Digital Camera

Edgler Vess

I recently decided to upgrade my 6 year old HP Photosmart 215 (its a damn dinosaur, like taking pictures with the Chicago Metro phonebook) and get something nicer that takes good pictures.

I did a ton of surfing around on Cnet, and paging through Magazines and finally nailed down Canon and their "A" line as what im going to go with. But now im stuck. Im not experienced enough with the new digital cameras to make a choice in that line because other than Megapixels I dont know what any of the fancy shit on the new cameras do.

My choices I have Narrowed the selection down to are:

A540
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a540/4505-6501_7-31740579.html?tag=prod.txt.1

A550
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a550/4505-6501_7-32314543.html?tag=prod.txt.1

A560
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a560/4505-6501_7-32314658.html?tag=prod.txt.1

A630
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a630/4505-6501_7-32073855.html?tag=prod.txt.1

A640
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a640/4505-6501_7-32072675.html?tag=prod.txt.1

A710
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-a710-is/4505-6501_7-32065685.html?tag=prod.txt.1


Those 6...seems like they are all about the same, but prices varies wildly, One of them has 10 Megapixels but im not sure ill need to print out anything in 16X22, my printer cant even do that. I would like some good detail in my pictures though, Ill be using some of the shots I make with it as a baseline for some of my paintings. Anyone know a fuckton about cameras or that has bought one recently that can help me nail one of these down (cost is not that much of a factor, I sold a bunch of junk on ebay to raise some money to buy the camera)

TL:DR: Need to pick a new digital camera.

saltiness

Go to a store and check them out. Get the one that feels best in your hands. They're all good quality cameras that will give you essentially the same image in any given situation.

Remington

I dont know jack about cameras but my photographer friend is screaming 630 at me.

ege02

What are you going to be using it for?

ege02

Anyway, for casual, non-professional usage, I strongly recommend Casio's Exilim line.

http://exilim.casio.com/

I got one when they first came out years ago and I'm still using it no problem. It has tremendous bang for its buck, it's easy and hassle-free to use, and lasts a long ass time.

The slim, red one is also sick-looking.

Al_wat

First of all, you made a good choice by selecting the Canon A series. I bought an A570 about two weeks ago and its been awesome for me. I'm by no means a pro photographer but my dad (who pretty much is) recommended the A series to me.

Anyways about narrowing it down: it really does depend on what you want to do with it (I see from your OP that you are going to need clear pictures so you can make paintings from them)

10 Megapixels is definitely overkill. In fact, the difference between, say, 5 and 7 megapixels is greater than the difference between 7 and 10 (because "megapixels" actually refers to the area of your picture). You'd probably be fine at around 7 or so. I'm still amazed how far and how clearly I can zoom in with the shots I take at 7.1 MP.

I got my camera with Image Stabilization, which is good cause it means I won't have blurry shots from my shaky and/or drunk hands. You may want to consider that.

Another thing to watch out for is the advertised zoom, as in optical vs. digital zoom. You want a higher optical zoom. Digital zoom is literally the camera cropping your image.

The lens quality is something to look for; but truthfully I cant remember how to tell the good ones from the bad ones. Also the type of processor inside.

Really, you would be better off going to a Blacks (if you have those around you) or some other photography store and just talking to the salespeople. If you don't get some retard they should be able to clearly spell out the differences between all those models.

Also, do you have a maximum amount you want to spend?

Gigaton

I bought the A540 last year because I wanted to take a bunch of pictures before highschool was over. I've never had any real complaints about it besides the long flash "cooldown", but I never use the flash anyways so again, not much of a problem. The picture quality is great and there are tons of settings and features to mess around with. I highly recommend it.

Edgler Vess

You guys, as always are awesome, thanks for the timely replies....

Cost wise....no more than 350... Think thats about all i will be able to hatch from selling all my old junk...

As far as what I am going to be doing with it...Various shit...but turning some of the shots into paintings (allbeit shitting paintings, but they are MY paintings anyway so I like them, to an extent) is probably some of the most important thingss (I work in an Air Traffic Control tower, some shots can get real dumb as far as distance 1km+) and of course standard stuff like my wife and I on vacation...

