[help] buying my first digital camera

i'm looking to purchase a digital camera for myself. i'm not a professional photographer, so nothing fancy, but i'd like to take pictures of people, events, scenery, etc., basically a well-rounded camera for a casual photographer.

no real requirements either:

-4+ mp

-small (but not necessarily ultra compact)

-about $250-300 (of course, less is better!)

-long battery life (this may rule out aa batteries)

also, please explain your choice, and perhaps give some information regarding the format/media type. any suggestions?

so far, i'm considering:

canon s500

canon sd300

s500 seems older, but sd300 seems to have some image quality issues. :/

thanks.

#265841

i have s500, it's ok...

read cnet.com digital camera reviews, top ultra compacts

#265844

i know it's out of your $ range, but this is what i'm going to save up for:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...101506?v=glance

my manager has it, it's a pretty sweet camera...

#265865

buy a new cell phone with camera. it's just my suggestion. the quality is not that good, but it's a lot cheaper and very handy and multifunctional. i use my p800 for pictures, organizing, phoneing (duh),and occasional games.

i have never bought a real camera before, not even a old film one. so i don't know anything else other than go camera section on my cell phone and press *click*

#265884

that's for taking pics of friends at a mall...

you can't grow as a photographer with a camera phone

#265933

yeah, i've been reading a ton of interviews. i really like the sd300 except for the image problems.

and i know a bit about photography. i used to take pictures and develop them on my own. i'm not a real stickler for quality, but i'm more discerning than a lot of people.

the sony one looks good. i don't mind spending a little more if i'm getting a good camera. i need to do some more research.

#265940

I just got the updated version of that sony one mentioned above. So much bang for the buck.

7.2 MP

$349 USD

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1089242419247

#267457

how's the image quality?

for sony, i was considering:

cybershot dsc-t1

cybershot dsc-t33.

but right now, i'm really leaning towards the canon sd400.

#270654

I have been using the sd300 for the last 2 months. And I am extremely happy with. It has everything I needed. Good battery life, Very good image quality, compact,small and extremely well priced.

I have constantly seen very good reviews about it and have no issues with any image quality. Infact some of my vaction snaps came out better than my friend's DSC-T1.. I would buy the sd300 again with no problems..

PS - Even I went through the same stuff. But it seems every digital camera out there has problems with image quality. I currently own a Canon S1-IS, Canon SD-300 and the Digital Rebel. I used to have a Nikon coolpix, but it got stolen on my last trip in Peru.. But the SD-300 is my primary camera for parties and weekend trips.

I would also recommend the Canon S1-IS. It has 10 X optical zoom with Image Stabilization and 3.2 MP. Good battery life, can take movies upto an hour long with the right kind of flash card+with zooming when recording videos.Very good image quailty. The only known quirk is that it doesn't have a focus lamp. So in very dark rooms, it takes longer for it to focus.

Canon S1-IS review from Steve's Digicams

Canon S1-IS review from DP reviews

You can check out both the sites for very detailed reviews on other digital cameras. They are the best places to go for professional reviews if you know about photography.

#270860

can you tell me a bit about the sd300? some reviewers complained about cracking lcds, edge softening, or purple fringing.

that canon looks good, but a little too bulky for what i'm going to be doing.

#271214

I have no ideas about cracking lcds. Edge softening is a know problems in most of cameras of sd300's size because of the small lens size. But I have rarely seen to have a significant effect on the photos I have taken. Purple fringing seems to happen on of canon cameras when a picture of a dark image is taken aginst a light background. The best place to read about this stuff is in the DP reviews where they give you a clearer explanation.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd300/page5.asp

I am yet to experience significant image quality problems and have been more than happy to recommend the sd300 to a lot of my friends.

I also usually have good luck with stuff I buy. (:touch wood:) . Till now I yet to claim warranty on any products I have bought so far. . I also still haven't seen any compliants about cracking lcds and stuff like that on any of the forums I frequent. Can you give me a link to where you came across those problems ?

#271225

here are some i've read:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/po...t_sd300-review/

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd300/

http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerShot_SD...22.html?tag=tab

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=photo&n=507846

#271228

hey dreamz, I haven't been in the market for awhile, so i don't have specific camera advice...

But i noticed in the dpreview of the sd300 that it says "Very little manual control".

That may not bother you, but you should know that having manual control in a digicam still makes a huge difference in many situations.

I have an older nikon coolpix 4300 that is good in auto for alot of things, but is horrible in snow shoots unless i'm using it in manual. I also find that shots that involve a moving subject (or part of the picture involves movement) need to be fine tuned especially in difficult lighting situations. (the one thing that truly sucks about this camera is the max shutter speed + the how the auto selects shutterspeed according to lightlevels,etc)

Really it depends on what your looking for, but manual control can make a huge difference and also adds the added bonus of being able to learn how to take a good shot. Compact manual optional cameras can just be switched into auto mode if your in lazy mood/not too concerned about image quality/in ideal situations.

