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Digital Cameras

P

PSTAN

Active Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2004
Messages
1,637
Location
Spring, Texas
Due to changes in the desire to take photos the wife and I have been looking in to replacing the family's digital camera. The Canon A70 we have still works great for our "general" pictures but the wife and I are getting more interested into taking better pictures, mostly the wife. We have had our current camera for some time and it is starting to have some problems, the warranty is out and we are looking to replace it. The wife is getting more into portrait photos and I lean more towards the outdoor wildlife stuff so something to be able to somewhat blend the two areas together would be the best for us. My wife is a big time Consumer Reports reader but I tend to think some of their opinions are skewed thus I have some questions for the camera buffs of the forum. I will be the first to admit that taking higher quality pictures is a big learning curve for me. :rolleyes:

When do the next model year of cameras start coming out? I want to try to get the best deal possible so I am starting to keep my eyes and ears open for sales.

What brands/models of digital cameras should we stay away from or really look into?

What are the national chain retailers to pay close attention to, especially if it comes down to a service issue?

When it come to the optical zoom - digital zoom which is more beneficial?

Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
 
When do the next model year of cameras start coming out? I want to try to get the best deal possible so I am starting to keep my eyes and ears open for sales.
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Start looking now...especially with the holiday season coming up. They will start dropping in price right after turkey day so pick up the ads and start browsing.

What brands/models of digital cameras should we stay away from or really look into?
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I do photo-journalism on the side and the best cameras ive found always have the names Canon or Nikon stamped, etched or printed on the side. Its hard to recomend an exact model as it all depends on what you plan to do with it and what you want to do with it in the future. A basic point and shoot 4+ megapixel from either brand should only run you a couple hundred bucks...a more advanced compact with manual controls are usually in the 300-400, and go up from there depending on how many features and other things.

Its not all about mega-pixles though. A 4-6 mega-pixel camera is MORE than plenty for the average photo junky and will print small poster sized images clear as day.

What are the national chain retailers to pay close attention to, especially if it comes down to a service issue?
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If your going with the extended warranty, stick with a large chain store like Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart. They all have good warranty policies which are a great thing to have with a digital camera. Ive had probably a dozen different digitals over the past few years...half of which ive broke and wish i had the extended warranty.

When it come to the optical zoom - digital zoom which is more beneficial?
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Optical zoom is what you want...digital zoom is pretty much worthless and really isnt a zoom at all...it just crops the image to make objects fit larger in the screen tricking you into thinking its zooming it. Its not really zooming, but just centering on something and blowing it up which makes image quality suffer.

My advice to you....

Go to a store that has a large selection and play around with them all till you find one that suits you...find one that has good features, feels good in your hands and a menu thats easy to navigate.
 
Actually, as someone who has bought 2 cameras during the holiday season. The prices drop after the holidays. Problem is waiting that long!

You'll find good deals and sales, but the list price of the actual camera itself will drop.
 
I agree with Jeffro on the digital zoom. It's worthless. If you really want to crop the image you can always do the same thing once you download it to your computer.

As for brands, I would stick with ones that have been in cameras for a while (Kodak, Canon, etc.). The Kodaks use excellent optics. I've always had great luck with Kodak cameras as far as reliability. Mine have taken a lot of abuse and keep on working. I had one problem with one Kodak (I've owned a few), right after the warranty had expired. I let my girlfriend borrow it and she had some candy or something melt and get into it. Even though it was my fault and the warranty had just ended, Kodak still replaced the camera.

What are you looking for out of the camera? It sounds like you'd be happier with a bigger zoom and pretty good resolution. I'd recommend the Kodak Z7590 ($350 MSRP, 5mp, 10x optical) or P850 ($450 MSRP, 5.1mp, 12x optical). I have the DX7590 (older version of Z7590). It's bigger than the one you have now because of the zoom, but I could never live without the 10x zoom now that I have it. It also has a 2.2" screen. I absolutely love this camera.

