I’m finally in the market for a digital camera.
I’ll be looking for one that takes decent pictures that i can send to be printed, but does not cost too much.
In looking around, it is pretty overwhelming, to say the least.
I’d like to hear from people who’ve recently bought digital cameras (sort of entry-level models).
What features do you love/must have
what features are “ho-hum”
any horror stories about particular brands/models out there?
Help me navigate the nightmare maze of digitals!
i do not yet own a camera, but am looking. You may have heard of this website, but if not it is a great place to start.
Dpreview is an excellent site as is Steves-digcams.com.
Most of this is an IMHO but I’ll give you what I’ve learned from using digcams for a couple of years.
Don’t get suckered in by extremely high megapixels. 2mp is just adequate for 8x10s but 3mp is a better choice for most casual users. There are some new 5mp consumer cameras but the high pixel count crammed into a small CCD results in more noise. 5mp cameras like the Sony F717 and Minolta Dimage 7 have a larger CCD than most consumer cameras but they cost much more.
Add the cost of memory to the cost of the camera. I suggest you get at least 256mb. If you get a camera that uses compact flash memory it will cost the least per megabyte and have the widest availability. Other types of memory such as SD, MMC, SM and memory stick will cost more and some are limited to 128mb per card. I also suggest getting a memory card reader rather than plugging your camera into your PC.
Batteries are the achilles heel. Using alkalines in a digicam is a bad joke as you’ll get life measured in minutes. Nickel metal hydride AA batteries are the most cost effective. You can afford to have plenty of spares, one set in the camera, one set charging and one strandby. Cameras that take proprietary Lithium ion batteries perform well but spare batteries are pricey.
Ignore digital zoom. It’s electronic tomfoolery that achieves “zoom” by cropping and degrading the image. Optical zoom is the only thing that matters. 3x zoom is usually adeqate as it covers moderate wide angle to moderate telephoto.
FWIW I have a Canon A10 1.3mp and Minolta Dimage 7 5mp camera. Even though I can’t print a decent 8x10 with the Canon it’s still a favorite and the underwater housing is a blast to use in the pool. It’s a fully automated point and shoot but actually has a fair degree of flexibility with some semi-manual overrides. If I was replacing it today I’d consider the Canon A70. It has 3mp and even more features.
Another good information source is www.dcresource.com
My digitals are more in the “prosumer” range, and I don’t follow the entry level cameras. But that said, here’s some advice:
Digital zoom is not good, get optical zoom
Generally speaking, movie mode is worse than the cheapest vidio camera
A camera that uses rechargable AA size batteries can be run on alkilines or lithiums in an emergency, but a camera with a “dedicated” battery may be smaller and lighter weight
High speed memory cards are of no extra value in low or mid range cameras as the cameras internal memory buffer is the limiting factor
Flash range of most entry level cameras is about 12 feet, and most cannot accept an external flash unit
Plan on buying an extra battery, memory cards, a card reader, CD writer, image editing software, a digitizing pad, and perhaps a dedicated photo printer.
YMMV
I have a related question: What about sensor types? CMOS is cheaper than CCD, and uses less power, but I understand it is a somewhat “noisy” format that performs poorly in low light conditions. Is CMOS ok for only the sub 100$ price-range?
InTheField, since you’re looking for opinions, I’ll move this to IMHO. General Questions is for questions with factual answers.
Please read the forum descriptions carefully before you post your next question. Thank you.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
I just bought a Sony DSC-U30 - it is a tiny 2Mp camera with no zoom at all (I’ll have to use leg zooming where possible) - I was going to go for something more elaborate, but size is very important to me; if it is at all bulky, I know I’ll leave it at home.
I first thought 2 megapixels woulnd’t be enough, but that still results in an image that (pixel-for-pixel) is a good deal larger than my 1024x768 Windows desktop, so it should be OK as long as I don’t have to crop too much and as long as I’m not printing billboards.
The other (less important) deciding factor was that I already own a large memory stick.
Actually CMOS is used by canon in $1,500-$8,000 cameras. Their current line of DSLRs (digital SLR cameras that use the same lenses as 35mm film cameras) use Canon made CMOS sensors.
