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Buying a Digital Camera
Noxy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey everyone, I need help picking a digital camera. My current problem is that I know next to nothing about cameras and could use a quick explanation of stuff like megapixels and other terms that someone without knowledge of digital cameras would be clueless about.
Currently I am preparing to transfer to a new college and would really like a digital camera to take with me everywhere. Over time I plan on learning more about photography and how to use all of the extra options on the camera so I require something that is not necessarily at the bottom of the ladder. For now though, I just want the camera to take pictures of nights out or having fun with friends.
I guess what I am saying is I need a nice camera that gives me the most bang for the buck without being ridiculous in price. Ideally it would not be a hulk, but then again, all cameras are small these days right? I have no idea. As for what is ridiculous in price, I have no idea what is ridiculous yet.
(TL;DR version)
Need a nice, small-ish digital camera with reasonable options for future playing around with photography. Also, I am ignorant on some of the tech speak so help me out.
Oh yeah, and thanks for taking your time to help me with this.
Currently I am preparing to transfer to a new college and would really like a digital camera to take with me everywhere. Over time I plan on learning more about photography and how to use all of the extra options on the camera so I require something that is not necessarily at the bottom of the ladder. For now though, I just want the camera to take pictures of nights out or having fun with friends.
I guess what I am saying is I need a nice camera that gives me the most bang for the buck without being ridiculous in price. Ideally it would not be a hulk, but then again, all cameras are small these days right? I have no idea. As for what is ridiculous in price, I have no idea what is ridiculous yet.
(TL;DR version)
Need a nice, small-ish digital camera with reasonable options for future playing around with photography. Also, I am ignorant on some of the tech speak so help me out.
Oh yeah, and thanks for taking your time to help me with this.
Noxy on
0
Posts
I would say go for a Canon point and shoot. The Powershots are really good and it's difficult to go wrong if you're getting a new one. The software is dead easy, and I love the picture quality.
After that, it's really how much you want to spend. I love my powershot because it's small and I can take it anywhere. I keep it in a pelican case so I can throw it in any bag and not worry about damage. I bought an underwater housing for it so it even goes diving with me. They make great "everyday" cameras.
You say you are interested in learning more about photography, if you mean totally manual picture taking and tweaking of settings, you'll be able to start somewhere with one of these, but you really need a digital SLR to take full advantage of what a camera can do.
The best feature to price ratio almost always seems to be in the Canon Powershot line, too. I like the A models, they tend to have better features for actually taking photos rather than the SD line, which tends to be designed to fit in the purse/pocket and get pulled out for snapshots of whatever you're doing at the time. The generally better ISO options in the A line and the lower price (but slightly bulkier designs) are what you'll typically find there. If you're taking the camera out for the sake of taking photos, a little extra bulk shouldn't be an overbearing concern.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
SD1000?
BUT,
There are like six digital camera buying threads open at any point in time on the forums so this one just got lucky enough to become an official one for at least a couple weeks.
So everyone can post in it about buying a digital point & shoot camera. DSLRs are special and will get their own thread as soon as their time comes.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
But if you are going to go digital I would suggest the Nikon Cool Pix.
What the noise mostly does at that point, though, is reduce the color vibrancy. For that reason, if you're shopping for P&S cameras, always opt for fewer megapixels. You'll save a lot of money and probably end up with better pictures. Better yet, spend that extra money on something with image stabilization; normally this reduces the color clarity but when you've got 7+ megapixels to work with, it's not an issue. The extra clarity you'll get from the image stabilization will help immensely. I was actually surprised the first time I saw someone take an indoor shot with a 6mp p&s camera, and it looked damn good (for an indoor shot w/ a p&s).
Personally, I think there's little difference in many of the cameras nowadays, other than Canons are still very popular and they make excellent cameras. The biggest problem people would run into before was making sure they had a way to read the memory cards, and when there were 7 or whatever it was a pain to make sure your multi-card reader would work. Now, they all plug in directly.
Other than that, there's really only a handful of things to check -- does this use batteries, or is it rechargeable? Is it going to be comfortable to hold? How much does a bigger memory card cost?
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Only trouble with it is that while it's so great, it's been discontinued, and the new Fuji models do not use a similar sensor. This being the case, the camera has actually appreciated in value - what was once a $300 camera now goes for $500 on eBay. If you can find one cheap, however, I highly recommend it.
I have one as well and I really love it.
I got one for the same reason that the two of you got it.
Get one!
Edit: Also, what kind of quality do you guys have your SD1000's set on? The original quality was too much for my puny 30mb memory card... but I fear the lowwest one (which is i what I have it set on now) is too low for good quality... also, have you guys messed around with any of the other settings?
