Im looking to buy a new digital camera in the near future and i was wondering what some good modles are. I dont wanna spend more than 250 so that kinda limits the field. I like a 5mp Nikon CoolPics right now and its the front runner. Any other brands i should look into?

7/20/2005 9:53:09 AM

Canon or Nikons are the forerunners. I have a Fuji, but its out of your pricerange.

7/20/2005 9:54:03 AM

I mean is there that big of a noticable jump between a - 5 mp 250 nikkon and a 500 say fuji? Im not like a porfessional or anything i doubt that ill need much more than 5 MP. Right?

7/20/2005 9:58:26 AM

The Fuji I have is a 6.3 MP and it costs about 300+-. I bougt it on the reccommendation on dpreview. Their reccommendation was spot-on.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilme550/

7/20/2005 10:13:26 AM

I've always preferred Canon's.

The IS s1 has been discontinued but if you want a megazoom camera, that's the best deal.

If you need a great quality, compact camera, go with an SD200 or SD300.

So many good cameras out now...it's overwhelming.
EDIT: Megapixels are a tad of marketing hype, really.
My 3.2 MP SD200 prints out beautiful 8x10s via Winkflash.com

My 5MP Panasonic FZ5 (got it for the Leica lens + 12x zoom) prints out 11x14 (probably bigger) great.

Rule of thumb is a 3-4MP camera prints solid 8x10s, while you need a 5MP for an 11x14. If you're not printing, it doesn't much matter over 3-4MP.

[Edited on July 20, 2005 at 10:22 AM. Reason : .]

7/20/2005 10:20:20 AM

Thanks for the advice

7/20/2005 10:48:24 AM

i have the casio exilim and it is awesome

insane battery life, really short startup time, good features, optical zoom, huge screen, tiny camera...

i've always been a nikon guy but took a gamble with this because it was so small and i love it.

7/20/2005 11:10:21 AM

get something w/ a 10x zoom

you wont regret it

7/20/2005 11:41:33 AM

how much was the casio?

7/20/2005 12:50:05 PM

http://shopping.discovery.com/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10000&catalogId=10000&langId=-1&productId=56641&partnumber=712869

under $300 for the phone and 64Mb sd card
(you can find it cheaper than the discovery store)

[Edited on July 20, 2005 at 2:13 PM. Reason : .]

7/20/2005 2:11:59 PM

SouthPaW12, I bet you're looking forward to the new Fz30. I just purchased a Canon S2 IS ($469 from buydig.com) that I'm very happy with.

The Panasonic Fz30 that's coming soon is a beast. 8MP, 12x optical zoom with image stablization, 1/1.8'' sensor size, mechanically linked zoom and focus rings on the lens barrel (no clunky rockers or slider rings!), something like 230,000 pixels for the EVF, 640x480 VGA movie mode, Leica lens, a hinged LCD, a <1 sec start-up time, and can save in RAW. It's ridiculous. Though it appears to be a S2 slayer, I think it's gonna be priced $300 more than the S2.

Anyway, it's a sweet camera nonetheless.

7/20/2005 10:29:53 PM

I'm getting a Canon 350D soon, I'll sell you my kodak easyshare DX4530 with memory cards, bag, macro lens, etc...

7/20/2005 11:00:35 PM

I like my olympus...I was reluctant to get it because I really wantedn a nikon, but this one was much cheaper...

7/20/2005 11:22:12 PM

^^^ WHOA!! That's gonna be one awesome camera! I was regretting this purchase more every word 'til you mentioned the price...that's definitely high-end. My FZ5 does just swell for what I use it for

I'll definitely wanna play w/ one when it comes out though.

7/21/2005 8:10:56 AM

Canon is the way to go

7/21/2005 9:44:05 AM

nikon and fuji have the best optical zoom features and ability to add lenses (higher end models)

7/21/2005 12:40:32 PM

kaosborn, you should specify what you mean by "higher end models". Higher end in the prosumer point&shoot range? Or higher end into the D-SLR range?

To my knowledge, one or two of Fuji's 5000-line have 10x optical zoom, but without image stablization. Nikon has two cameras that are 10x and 8x (the 8800 and 8700 respectively), but only the 8800 has image stablization. Meanwhile Canon, Panasonic, and Sony all have 12x optical zoom with image stablization cameras. These are point&shoot cameras mind you.

7/21/2005 11:47:21 PM

A big mistake I see people making, and electronic storms love to get customers on this, is they automatically think that more megapixels is better. My answer to that is that it all depends on what you want to do. Are you someone who isn't going to be actually printing out many pictures? And if you do are they likely to be normal 3x5s, maybe an occasial 8x10? For a person like this, the latest 8 megapixel is a waste of money. You'll be just fine with a 5 megapixel.

I was at Best Buy to get my hands on the 5 megapixel Canon S2 to check it out. Someone was looking at compact P&S Canon next to me that was 8 megapixel. He asked me why I was looking at the S2 when it didn't have as many megapixels. I rattled him off a slew of features that the S2 had that the other camera didn't have. The cameras were designed for two different purposes.