If you're looking for something that will slide into your pocket and still take great pics, I'd recommend the V550 ($350 MSRP, 5mp, 3x optical).

Edit: I also agree with Jeffro that the best thing to do is go into a tore and find one that meets your specs that you like. If you stick with a Kodak or Canon, you can't go wrong.

Also, look into the times from click to clik and click to capture. I used a couple older Nikon's and the click to click and click to capture times were agonizingly slow.
 
Thanks for the advice so far guys.

This is the one that we are currently reviewing Canon since it has a lot of growth potential for the both of us and what we are wanting to do.

Does any one have any comments/experience with this type of Canon?
 
My suggestion is to get a camera with a long zoom. With children, having a long zoom is invaluable. If your children are anything like mine, they always act up when they see the camera out and its tough to take candid pictures of them. Having a long zoom allows you to be further away and take pictures of them without them noticing. I've had several digital cameras, but my current one is my favorite, the Canon S2-IS. It has 12x zoom with image stabilizer and takes awesome pictures. Its a great camera for beginners, but also have quite a few advanced features. The clinching feature that made me buy this camera is its' video cam abilities. It takes videos at 30 fps at 640x480 resolution and you can zoom while taking videos. Now I don't have to lug around a seperate video camera and the quality of the videos is even better than my 2 year old video camera.

Anyway, here is a great site if you want to do some research:

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

Enjoy.
 
Strayvector beat me to the recommendation for DPReview. It's an invaluable resource. Since you linked to a digital SLR, I'll also recommend the reviews on Fred Miranda's website. Since that link was for a Canon DSLR, you might also like to take a look at the Canon Digital Photography Forums.

The EOS Rebel XT is an excellent camera. I'm a Canon fan, myself. I took a hard look at the XT before going with the next step up, the EOS 20D. The only thing that really steered me away from the XT was ergonomics...a matter of personal preference. The XT is just as capable of making outstanding images as is the 20D. The Canon forum is full of such great photography.

Good luck in your camera hunt! If you need a brain to pick, just holler.

Edited to add:

When it comes to image quality, the single greatest factor is the glass. Don't buy a nice camera only to put a cheap lens on it. The lens that usually comes with the XT is the Canon EF 18-55mm zoom. It's not great but not bad. If you can find a package deal with the Canon EF 17-85mm zoom, I'd go for that. It's better glass, has a longer range, and best of all, it has Image Stabilization (IS) technology built in.

In addition to the local retailers mentioned by others, you might also take a gander at B&H Photo, the largest online camera store there is. I do a lot of my photo shopping there.
 
I just purchased a Canon 20D and love it. If you have any questions PM me


Here is the setup I purchased a few weeks ago

Camera Body - Canon EOS 20D
20d_586x225.jpg


Standard Zoom Lens - EF-S 17-85MM f4-5.6 IS USM
EF17-85_586x225.jpg


Telephoto Zoom Lens - EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III
ef75-300_4-56iii_586x225.jpg
 
Stray - That was the camera that I was looking into till the wife started showing/telling me what she wants to do.

Thanks for the advice PCAK. I will be looking into Miranda's website.

Thank you both for the review link.
 
Most of the cameras that we sell are Kodak, followed by Sony. I bought both sets of in-laws Fuji cameras last year for Christmas and they love them. All the name brands are good.

My recommendations:

5 megapixel and the highest optical zoom you can find in your price range. Anything more than 5m for most people is overkill, anything less than 3x optical is worthless. I have turned my digital zoom off, as digital zoom is a re-creation, not true zoom.

Leave enough room in your budget for an extra memory card and extra battery. Digital cameras require a lot of power.

If you go with a camera that takes AA batteries, buy the Monster Rechargeable Power Cells, they last much longer than any other battery that I've tried. $40 for 4 batteries and hi-speed charger.


Gregor
 
Any of canons digital SLRs are TOP NOTCH!!! IVe got the model that came out before the XT, the plain ol digital rebel and it takes amazing pictures. With a good DSLR, your going to open up a whole nother world in taking pictures as it offers a wealth more options and accessories over any point and shoot.

