Looking to buy Digital Camera, what brand?

[jthoward]

Give me some suggestions. What do you folks use, pros and cons? What brand would you buy?

[idssms]

Nikon.

 

Either a point and shoot (coolpix) or a SLR digital, ie, D70 or D100.

 

Lenses on SLRs not included.

 

For novices, coolpixs are great, take good pics, recommend the 5700 or 8700. Rebates and specials do apply at times.

 

Count Down to Galaxy Transatlantic on 9/3/04

 

Galaxy Transatlantic 9/2004

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Sun Princess 1999

Rhapsody of the Seas 1997

Soverign of the Seas 1994

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Monarch of the Seas 1993

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Premier Cruise Lines 1985

[mhshapiro]

I've been using a Canon S45 (4 megapixel camera) for the last year. It can be used as point and shoot with ease, or you can be more creative. It has a 4X optical zoom, and a decent lens. It is more compact and less expensive than the SLR's.

 

I believe that Canon is now marketing a 5 megapixel version (the S50). Since the optics were designed to work with the 4 megapixel sensor, there is no great advantage to buying the S50 over the S45 -- and the S45 can now be had for a very good price.

 

To see examples of the pictures the S45 takes, you can visit my webshots site:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/mhshapiro

 

Lot's of cruise pictures are posted there.

 

Mark

[LCSherwin]

I have old Nikon coolpix 880 (which I am very happy with). I have a few friends with Canon digital cameras and they love them.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either. I will probably buy a Canon when I replace my Nikon.

 

Regardless of which brand you buy, make sure you get a camera that has rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Disposable batteries and digital cameras don't mix.

[pucarter]

We bought a Kodak DX6490 a few months back. We went to Hawaii recently and took the most gorgeous photos. Seriously, they were beautiful and looked like professional-grade photos (and trust me, I'm no pro! ). Easy to use, easy to download to your computer --- I'd HIGHLY recommend it.

[dawn&pete]

Just bought the Konica Minolta Dimage Z2. 10x zoom...lots of presets...auto flash...or everthing manual.

 

It's great!

[joe0928]

Depending on what you want, you may want to consider the Nikon D70 a digital SLR. I have had this camera for aobut 3 weeks and just love it. My wife recently bought a Canon S50 which both of my sons have as well. It is a wonderful point and shoot. You won't go wrong on either one depending on what you are looking for. Here are links for reviews on both cameras.

Nikon D70 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/

Canon S50

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons50/

 

Island Princess -Alaska

[JohnQ]

Olympus C-750 is very small, 10x zoom and well reviewed. Price has been dropping as new one comes out. Depends on what you want to spend and how big you want to lug around.

[jennat]

I have a canon Power shot s400 and love, love, love it. I am no expert but it is my third one, I kept going back and exchanging until I found one I was happy with. I told them if they had just sold me a good one in the first place....I am trying to think of what the other two are and drawing a blank. It is the computer store that just closed it's stores and now just sells out of other stores...if you say it I will know it. Anyway, I love the ease of switching between taking and playing pictures. How easy it is to delete and how not easy it is to delete all (I was always worried I would screw up on the others because each time you had to say one or all. Does this make any sense? Anyway, my vote is for the canon! Jen

[prophotogal]

I have a Canon Digital Rebel and LOVE it. It's 6.5 megapixels. I already own the regular Rebel so I didn't have to buy a lens with it (just the body). I also have the Kodak DX3900. The 3900 only has 3.1 megapixels but I can print a wonderfull 11x14 from it.

 

Caribbean Princess here I come!

 

Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often!

Peace, Love and Mickey Mouse!

 

~ Heather ~ ºoº

[dbauknight]

There are several very good cameras out on the market today. I would look for certain features or specifications when selecting a digital camera.

 

Mega pixel - The higher the number the better the quality. A two mega pixel camera may take some great photos for e-mail and even printing out as 4x6 photos. If by chance you get that great picture that you want to blow up to an 8x10 or larger, the quality is reduced the lower the mega pixel. I would look for nothing lower than 3 or 4 mega pixel. There some great 5 Mega Pixel cameras out right now for a really good price.

 

Optical Zoom – Ignore the “Digital Zoom†numbers on any camera. What really matters is the “Optical Zoomâ€. You’ll see numbers like 3x Optical / 10x Digital zoom. Digital Zoom is a waist because you’ll notice the picture get more and more pixilated the more you zoom. That’s because the chip inside the camera is doing the zooming and not the actual camera lens. If you want to get some close up shots while sailing into port, you may want to consider a camera that can exchange lenses to do your zooming. Zooming is not all that’s it’s cracked up to be in most cases. So it’s to far away, move closer.