These cameras have 4-11 megapixels but most important they have huge sensors. The newest, the 6mp 10D has a sensor that measures 22.7 x 15.1 mm. By comparison the sensor in a typical consumer digicam might be 7.18 x 5.32mm and usually smaller. The larger sensor means proportionally bigger photo receptor sizes for each pixel, proprtionally bigger lenses and true aperture sizes. That means for the same exposure conditions many times more photons hit each pixel. That makes for a much wider dynamic range (better ability to record shadow and highlight detail) and less random and electronic noise for cleaner images.
Other DSLR manufacturers use CCD sensors but a similar large size to Canon’s. It’s about the same size as an APS film frame which means lenses have a narrower view than they would on a film camera by a factor of 1.3-1.6 or so. A few cameras have a sensor the same size as 35mm film but they are hyper expensive and there are optical problems that cause light falloff at the corners.
Since we’re in proper IMHO territory here I’ll say don’t judge image size by your screen. What looks overwhelmingly huge on your screen is too small to make a good print. A good rule of thumb is to have at least image 150 pixels per inch on paper. That means a 1024x768 image that fills your screen might make a 5x7 print at best. A 3mp camera gets you around 190 pixels per inch for an 8x10 after minimal cropping which makes for better detail and realism on a quality printer.
Argh, premature posting. For those that don’t know here are typical image sizes & pixels counts
1.3mp = 1280 x 960
2mp = 1600 x 1200
3mp = 2048 x 1536
4mp = 2272 x 1704
5mp = 2560 x 1920
6mp = 3008 x 2000
6mp is found in DSLRs so has a different aspect ratio than most other cameras to match the 2:3 ratio of 35mm film. Most other cameras have a 3:4 ratio which matches a screen but all must be cropped slightly to match common 4:5 print formats. The newly announced Olympus DLSR is in a entirely new format and has a 3:4 ratio.
InTheField, I know you started this, but I am looking for a replacement camera, too. Mind if we share the thread?
For this cam, price is the biggest factor. I can’t budget for much more than $300 no matter what. The absolute, basic requirements are:[ul][li]1.9 megapixels minimum[]1600x1200 minimum[]JPG low compression (image quality is important)[]flash[]macro (down to 4 inches)[]uses memory cards[]3X zoom min[/ul][/li]I need to give smartcard storage high priority, as I have a small investment in cards and readers for that format only, and this might save $100 on the total purchase.
Good battery life is a plus, but I can live with whatever. Low-light sensitivity, fast time-to-store and time-to-standby are desirable; other features are pretty much I’ll take what I can get.
Any suggestions?
Musicat Welcome aboard, the more the merrier!
xash Thanks for moving the posting. My Bad.
I think I’ve narrowed the choice down to the Sony Cybershot DSC-P32 or P52 or P72. I can’t quite make up my mind as to whether or not I need the optical zoom that the P52 and P72 have. It would be NICE, but would it be worth an extra $100 (Canadian)?? I love my 35 - 70 mm lens on my SLR… Is the “regular” lens on the P32 just too limiting? How much can I digitally zoom (or crop using photoshop) before the image quality stinks for a 5X7 print?
And thanks for the advice on batteries and memory. I can’t believe that they ship these with 16 MB memory. Looks like I can get 128 MB Sony memory stick for around $100 Can.
InTheField you might want to try somewhere like eBay for cheaper memory sticks. I recently bought a new, still in the packet, 128mb compact flash card for $70 AUD when they retail in stores for $150 or so.
I have the Nikon 2100 which is 2.1 megapixels. It’s a nice little camera but I haven’t been blown away by its picture quality. In fact, when I take pictures of clothes for eBay, my old 1.3 megapixel Fuji which has been dropped on the ground, is vastly superior. On the other hand, the Nikon is better for taking happy snaps and always gets lots of coos on its cuteness. 
