My film camera has broken, so the Keller family is going to go digital. Can someone recommend me a good, inexpensive (less than $300 would be preferred, but we don’t want to be cheap at the expense of our family’s pictures) digital camera for family-recreational (pictures of vacations, kids’ big events, kids being cute, etc) usage? How many mega-pixels makes sense (i.e., film-like quality at 3x5 or 4x6 size, but I don’t want to overspend on quality I won’t be able to detect. I may want to print the occasional 8x10, but there’s a limit to how much I’d spend for those rare occasions.)? What brands are most reliable?
I recently bought one of the Nikon Coolpix models and I love it. I was also looking for a digital camera for less than $300 so I ended up with this model.
I don’t know too much about digital photograhy, but I’ve found the pictures to be of very high quality. The 3200 model delivers images up to 2,000 by 1,500 pixels, which I understand is sharp enough for up to 11"x14" prints. Besides the quality and reliability, I really like that I can fit this camera in my pocket. It’s really light weight so I have no excuse not to bring my camera along with me. The software is also easy to use.
The Nikon 3200 and 3700 would be fairly high on my list, along with the Canon A70 and A75. For less money you could look at Fuji A330 and the Olympus 540. Depending on the current prices, there are a few Sony cameras that will fit the bill, but the Sony Memory Stixs are more expensive than the other types of memory.
I prefer cameras with AA batteries, but you will have to buy NiMH rechargables if you don’t already have them. The cost for an extra proprietary lithium rechargable used in many small cameras can be more than $50, but you might decide that you don’t need an extra battery, they last quite a while as long as you are not using the LCD constantly.
Also include in your budget one or two larger memory cards. Whatever card is supplied with your camera won’t be enough.
A 3 megapixel model should do all that you are asking for and you would be able to go to 8 X 10 pictures if needed. You should probably determine if you want a smaller camera with a smaller zoom lens (3x) or bigger zoom and a larger camera. I have a 2 megapixel Fuji with a 6X optical zoom that I like rather well and they make a 3 megapixel version. You should also plan on getting rechargeable batteries and an additional memory card as the ones supplied with most cameras are very small.
I bought a Canon A20 for my trip to Israel several years ago. I found the Canon cameras to have pretty good quality and mine is still holding up well. It’s a 2MP camera and prints up to 8x10 pictures very nicely. If I ever upgrade, I will no doubt be going with a Canon again.
In any event, I would definitely recommend checking out the sites that Telemark recommended.
We’ve logged over 15,000 photos on a Nikon Coolpix 990, and it is still going strong. My favourite brands are Nikon for picture quality and robustness and Olympus for features.
I dislike Konika-Minolta’s, and once returned a Toshiba within two days because it was unmitigated crap, and Sony’s are too expensive for what you get, imho.
I just bought a Canon Powershot A75, and I’m very happy with it. 3.2 megapixels and 3x optical zoom, and it has a lot of other great features. I searched around for awhile before deciding on this model for my needs. I got the camera for $249, plus I bought the carrying case/battery charger and an extra memory card. I love being able to take pictures of mundane things and being able to toss them later.
Consumer reports rates the 3 megapixel version of the Olympus D-580 zoom highly (I ended up getting the 4 MG version for the missus). Runs on AA batteries, but throw away the 16MB card it comes with and pick up something with a decent size.
My choice was the Canon Powershot A-series, too - very good performance, and you can switch them from full-auto-programed all the way to full-manual operation (aperture, shutter speed, etc). It’s also among those that have the look/feel of a more traditional camera. The Olympus digitals are also very good, quality wise.
Look at the indicated review sites and, of course, expect that whatever you get will almost necessarily encounter there’s “that one” feature on which you wish they had not compromised.
As mentioned before, one thing to bear into consideration is the battery configuration – you WILL need to go with rechargeables as your mainstay, but something like the Canon A70/80 series or the Olympus D580 will use the AA size of battery, so you can swap with other equipment, or if dire circumstances require just pop in a set of alkalines until you can get back to the recharger.
Another thing to think of is the memory card media – as mentioned you WILL buy extra cards, as the camera’s OEM will be a puny joke. You may want to consider if you’ll possibly want to have cross-compatibility with other devices later (or with legacy devices). CF and SD are the most common formats, Sony uses its own Memory Stick and Olympus/Fuji use xD.
Microdrives are CFII format, not sure if the C5050 is CFII or plain CF. Either way, microdrives are not really a great option. While they do have a price advantage over solid state cards the failure rate is suprisingly high, often with no recovery. Meaning you just lost 1 Gig of photos. They also have higher power consumption and longer write times.