Author Topic: Digital Camera (Read 804 times)

VWE · « **Reply #15 on:** January 03, 2005, 07:32:43 PM »

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The memory is way overpriced

Gee, I just bought a 256 meg Sony memmory stick from Fry's this past weekend for $59.95

I've bought Sony since their first Maciva that used the 3.5 floppy. I still have that camera and use it for posting auto pictures on eBay.

I think most digital camera's are a good buy with the exception of Kodak... those things are a piece of crap! I was forced to use one with a vendors software but they had so many break they stopped buying them.

Manedew · « **Reply #16 on:** January 03, 2005, 07:34:42 PM »

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Originally posted by eskimo2
That looks like a very decent camera and a very good price. It's almost exactly the same size as the Canon. How's the picture quality and button/shutter lag?

eskimo

Haven't had time to play with everything yet ..... was my nicest christmas gift other than cashmere' :

:

it has a multiple picture function ... but can't just keep pushing the button for fast picture like nicer camera's ... delay on a normal picture is slight, but noticeable from time to button push till flash etc... but there are setting's I haven't gotten too ... and i've delayed shutter closeing etc .... to get blurry pics or stable pics in low light with no flash.......

oh and quality is pretty nice depending on settings... finding all kinds of funny things in background from pic's i've taken

VWE · « **Reply #17 on:** January 03, 2005, 07:41:23 PM »

Betcha $5 bucks you'll place that dainty camera in your shirt pocket one day, go to use the bathroom and while zipping up your pants accidentally lean forward and watch it fall out of your pocket into that loaded toilet!

eskimo2 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 03, 2005, 08:06:12 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by VWE
Gee, I just bought a 256 meg Sony memmory stick from Fry's this past weekend for $59.95

I've bought Sony since their first Maciva that used the 3.5 floppy. I still have that camera and use it for posting auto pictures on eBay.

I think most digital camera's are a good buy with the exception of Kodak... those things are a piece of crap! I was forced to use one with a vendors software but they had so many break they stopped buying them.

I've seen 1 gig CompactFlash on sale at retail stores for $60. Four times the memory for the same price. We have Sony cameras at work, I hate them. They are way overpriced, handle low light incredibly poorly, are huge, and the pictures are not that sharp. I have a very old cheap 2 meg HP. It sucks, yet I like it better than the Sonys. Sonys are certainly better than nothing, but my experience has been that they are way overpriced for what they offer.

eskimo

BUG_EAF322 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 03, 2005, 08:12:55 PM »

this one i use and it's a nikon

its a real good snapshooter

also very sneaky it fits in the backpocket of ur pants.

below a typical snapshot

SOB · « **Reply #20 on:** January 03, 2005, 08:17:47 PM »

Thanks for the recommends, everyone. I checked them all out, and the S400 (well, S410, actually) almost had me, but I don't think I could live with the 1.5" LCD. Still leaning toward the SD200 for the continuous shot (http://www.dcresource.com said they were able to shoot continuously until the memory was full!) and the 2" LCD...and the 30 FPS VGA video is pretty cool too. I think I'm definitely gonna have to check one out locally before I buy...didn't consider that it might be too small! And if it ends up in the toilet, I'm kicking your ass, VWE!

JB73...I was planning on ebaying the Coolpix 995 for $200 BIN with 128MB & 16MB Lexar 8x CF cards, Jumpshot USB Cable for the CF cards, set of Nikon filters (UV,C-PL,ND2,ND4), 28mm-37mm Step-up ring & 37mm UV filter, mini-tripod, and camera case.

JB73 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 03, 2005, 10:18:36 PM »

rgr i know nothing of digital cameras other then the bigger mega-pixel the better picture....

was hoping you mabye were unloading something that was $250 new and bargin $75 now it's so outdated.... just to get a digital camera to own.

Halo · « **Reply #22 on:** January 04, 2005, 05:12:53 PM »

Canon SD200 may be the new standard for digital pocket cameras (until something better comes out next quarter).

Like Hondas and Toyotas when buying cars, don't buy anything else without first checking the SD200 (and bigger brother SD300 if you want 4-megapixel instead of 3-megapixel).

Chairboy · « **Reply #23 on:** January 04, 2005, 06:02:12 PM »

Something else to consider, size. The smaller the camera, the more likely you are to carry it around and be able to capture those little moments that happen unexpectedly. The S400 we have it small enough that I find myself just carrying it most days and can grab shots of interesting things easily.

