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Time for November's reviews. And no, I guess these aren't really fair, as they aren't a professional survey and it's really just random stories, but they might turn people on to cameras they wouldnt have considered before, and it might break a tie.
I have a DSC-T33 Sony Cybershot. It's the next generation after that tiny thin one in the Sony commercial where the woman takes a picture of Steven Tyler. It's thin, and easy to carry around, and the huge screen on the back of it makes it incredibly easy to take pictures. I bought it for 350, that's after a 150 dollar price drop. For the money I think it is fantastic. It's easy to operate, especially the special automatic modes, like Fireworks, that you can set it to, it takes fantastic pictures.
It has 5.1 Megapixels. I especially like the improvements over the T1, which means instead of the flap over the front, which to means looks prone to breaking, there's a tiny shutter instead that automatically opens and closes.
I'd recommend getting a plastic cover for the screen to prevent scratching, you can cut down the cheap ones people buy for PDAs, it's easier. Also, the docking station is VERY easy to use. It recharges a battery (No replacement batteries!) and connects to the computer too. It uploads fast and easy to my computer.
All in all, it's portable (fits in pockets and purses easily), excellent user interface, fantastic pictures and awesome screen for photo taking. Also the camera has a speaker on it for replaying movies you can take.
Like all cameras, especially higher megapixel cameras, you'll need a higher end memory card. I use a 256MB. But this is a highly recommended camera.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I know very little about digital cameras, but have been reccomended the Nikon coolpix and Cannon Powershot. I'm in the up to $200 price range.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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As far as point & shoot cameras go, Nikon's are consistently the best if you do not care about camera size, as they tend to be fairly large.
Canon's Powershot S410 is *still* the best compact point & shoot camera. They're trying to push the SD series as a replacement, but the sensor doesn't work nearly as well. Avoid the S500: it's a more complicated sensor crammed into the same space, and it results in a lot more jpeg artifacting & purple fringing.
Then again, "best" is pretty subjective: it depends on what you value in a point'n'shooter. Size? Ease of use? Manual shooting options? Price? Price of memory? LCD screen size/brightness/clarity? Aesthetics? Durability? etc. etc. etc. etc.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I don't care about the size, prices are most important, then ease of use, having an lcd display is important, but it doesn't really matter what it looks like. Also how much should I expect to pay for a memory card?
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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What you can expect to pay for a memory card varies by camera: some types of memory are more expensive, and larger memory cards are obviously more expensive. The size of the memory card you need varies greatly depending on how big the camera's photo capture resolution is (the bigger it is, the bigger the individual photos are, so you need a bigger card to hold the same # of pictures). It also varies depending on how many pictures you typically take, and how often you expect to have to unload the camera. If you just need a camera for average home use and occasional 1-2 day outings, you can get away with 128-512 mb cards for a 4-5 megapixel camera. If you travel a lot and will be in places where your computer is inaccessible or have a 6-8 megapixel camera, you're going to want to invest in a 1gb card - or possibly two.
Given what you've said thusfar, I'd still recommend the Canon S410. You can find them on eBay for roughly $230 including 256-512 memory, case, and other accessories. Because the camera uses Compact Flash Type II memory (which is exceedingly cheap), you can expect to pay at most $25-30 for a huge memory card.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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By "huge memory card" how big are you talking? A gig CF card will run you about $100. A faster writing card will cost even more.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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If anyone knows of a digital camera that has it's own battery to charge... that would be great! Posts: 1417 | Registered: Aug 1999
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I have a Canon EOS Rebel 7.1 Megapixel. Yes, it is on the much expensive side (it's my other baby [truck being the first]). Costs about $900 new. However, what I like about it is that I can add different lenses to it to either get closer or make it a wider view. I can also add different filters to the lenses (I don't like to photoshop some effects). It is a bit bulky, but I consider it a great buy. I just bought a new lens for it the other day in fact.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Unicorn: All Canon & Casio compacts come with their own rechargable batteries, as do some lines of Sony cameras, and some random other ones (some of the Olympus ultracompacts, for example). The rest all take AA batteries, though, and you can buy rechargables .
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Wow, this is convenient. I'm going to be getting my wife a digital camera for Christmas and know nothing about them. I'm basically looking for a good starter camera and hope to spend around $200 or less. All we'd be doing is taking pictures of family, vacation, etc.
I keep hearing that Canon is really good, but I've also been told that Canon is slow taking single-shots. Is that true, and if so, are other cameras significantly faster? Is Canon good enough that it offsets that?
I've been looking over reviews on the internet, but it's not easy to get a consensus. I find one camera that sounds great and then read a lousy review on it somewhere else. Are there any sites that can be trusted to know what they're talking about?
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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