Anyway, just wanted to post that. Don't fall into the trap of "bigger numbers = better". You need to first ask how you intend to use the camera? Are you someone who doesn't want to bother fiddling with settings? Is this a camera you want to take everywhere with you w/o requiring a camera bag? Are you doing a lot of overseas or remote location traveling with this camera? If so, then consider getting a camera that runs of AA batteries. You can spend $20 and buy a set of good NiMH AAs to use normally, and if you're caught in a small town in whatever country with a dead battery, chances are a local shop will have some AAs that can spot you. Good luck finding a $60 fancy lithium ion battery in a mom&pop convenience store. Also, memory card. Sure, you can buy a 1 GB card. But consider this: if you're on the road w/o a computer and your card fills up, what do you do? One option is to stop by a drugstore and use one of those Kodak kiosks to download your pictures and burn them to a CD. If you have a 512 MB card, that's a straight shot deal. It'll be harder with a 1 GB card.

You need to ask all these questions and more when buying a camera.

7/21/2005 11:58:35 PM

^ Hes right. However, for me, I need the quality. However, I prefer the bigger megapixels just in case I want to use it for my design work. Like the man says, it depends on what you need.

7/22/2005 12:15:04 AM

i actually just bought a canon sd300 at best buy the other day, but i havent opened it yet because i found it online for $60 less (after tax). it was my favorite of the compact cameras.

7/22/2005 12:37:26 AM

SD300, love it.

7/22/2005 2:20:01 AM

^^ You bought electronics from Best Buy? Shame...return it and buy intarweb prices.

And yep, the "SD" series Canon's are amazing for the size. I have an SD200 that I love...the video mode is off the hook too. Great quality in a size that'll fit in your back pocket.

7/22/2005 7:10:36 AM

Thanks for all the advice. The camera is not for me, i already have a one year old nikon that i love. THis is going to be a present for my girlfriend and i know she will not be using for professional work. She just wants somthing that she can point and shoots but still can print amazing photos. Im pretty sure she will be fine with a 5 mp nikon or cannon ect...

Where on-line has the best prices on these cameras?

7/22/2005 10:06:47 AM

http://www.buydig.com typically has great prices, BUT, check slickdeals.net and techbargains.com b/c sometimes Dell has some crazy deals on cameras when you start stacking coupons.

P.S. - the 5MP SD400 would be MONEY. Chicks love the small size and the quality is awesome...it'd be a hit for sure.

7/22/2005 10:35:20 AM

i dont understand why you'd buy an sd400 over an sd300... for most people, 4 MP is more than enough

[Edited on July 22, 2005 at 11:16 AM. Reason : its early]

7/22/2005 11:15:59 AM

^ Yep, I agree. But if he's dead set on 5MP and has the texa$, go for it.

7/22/2005 11:26:50 AM

Has anyone heard any good/bad things about the Canon PowerShot SD550? I'm thinking about picking one up (I've never owned a digital camera before). I have a bunch of friends who have the same but older 5.1MP model.

This new model has a larger screen and has a 7.1MP CCD. I don't need the 7.1MP or even the 5, but it seems like it's one of the nicer, smaller cameras on the market.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerShot_SD550/4505-6501_7-31475442.html

I have some BestBuy bucks and some coupons to help offset the cost, so I'm not really upset about this camera's price.

10/4/2005 11:01:13 PM

overkill.

10/4/2005 11:10:38 PM

^ Go for the SD500. Just as good w/ a slightly smaller LCD.

And don't buy from Best Buy unless you've got tons of gift cards...you can snag this camera SO much cheaper like when Dell has those 25% off Canon coupons twice a month.

10/5/2005 1:22:47 AM

I went to BB today and looked at them, and I think I like the 450 better than the 550. 450 is the 5.1MP version with a larger LCD. The 450 is still a little smaller (not much) and is purely rectangular, whereas the 550 was not as symmetric and was a little bulkier

I don't need the extra 2 MP, but will hold off until I see a better deal. they were asking $349

10/5/2005 9:44:09 PM

^ For retail that's a pretty good price. On BB's website it's "on sale" for $379. (for the SD450)

10/5/2005 10:26:51 PM

do not buy retail, i saved 30% by buying online, before purchasing compare at http://www.pricegrabber.com

my rankings of digital cameras..

1. canon
2. sony, fuji, nikon
3. everything else
4. kodak

10/5/2005 10:48:58 PM

FUJI F10 ...low noise on high iso, a first for p&s digicam

10/5/2005 11:49:34 PM

go to best buy
tell the guy what you want

buy the next lower priced model he shows you

10/6/2005 12:08:07 AM

Quote :

"go to best buy tell the guy what you want buy the next lower priced model he shows you"

retarded advice. stop spreading it

i hope whoever is going to spend 300-400 dollars will take more initiative in research than simply going to an ingorant Best Buy salesman

10/6/2005 12:48:26 AM

http://www.slickdeals.net/#p6578

Canon SD500 7MP Digicam + Sandisk 1GB SD Card $344 after $15MIR

10/7/2005 4:14:16 AM