I'm thinking about getting a digital camera in the near future and would like some advice. I would prefer a camera which is not too flashy, (no pun intended!) not too expensive and takes pretty good shots. Also, could someone tell me about the connectivity from camera ---> computer. How does it work?

A camera along these lines would be good.

* Under $300 (AUD) That's around $195 (USD)
* Takes good shots
* Reliable
* Well made

etc.

Thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-08-2003, 03:24 AM: Message edited by: GokuZool ]

Connectivity is generally via USB.

I'm no expert, but I would look for at least 2 megapixel resolution and a 3x optical zoom lens as a minimum. Don't be seduced by unnecessary features like the ability to record short movie clips - in practical terms they are useless.

Read a few on-line reviews and see what's out there. I, myself, have a low-end Olympus Camedia which suits me fine for the sort of "point and shoot" photos I take.

Hope this helps ;)

Hmmm,

You need to define good shots.
Do you want to just look at them on the puter, and post them online? Then any 1 Mega Pixel camera will do.
If you plan on printing, or having them print forget your price, you will need at least 2.2 MP preferably 3 MP. The higher the MP the higher the cost. More MP means more to work with. 2.2 MP will print nice 4x6 prints, no cropping, no enlarging. 3+ you can start to crop, and get larger prints. 4+ MP you can print upto 81/2 x 14, or crop down and still get portrait quality at 5x7.
A higher MP means more picture = more space taken up on the memory card.

USB is the base standard for digicam to puter transfer. However, if your pute has fire wire, it will transfer faster than USB 1.0 but not as fast as USB 2.0. So, puter dependent on your transfer.

I have an older Kodak 1.1 MP camera, small files, few options, great for minor shots, or posting to the web. Will print a decent 4x6.
My primary is a Sony 4.1 MP, big camera, lots of options, prints better 4x6 pictures than any film camera! Huge files, lots to work with.

Plan on an accessory kit. Extra batteries, extra storage card, good digital software.

Felix

I've got a kodak DX 3500 2.1 megapixels which works pretty well for me, pics are downloaded using kodaks easyshare docking system and software, or if you don't want to pay for this you can use a USB connection direct to your PC which sees the camera as another drive. The only minus with this camera is that it has a 2x digital zoom , as opposed to an optical zoom, maybe it's me but I haven't had alot of luck with the zoom, however they do make later models with optical zooms.

hmm.. how much on average does a 2mb - 3mb digital camera worth nowadays?

I just bought my first digital camera: The new Canon A60 with appr. 2 Mpix.
Until now I am VERY satisfied. I can point and click in auto mode or make manual adjustments just by chosing the mode on a selection wheel - even my 'technofobia' wife is able to take good pictures with it [img]smile.gif[/img] .

It got 3 x optical zoom (up til 7.5 x zoom together with the digital zoom), takes 4 AA (rechargable) batteries, uses SmartCard and costs (I guess) approximately 200 USD.

A slightly better equipped version: The Canon A70 costs approximately 80 USD extra and got 3.2 Mpix (and slightly better digital zoom).

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Insane

So I gather that you need storage cards, you can't just store the shots onto the camera itself. How many shots can fit on a normal card? A friend of mine can fit around 1000 pics on his camera! How is that possible?

By good shots, I mean high quality displayed on the comp and pretty good quality through print-outs.

[ 08-08-2003, 08:16 AM: Message edited by: GokuZool ]

Have a look here

This test is from March 2003. Canon (and others) have released a whole bunch of new camera versions since then (IMO some with better performance/price ratios too).

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Insane

As mouse said, you want at least 3x optical zoom. Digital zoom is useless as you lose resolution when zooming in with it.

The resolution required depends on your intended use. 2MPixel (1600x1200 max resolution) is perfectly good enough for viewing full screen on your monitor or printing up to around A5 size (quality depends on printer as well). If you want to print A4 size you'll probably need a 3 or 4 Mpixel camera. Professionals use 6MP cameras but that is probably overkill and too expensive for your price range.
Make sure you get at least 128MB memory card - this allows around 160 photos to be taken at 1600x1200 resolution with fine JPGEG compression (high detail).

As people have said connectivity is generally USB. Just plug it in (after drivers are installed) and it should show up as a removable drive so you can use it like a zip disk or something.

Before you buy makes sure you can at least adjust some things such as white balance and light sensitivity otherwise you'll have no control over shots in awkward lighting conditions.

[ 08-08-2003, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

Yeah they mostly use either SmartMedia, Compact Flash or Secure Digital. The 1000 photos is probably at a low resolution such as 640x480. I can fit around 990 photos on my 128MB card at 640x480. But that resolution is crap except for sending small photos over email or something.

The ability to make small videos isn't always useless - you might want to make a video of a scene instead of taking multiple photos. Also, most digital cameras double up as webcams.

Thanks for the info everyone! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Just bumping this with new info/questions:

I'm probably getting a Sony Digital Camera, either the CyberShot 3.2 MP DSCP32 or the CyberShot 2.0 MP U DSCU30S. Are there any other Sony models on the market similar to these? Also what are your views on the linked models? One more thing, what card would you recommend out of the Sony range? Is there any point getting anything larger than 128mb? Is there an online table which shows cards with how many shots they can take and at what detail?