 

Manual vs. Automatic – I prefer Manual mode, but most prefer Automatic. Things like shutter speed, focus, stabilization. It’s nice to have the option of both and most give you this option.

 

Movie Mode - Something else to ignore for the most part in a “digital cameraâ€. In general, cameras take great still shots and horrible video. It the same for Digital Camcorders, they take great video but horrible still shots. There are exceptions to this, but you’re looking at a camera priced in the Thousands of dollars instead of the Hundreds. My neighbor thought he was going to be able to use his digital camera to take movies of his kids. That didn’t last long.

 

Storage – It use to make a difference in which type of memory because of the price a few years back, but not any more. When I talk about “storage†I’m talking about those little memory chips that go inside the camera that store your photos. It’s like a mini hard drive for the camera. Most cameras come with a 32mb card. One important note is that the higher the mega pixel the fewer number of pictures you will be able to store on this memory chip. I took over 150 pictures on our last 7 day cruise and used up two full 256mb cards. The going price for these right now is around $90.00. Well worth the extra money. The laptop I’m on right now can take any of these cards that slip into a slot to transfer the photos without the use of any cables or special software.

 

Battery – Some use AA and some use lithium. The important thing to remember here is that Digital Cameras use an incredible amount of battery power. Expect anywhere from as little as 10 to as many as 25 pictures before you have to recharge or replace the battery. There is nothing worse than being at some Port of Call only to have a dead camera towards the end of the day. If you go with AA, get a cheap pack at Sam’s that you can replace on the fly as you need them. If you get one with a lithium battery, get a second one that you can take with you just in case. Make sure you charge everything over night. An extra lithium battery will range anywhere from $20 to $45 depending on make and model. My first Kodak camera came with rechargeable AA batteries.

 

Lastly, stick with some of the names you know, like Cannon, Nikon, and Olympus. They may cost a little more, but worth it. Reason being is they have better optics. They already had great optics on their “film†cameras. Also, expect to pay $300 plus for a good camera.

 

I’ve taken over 2000 pictures the last couple of years. Can you imagine what that would cost on film? Plus if I don’t like a shot, delete it and start over.

 

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[idssms]

My Nikon D100 battery takes over 200 pics without loss of power so the amount of pics one can take depends upon the camera make and the size of the battery and the efficiency of the camera. There is no hard and fast rule for any of this.

 

I would visit my local stores, ie, circuit city, best buy, target, etc and ask the salespeople what is good, play with the camera and see what design, grip, weight you like best. All in all you cant go wrong if you stick with a name brand.

 

We all have our own opinions on this particular topic and its like the chicken or egg scenario. I would go to the store and see what suits your fancy and buy it.

 

Again, beware, you get what you pay for. So, if you spend $200 for a digital camera, you will get just that, a start up. I would stick to a nice Nikon or Cannon point and shoot. Try Ritz camera also and have the salesperson demo all the similiar cameras.

 

Also, be sure to get the extended warranty. They are reasonable and one fix will more than pay for the warranty.

 

idssms

 

Count Down to Galaxy Transatlantic on 9/3/04

 

Galaxy Transatlantic 9/2004

Galaxy 2003

Galaxy 2002

Soverign of the Seas 2002

Century 2001

Grand Princess 2001

Fascination 2000

Sun Princess 1999

Rhapsody of the Seas 1997

Soverign of the Seas 1994

Song of Norway RCL 1994

Monarch of the Seas 1993

Premier Disney Lines 1986

Premier Cruise Lines 1985

[duke052]

I just bought a Casio z40. Takes great pictures and fits right in your pocket. Not much bigger than a deck of cards

 

12/4/04 Constellation

Britannis

Dreamwood

Century 3xs

Galaxy

Infinity

Granduer of the Seas

Millennium 2xs

Monarch of the Seas

Grand Princess

Adventure of the Seas

Constellation

Mariner of the Seas

Summit 4/11/05

[aloveforwander]

My vote is for the Nikon!! We have a 2100. My father (who is not totally digital savvy) has the 2200.

