out I am not going to Irvine next week, rather I am heading to Orlando to install a new system for a Customer _before_ the Golf conference. (I will post a simple worklog for that system when I start. Should be a beast!)

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Irvine

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Heh...thought you meant Irvine in Scotland there. Was gonna pay you a visit.

-Dave

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Originally Posted by DaveW

Heh...thought you meant Irvine in Scotland there. Was gonna pay you a visit.

-Dave

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That drink will have to wait until july. We just booked our trip to London to attend the wedding blessing of the wife's youngest sister. Once that is done, we are going to travel up to Glasgow. We have been looking at doing the loop around the southwestern part of the country. We plan to start in Glasgow, and head south through Ayr then around to Stranraer and then continue around the loop. Not been to that area of the country, so not sure what we will be doing...(recommendations are welcome!) Oh the Blessing is taking place in Chew Stoke, just outside of Bath.

Hell, if you're in Glasgow, i'd love to give you a tour. Although i might be...unable to move at that point. I'll let you know.

-Dave

Ok, just used my birthday money to purchase a camera. Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions and in the end I went with this;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...arch%26fvi%3D1
because of the deal and extras. I had not planned on getting the lenses, but could not pass this deal up. I had to kick in a little more than I wanted but it all worked out and the Finance Minister is happy too! I just ordered it and will post a few picks when it arrives.

Thanks again all!

Edit: I must say that I have become a ups whore over this package. for the first couple of days I was going to the ups web site and tracking the package. Not very informative since the only information for days was ;

MASPETH,
NY, US 01/25/2007 11:20 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

Ok so I know they are driving across country and it takes a little while, but I could not resist the urge to track that package every couple of hours. Then my Shipping Manager showed me the page where I could watch the package via gps! I was sooo excited, but then I was shot down. It was not shipped using our account, so we could not view it's whereabouts. Oh well, refresh, refresh, refresh. I cold not believe how obsessed I was with tracking that ground shipment. I have had packages shipped before and never once even went to the tracking site unless it was late. Then yesterday;
SAN PABLO,
CA, US 01/30/2007 2:15 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

Oh jeez, can I just drive up there and pick it up!?!?! hehe see I am obsessed.

Oh and then to my surprise, I see this this morning;
SUNNYVALE,
CA, US 01/31/2007 6:52 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
01/31/2007 3:02 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SAN PABLO,
CA, US 01/31/2007 1:43 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

Oh yeah baby! One day early too! UPS truck gets here by 11am! Lets see if I get any work done this afternoon, or if I am playing with the camera...

Got the camera today a day early! Lots of goodies to play with and I will post some more info and pics of the kit. I have not done anything with it yet, but installed the batteries and set the date and snapped a few test pics to make sure everything is working. So far I am extremely happy!