Digital camera advise.

Well you could always try Consumer Reports....

 

dpreview.com is one of the best sites with great reviews. You will be in info overload.

 

Can't go wrong with the RebelXT.... Very enjoyable.... Lots of Fun...

 

http://www.dcresource.com/ has great reviews.

 

if you want an slr go with a Rebel XT as a starter
if your going to be really using it get a canon 20d...prob can get some good deals now...because the 30d is out

Now if you want an everyday small camera
Canon SD450 or SD550

 

just stay out of the forums there.....lots of idiots in there..

http://photography-on-the.net/forum
Nice Canon forum

 

I have a canon sd450, love it! I'm no photographer, just take photos where I go to remember, good enough for me!

 

I need to get one too... preferrably by this weekend. I broke my last one. I'll probably just buy something cheap that takes decent pictures, I don't need anything fancy.

 

I would recommend looking past the megapixel count and see what kind of lens the camera has. I'm not refeering to digital SLR cameras but rather the more common integrated lens / camera setups. I would much rather have my Konica Minolta 3.2MP from costco with a decent sized lens than a 7MP with the lense that is about half the size of a dime. As an example my profile pic was taken with the aforementioned 3.2mp Costco camera and resized to .3 (that is 1/3 of one) megapixel. It looks better than many pictures I have seen that are 5mp or higher.
BT

 

I saw one that was 4.0 mega pixels for about $150 plus the memory card and I didn't think that was a bad deal.. it was a well known brand too.

 

Check circuit city if you have one by you, there was an 8 mega pixel Konica Minolta for about $200 a couple of weeks ago.

 

I only use mine for ebay auctions and some family/social events. I definately recommend Sony. I have a P200 i think it is. It goes to 7.2MP but Ive never used it beyond 5MP. Crystal clear and some cool simple features I like.


Probably find a used one on ebay for under $150.

 

8 mega pixels? I didn't even know there was a such thing! haha.. Terrible. I'm the worst with these things. I'll have to check it out, there's one 5 minutes from my job. I'm thinking about going out of town this weekend to see my friends and I need a new camera so I can take pics.

 

I didn't know either till i saw it. It's nice and flat and has a big LCD screen. Looked like a pretty good deal.

 

I'll have to check it out, I don't need anything fancy. I don't ever read the manual to ANYTHING so, point and shoot works for me.

 

Manual? I don't need no stiiieeeenking manual!!!!

 

I was looking for a camera recently and I asked my brother for his advice. He's into cameras, electronics, etc, and he does a decent job of research when buying. He agreed with BT348PBG regarding megapicels...here is what my brother wrote:

Canons make the best digital camera's for the money. Canons have the best digital processor chip (digic II in their higher end cameras and Digic in their budget models).http://www.canon.ca/digitalphotography/english/ctech_article.asp?id=208&tid=6
I've compared the prosumer Sony model DSC-V3 to the prosumer canon G6. The Sony looked and felt nicer, but the canon took better pictures.

There's 4 lines that canon sells
1. A series - budget models A420, A610, A620- not small, but work pretty good
2. SD series (SD400, SD500, SD550) - small and fast, and take great pictures, especially for their size. Middle priced. Everyone likes these, easy to carry, solid build quality.
3. S series (S60, S70, S80) canons high end pocket model. Not as small as the SD series, but with the best sensor and lens for their size. Also have wide angle lens, not found on any other point and shoot. They focus and shoot fast but not as fast as the SD series. Very solid build.
4. G series- (G5, G6. Canons prosumer cameras, are a little bigger than the other models. These have the same sensor as the S series, but they have much bigger lens (good for low light and increases the flash range).

The camera we got was the Canon s80. We almost got the sd500, but we liked the wide angle lens (28-100mm effective). Many times we use these pocket cameras to take pictures of a group of people indoors. The wide angle lens means you don't have to back up 12 feet to get everyone in the picture, and this is important since the range on any of these pocket cameras flash is only about 6 feet. Here's two of the many reviews of our camera:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/s80_pg7.html
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons80/page14.asp

The quality of the picture depends even more on the 'sensor size' than on the megapixels. The best canons have sensors 1/1.8", the middle range ones have sensors 1/2.5" and the cheap ones 1/3.2". (Don't confuse the sensor size with LCD screen size. The sensor is the digital equivalent of film, and just like film, the bigger the sensor, the better the picture).

If you want a cheap camera that will take the best pictures, choose one with the 1/1.8" sensor.
Besides my direct comparsion of the Sony and Canon cameras,the most recent PC World Magazine has surveyed various brands reliability and it confirmed what i suspected.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,123409,pg,11,00.asp

After reading what my brother wrote, I went with the Canon SD500 and I
am quite happy with it. They just came out with the SD550, but I didn't
need the extra feature.

Anyway, I hope this helps with your decision. Good luck in picking one out.

Glenn

 

Yeah, really. When I bought my cell phone I said I didn't need a ton of fancy gadgets I just wanted it to have a camera with a flash. I ended up with a phone that has an mp3 player and all these ridiculous options and I don't know how to use ANYTHING haha.. whoops! It calls people and allows me to take pics. I'm happy.

 

Steph,

I don't know your price range, but Canon makes great cameras. I own a 20D DSLR and a G series and they both work great. They are a bit on the hi-end but the G is a good camera to bring places and has a tilt / twist lcd monitor.

This is one you might want to take a look at - A620

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona620/page2.asp

The big advantage is the tilt / twist lcd monitor. That's a great feature that allows you to move the lcd screen so that you can take shoots way above your head or at your waist still seeing what is going to be in the frame. Further, you can flip it all the way around and put yourself in the picture without having to guess where to be. I've taken many candid shots of me and friends this way. Not to mention that flipping it closed protects it when not in use.

 

I have one of those damn nextel I930 smartphones. I know why it's called a smartphone now cause it makes me look dumb. The manual looked like a tiny phonebook. Since i get bored at work i read it there and i still can't figure out some of the features.

 

Yeah, I have the LG VX8100.. It's got an MP3 player I guess you can buy a chip and stick it in the side of it to store the songs, I don't know. My ex thought it was the coolest phone and he was trying to explain it all to me.. I asked, "Can it call you and my friends?" "Yes" "Ok, that's all I need to know." The sales lady told me it was bluetooth capable.. I was like "WTF IS A BLUE TOOTH!?" Haha.. now I know but all this high tech stuff goes over my head a bit.

 

Thanks.. even that is a bit advanced for me. I don't need a screen that flips, just a regular point and shoot.