[phantomdragonz]

ok, I want a digital camera. so what should i get? what have you done with yours. what is the best i can get for a decent price 200 - <700? Maby olympus? (sp?)

Thnx

P.D.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

your talking to professional graphic designer who does photography on the side. I love Nikons and own a 775. They have books on just this camera. It's easy to use and when you get better at it, you can grow with it. Plenty of hardcore photography stuff, exposure and etc.

I want to tell you it's the best camera. It's not though...best camera i ever used was on this freelance job for backpacks. Canon G2. I learned how to use it in 5 minutes and took some great pictures. Canon software is great, comes with 32 mb storage, takes motiion and 4.1 stills. Rechargeable battery.

Buy the Canon G2 or the Nikon 775. You can't go wrong buddy.

[BTP]

First, let me say I am not a professional photographer, so my uses are personal.

I would say to take a look at the Canon Powershot Elph S110. You can see the specs here. It is a VERY compact camera about the size of a pack of smokes. It shoots video and pictures and has a nice quality and lots of features. It is such small camera that it is easily carried around with little difficulty.

It comes with a rechargeable battery and external charger, but no carry case. I have to say for a camera that takes great photos and short video clips, this is a great camera and one you should consider. You can search for the best prices, I just checked Pricewatch and they had a price of $329 plus $19.99 for shipping.

In any case, I'll just note here that Compact Flash prices have come down and I bought a 256MB CF card from newegg.com for $89 plus shipping.

If you don't want the video function, I think you can find an S100 for even less. Only a Firewire connector would make it better. Try downloading a few hundred photos w/USB! You can get around that by getting a Firewire reader if that mattered to you.

Good luck!

[phantomdragonz]

ok so after some very intense searching and I have come across the Olympus c-3020 3.1 Mp for $385 +$30 shipping. the 775 is only 2.1 Mp and the G2 is 4Mp but it's $800! but I have not done my price scouting for those.

here is the 3020 for a KILLER price

Olympus 3020


P.D.

P.S. keep updateing me! you guys are a great help

[turner]

I have a Nikon 995 and love it. Great pictures. Will cost you a little more than $700. My son just got an 885, but can't tell you about it. I've owned Nikon gear for many years and wouldn't have anything else.

Rusty

[Group51]

Originally posted by phantomdragonz:
<STRONG>ok, I want a digital camera. so what should i get? what have you done with yours. what is the best i can get for a decent price 200 - &lt;700? Maby olympus? (sp?)

Thnx

P.D.</STRONG>

You need to be sure what your priorities are.
Physical size: do you want to carry it in your pocket or lug a case.
CCD size: 2 Mega Pixels is OK, but 3MP is great. Remember, the bigger the resolution, the better it looks when its scaled down.
Picture Quality: not the same as CCD size, the Canon A10 is a 1MP camera, but it takes superb pictures.
Ergonomics: can you use the damn thing.

Once you know what your priorities are, it should be easy to narrow down your list, and then agonise like I did between the Canon Ixus V (S110) and the Nikon 775.

I went with the Nikon in the end (ergonomics and features), but the Canon probably takes better pictures.

Good Luck

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Group51 ]

I own the Olympus 3030 (not 3020) and I think it's a good camera. I also have the Kodak DC4800, and will be upgrading to the G2 soon most likely.

As for the 2.1 MP cameras, many are excellent, but I have found that every little bit helps when it comes to printing photos.

A lot of the online places say something like a 2.1 does very well up to 11x14. Don't believe it.

It would seem that whenever anything is printed, JPEG artifacts and noise seem more obvious than on screen. In fact my local shop always recommends something like 300-400 dpi. In the real world though I've found 200+ is good, which means an 8x10 photo is 1600x2000 (although 150 dpi is acceptable).

Also, the higher the pixels, the more liberal one can be with editing. I don't print a lot of pictures, but when I do, I don't want Aunt Bessie's puke in the corner or that stray dog which happened to decided to mark its territory at the fire hydrant next to the building I wanted to photograph.

Mind, it also depends on the camera. I've been told that you can print with lower dpi with cameras like the Canon D30 because it has so little noise. Too bad it costs US$2500.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

I also have the Nikon 775 (for 3 days now). The battery life is really good and the size is incredible. In the same price range all you have is an olympus D 510 and the canon A20. The olympus has some big flaws and I don't recomend it. The canon is really good but also a year old. Compared the the Nikon 775 they are both clunky.

The Canon A20 takes slightly better pictures then the Nikon but the Nikon is smaller and comes with batteries.

The canon G2 costs twice as much as the others.

