My wife somehow managed to “misplace” my digital camera while we were in Vegas a couple weeks ago- so I get a new one!
There’s a lot out there, and I was wondering what Straight Dopers are using. My price range is around $400, and I’m looking for something just a little bit better than just a “snapshot” camera, though “snapshots” are going to be the main use.
Right now, I’m looking at a Canon Powershot s45 or the Sony DSC-P7/P9. I’ve heard that the Olympus Camedia c4000 is a good camera, and I’ve found some great prices on it, but I hear the SmartMedia format which it uses is most likely going away. On that same note, even though I’m looking at the Sony cameras, I don’t think I’d buy into the whole memory stick deal.
I’ve got an old Sony DSC-S30. I like it, though it’s not up to modern standards it was good when I bought it and it still takes quality pics for sharing over the net.
You mentioned the memory sticks; as far as I know they’re only good in Sony products (and not the PS2 dagumit!) so if you buy into it you’re either gonna lock yourself to a Sony upgrade path or be ready to junk a bunch of memory sticks if you ever want a non-Sony camera.
Fredge is correct that the Sony memory sticks are only really usable in Sony cameras. This is not the problem it used to be, as Sony are finally coming put with some reasonably-sized (in terms of memory) sticks.
Still, i would go for a camera that takes regular Compact Flash cards, preferably both CF1 and CF2 types, although that might be asking a bit much at the $400 range.
I also second Fredge’s DP Review recommendation - that’s where i went before buying my digital camera. I’m afraid, though, that i can’t help you much more than that, because i’m a bit of a photography buff and went for a higher level model.
I really like my Canon S200. At your price range, I’d go for the S230, it’s older brother with higher resolution. Very compact, good design, nice pictures. All the Canons are nice, actually.
The problem with SmartMedia is that it maxes out at 128 MB. If your pictures are 1 MB each, that’s not really that much capacity if you go on vacation.
Fredge and mhendo, a friend of mine recommended DP Review to me today- what a great (and comprehensive) site! One thing I wish it had was recommendations, like CNET…
Damn, don’t junk them! I’ve been looking high and low for cheap memory sticks to take on my vacation. I finally found a good price on Amazon for some new ones.
Sell them on eBay, they fetch a pretty good price.
I’m using an older Kodak. DC4800. It’s been discontinued, but you can probably get something similar/better for that price these days. The thing I really like about the Kodak cameras is the color balance. Often, pictures look better right off the camera than after applying “auto-levels” in photoshop. Nice and vivid.
It’s about time I got a new camera, I just can’t afford it yet. I’d love to get a higher end Canon.
The camera my wife lost was a Kodak DC3400, and in fact, I had a Kodak DC215 before that. They were both great cameras for what I used them for- tossing in my bag and documenting my son’s first 3 years (they also served me well at mutiple parties and weddings- instant gratification).
At this point, I think I’d like a more advanced camera, but I’m still a sucker for something like this.
I have not heard that the Smart Media format is dying. I don’t know why as I find them reliable. You can get it and cheap. I got a 128 MB for 40.00. It holds a lot of pictures in a 2 megapixel camera. I like Olympus and Fugi. Check out the Fugi 3800 which is a 3 megapixel with a 6X optical zoom. Read about it here.
oceans_11
The Fugi 3800 also uses the XD memory. Those chips are really small and my first thought was that they could easily be lost. They were about 2X more expensive when we got the camera in December.My nephew has the Fugi 3800 and I bought my daughter a Fugi 2800. The 2800 uses the Smart Media card.They both take a really nice photo and have some nice features. The 6X zoom can come in handy too. You can actually record a small .avi file and make verbal notes through the mic. Make sure you get a memory card reader.
Toddly- I’ve read several sites and reviews on the Fuji 3800, and I’m very interested in it. It seems to have a lot of great features for the price point. One reported drawback with this camera seems to be a slow response or slow shutter, resulting in either a blurred pic, or the photo-op blown. This would be an issue for me since I take a lot of pictures of my 3 year old. Have you or your nephew run into any problems with this?
My nephew took off to New Zealand and I haven’t seen him since so I cannot comment on his experiences yet. I am not sure what is meant by a slow shutter. I think you can set the shutter speed manually but don’t quote me. On my Olympus you need to press the shutter for a 1/4 second or so to set the auto focus. This seems to be the same with the FUGI. Is that what is meant by shutter lag?
I second Boscibo’s recommendation of the Sony DSC-S85. It’s a sweet camera and allows you the flexibility to play with settings if you enjoy that, or just use auto mode and let the camera think for you. It’s hard to take a bad picture with it.
Toddly-“Shutter Lag” (I don’t know if it’s the real term) is the delay between pressing the shutter button and the the actual recording of the image. So, basically, you’re all ready to take the picture, click the button, but the image doesn’t get recorded until half a second later (and always after the kid’s done being cute). Compared to standard film cameras, digital cameras are generally slower in this respect.
Urban Ranger, thanks for the link…
Sigmundex, the DSC-S85 looks sweet, but it may be out of my price range…
This is a third recommendation for the Sony DSC-S85. It’s a tad over your price range (I paid $480 for mine a few weeks ago?) but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I was in the nosebleed seats at an NBA game recently and took some pics of Michael Jordan on “auto” mode. The pics make it look like I had seats in the lower deck
Olympus C50 owner here. It’s a bit over your price range ($599 at Best Buy), but you can find it online for far less (I got mine for $430.)
It’s ultra compact (slips in my pocket), 5Mp (8x10’s at photo quality), 3x optical, lots of bells and whistles, has a Li-Ion battery (lasts darn near forever) and take xD cards (super small size, huge capacity.)
