My parents asked me if I would like a digital camera for Christmas. I said, "Yes!" They said, "Great, we have $200 to spend, do the research and tell us which one you want."
I said, "Uh, okay ..." because I know next to nothing about digicams. Actually, the only thing about them I do know is that you should get optical zoom over a camera with digital zoom.
Please help either here, or here also. Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
It's not that you should get optical zoom over digital. The camera will have both. It's that you should ignore the digital zoom figure, because it's essentially useless.
Apart from that, my knowledge of digital cameras doesn't go much beyond "you should probably get a 4 megapixel minimum, although don't worry about going much higher unless you're going to get your photos blown up to some giant Tim-like size".
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
CNET is a good site to look at.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
There are some cameras which have Digital Zoom, only, but no optical zoom. Ignore those like the plague.
Posted by DoughBoy05 (Member # 1417) on :
Highter the Mega pixel the bigger you can print up your picture and still retain picture quality. For instance one megapixel is aprroxiamately 4x6, two is 6x8,three is 8x10 etc. Also the larger the mega pixel setting for your picture the more room it takes up on your memory card. A one megapixel pic takes up 1/3 MB, A two megapixel pic is about one 1MB, a three MP pic is 2 MB...so if you only have a 16MB card...get a bigger one.
Posted by DoughBoy05 (Member # 1417) on :
Battery life: Digital Cameras will suck the life out of your batteries faster than a Wraith sucking the lifweforce out of the Red Shirted extra on SGA. Older generation cameras you got about 30-50 pics before having to fill er up, newer ones get you about 60. Advise either use rechargables or turn off that screen in back and don't use the optical zoom, those are the killers.
Posted by DoughBoy05 (Member # 1417) on :
Zoom: Where are you taking your pics? Inside: you dont need zoom unless your living room is a stadium. Outside: Optical is nice for getting closeups of Moose without pissing them off (IKnow!) but is a drain on batteries. Think about your regular camera, do you have Zoom on it, most people dont, they use those little disposable ones and you don't hear them complain about optical zoom.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Also^1, you don't just buy a digital camera. You buy a camera and then a slew of accessories to complement it. So have your folks reserve at least 20 percent of their budget for batteries and the like.
Also^2, what type of photography (macro- or tele-, basic P & S) are you planning to do the most? What size (compact, slr, etc) do you want your camera to be? What kind of data storage medium (compactflash, smartmedia, memorysticks) do you want to use? How much room for expansion (lenses, filters) do you want to have? What sort of material (metal, plastic) do you want it made of?
So, y'know, do the research. B)
(Also^3, I should probably kill your spirits right here and warn you that $200 really doesn't buy you a lot of digicam.)
[ November 28, 2004, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: Cartman ]
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
By the way, what Cartman did with the "edit post" logo above: that's an example of digital zoom.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
click it, love it.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
In some ways having a camera with a built-in battery and recharger cable might be better than having to lug around a battery charger everywhere. I once lost my charger for three whole months, couldn't find it anywhere.
Anyone who goes on about how many Megapixels their camera does must have a very small dick. My Canon is two years old, and has the same number of megapixels, but it does me perfectly fine. Well, I say that, but I just had to have it repaired for the price of a new one because I have an underwater housing I use when scuba-diving.
As time goes on the number of megapixels any nbew camera will do will go up, that's inevitable, but it's not worth obessing about how many the one you choose does. Not less than two, anyway.
Posted by DoughBoy05 (Member # 1417) on :
Hmm I agree, I have lots of conversations like this at work..
Customer: "I want I 4 Mega Pixel Camera!" Me:"Why?" Customer:" Because my friend has a 3 Mega Pixel Camera!"
Its a big pissing contest
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Isn't that what those old trough-style urinals were for?
Posted by DoughBoy05 (Member # 1417) on :
Yes only now you can take hi-rez pictures to PROVE that you can piss further than anyone else Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
Digital Photography Reviews is a pretty good site. On batteries, I definately recommend rechargeables, and get yourself a 1 hour charger and two or three sets of batteries. My biggest drain seems to be the flash, I can get alot more non-flash pictures than flash ones. Get a camera that doesn't use proprietory batteries. Don't just buy the cheapest memory you can, there are differences in write speed and this could affect whether you get the picture you want. My experiences with digital zoom are not very good. In order to get a good picture with digital zoom you need high light conditions. Try to get as much optical zoom that you can. While you are looking, try to find out about picture taking speed, some are slow and you miss the shot you wanted. Also read your manual, this is not a 35mm camera, white balance is very important and very unforgiving.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Digital zoom is useless on a camera. If you want to zoom in, just open the picture in Paint Shop Pro and double the size. It has exactly the same effect.
Although everyone is right about the general "hi megapixel=big penis thing", there are some advantages to getting a decent number (4 megapixels is good). It means that, if you take it at maximum resolution, you can crop your pictures before getting them developed and they'll still look good. While no-one's expecting you to take a course in digital photo manipulation, cropping pictures can make a hell of a difference for minimal effort.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
'Customer: "I want I 4 Mega Pixel Camera!" Me:"Why?"'
Me: you argue with your customers instead of letting them buy what they want, or think they want, and earning your Radio Shack some more money? Being that you are its manager, I mean.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Zing!
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Dragging things back on subject.
I just bought a Canon Powershot A75 - it's 3 megapixels of goodness for $200... Very satisfied with it.
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