Digital Camera purchase - help pleez.

[ElElohe]

Hey'all;
My wife and I are looking at digital cameras - speaking of nightmare-ish.

We'll probably start with a point and shoot, which is where the trouble is. If (and when) we have the money we'll probably end up with the Nikon D70 for a digital SLR. But that's a little ways off.

We'd also like to have a compact, pocket sized point and shoot. 3 megapixels is fine (and in our price range) and must have optical zoom.

Our real irk with most of the point and shoot styles is what seems to be what "they" are calling shutter lag. However, with the point and shoot this is never measured; just with nice stuff like the D70. We really don't like that the cameras are so slow to take a picture after pressing the button.

All this said, if anyone has any quick testimonials towards this end please post!

(Currently we're looking at the Canon Powershot SD110 . . . )

 

[Southern Cross]

What's your budget?

My favorite p&s camera is the Fuji S20, it offers outstanding image quality. But there are a ton of worthy competitors on the market. Also, if you have the $, you may want to jump on the DSLR and skip the p&s route altogether.

 

[JohnR7]

We really don't like that the cameras are so slow to take a picture after pressing the button.

The way a camera works is you push the button half way and the camera will make the adjustments and lock itself. Then when the little light comes on, you can hold you breath, push the button and the camera will then take the photo. The Nikon D70 does not really adjust itself any faster than any other camera. The advantage to the D70 is that it is faster to write the photo to memory, and there is a large buffer in the camera so you do not have to wait on the camera. With the less expensive point and shoot cameras you have to wait for the camera to finish writing the file to memory before you can take your next photo. The difference can be considerable. With the faster camera I can take two or three times as many photos. It is common for me to take 300 or more photos in a hours time. To take full advantage of the camera, you need to get the newer and faster memory. It is twice as fast as the old memory cards. It is best of course to let the camera refocus itself for each photo you take, or they will most likely come out blured if you to not allow the camera to refocus.

Get the most recent camera you can, if you want a fast camera. I have the new olympus stylus verve and the start up time on that camera is 1 1/2 seconds. So when you turn the camera on, it is almost instantly ready to take a photo. But the write speed is not as fast on that camera, so sometimes I have to wait 10 or 15 seconds for the camera to catch up with itself and before it is ready to start taking photos again. With the D70, you never have to wait, it is always ready to take a photo. Even some of the cameras they came out with 6 months ago, can still be a little slow.

It is wonderful to have a fast camera. I use to lose a lot of photos because the camera was just to slow. Now it is rare that I lose a good photo. Because the newer camera are ready to go and are quick to take a photo.

 

[Deamiter]

I have heard of MANY people who are very happy with the Canon A70. I've played with one myself, and I can say that it seems to take amazing pictures for the ~$200 price. I can't say I was looking for shutter lag as I expect it on point and shoot digital camers, but I am sure that it's one of the better ones.

You can't expect to take really great action shots with any point and shoot -- but I'd suggest the A70 as a cheap and good all around camera.

 

[JohnR7]

(Currently we're looking at the Canon Powershot SD110 . . . )

I do not have a lot of time to research it, but from looking at canons website, it looks like the sd200 is a lot more camera for your money. It has a faster processor and a bigger review screen on the camera, and a 3X compared to a 2X optical lens. They seem to be about the same price. Some of the newer cameras are a bit lower in price.

I usually go to Pbase to compare the photos.

http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=113

 

[JohnR7]

You can't expect to take really great action shots with any point and shoot

You would need at least a 10X to do any sort of sports photography. If you want to film your kids sporting event, with the lighting they give you and the place they position you in, you would almost be better off to get a 20X video camera, they seem to be able to handle the low light situation a bit better.

 

[JohnR7]

Also, if you have the $, you may want to jump on the DSLR and skip the p&s route altogether.

If you have the money is a big, big, big consideration. I have a Nikon D70, but the lens I want for it would cost me about $1800, which I do not have right now. I saw a photo on the internet where the guy must have had 50 or 60 lens. He must have had $100,000 tied up in his hobby.

The little $300 point and shoots are limited in what they can do, but they do have different lens and they do take different kinds of photos. If you use a camera for what it was designed to do, you can not tell the difference between photo taken with a $300 camera and a photo taken with a $1200. In fact, if you do not know what your doing, you will get better photos with the point and shoot. But the more expensive cameras do take photo you would not be able to take with a point and shoot. Esp with the big lens if you want to photograph a big building.

The less expensive cameras work good enough to keep you plenty busy and to take lots of different photos with. Esp macro, or photos of people in the 6 to 8 foot range.

 

[ElElohe]

What's your budget?

My favorite p&s camera is the Fuji S20, it offers outstanding image quality. But there are a ton of worthy competitors on the market. Also, if you have the $, you may want to jump on the DSLR and skip the p&s route altogether.

Except we'd like to have both. We already have a Nikon 6006, and would like a small digital point and shoot so we can "smuggle" it into certain places if need be. In particular, my wife had an experience while on a short term mission trip in Cameroon where the larger your camera was, the more they charged you to get into the museum.

I like everything I hear about the Nikon D70, and I'm much less picky about a point and shoot. Though in truth, if it were me, I'd be taking pictures with a manual SLR. I was trained old school (my photography prof used an old viewfinder, and a zoom lens was off-limits! This may not be taking advantage of all of the tools, but it's the best way to learn.).

Thanks to all who've posted thus far . . .

 

[JesusFreak2007]

hahahahahaha no really get a gateway digi i use it and i took my bros sr pics with it he had the best one