Digital Cameras

Jcrew3082

Cathlete
Hi everyone,

I'd really like to buy a user friendly point & shoot digital camera for under $300. I found a bunch with all of the specs I want, but I'm still undecided. Does anyone have any recommendations? And, if you do, how is that brand's software?

Thanks in advance,
Gina
 
I have two Sony Cybershots. They've worked great for me. One is an older 3.2 megapixel and we just bought a newer 5.1 megapixel. They take great pictures! I think you can still get the 3.2 for around $300, the 5.1 megapixel is a little more.
 
I love my Nikon 4300. It's a four megapixel camera and it takes beautiful, crystal clear pictures. The 3 megapixel Nikon is under $300 and is very compariable to mine.
 
I'm buying a digital camera for my husband's 40th birthday present in a few days: where are the best places to research cameras and to buy?

Thanks guys!

Clare
 
I got DH a Nikon Coolpix (3200) for our anniversary in September. Shhhhhhhh!!! I checked out reviews on Amazon. Hope I made a good choice. At the camera store they said it was easy to operate.
 
I'm looking to get a Canon A80. It's a 4 megapixel and has all of the stuff that I want. Most places it's about $299 but a photo shop that was recommended has it for a little less. It's at www.17photo.com...they come recommended from someone's father that lives in NY and knows the store.

HTH
Sue<><
 
We bought a Gateway camera (don't know the number) for a really good deal a few months ago. We are very pleased with it and with rebates and all we paid about $200.

My husband has since purchased a Nikon that uses the lenses from his Nikon N90 35 mm. That one cost approx $1000. He does some professional shooting so he wanted something a little more sporty.
As far as the picture quality, I can't tell a difference...but I'm not a professional.

When my husband was shopping around, he was told by so called experts that the thing to look for was how quickly the camera would recover (so to speak) and let you take the next shot. It's true it can be a little frustrating to have to wait to take the next picture when an opportunity presents itself:7

He was also told that the difference between 3.1 pixels and 5.1 pixels is negligible and that anything over 6 pixels is a waste unless you are going to be developing poster size pictures. That's what he was told anyway.;-)
 
>
>He was also told that the difference between 3.1 pixels and
>5.1 pixels is negligible and that anything over 6 pixels is a
>waste unless you are going to be developing poster size
>pictures. That's what he was told anyway.;-)


I have both a 3.2 and a 5.1 megapixel and there is a pretty big difference. The 5.1 pictures are MUCH clearer. They both take good pictures though.
 
I'm of the mind you can't go wrong when purchasing a Nikon product or a Sony product. We have always had fabulous luck with these brands.
 
Hi Gina, I am in NO way a camera expert, but I have been shopping around also. The only digital cameras that I know of that are point and shoot is the sony cyber shot......
All the other ones it seems it takes at least 10 secs for the picture to fully take, so you have to hold the camera still for at least 10 sec with most of them...........
I also found out that I want a digital camera that has optical zoom, but I also want one with digital zoom.
I am getting myself one for christmas............ Rhonda
 
Some things I'd consider:
1. Get one with an lcd screen that can actually be seen in daylight. This is a major weakness in the model I have now.
2. Red eye reduction capability---the camera can send a quick pre-pulse of light to help with this irritating problem especially when taking pics of pets.
3. 3.1 to 4 megapixels is fine for everyday family -type picture taking. You get great 4x6 pics and sometimes great 8x10 pics. The difference between 3.1 and 5.0 megapixels is the fact that great 8x10 pics are always attainable with the 5 megapixel model.
4. Storage space on your computer --- you need a cd burner for the 6 and 7 megapixel models. These pics are huge and take up chunks of memory.
5. Cameras with very high megapixel capability will require more expensive storage media generally.
6. Get rechargeable batteries. Some cameras eat batteries for lunch.
7. Digital zoom is a crappy feature and I would not even use it. It does not capture any additional detail than what you get with the ordinary optical zoom. All digital zoom does is "guess and fill in", or interpolate, to make a portion of an image larger. It does this by adding extra pixels the same way an editing software would do. This gives an "illusion" of added detail. The thing to remember here is if the detail is not there to begin with, you cannot "create" it. So don't waste your money.
8. If you print your own pics, the limiting factor in how good your prints will be is a combination of camera, software, printer, inks, and paper. A great camera and crappy printer equals crappy pics.
Just my thoughts.
T. :)
 
Hi Gina,

I have a Canon S50 5 megapixel camera, and I love it. This is my first digital camera and I am totally happy with it. The software allows you to do so many things, crop, center, add your own extras if you will-a mustache etc, just so many cool things. I have a lot of fun with it. I bought mine a while back on sale for about $400 I think. Good luck shopping.

:)
 
I have a Sony Cybershot--the 5 megapixel one that Dani has mentioned...it usually sells for $499..but one of my friends has a Casio 4 megapixel camera that is very similar in size and seemingly in quality to the Cybershot that's $399.

You might want to look into the 4.1 Megapixel Cybershot..it's under 300 dollars--$279 at Best Buy.

I like Sonys because the memory sticks make it easy to upload the pictures to your computer..you can buy a floppy disk adapter where you can insert the memory stick into the floppy and your computer reads all the pictures right off of there.

Look for a camera w/ optical zoom..digital zoom doesn't really mean anything, it's just zooming in after the picture has been taken, which you can do with any computer picture software anyways.
 
>
>I like Sonys because the memory sticks make it easy to upload
>the pictures to your computer..you can buy a floppy disk
>adapter where you can insert the memory stick into the floppy
>and your computer reads all the pictures right off of there.
>


Oh, yeah...Kat2002! I forgot to mention the Sony memory stick. They're great and my computer (Hewlett Packard) actually has a slot where I can put the memory stick right in there. I don't even need an adapter, and it uploads the pictures automatically.
 
Hi Clare,

PC World has an awesome how-to guide that gives a bit of detail about different kinds of specs:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,12,00.asp

The following 3 links are for different top 10 lists from PC World:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,116028,00.asp

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,116028,00.asp

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,116028,00.asp

Amazon is a pretty good place to go because you can read customer reviews.

Biz Rate is also pretty good- customer reviews and prices from many many stores: http://www.bizrate.com Type in at least some words of the product you want to see or go to the digital camera section and select by brand or megapixel.

Also, you can visit companies' websites.

Hope that helps,
Gina
 
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the store recommendation. The A80 is nice but a little above budget. Also, I'm not crazy about the Canon LCD screens. The appear to scratch easily.

Gina
 

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