BTW, don't believe the megapixel myth. Just because one camera takes a 5MP shot and another takes a 4MP shot doesn't automatically make the 5MP better. If the optics are poor (as many digital cameras are) then the picture will suck no matter what.

The various Canon cameras I've read about have had good glass optics, and take good pictures. For micro cameras, they are hard to beat. I've also read that if you are ok with a big physical camera, the digital SLRs are the cat's pajamas.

In the meantime, S400 ho! Sure, the LCD is small, but honestly, you should only be using it to frame the shot, not to watch feature length movies.

SOB · « **Reply #24 on:** January 04, 2005, 11:59:26 PM »

Well, I did it! I went to Best Buy to check out the SD200 and the S410, and ended up buying the SD200. It's friggin' tinay! But still comfortable for me to use.

The S410 was bigger, and the screen was smaller - the 1.5" LCD was just too little for me.

Now, to get a big-assed SD card for cheap. I remember buying the super-fast 128MB 8x Lexar Media CF card for my Nikon 990 in 2000 . . . for $320!!! Now I just have to decide between the SanDisk Ultra II (60x) 512MB or 1GB for $65 or $95.

Torque · « **Reply #25 on:** January 05, 2005, 01:38:16 AM »

what's to decide?

$30 bucks more you get double the card, videos can take up alot of space, pics are fine but you'll end up taking more vids than pic.

Halo · « **Reply #26 on:** January 05, 2005, 07:05:03 PM »

Congrats, SOB -- you gonna be ecstatic with the SD200. Get that 512MB or larger card PLUS a second battery and you will be prepared for anything.

wasq · « **Reply #27 on:** January 05, 2005, 07:33:28 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by VWE
I think most digital camera's are a good buy with the exception of Kodak... those things are a piece of crap! I was forced to use one with a vendors software but they had so many break they stopped buying them.

I have owned two Kodaks, one which I'm currently using and I think the cameras are quite good bang for the buck. The PC software is, admittedly, very crappy and I uninstalled it after first trial.

I have a Kodak 6490 I bought from Singapore about a year ago currently. It's not a small camera with its 10x optical zoom, but it's quite a good camera for the value. The most gripes I have with it are:
1) No manual white balance control
2) Only JPEG output, no RAW
3) Noisy motors for moving the lens (this affects only the motion picture, since the noise is quite prominent in the movies)

I'm using a standard memory card reader for getting the pictures out of the camera so the crappy software doesn't actually pose any problem for me.

For a compact camera, I wouldn't say this is the choice since it's quite far from the compact form factor. This post was just to compensate for the "utter crapliness" of Kodak cameras. Did I already mention it's quite cheap?

I have a gigabyte SD card for it, cost about 120 SGD (no idea what that is in us$)

eskimo2 · « **Reply #28 on:** January 05, 2005, 08:04:45 PM »

Great choice SOB.

I just checked out the specs; that looks like a great camera and good price.

eskimo

Creamo · « **Reply #29 on:** January 05, 2005, 08:36:55 PM »

Sounds like you did well. Like most said, having anything small enough to keep in your pocket is the reason to get these types of cameras, and the quality for $200-300 is amazing. I've taken tons more pictures of stuff I would have missed just because you could drop it in your pocket.

You could have been extra cool and dropped $200 more for a really wacky 7 megapixels camera, but even at 4, hell, even 3, you will be reducing them bigtime in photoshop or fireworks anyway unless you plan to print 8X10 glossys of your trout for the ladies.

One thing you will dig in the features department is the night modes, and manual modes. You can do quite a bit, although maybe your coolpix did all that. My first and only did not, and the pictures usually stunk unless it was optimal conditions, and good lighting outside. Now i can get a good shot in almost any conditions.

edit- I currently have the Nikon CoolPix 995 and I'm getting rid of it simply because it's too big. It's got a bunch of manual controls and takes nice pictures and stuff, but it's just a pain in the bellybutton to lug around with you at a party/family gathering. Plus, I don't care enough to use most of the manual controls.

Sorry, duh. Looks like you got it. The selectable auto modes for most conditions will work really well. Choosing "Autolevels" in Fireworks makes what it didn't do well, pretty much as good as you need.