Also, don't invest too much time in the cnet and amazon reviews if your wondering about people's opinions about image quality... I wasted alot of time reading those sorts of reviews when I was looking, and there's really way better advice in the digicam sites + their forums.

I don't know how its changed in the last year+, but when i was looking, sonys had crap image quality. Nikon + Canon were the good buys, but that may have changed.

#271236

I have been into photography for a few years now and have developed a few tastes and opinions...

first off, when it comes to buying a point and shoot digital cam stick with the brands who make quality large format cameras and SLRs... reasons: a. the optics will be better=crisper images which you will notice, b. the menus will, in most cases, be better planned and thought out, c. the user settings will be full customizable while the preprogrammed modes (eg portrait, macro, etc) will have been developed from many years experience.

personally, I am a nokia guy. I have a nokia N75 (35mm SLR) and a coolpix 4300 (4 MP dig point and shoot). I love my SLR but wish i had waited the extra 6 months b/f buying that and the digital and just going digital SLR but thats all in hindsight.

Canon makes a great camera, great optics, user friendly menus (a plus for beginners), well planned button layouts, decent lcd screens, etc etc.

I'd have to say that i like nokia menus more, however I'm biased in that i learned theirs first so its natural to me.

Sony bites it solely b/c they insist on proprietary memory card (memory stick pro= more money, less reliable)

However the cybershot has fast startup and shots/second. dont buy into the Carl Zeiss bs...his scopes are impecable but you pay for the glass and the coatings... the tiny lenses on point and shoot cameras are not equivalent to a 50mm scope glass.

Lastly, buy with the comparison of battery life and optical zoom. those two factors will make shooting more adventurous and fun when compared to brand name and memory card type (unless of course you share cards)... buy a good camera now, you will love the results and be wishing for an upgrade in no time...

#271241

I usually read dpreview and steve's digicam as they more technical reviews. Yeah, I see that people seem to be having LCD problems. But I haven't had anything happen to mine so far. So can't advice you on that matter. But to be frank with you, it will still be my no.1 party camera.

#271244

personally, I am a nokia guy. I have a nokia N75 (35mm SLR) and a coolpix 4300 (4 MP dig point and shoot). I love my SLR but wish i had waited the extra 6 months b/f buying that and the digital and just going digital SLR but thats all in hindsight.

nokia ?? Do you mean Nikon ? Cause Nikon make the coolpix and the best film SLR camera and lens systems

#271245

c. the user settings will be full customizable while the preprogrammed modes (eg portrait, macro, etc) will have been developed from many years experience.

these 2 points may be more important than they might seem to you dreamz...

1. Better compact cameras allow you to adjust the 'auto' modes (or have a semi-auto mode) that allows you to have the ease of point and shoot while allowing you to conteract flaws in ;

a)how a firmware engineer would have defined the auto settings you'll have to use if there were no adjustments that could be made.

b)calibration issues for that specific camera.

c)localized shooting conditions (ie. if you know your shooting fastmoving subjects for a few days, you can just increase the shutter speed for the 'auto' settings so that for any given shot, you just take the auto shot and the camera automatically uses a faster shutter speed than it otherwise would have).

Moreso than in software, default is rarely what you want.

2. For the reason g8trtim gives, preprogrammed modes are virtually useless on some camera models. Meaning they can essentially be part of 'bloatware'.

Its kindof annoying buying a digicam - theres actually more marketing bs than in the desktop computer market.

#271253

thanks for the advice, everyone.

i've definitely thought about the controls, but i saw the the sd400 has some manual controls (although not things like aperture).

i grew up on film shoots, and i have a good film camera, so the digital camera will be more of a casual/every day camera.

#271353

Well my dad got a Lumix DMC-FZ20 and ive been messing around with it and it gets verry nice

results. Its quite a bit more pricy than what u specified so I dunno. Its also quite bulky.

#271385

nokia ?? Do you mean Nikon ? Cause Nikon make the coolpix and the best film SLR camera and lens systems

yea definitely... lol... sorry about that

#271413

I just got a Sony P-100 not too long ago, for that same casual shooting you were talking about, and I absolutely love it.

Its small, takes good shots, has good options, and is thoroughly ergonomic

Plus, it looks sweet

If, I'm not already too late, you should check it out...

Good luck!

#271464

just an update.

i bought the canon sd400 for $359 free shipping at buy.com. i should get it soon.

#273562