Nikon has an incredible way of making a compact, user friendly, BATTERY LASTS FOREVER, and YES- loaded with features (such as sport speed shutter, daylight, snow, beach, +++++) and still sell for only $150 or so, digital camera. :D

I will gladly link you to my photo albums for your preview or go ahead and search www.webshots.com under LovECruiseS. You will not be sorry! ;) Mind you, ours is only a 2.0 megapixel- and honestly YOU DO NOT NEED MORE than this unless printing 8x10 or larger. This camera has both optical and digital zoom's. I shopped around and still compare. Tried and true- in my humble opinion- Nikon is best. :)

[anytimeuwnt]

I have a Canon S-30. It is by far the best investment I have EVER made.

 

I will never buy anything but Canon again!!!

[waterrats]

Hi everyone,

I use a Canon Elph s200. Absolutely love the camera. Pull out a credit card and that is the size of the camera but only thicker. You can buy a 3.2megapixel elph for about $379 if you look. Very good camera. They also have a 4 and I think a 5 megapixel elph out as well. The g series Canon is good as well. I hear that the Cool Pix cameras are very good, just not as small. Enjoy whichever you buy.

[momoriarty]

I went to butterflyphoto.org and bought a fuji s5ooo. I love that camera. Very easy to operate-very easy to download. You can shoot from 3-6 megapixals, in color or black and white.

Carol

[srphnx]

I went to butterflyphoto.org and bought a fuji s5ooo. I love that camera. Very easy to operate-very easy to download. You can shoot from 3-6 megapixals, in color or black and white.

Carol

 

The tiny Canon digital elph series, so small you actually carry it.

[dam1050]

I have an older version 2 megapixel Nikon 2000 Coolpix which I really like.

You can see some examples of it's photos at my site below.

 

Dave

[LINANRIC]

I have a KODAK Easy Share.

LOVE IT

[waterrats]

Well from reading the replies to this thread, I may just have to do some comparing before I buy another digital camera. The one main thing going for the Canon Elph that I love is that the camera is so small and I have a belt case for it, I do carry it with me almost everywhere I go and don't even know I have it. Big Plus in my book. Enjoy all your cameras.

[willybegolfer]

I just entered the digital age, but only after many hours of research and trying all types. I ended up with a Fuji Finepix S5000. Here is why:

 

10X optical zoom - Its great. Also discount the Digital zoom on any camera. They just make the picture grainy.

 

3+ megapixel. This camera can record at 6 and outputs at 3 and I still haven't figured out why, but the picture quality is slightly better than just recording at 3. Also takes up twice the space on your card. IMHO, unless you are going to print 16" x 20" prints, 3 megapixels is all you should need.

 

Price was great compared to the other 10x equivalent cameras and has a very solid and comfortable feel than others. Its less comlicated than the Olympus. The LCD Viewfinder is brighter than most making the images easier to see.

 

TIPS: You'll have to splurge for a larger storage card or two. Many don't come with rechargable batteries, so you'll have to buy an extra set or two. Do you homework and get 2300 ma rechargables if you need them.

[Nebraska Admiral]

I am on my second digital camera. the first was an epson it would onlly take about 20-30 pics before the batteries went dead. I now have an Olympus D 560 which I love. I can take upwards of 200 pics on a set of Batt. The bigest power hog of any digital camera is the in the use of the screen. and down loading. I always use a card reader to down load (about $20) and travel with my charger and extra batteries. At the end of the day, while back in my room, I review and edit from my camera and then instal fresh bateries for the next day. By being conservitave with the replay mode, I never have had to change batteries during the day, although I always carry extra batteries. Whatever the brand of camera you buy, the above should help in getting the best out of any camera. I carry a laptop on cruises, so I don't know if you can download your own on the ships computers if you bring your own media. It would suuprise me if you could, as they have phpto shops that will do tht for a charge of course. No matter what make sure you have a download on a disc or computer before erasing your media card. or returning from your vacation. remember if it can go wrong, it probably will.

[hkolln]

I absolutely LOVE my Kodak one....Easyshare CX7430 camera.

I have the docking station which is simply great! I put my camera on the docking station and it charges the batteries and I push one button and it downloads the pics to my computer! I had a previous Kodak one too that unfortunately I lost the camera on my last cruise! I just had to replace it and this is the one we decided upon by reviews we read online, etc...

 

Go to http://www.epinions.com and read the reviews on the different cameras too to see which one is better.

[LINANRIC]

YES I have a Kodak DX4900 with a docking station, and I just love it.. Easy to download and also so easy to use.. Takes great pictures, and it is not that big. ;)

I just purchased a Sony mini Camcorder have been playing around with it for a couple of days. It is soooooooooo easy to use and small too. It also take digital still pictures too. So I just might that one with me on my next cruise......... :D