digital cameras

[72_Chev_Truck]

What do you folks use and reccomend? I was thinking along the lines of a point and shoot camera. possibly a canon or sony, in the $250-$400 range. I cant afford what I really want (rebel eos) and it wouldnt be all that practical for me. plus my mom just bought one, i hate film cameras just because of the extra hassle of taking them to a store to get developed. I take a lot of pictures and it wouldnt be worthwhile and It would cost me much less in the end with a digital. so post up what you have and your opinions. thanks

 

[Hungry Hungry Hippo]

I'd get a canon over a sony. I've had lots of problems with my older sony cam and my canon sd500 works great. I'd recommend a canon sd400 for a $400 camera.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Sony/

 

[Sadpanda]

I had a choice between Sony and Canon when I got my camera, and went with Canon.
Sony use memory sticks instead of memory cards (like compact flash and SD). They are (in Australia anyway..) about twice as expensive to buy, and even at trade prices I couldn't justify buying anything that needed a memory stick. Just something to keep in mind which might save you a few dollars
Buy a Canon anyway though

 

[2Bhumble]

I love my Panasonic FZ-20 - Panasonic? Camera? That's what people ask me when I'm shooting pics. I bought it at the end of February and have taken about 1,100 pictures already. OK, I have only saved 200 but I'm sure getting practice. It's a bit more then your price range (I paid $470 on-line) but is an awsome camera.

Here it is...
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz20-review/index.shtml

 

[Southern Cross]

Fuji seems to have the best color rendition out of any sensor in point n shoot cameras. If you can save up for it, the Fuji S20 is a killer camera for the money, and fully capable of professional results. It has a native black & white capture capability that rivals film in every respect. If you can't afford the S20, the S7000 and S5000 cameras seem to be very good.

Nikon, Kodak, and Canon all have great models. My wife has a 5MP Kodak with the docking cradle, and I'm surprised at times with how good the image quality can be. That's running around $450 with the docking cradle.

Also, check into the Minolta A1 digital. Packs an aweful lot of features into a point and shoot camera. You can buy accessory flash units, battery pack/grips,etc. They're easy to find used on Ebay.

If you want to save some money, order from one of the NY mail order houses like B&H Photo and Video (www.bhphotovideo.com).

 

[mc2phat]

I'm a Canon/Fuji fan. My advice to you (taking the above post into account also) is figure out exactly what you want to spend, then look at Newegg to see what models are available. Here's where it gets good. Go to (I can't post links yet, please bear with me) dpreview DOT com and look at the reviews of the models in your price range. That is one of the best, if not the best, digicam review sites going. I bought my last camera (Canon A70) with the above method (we budgeted flash media, case, rechargable batteries, etc into the final price); we've been very happy with it. Now that you mention it, it's probably time for us to look at new cameras

Hope this helps you.
Regards,
Jim

 

[KristianJ]

I'll second the Fuji ones - I have a S5500 (which is identical to the S5000) and love it. Only minor problem I have with it is that it can be hard to focus when you've engaged all of its 10x optical zoom (hence I'll probably buy a simple tripod soon), but otherwise I have found no fault with it so far My previous digital was a Sony - not bad, but the features it had were too limiting eg. only digital zoom.

 

[VWPETE]

Canon or Nikon, ive seen some decent pictures taken on a Sony but it was an extremely high end camera. or well over the 300-400 mark.

 

[StormeTorque]

I have a canon S60, and the results I've had so far have been great. They cost about £250 here, but apparently you can pick them up for about $350 or less over there. It's a nice compact camera (admittedly, I take a lot of pictures on auto) but it does seem like you get quite a lot of control over your pictures.

 

[JohnR7]

What do you folks use and reccomend? I was thinking along the lines of a point and shoot camera. possibly a canon or sony, in the $250-$400 range.

Get a Canon if you want professional looking photos and Sony if you want artistic looking photos. The 10X camera take sharp clear photos, but it is difficult to get up close and personal with them. Olympus cameras have a 30 frame per second movie mode now and a real nice setting for ski and snow. If your shooting 8 to 10 feet most any camera will work. If your further away, then you will need a camera with a bigger lens.

The general rule of thumb is to decide what sort of photos you want to take and get a camera that is good at doing what you want to do. If you want to take indoors without a flash them you will need at least a 2.8F camera. If you want to take sports photos you need a camera that will do that. $300 cameras can take near professional photos, they are just limited in what they can do.

 

[Andy_GB]

Canon make some great kit --- I've recently upgraded to an EOS300D (well beyond your price point, I know --- I had to save for a year!) But their "point and shoot" models are also generally excellent across the range.

 

[candid_chick007]

awww y r people bashing sony? j/p
i love my sony cybershot
its about 200 bucks and is perfect for me easy and idiot proof
i've gotten some great shots with it, i've taken this lil buddy with me to indonesia, england, the dominican republic, all over the states...east west north south
mabe my sony is just blessed with some special annointing or somethin.

 

[Zinnia]

I have had two Nikons, which I really love, and the Canons are probably good too. I have heard good things about the Fuji's FinePix in that price range, and saw some really good shots one had taken.

 

[Satin and Silk]

I use a Canon PowerShot A60 and it takes wonderful pictures. No complaints about it at all, and it would be right in your price range. There's also an A70 model (I don't know much about it - maybe it is just the next step up).

 

[Psalms34]

What do you folks use and reccomend? I was thinking along the lines of a point and shoot camera. possibly a canon or sony, in the $250-$400 range. I cant afford what I really want (rebel eos) and it wouldnt be all that practical for me. plus my mom just bought one, i hate film cameras just because of the extra hassle of taking them to a store to get developed. I take a lot of pictures and it wouldnt be worthwhile and It would cost me much less in the end with a digital. so post up what you have and your opinions. thanks

Hmmm well save yourself a trip to the lab and get the enlarger and chemicals you need to do it yourself then again you don't even need an enlarger if you just develop the film or even use instant transparences and then run them through a computer film scanner. Anyway I too vote for Canon, they have great equipment.

 

[awildflowerlady]

Right now I am using a Sony Cyber Shot 3.3 mp with a wonderful macro feature. I purchased it several years ago when it was pricey, but those prices have gone down considerably. You might want to consider looking at craigslist com to find a used digital. There is always someone upgrading and the camera you thought you could not afford just became affordable because someone is ready to sell!

The pic found below was taken with my Sony. I love this camera, but it is time for me to upgrade, however I am not going to part with the sony! I need to move up to an 8.0 digital so I can sell some pics!

 

[jillpole]

CANON!!! I got a real nice one for around $400 dollars.

 

[Psalms34]

CANON!!! I got a real nice one for around $400 dollars.

ELAN?

 

[PinkandBlue61]

We got a Fujifilm S5100 in October 2004--absolutely love it. Buy.com is a great AND RELIABLE place to buy electronic items. Which leads me to a warning: there is A LOT of fraud out there for selling digital cameras. If the price seems too good to be true, believe me, it probably is. I learned the hard way that a lot of the consumer review sites can be unreliable as well. Steves-digicams.com is a great place for information and reviews of digital cameras.