Digital Camera

[forgetvengance]

I was thinking about buying a digital camera, which ones are the best brands to check out?

[nihil]

You might check out this site:

http://www.dpreview.com/

[:Singh:]

IMO Nikon's Coolpix > Sony's cybershot > HP Photosmart, Samsung > .......... Canon ( I have one ).

Nikon's got many features. The best thing is its multi-focusing, excellent optical zoom, battery life and its size

Remember Nikon's low-end DC will never be better than others high-end. My opinion is based on the budget.

[Katja]

My uncle has two digital camera's. One 4 megapixel Sony Mavica that stores images on CD. Another very small Sony Cybershot camera with 5 megapixel which uses memorysticks for storage. But while the Cybershot has a higher resolution, he prefers the bulkier Mavica because it uses a cheap storage system and it has a Carl Zeiss lens. The Cybershot that he has uses just some Sony lens. He claims that while the Cybershot makes very good pictures, his Mavica generates better quality pictures just because of this lens. Cleaner pics with less pixel noice. Both are good camera's, though.

But his advise? (And mine.) Make sure that whatever camera you buy, it must have a Carl Zeiss lens for a better picture quality. (Oh, and think about the cost of the storage media that the camera will need becouse those can make it pretty expensive.)

[MrLinus]

Depends on what you want from your camera (digital point and shoot, digital SLR, etc.) I have a FujiFilm S5000. Great camera that allows me to put on filters and has some flexibility as far as setting exposures, etc. It's a great beginner/intermediate camera. I will be getting a proper digital SLR at some point (Nikon D100 or a Fuji SLR) but the cost is obviously more. The advantage is that you could use standard lenses and get even better pictures.

How deep is your budget?

[ZomBieMann77]

As far as the digital slr cameras go I would love to get the cannon digital rebel 8.1megapixel. i currently use a cannon rebel eos k2 35mm and I love it. I just get the photo CDs whenever i develop a roll and use photoshop to resize acordingly. One thing to look at in a digital camera is the zoom capability. If it has a low optical zoom and a high digital zoom you probably dont want it. Digital zoom is what causes pictures to pixelate and get grainy when you take them. Also think about how big you might want to blow something up. The lower number of megapixels the smaller the max blow up size will be. When I bought my SLR 35mm I asked the manager of the store I purchased it at what It would take to get the digital equivalent in quality and he said atleast 6megapixel.

[Tim_axe]

Something from the Canon A-series line is a good place to start. Or you could go with a Nikon. Or Konica-Minolta as their image-stabalization is a nice feature to have that I don't see in any other low/mid-end camera line.

Generally, stick to companies that historically have made cameras. (Maybe Kodak too...but mainly recommend Canon & Nikon & KonicaMinolta)


You want to stick between 3-5 megapixels to try and avoid pixel noise. Most of the CCD/CMOS sensors are smaller than your pinkey finger nail, and packing 8-9 million pixels onto it is just asking for noise problems. If you keep around 4 megapixels it performs better in preventing noise because the pixels are larger and can collect more light.

Read up @ DPReview and look at sample images from the camera you are interested in. Once you have a good tool, it is up to you to use it well to get good pictures.



MsMittens - Do you have a bunch of Nikon glass hiding in your closet?

[Aspman]

As others have said what are you going to shoot and what is your budget.

If you are are a serious photographer then go for an SLR.

You want a point and shoot camera to replace a 35mm?
Lots of brands out there all mentioned above. All will produce good images.
How big do you intend printing out?
Standard photos, maybe a bit bigger?
If so don't bother going for huge numbers of pixels a 3MP will give good results up to A4 size and will be pretty cheap now.

Make sure it's got a good glass lense and you should be fine.

For ease of use I'd recommend Kodak.

Otherwise go to the shops and try them out. Some new cameras are very small and cute. Good for ladies but if you've got big hairy man fingers a camera with a bigger body might be better.

[MrLinus]

MsMittens - Do you have a bunch of Nikon glass hiding in your closet?

No but my uncle does (he's been in photography industry and fixing the film machines for about 25-30 years now). Oddly enough he works for Fuji (which is why I'd lean towards a Fuji SLR).

[Mystery Man]

hi

I have bought the sony cybershot dsc w5 two weeks ago and its great. Its 5.1 mp carl zeiss , 3x optical zoom and best os all uses the sony stamina battery for good battery life. My choice go for sony. the thing is that it costs more but the thing is the picture quality is great.