Author Topic: Digital Camera (Read 697 times)

Gunslinger · « **on:** February 09, 2004, 09:48:40 AM »

Was wondering if anyone can give a good recomendation for a decent camera for under $300. I'm not partial to any particular brand and i'm looking for somthing that's versital enough to take good pictures of kids/family and still photos of products and such for web development. Ty in advance

Ripsnort · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2004, 09:51:41 AM »

I have a Canon Powershot S40. Great little digital camera though its no replacement for my 35mm Pentax. You could probably find a used one on ebay for 200 or less. (Mine was free from a Japanese friend in NYC that had too many cameras, imagine that!

)

Tarmac · « **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2004, 10:00:53 AM »

The Canon A series. I own the A60 (2.0 megapixel, 250 bucks a year ago) and love it, although I wish I'd splurged and payed the extra for the 3.2 megapixel A70. They have a 4.0 mp A80 now; but the cameras all have the same features (besides the resolution).

They do point and shoot well, but they've also got all the manual controls of a regular camera (ISO, shutter speed, and a bunch of other stuff that I don't know what it means) - so if you want to learn photography, they're great. They also have easymode for things like action shots, night, portrait, macro, movies, and even landscape shots up to 360 degrees. They can mount external lenses - unheard of in the small digital camera category. 3x optical zoom and movie mode (with audio - also rare in digital cameras) make it an excellent all-around camera.

The A70 (3.2 megapixel) is $300 in stores now, you can probably find it cheaper if you shop around. If I were buying a camera now, that's what I'd get based on my experience with my A60.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:19:52 PM »

WOW I'm seeing almost $150 diff between the A60 and A70. Is the A70 worth that much more?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2985601585

Chairboy · « **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:21:09 PM »

We have a Canon S400, and it is incredible. You might have to hunt around to find it in your price range, as MSRP is like 400, but it is worth it if you can get it.

It's small, takes GREAT pictures, even does AVI capture.

Maverick · « **Reply #5 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:28:43 PM »

I have a Kodak LS443. It is a 4 meg level camera but there oare earlier versions out there with 2 and 3 meg capabilities. I like the Kodak as the docking system for unloading pictures as well as charging is about as simple as you can get. The factory support was pretty good for the one problem I did have with it.

DA98 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:33:25 PM »

The Canon A70 is possibly THE BEST camera in that price segment, both in image quality and in features.

Detailed A-70 review

Overall review:

"Anyone who has followed Canon's line of PowerShot digital cameras can't help but see the similarities between the A70 and the PowerShot G1 (the original 'G'). The A70 is such an easy to use camera you can drop it into the hand of a pure beginner and they will be off taking excellent images. Later they will want to begin to experiment, the A70 provides control of ISO sensitivity, exposure (aperture priority, shutter priority or manual) as well as manual focus. These are all things we don't normally expect to see on an entry level digital camera.

To be fair to the competition the PowerShot A70 isn't the smallest or lightest in this category, its four AA batteries ensure it's weighty, size wise it's the same height as a Coolpix 3100 but longer. Overall design however is pleasing, controls are where you would expect them and build quality is higher than the ticket price would suggest. Battery life was also a big surprise with this camera, we've simply never had a camera last so long on AA batteries.

Best of all is image quality which really is much better than I had expected and really is about as good as it gets for a three megapixel compact digital camera. But better than all this must be the price. At the moment you can get the PowerShot A70 for under US$350 (under £300 in the UK), at that price you would be very foolish to not consider the A70, I could happily recommend it over any budget priced digital camera and certainly persuade those who want a '$200 digital camera' to spend that little bit more for the huge difference it would make.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"

Tarmac · « **Reply #7 on:** February 09, 2004, 12:46:21 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gunslinger
WOW I'm seeing almost $150 diff between the A60 and A70. Is the A70 worth that much more?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2985601585

I bought my A60 for $259; the A70 was $329 at the time. I bought mine at a dedicated camera shop last june.

The only difference between the two is the resolution - 2.0 megapixels as opposed to 3.2 They share all the same features otherwise. For snapshots or images you're just going to view from your hard drive, 2.0 is fine. The only time I wish I had the 3.2 megapixel is when I'm at airshows and wish that I could take long range pictures and have the resolution to blow them up (either through digital zoom or in photoshop). You really only need more than 2.0 megapixels if you're going to want to make large prints.

ed: Newegg is having a sale on the A70 until tomorrow for $250 (better than I paid for my A60 last year); the A60 is $180 (regular price)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&manufactory=1213&catalog=12&DEPA=0&sortby=14&order=1

Gunslinger · « **Reply #8 on:** February 09, 2004, 02:39:41 PM »

I ended up buying the A60. It was well within my price range and I'm pretty sure I got a good deal on all the accesories. check it out here

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2985691706&category=3335

Tarmac · « **Reply #9 on:** February 09, 2004, 02:54:00 PM »

Looks like you got a good deal with all those extras. You don't really need the Flash card reader (the camera has USB interface built in), but even so the 128mb card, case, and NiMH batteries/charger make it look good.

Hope you're as pleased with yours as I am with mine.

Pfunk · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2004, 04:05:18 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Tarmac
Looks like you got a good deal with all those extras. You don't really need the Flash card reader (the camera has USB interface built in), but even so the 128mb card, case, and NiMH batteries/charger make it look good.

Hope you're as pleased with yours as I am with mine.

Flash reader is much easier, and it doesnt use the batteries like the camera does during transfer.

2 Megapixels is kinda low though, if it were me I would have bought the A70 minus all the accesories.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #11 on:** February 09, 2004, 04:18:14 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Pfunk
Flash reader is much easier, and it doesnt use the batteries like the camera does during transfer.

2 Megapixels is kinda low though, if it were me I would have bought the A70 minus all the accesories.

If I'm just taking pictures of my kids and a few indoor still shots why would I need anything other than 2MP? The accesories is the whole reason I wanted THIS camera. Especially the rechargable batteries LOL! I'm not a camera expert though but I dont think I need 3mp

mrblack · « **Reply #12 on:** February 09, 2004, 04:18:59 PM »

sont cybershot 2.0

Tarmac · « **Reply #13 on:** February 09, 2004, 04:27:57 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Pfunk
Flash reader is much easier, and it doesnt use the batteries like the camera does during transfer.

Rechargeables.

Not that much of an issue anyhow - I can download a 64MB card in about 3-4 minutes.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 09, 2004, 05:32:22 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gunslinger
I ended up buying the A60. It was well within my price range and I'm pretty sure I got a good deal on all the accesories. check it out here

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2985691706&category=3335

You did well and will be happy with your camera.

eskimo