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Severed Hand of Skywalker ]

your talking to professional graphic designer who does photography on the side. I love Nikons and own a 775. They have books on just this camera. It's easy to use and when you get better at it, you can grow with it. Plenty of hardcore photography stuff, exposure and etc.

I'm no professional, just a hobbyist. However, I can tell you that having books on it doesn't make it good. I'm not saying the 775 isn't good (because it it IS good for a 2.1 MP camera), but there are a bazillion books out there for cameras that are terrible.

Oh by the way, if you're looking for an ultraportable camera, consider the Canon S40. One of the problems with most of the cameras mentioned is that they're too big to bring with you all the time. I'm considering the Canon G2 for most of my shots, but considering then also eventually buying something like an S110 or S300 when it drops in price so that I can always have a backup camera in the glove compartment etc.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally posted by &lt;Eug&gt;:
<STRONG>I'm no professional, just a hobbyist. However, I can tell you that having books on it doesn't make it good. I'm not saying the 775 isn't good (because it it IS good for a 2.1 MP camera), but there are a bazillion books out there for cameras that are terrible.

Oh by the way, if you're looking for an ultraportable camera, consider the Canon S40. One of the problems with most of the cameras mentioned is that they're too big to bring with you all the time. I'm considering the Canon G2 for most of my shots, but considering then also eventually buying something like an S110 or S300 when it drops in price so that I can always have a backup camera in the glove compartment etc.</STRONG>

my fault...i have the 995.

Nikon Coolpix 995

3.34 megapixel one. i bought it last year for like a grand. It's 800 now. So is the Canon Powershot G2. (roughly)

if you got the cash, and want to take awesome...awesome pictures, these are for you. if you want to get great shots, you can find a great camera, the technology has really improved. Having said that...wait for macworld and see if they come out with a camera.

[OldManMac]

I should have my new Nikon Coolpix 885 tomorrow. I use a Nikon N70 for a lot of nature shooting, but I wanted a digital for web stuff and instant gratification! I ordered it from B&H Photo, for $499, which was $100 cheaper than a dozen other local shops and web sites.

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: KarlG ]

[tonton]

I would definitely go with the G2.

Not only does it take breathtaking pictures, it has very versatile exposure metering, a fast (Equiv. F2.0), high quality lens, fairly fast shutter speed (up to 1/1000 sec.), very good flash, good choice of accessory lenses, and it is fully compatible with the 1GB MicroDrive, which means you can take thousands of highest quality, full resolution JPEGs, or hundreds of uncompressed RAW images.

[zac4mac]

I got an Oly E-10 last March and it was pricey.
Since the E-20's came out, the 10's can be found much cheaper. I've seen them in the vicinity of 800.00.
Nice heavy frame, feels like a "real" camera, 4.1Mpxl, dual media, good battery life. I love it.

Zack

Originally posted by tonton:
<STRONG>I would definitely go with the G2.

Not only does it take breathtaking pictures, it has very versatile exposure metering, a fast (Equiv. F2.0), high quality lens, fairly fast shutter speed (up to 1/1000 sec.), very good flash, good choice of accessory lenses, and it is fully compatible with the 1GB MicroDrive, which means you can take thousands of highest quality, full resolution JPEGs, or hundreds of uncompressed RAW images.</STRONG>

Heh, while the current Nikon 995 takes CF2/Microdrive, the 990 didn't. However, that didn't stop one person online putting one in there. He posted lots of pix of how he disassembled his 990, hacked up his casing and then reassembled it. It worked, but it wasn't pretty.

Anyways, I bought the Canon G2 yesterday, with an extra telephoto lens. Very nice, and nicer than the 995. I have 224 MB of CF, which should suffice for now. I think the competition for it from Nikon is the Coolpix 5000. The Coolpix is smaller and lighter and it's 5 MP not 4, but it's also more complicated than the Canon and is significantly more expensive. It seems that some of the Nikon's accessories are more expensive as well. I didn't try out the Olympus 4040.

Strangely enough, so far I haven't found any camera in existence that takes a manual flash AND is as easy to use as my Kodak DC4800. The Kodak is much easier to use than any of the above cameras, and does have a sync plug for manual flashes. That said, the built-in flash of the Kodak is not as good as the Canon G2. Plus of course, cameras like the Coolpix 5000 and Canon G2 can take not only manual flashes, but also full-fledged TTL ones.

The G2 is US$740 at buy.com, although most are selling it for about US$800. I paid CAD$1289 (US$810) at my local store in Toronto. Buy Optex batteries and stuff instead of the Canon ones - much cheaper.