Best digital camera

[adrian]

I'm looking for a good digital camera, with upgradable memory, for about $150.

What have you guys used? and is it good? (the budget will be going up towards christmas time)

[pzarquon]

Hmm. $150? So you're definitely talking entry-level, not megapixel power or "prosumer" grade. I know our own Helen has become somewhat of an expert on the under-$100 digital camera market. He's played with various pencams and pocketcams and other such gadgets.

I've gotten various SiPix cameras (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/3025421/ref=tr_23151/002-3029622-7748806) for my daughter to play with. The cameras themselves are somewhat flimsy and the pictures aren't worth writing home about, but it's a fun toy, that's for sure.

For $150, how about the Nikon Coolpix 2200 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/499058/ref=p_hp_ln_2/)? That's a good price for a 2MP camera, and from a brand that knows digital imaging. For a little bit more, you can make the big leap to 4MP and a respectable Sony camera, the Sony Cybershot P-41 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001G6U8O/) at $179.

[Miulang]

We've had really good luck with the Olympus cameras. I like the Smart Media cards they use, too. This D-390 is 2 megapixels and retails for around $129. You might be able to find it at Walmart when Keeaumoku opens tomorrow.

Miulang

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&p=16&bc=1&product=911

[helen]

It seems that SiPix is not selling any new cameras. Their web site is geared towards for support topics and not any new products. Aiptek seems to be selling new products but CompUSA is not selling them.

Of course the questions you need to ask is what features do you need from the camera. Do you plan on shooting video or video with sound? Plan on taking flash pictures or would natural low light be good enough?

[adrian]

If its possible, I want to buy it locally, so I'll be saving a bit more.

I'm eyeing this
Kodak CX7300 3.2 MP Digital Camera (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001DJSYU/102-8326187-7772960?v=glance) at Wal Mart or Circuit City, but it'll be close with a 128mb memory card. But I have a gut feeling that I'll wait until the christmas shopping season to get a better price.

I just want this camera to take family pictures and be able to print them out, or edit them for collages and desktop wallpaper.

[easTTriver]

I know our own Helen has become somewhat of an expert on the under-$100 digital camera market. He's played with various pencams and pocketcams and other such gadgets.


Helen is male?

[pzarquon]

Ai! My bad. Sorry, Helen! :o

[craigwatanabe]

Ho man da news of da day: pzarquon reveals Helen's true identity!!

Nah but if my parents named me Helen as a guy I'd probably hate them for life.

When looking for a good digital camera, I found these are important factors when choosing: 1) It should take standard AA batteries because if your lithium rechargables go dead on your trip around the island it's nice to know you can pop in a set of alkalines for a few more shots. 2) It should use a removable memory card because eventually you'll lose that proprietary download cable that came with your camera. 3) Check the LCD display in full sunlight. My HP's display was worth crap in sunlight but my Kyocera's 2.5" screen is bright and clear in full sun, something Sony is good with also. 4) Most new digitals can shoot video with audio, a must have as I've abandoned my Hi-8 camcorder on our outings and exclusively carry my Kyocera.

When you buy your camera, buy the best padded case for it, Glove makes a great camera case

Buy those screen protectors for PDA's and cover your LCD screen immediately to save it from scratches

I prefer SD over CF memory cards

Go with a camera that has a higher optical zoom over digital.

And the camera has to be user-friendly. As an old school photographer my rule is: A blurry picture is better than no picture at all. I've seen parents lose that precious Kodak Moment while fumbling with their digital camera, I always keep a simple point and shoot disposable film camera with me because you simply take the shot, no warm up, no setting the auto focus. And the beauty of that camera was that I had the photo's developed into a CD and the digital file shot was as clear as his digital's, but mine caught the moment his missed and in photography, that's what it's all about, capturing that moment.

[helen]

The amount of batteries that the camera uses also factors into its operation. A camera powered by a couple of AA or AAA batteries (for 3 volts of power) should be okay for one to three shots of the flash in a row, after that your camera is going to have power related problems. If a camera is powered by 4 AA batteries (for 6 volts of power) you should be better shape for those flash shots.