Check out DPreview.com if you havent already...lots of great info there and reviews on particular cameras.
 
The wife wanted a GOOD digital last year so we spent a month in research. The Canon Digital Rebel XT (6.3MP version) was what she choose. I don't think you'll go wrong with either a Canon or Nikon though. Since the new 8MP Rebel came out the 6.3 has dropped ALLOT in price and might be what you are looking for. Just another thing to consider.
 
Any thoughts on the Minolta line, specifically the 7D? I'm also looking for a digital SLR and have had sucess with my past Minolta 35mm SLR.
 
...got a Nikon 5.1 MP here and for a basic non-SLR model, it's been fantastic.

I've got a bag full of "old school" Nikon stuff that's getting dusty anymore....too bad as I really loved my Nikon FM / FM2. When I get ready to buy a DSLR I'll for sure get a Nikon so I can put some of these great lenses back to work.

Solid advice on the optical / digital zoom features above; digital zoom is fun to play with, not as useful as you'd think and of course image quality takes a real beating.

Good luck - B.B.S.
 
if you are going to order online, i have personally used tristatephoto.com and b&hphoto.com alot (they know how to grab money from you). I use olympus DSLR's and point and shoot. if you are looking for small, nikon has a 7mp model that is fairly inexpensive, i ahve had great luck with all my oly equipment, and have no regrets. take a look at www.dpreview.com as stated above. personally, i wouldn' t buy rom the big box people, their service is usually horriable an they lack the knowledge other than what is written non the product tags in the store. try some of your local mom and pop shops so you can play with the camera.
 
The pro photographer on the last cruise I went on gave a talk and I attended.

Couple things he said have been repeated here.

>>Optical zoom and the more of it the better. Dig zoom is just cropping.
>>ALWAYS shoot on the highest resolution. I mean why spend the money on a 5 meg camera and only use it on the 3 meg setting. You never know when later down the road after you've loaded them up to the computer you might want to crop a pic. If its on 3 meg vs 5 then your going to have a crappier pic. Just stock up on memcards.
>>> turn off the red eye reduction. It makes for a crappier pic and you can photoshop the red out later on your computer anyway.

He was a fan of Canon dig rebel but was saying someone else just came out with a new dig SLR that was supposed to be a little better. More rapid fire shooting etc. Anyone have a clue? I cant remember what the make and model was.

Friend and Uncle inlaw have the digital rebel. They really seam nice only you have to shoot everything throught the viewfinder. Oh well it is a SLR after all.

We hae a Sony DSC and love it. Pics are awesome.

Russell
 
IMO, I dont care for the Rebel, its a lower end version of the Canon EOS, which i have in 35mm. I would look for a universal lense, that does wide, and close up. I think they had a 50-210mm which was VERY sweet. i have two lenses 28-90 and 75-300.
 
Speaking of lenses...my first pro level lens, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom just arrived after being on backorder more than a month.


IMO, I dont care for the Rebel, its a lower end version of the Canon EOS, which i have in 35mm.
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Yes, the Rebel XT is the entry model of the EOS digital line but I wouldn't exactly call it "lower end" as far as performance goes. With 8.0MP, 3FPS, EF & EF-S lens compatiblity, etc, there's not much lightweight about the camera except...well...it's light weight. For under a grand, it's a great consumer DSLR.
 
Thank everyone for their advice and opinions.

The wife and I decided on the Canon Rebel XT 8.0MP Digital SLR. Granted it is not the EOS 20D, out of financial reach even with the current Canon rebats, but it has all the growth potential that we see us being able to use plus it was available locally for us to look at and hold. The kit lens does seem to be lacking so after the first of the year I am going to try to get better one. We picked it up yesterday and started using it last night at a birth day part and the quality of pictures so far have been astounding in comparison to our older digital camera. Now I keep cathing myself thinking about taking pictures at places that I drive by but never thought about before.

Here is a sample playing around picture.

IMG_0001.jpg
 
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