The features I love are the zoom (my Fuji had only digital zoom), the macro mode, and the settings for night, overcast days, bright days, fireworks, which mean that I don’t have to fiddle with the manual controls. I don’t like movie mode and would never even consider using it - huzzah, my camera can take a 10 second movie clip without any sound. The wonders of technology. :rolleyes:
From what little I know of digital media, getting any sort of “beginner” or “non-professional” gear means you’re going to have a problem with noise/grain in low-light conditions. You can usually live with this with a little pre-planning; if you know you’re going to be photographing in low-light conditions (say, inside a home at light), you can switch to a slower shutter speed or a “night photography” mode to compensate. When I switched from 35mm to a digital camera, it took me a while to get into this pre-emptive thinking, but now I’m pretty good with it.
The other thing you’ll learn about when you go into digital photography is white balance. You need to tell the camera what “white” is so your pictures aren’t tinted in red or yellow when photographing with artificial light. All cameras will have an “automatic” white balance feature, but more often than not it won’t be good for anything other than outdoor photography.
Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment the living bejeebers out of your new toy. You get instant results and don’t have to spend any money on film, so go hog-wild and really master the camera. Digital photography is definitely more fun and spontaneous than film phography, let me tell you. 
Musicat, if you are looking for close in zoom, nothing is better than the Nikon line. They have the best macro mode (close as 1 inch) and most other camera lines won’t touch that. At least that was the state of the world 1 year ago when I bought my last camera.
Telemark, so far I have avoided looking at Nikons for fear the price would be high. Maybe I should check. Any Nikon model you have worked with that is cheap?
I used the macro down to 3 inches on a Fuji Finepix 2400 that has stopped working, and that mode is great. I’m surprised it’s not on more models. 1 inch would be wonderful.
I sure would like to be able to be able to control shutter speed and aperture, or at least set one as a priority. But that might not be available in the $300 range I am looking in.
I’m also surprised that the light sensitivity on digital cameras isn’t very great – I wonder if this is a technical limitation? Many years ago, when I worked in (film) news photography, we regularly used ASA 2400 speeds for indoor, non-flash pix (B&W, admitedly). But so far, the digital cams I have seen, at least in the low-to-medium end, top out at ASA 400. This, coupled with the wimpy flash units, makes for poor indoor photography.
That www.dpreview.com site that terd_ferguson gave is great. I was able to put in a couple dozen parameters of features I had to have and it came up with one camera that met all of them: the Canon Powershot A60. I have found a street price for that of $200.
Memory uses Compact Flash, not the SmartMedia I was hoping for, so this will add perhaps $80 to duplicate the SmartMedia cards & reader functionality I already have in CF form.
I sure wish the manufacturers would get together and settle on the card they all use – they seem pretty equal to me. Nobody wants to be left with a big Beta collection when the world switches to VHS overnight.
If you look at photographic tip sites, magazine articles and photography how-to books, they’ll all say the same thing:
The best camera is the one you’ll have with you.
To that end, I recommend one of the smaller digital cameras that is minute enough to fit in a pants pocket or small purse. That way, the size of the camera will never be an issue, and you’ll take it everywhere with you.
This is probably more important than the number of megapixels, movie modes, etc… 2 to 3 megapixels and 3x zoom is more than adequate for 99% of shots.
Look at cameras like the Canon Powershot Digital ELPH series, or the small Fuji digitals. And like several posters have said- get a hefty Compactflash or memory stick. Unlike film, you can’t just buy another roll!
Don’t worry about card readers- most cameras these days have a direct USB hookup.
While small is good, I carry a camera with me when I hike and I need features that aren’t available in the smallest camera. It’s an Olympus C-720, with an 8x optical zoom. That lens just can’t be made smaller.
I did a quick check and cameras like the Nikon Coolpix 5400 focuses down to .5", which will beat any other camera out there that I know of. The 4500 goes to 3/4" and the 4300 goes to 1.6".
The Fuji 2400 is listed as 3.9" and all the current Fuji’s look to be in the same 3" to 4" range.
rjung, what camera did you use that had such poor auto white balance? The auto WB works so well on my little Canon I’ve rarely had a need to set it manually. I usuelly use auto on the Dimage 7 except when shooting with studio lights when I’ll take a custom white balance shot from a reference card so I can calibrate the images better in post processing.