[craigwatanabe]

My Kyocera uses two AA-batteries. When using 2.2 amp (2200ma) lithium rechargables, I can get maybe 50 flash shots off. When using alkalines I'll get maybe 15 or 20 before the batteries go south. The alkaline battery substitute is vital because on the road AA batteries are at any 7-Eleven or convenience store anywhere. But proprietary lithium batteries (Sony T-1) will leave you out of luck when those batteries die on you. A 4-cell camera will be kinda bulky (4.8 volt) as opposed to a 2-cell (2.4 volt) Rechargables are 1.2 volts per battery as opposed to 1.5 volts for alkaline or standard AA batteries.

Regardless, the best camera for you is the one that's the easiest to use. Creativity get's mighty stifling when lost in confusing menu driven multi-function single wheel controls. And here's a known fact about film disposable cameras and low megapixel (under 8 megapixel) cameras. Film cameras will outproduce those cameras when it comes to sharpness. If you can wait, use a nice disposable camera loaded with decent film and have it developed as a CD. The image quality will far surpass the under $150 digitals ANYTIME with a camera purchased for under $10.

[pzarquon]

The alkaline battery substitute is vital because on the road AA batteries are at any 7-Eleven or convenience store anywhere.My current digital camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10 (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/fz10.html), is the first digicam I've owned in years that didn't use AA batteries. I was always a strong advocate of standard batteries as a power source, even though they didn't last all that long, because yes, in a pinch, you could always duck into a convenience store to juice up. I still think it's a good strategy. But the proprietary battery the Lumix uses is pretty good. I can fill two 512MB SD cards (maybe 300 photos) on one charge, if I don't go burning shots non-stop. I did spring for a backup, at great cost, just in case. At least now I don't need to go running around with pockets full of Duracell's!
Go with a camera that has a higher optical zoom over digital. I'd say disregard digital zoom entirely. It almost always degrades your picture quality to the point of not making the larger image worth it.
I prefer SD over CF memory cards.
Because I change cameras so often, I've got a drawer full of different media. CF, SD, XD, SM, and MS! CF was my favorite for a long time, especially since I followed it with a SM camera, and that media always gave me trouble (more prone to static zap, I guess). One camera used both SD and XD, and even though it came with an XD card, I bought a SD card, simply because I found the XD cards to be way too small to handle confidently. MS you worry about only if you have Sony devices. My Lumix uses SD, and it seems a nice balance between size, sturdiness and capacity.

[mel]

I have three digital cameras in my arsenol and several film cameras too. I am old school but I also love digital and have taken thousands of pictures since plunging into this area.

Several people have brought up good points. Here are a few more.

1. You may want to buy an external USB card reader so that you don't have to plug in and unplug your camera everytime you need to transfer pictures. I have a SanDisk 4 in one card reader connected to my computer's USB port that can read all of the popular flash card formats.

2. The two Sony Cybershot cameras that I own use Sony's proprietory Memory Card media. I like the cards, but they tend to be on the expensive side. The Sony cameras come with just small memory cards. My first one came with only a 4MB card, and my 2nd Sony only an 8 MB card. Needless to say both are quite useless if you want to take a lot of pictures without changing a card. So best to buy a couple more cards that are 64 MB or larger.

3. The nice thing about owning a memory card reader is that you can reformat your low capacity card in the reader and use them to just store junk from your computer there temporarily.

4. As Craig say, optical zoom is the key spec to look for over digital zoom.
Also look for a camera that you can manually override the auto flash setting, because in some instances you may not want the flash to fire and that can't be done if the camera automatically fires the thing in a low light situation.

5. Buy 2 sets of rechargeable batteries at least. For my Sony Cybershots, the rechargeable Double A's last for about 1 hour shooting time before I need to replace them. This is recommended if you are going on a fairly long excursion away from a power shot. Cameras that use standard battery sizes are always better than ones that use special batteries, because as someone said, if you run low you can just pop into the nearest Longs or whatever and buy a standard set of alkalines... which will last for about 15 minutes per set. My high end Canon 300D SLR uses only a prorpriety battery and I am a bit anxious on whether or not these batteries will be available 5, 10 years down the line.

6. Don't totally abandon film. Most digital cameras are very sensitive to wet weather conditions.. i.e. don't get em wet. They will break. That said it is always a good idea to keep a cheap disposable film camera around so that you can use that to take pictures in rainy conditions or in the water at the beach. You can have any type of film today to be processed with an optional digital CD included with your prints. That is great.