Chaotic Descent

tl;dl: Comparing all the stats, I recomend the A570 IS. Best quality for your money unless you upgrade to the SD800, or find a used SD700 locally.

I've been shopping for a long long time now. I had looked at quite a range of products, but I wanted good quality. I went from Canon point&shoots (PowerShot SD series) up to SLRs (Nikon and Canon, but mostly Nikon, I think) back down the the P&Ss.

My focus was on Li-Ion battery (doesn't have memory, lasts longer), and image stabilization, but I did still look at other features when comparing. I picked the SD800 as the best quality (and newest) SD model, at $310. the SD700 is a year old (so it can be hard to find, but theoretically should be cheaper), has half the LCD resolution, and mid-range aperture maximum between the SD800 and the others. I couldn't find new ones for much less than the SD800. Maybe on eBay if you dig around and find a reliable seller. (I gave up after I found my best bet often sold them with asian firmware on them)

the A570 IS is $213 instead of the SD800 IS's $310, but has again, an inferior resolution LCD, and AA batteries. It does have things the wonderful SD800 doesn't, like manual focus, aperture priority, and shutter priority, but to me, it's not worth crappy batteries and crappy LCD.

heh. the A630 (and A640) have the twist & flip LCD screens, so you can take a picture of yourself or watch while you take a picture from up high or down low, but it uses 4 AA batteries instead of 2, so including the batteries it weighs over 300g instead of over 200g like the ones that use 2 AAs.
(A640 only has 10 MegaPixels instead of the A630's 8, which isn't worth the price increase.)

comparing A570 IS to A630, you save $20 to get a swivel LCD and better CCD (that's the sensor that takes pictures), but gain lots of weight, lose your image stabilization, and a lower aperture range COMBINED with a lower ISO rating both mean it won't be as good for taking pictures in low-light. (indoors) I personally think it's not worth it. Image stabilization is REALLY great. and you'll need it when you can't take good low-light pictures.

oh, I just saw you mention zoom. Most of them have 4x optical zoom. If you still want good quality, only the A710 IS has 6x optical zoom. I'm not sure how much better that will be. aperture is... tiny bit worse, but not as bad as the A630. ISO is lower like the A630 though. so who knows if 6x zoom is worth slightly worse low-light and a higher price tag.

Unless you really want to save lots of money, and don't want IS, and then just get ... I dunno, a A550 for $157.

anyways, if you want to compare stats yourself:
http://imaging-resource.com (Compare Models)
http://www.dpreview.com (Buying Guide -> Side-by-side)

Pheezer

AA batteries are a good thing in a point and shoot camera. Budget in a package of four NiMH rechargeables and a charger, along with a memory card and a small camera bag, and buy the best camera in that range that you can afford with everything included. Li-Ion batteries in P&S cameras frequently last about as long as 1 pair of AAs would, are frequently a massive pain in the ass to swap in field, and frequently significantly more expensive than even a good pair of rechargeables. AAs are still in use in the P&S world because they actually make a lot of sense.

I learned enough from owning an A520 that the next camera I purchased was a Digital Rebel XT. The wide array of manual shooting options in that entire line of cameras is incredible. If you're just getting started, you want to spend a little extra for a camera that will handle a higher ISO if you can, because it'll make taking pictures indoors or at night hells of easier, and the Canons handle high ISOs far better than their competitors do.
IS is nice but hardly necessary, and 4x optical is probably all you need too. The difference from having a 4x and 10x optical zoom on your camera will be noticeable, but having 6x instead of 4x is rarely going to be the deciding factor in whether or not you can get the shot you're looking for.

deadonthestreet

Check out the Fuji F30 and F31fd. They are as close to a DSLR as you can get in low light performance, so they are just about perfect for casual shooting. I meant he thing takes sharp, non noisy pictures at ISO800, which is next to unheard of. They also offer near-full manual settings. It is also more pocketable than the Cannon A series. It uses a rechargeable battery, but you get something stupid like 700 shots from a single charge, which is something like twice what some of those Cannons will get you.

Check out these reviews:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_f30-review/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf31fd/