Thanks [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-09-2003, 06:40 AM: Message edited by: GokuZool ]

2MP shots, i.e. 1600x1200 resolution at low compression are just under 1MB. Therefore you can store more than 128 on a 128MB card. You're unlikely to take photos at much higher res than that for general use so you decide whether you want to be able to store more photos. Remember that digital cameras can also make videos and can also be used as a removable memory drive so you can store other files and transport them to other computers: music, documents whatever. These all indicate that the larget the memory card, the more versatile.

About the CYBER SHOT MS CAMERA 3.2 MP DSCP32.

The 3.2MP res is good, although as I say, unless you want to print in A4 you probably won't use it as each image will take around 1.5MB which is quite a lot on the card and even for your hard disk if you have a lot of images.

I don't know what "Smart Zoom" is and they cunningly don't tell you. However, judging by the lack of the words "optical zoom", I'm not sure there is real zoom there which is a big negative. I mean, on the picture can you see a zoom lens? I can't. Make sure you find out if it's optical zoom or not. In the specs section it gives you data for smart zoom, saying it can magnify to different factors depending on resolution. I mean look you can magnify by up to 1.3 times at 2MP... woohoo! (sarcastic) You want at least 3x OPTICAL ZOOM (proper telescope type zoom lens which I can't tell from the picture if this one has or not.) Digital zoom is crap because as you zoom in the resolution drops. Even if this smart zoom is proper, i.e. resolution does not drop as you zoom in, it's only up to 3x at VGA resolution which is 640x480 i.e. so small you will never use it for shots you would want to zoom in on anyway (wildlife, distant features etc.)

Other than that it's good that it can record sound and it has all the standard settings you want to be able to change: White Balance, exposure control, flash mode. I don't have burst mode on mine so I don't know how useful it is, but this is where it takes a fast series of pictures automatically, it says at 0.5 second intervals. This is good for capturing action such as in a sporting event, although not sure how often you will use it.

The 5x digital zoom for playback is something you take for granted so I don't know why they parade it like such a good feature. Of course you want to be able to zoom in on the picture that you have taken otherwise you can't see anything on that small screen, right?

All in all I'd say it was a good camera but not amazing for that price. You should be able to get one with optical zoom for that price, I'd say it might even be worth getting a camera with only 2MP but with optical zoom for the same price. Have a look around.


About the SILVER 2 MEGAPIXEL CYBERSHOT U CAMERA DSCU30S

Pretty basic camera and for the same price as the one above?
The only especially good things are the auto focus (which the other one has too) and the mirror for self shots (I guess it stops you from having to ask other people to take shots of you when touring, or something).
I can't really see why this is the same price as the one above when it has far fewer features. You should be able to get this level of camera much cheaper.


Have a look at this:
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epa...oduct=43860870

I have a FinePix A201 from over a year ago and am very happy with it.

look at the others
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epa...vBarId=C234644


a better camera than the ones you have linked and for $280 US i.e. $430 Aus

[ 08-09-2003, 11:09 AM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

Don't be scared of digital zoom!!!!>>>>.....
In the early days of digicams some snotnosed author wrote bad things about it. Since then the camera folks and the photo professionals did the mind meld thing, and wolay, we have moderen day digicams. The thing that you need to understand about digital zoom is; Once the picture is captured you have very little to work with as far as cropping, especially if you are under 4MP in resolution. Now, on a 2-3 MP camera, a digital zoom will bring in close, that distant shot. If you understand photography at all, or have worked with 35mm film, digital zoom = using a fixed telephoto lens on SLR. Good upto about 4x6 digcam, 5x7 max 35mm.
You do want a optical zoom, 3 x is fine, and most cameras in this post have that. (I did not look at your links).
Before you jump and buy make sure you review both online resources and printed matter. e digiatl, PC Photo, anything that has comparisons will do you right. I'm not a fuji man for 1 reason, they have a known tendency to oversaturate red! Meaning; skin tones on people are "brighter" that normal. Yes you can compensate for it, or fix with software, but why? Buy a good camera to start with.

Sony is proprietary(sp) so, you will pay through the nose for the little "sony blue, "gum stick"" That they use for cards. Mine is a CD-Mavica, and I use generic mini cds, 158MB, can store about 90 shots at full res.
It will also rival any digicamcorder in it's ability to record MPEG mvies, so again, movie mode is not useless. Especially if you want to capture the event, and snap-shoot portions there after.

I don't think you are ready for the professional series cameras yet, Nikon and Canon both are $3k plus in price, no lens or flash, and at 11MP only huge (large price inclusive) memory sticks allow for more than 1-2 shots.

Whatever you get, make sure the store allows for 10 day returns. That way if you are totally displeased, you can always take it back after a 9 day trial.

Felix

Digital Zoom might be ok on a 4MP camera cos even with the loss of resolution you will have ok detail. But on my 2MP camera it's crap. And I haven't read anything about digital zoom, I decided for myself that it;s not very good [img]tongue.gif[/img]

i just got a camera just now with 3x digital zoom with 3mb quality. its ok and not bad, not good for the experts but good enough for an amatuer... my 2c

The only thing digital zoom offers is: Reduced use of memory on your memory card. You are able to do the same thing (ie. digital zoom) on your PC.

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Insane