[adrian]

6. Don't totally abandon film. Most digital cameras are very sensitive to wet weather conditions.. i.e. don't get em wet. They will break. That said it is always a good idea to keep a cheap disposable film camera around so that you can use that to take pictures in rainy conditions or in the water at the beach. You can have any type of film today to be processed with an optional digital CD included with your prints. That is great.
The only problem is that, is I want to get rid of the "middleman" for the processing, and I want to just go out, take pics, come home, edit it via photoshop, and burn it to a CD to distribute to family and friends, and possibly print it out.

[craigwatanabe]

SEE I TOLD ALL OF YOU PORN SHOTS GALORE!!! Have you ever heard of C-6 color print processing? It's a Kodak film processing kit to process your Kodak 100-400 ASA color print film into negatives. All you need is that kit, a tank (to hold the reel of film) and a stainless steel reel (to spool the unexposed film on), a good color darkroom thermometer and a decent timer.

Once you process the negatives, buy a negative scanner at CompUSA or whatever and print till your pornographic eyes pop out. Or just buy a digital camera and a good color printer.

[helen]

6. Don't totally abandon film. Most digital cameras are very sensitive to wet weather conditions.. i.e. don't get em wet. They will break. That said it is always a good idea to keep a cheap disposable film camera around so that you can use that to take pictures in rainy conditions or in the water at the beach. You can have any type of film today to be processed with an optional digital CD included with your prints. That is great.

I was checking out the cheap cameras at Wal-Mart today. They were selling a 35mm camera (slight over $5) cheaper than a disposable camera (over $7). Granted this camera can't be dunked under water but at least you have a camera with auto advance.

What got me shaking my head in irony (I didn't laugh out loud but I could) was that there was another 35mm camera made by Polaird that came with Kodak AA batteries. I didn't remember who made the film that came with the camera but I am pretty certain it was not Fuji.

[adrian]

SEE I TOLD ALL OF YOU PORN SHOTS GALORE!!! Have you ever heard of C-6 color print processing? It's a Kodak film processing kit to process your Kodak 100-400 ASA color print film into negatives. All you need is that kit, a tank (to hold the reel of film) and a stainless steel reel (to spool the unexposed film on), a good color darkroom thermometer and a decent timer.

Once you process the negatives, buy a negative scanner at CompUSA or whatever and print till your pornographic eyes pop out. Or just buy a digital camera and a good color printer.
I'm not into that kind of stuff. Its a pain to capture family photos and wait an hour at the photo processing place to get pics and making sure to have enough copies for everyone.

I have some photography experience, but we don't have an extra room to turn into a dark room for the processing of negatives.

[craigwatanabe]

You know to have to wait one hour for your prints and feel like it's taking too long for you just wreaks of sad violins :rolleyes:

When I was a kid (okay here comes the old fut lecture) you took your roll of film and dropped it off at Longs Drugs where it would be shipped to California for processing. You'd get it back in about two weeks and there were no double print specials either. When the Kodak building was built on the corner of Kapiolani and Kamakee (now demolished) turnaround time dropped to 3-4 business days. Then Fox One-Hour Photo opened up in Waikiki and the rush was on for one hour waits. If you bribed the photo technician/cashier she'd put yours ahead and you'd get it as fast as the machine could spit it out (thanks Debbie!).

Now one hour is too slow!? Well thank goodness for digital photography and portable color printers. Any faster and I think you'd have to go back to those Poloroid One Step cameras from the 70's, that still is about as fast as you can get to have a physical color print in front of your eyes seconds after taking the shot. :)

I think that'll be the next advancement in digital photography: built in color printers in your 10MP 5-inch active TFT display digital camera for on the spot prints. You watch it'll happen and probably by next Christmas!

[adrian]

You know to have to wait one hour for your prints and feel like it's taking too long for you just wreaks of sad violins :rolleyes:

When I was a kid (okay here comes the old fut lecture) you took your roll of film and dropped it off at Longs Drugs where it would be shipped to California for processing. You'd get it back in about two weeks and there were no double print specials either. When the Kodak building was built on the corner of Kapiolani and Kamakee (now demolished) turnaround time dropped to 3-4 business days. Then Fox One-Hour Photo opened up in Waikiki and the rush was on for one hour waits. If you bribed the photo technician/cashier she'd put yours ahead and you'd get it as fast as the machine could spit it out (thanks Debbie!).