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Always, always, always, always, always, ALWAYS shoot at maximum quality. You go out and you buy a decent SD card for $20. Hell, go out and get a shitty one for $5. YOU GO NOW!
--Will mainly be night clubs, pubs, indoor.. the chance of being outside too.
I'm too lazy to check this right now... but will my SD card for my Wii work with my camera? In that case I have a 2gb card I could use in it. I guess shooting at maximum quality is always a good idea :P
An SD card is an SD card is an SD card. The only difference, assuming they're all roughly the same age, is quality, capacity, and R/W speed.
Yay! Maximum quality here I come!
I never use my SD card w/ my wii anyway.
Something you might appreciate: 1GB SD card is FREE with budget (7-10 day) shipping and a first time Google Checkout user.
That's right, mo'fuckin free.
Alright, it appears I am looking for a point and shoot camera since I would prefer something that could go into my pocket and am not planning on using it for hardcore photography. After some research I guess having over 8 megapixels, especially for casual use, is really not helpful.
I guess my questions now are how nice/important would it be to have a camera with an image stabilization feature? Having a digicam with optical zoom is better than one with just digital zoom, correct? I heard some stuff about "ISO"; what is that and how should this effect my decision? I have decided that I could spend several hundred on a camera and would like some nice features, but it all depends on whether I feel some of this stuff is worth it.
Thanks in advance.
I think I am getting a good idea of what I am looking for. I'll probably want image stabilization because sometimes my hands are not so stable and I would prefer that to be covered by the camera rather than my own competence if I can help it. I would like a camera with some higher ISO options, without taking too hard of a hit on noise/distortion and as said earlier I want something pretty small with an optical zoom.
I am going to look around but anymore suggestions on what cameras I should look at would be appreciated. And yeah, I would like to have good megapixel size without going over the top because I keep hearing over eight is really too much.
Thanks again.
Also yes you'll frequently see test shots in good camera reviews.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
The latter has higher optical zoom and image stabilization aswell as a larger lcd viewfinder but is higher in price and lacks the standard viewfinder that I suppose is better in really bright situations. However, after thinking hard about what I am looking for and remembering that someday down the road I will have a second camera down the line for serious photography I am looking towards the SD870 IS because it seems like a camera I can be a bit more lazy with and not have to worry about a blurry picture. At newegg it is on sale for $50 dollars below the recommended retail price and like other cameras they are selling comes with a free 1 gig card, so the price difference is not really an issue for me.
I guess I am curious now if anyone has any personal experience with the SD870 IS. And thanks a bunch for all the help so far.
What kind of situations? The only one i can think of is if you're trying to conserve battery power by not using the lcd to frame the pic.
When buying a P&S, I was really attached to getting one with an optical viewfinder (I think this is cause the digicam reviewing sites i read all consider this a "pro"); however when i went into the camera store, the clerk asked me if i really wanted to squint through a tiny box less than 1 cm square to do my shooting particularly in casual/off-the-cuff situations, and that made a lot of sense to me. got a fuji f40fd and the absence of an optical VF hasn't been an issue. i do think that crowding so many pixels on such a small sensor has contributed to noise though.
On my dslr, of course i use the Optical VF to shoot, but in a compact P&S I think it's usefulness is overstated.
Or when battery life is a factor and you can shoot in aperture or shutter priority. Turning off the giant LCD will increase battery life by a huge factor.
The optical VF's you get on compact p&s's are tiny. The image you get is about the same size as the LCD image from 4-6 inches, its nothing great (certainly nothing that compares to a dslr).
The point im trying to make is that eliminating a compact p&s because it lacks an optical VF will eliminate a lot of very capable cameras, especially in the under 350 USD class. Just go to best buy and see, the majority of small p&s's dont have an optical VF.
• Type of battery: I wanted a camera that takes standard AA/AAA batteries. Nothing worse than being caught without a place to charge a proprietary battery pack. (or when your battery dies simply being SOL)
• Video record option with audio: has been a great addition. I can even extract a snapshot from the video if I want a 4x6 print of it. (anything bigger and the quality suffers). There are some cameras that will actually allow you to use your zoom while taking videos, a handy feature. I've even seen some that will allow you to take a still picture during video capture. However, the one I used sucked because on playback of the video you would see a skip when the picture was taken and hear the camera take the picture. Ish.
I settled on a Powershot A530 a couple years ago. I'm sure there are better versions out there now, but after thousands of pictures/videos of my family, being dropped by the kids, splashed with water, and used outside in winter, it still takes very nice pictures.
On the bright side, P+S integrated flashes are damn near useless for anything besides being a mediocre fill flash, so the loss of quick recharge isn't really that big of a deal. I wouldn't call the use of AA or AAA batteries by a camera as a negative point.