Now one hour is too slow!? Well thank goodness for digital photography and portable color printers. Any faster and I think you'd have to go back to those Poloroid One Step cameras from the 70's, that still is about as fast as you can get to have a physical color print in front of your eyes seconds after taking the shot. :)

I think that'll be the next advancement in digital photography: built in color printers in your 10MP 5-inch active TFT display digital camera for on the spot prints. You watch it'll happen and probably by next Christmas!
Well, sorry for being so impatient.

With fast computers, the internet and DSL and Cable modems, I feel that photography should jump into the 21st century and make everything available within reach.

Heck, if I could, then I wouldn't be taking the pictures for the family, and I'd let someone else do it.

Either I have to save money to get a good digital camera, or use my uncle's "free digital camera" (that came with his printer) and use 4 AA batteries in a few minutes, take only 6 pictures, run upstairs, download them on to my computer, reformat the memory, run back downstairs, and repeat.

[craigwatanabe]

sounds like that free camera needs some memory upgrading and some lithium-ion batteries.

I bet you're using the built in memory for those shots and probably alkaline batteries for power.

First upgrade the batteries to at least 2200Ma (2.2A) lithium rechargable batteries (AA). Longs or Radio Shack can probably set you up with a good rechargable set of batteries and wall charger for under $25.00. This will at least get you more shots per set of batteries.

Second upgrade your memory. If you're using SD I suggest Sandisk as they have some pretty good transfer times as opposed to bargain brand SD cards. Go to at least 256mb. If you can afford 512mb that's even better. Cost wise it's better to go 512mb as cost per mb goes down with higher capacity cards.

If your camera is less than 3MP then maybe you should consider upgrading the camera itself. For around $200 you can get a fairly good 3MP camera with medium resolution video as well.

[helen]

The typical cheap digital camera can't hold that many images in the very hi-res mode.

[craigwatanabe]

but can you expand with a memory card?

[helen]

For the most part cheap digital cameras don't have expandable memory to store the images. They are great for quick photos but I wouldn't take one on a trip. And if you did just buy more of them.

[craigwatanabe]

Oh well, sounds like you're going to have to upgrade, have you considered ebay? they have good deals on used equipment. But for under $150 you can get a brand new pretty decent digital camera with expandable memory. I paid $150 for my 3.2Mp Kyocera with a 2-inch LCD screen. It takes two AA batteries and expandable SD cards. It also takes medium res video with sound! That's a great deal for $150.

[ili_g]

things i've learned from 3 years of digital shutterbugging

- compact flash cards rock. their rugged design with nothing important exposed on the outside is brilliant. two incidents come to mind: one of my cards found its way into the washing machine. i let it dry out, and i was able to get the pix off it. the other happened on vacation. the family and i parked in pa'ia, and walked around town. when we got back to the car, i looked at the ground behind the car. "wow, that sucks, somebody's memory card got ran over!" when i checked my camera bag to discover my card gone... well, i was a little upset. but when i got home, i just bent it back into shape so it would fit in the reader, and was able to retrieve my pix.

- for light users, AA/AAA batteries work fine. i appreciate the ease of dropping into the 7-11 and getting some batteries when you're out holoholo-ing. but if you're a heavier user, like me, it's just too expensive. and the rechargable AA/AAA batteries never seem to last very long. i usually get about 100 pix on one charge of my battery.

for $150, though, you may not have too many choices. once you go up to the $200-250 range, your options open up. personally, i like nikon and canon.

-ili_g

[j3rr3y]

I would recommend the Canon A70. Clear, sharp images.. and you can upgrade the memory.
I do a lot of photography, so I have a very nice camera. The Canon D20 8.4 Megapixel... SLR. This thing is beautiful! I have a 512MB and 1GB CF cards (80X Pro), and a Sigma 50-500MM Lens, 50-200MM, and Sigma 28-70MM... If you ever get into serious photography, this thing is a serious camera!