Digital Cameras (again !! - Sorry)

[Mean Green]

Sorry to be a pain .... but I would appear that Santa is going to be quite good to me this year and is going to drop off a digi cam on the night of the 24th. :D :D

However being a - lets say - more mature gentleman and not very knowledgable about such matters, he has asked me in advance what I would like.

It would appear that change from £300 would be appreciated.

So whats on offer? What should I (sorry Santa) be looking for? How many pixels? what features are a bonus and what are a waste of time?

Any thought would be most gratefully received.

Greg :D :D

[Mike Jackson]

Have a look at http://www.kodak.co.uk/US/en/digital/cameras/DCSGateway.jhtml

I know it's only one manufacturer but all of them will have cameras with similar specs.

If possible optical zoom is good but to my mind digital zoom is a waste of time, you may as well do that on the PC. Make sure that the camera has some form of removeable media so that when you start using it a lot you can get a larger memory card.

Mike

[Mark Charnley]

And a larger memory card you will need!!!!

We got an 8mb with ours! We then upgraded straight away to a 96mb cf card and we have just got a 128mb cf card. The prices for unbranded cards are extremely low so its worth getting as big as possible !

[Time Bandit]

I have a Fuji FinePix 1400 Zoom, nowt startling but does the job for me and the pictures seem okay and it is easy enough to use.
Price?....Not sure nowadays but under £300, probably nearer £200??

[66Landie]

Mr Green, ;) you could do a lot worse than talk to our Vicky about the Canon A20.

I bought one on her advice here in OZ & I am extremely pleased with it & it never ceases to amaze me & her with what it can do & the actual results.

Batteries are 4 x AA, rechargeable & have a good life before recharging, Optional B&W pics. Excellent Photo Stitch ie, 360o if required. Easy to use. etc,etc.

I could go on & on but why not speak to our "Resident Photographic Information Consultant"

I can't comment about the U.K. price but with the UK-Oz xchange rate I would think you'd be close-ish.

Des.:cool:

[Mean Green]

Mr66 (or is it Mr Landie :confused: ) I was hoping for a reply from the resident Photographic Guru.... I await the advice with baited breathe.

Funny you should mention a Canon A20, I was looking at that exact model not more than an hour ago!!! :D

Looks good, good size.... price is fine too they (Jessops) want £314, which is close enough for me.

Greg :cool:

[Calum]

Another site that is useful for comparing digital cameras is:

http://www5.activebuyersguide.com/Start.cfm?PID=0X5X161X4093X532f&RefID=

Calum

[Vicky]

Hi Greg,
Guru eh? I'm embarrased :o. When digital cameras first started to do anything decent, in the £300 price range I wouldn't have recomended anything else but Fuji (that's what I've got, though now obsolete)because they seemed to have the edge on most other makes, but now all the others appear to have caught up. The main things to look for are optical zoom (not digital, as Mike J says you can digital zoom on your PC), and the highest mg. pixels you can afford. If I was buying one now around £300 I would go for the Canon A20, mainly because I've seen what it's capable of (demonstrating it at work, and from what Des has sent me from Oz), it is a great little camera with cracking results. 3x optical zoom, 2.1 mg pixels, and very easy to understand. I dare say others will tell you different, but this would be my personal choice.
Vicky:)

[66Landie]

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/a20.html


Greg, visit this site ( USA) for more good info. if you would like more.

I really am impressed with the A20, so I'll e-mail you a couple of pics. for you to see how well it does.

Des.:cool:

[SeriesIIIOwner]

but I would appear that Santa is going to be quite good to me this year and is going to drop off a digi cam on the night of the 24th.

You couldn't get him to drop me one off too eh, Had one nicked earlier this year :(

[Sharky]

Nice bit of stuff that A20, Vicky, what your opinion on the Sony Cybershots, bit expensive but the company may be paying for it

[Vicky]

The results I've seen from the Sonys have been v.good, the only downside I'd say is the price of the Memory Stick is quite a bit more expensive than the Smart Media & Compact Flash that most other cameras use, also they use an info lithium battery, these are brilliant for length of use, but if it fails while you're out & about, unless you've got a back up you're in the Sh*t, where most other digitals use AA's (recomend rechargeables though) that are available almost anywhere. :)

[Jon V]

The sony Info-lithium battery's are great. The pain is that they need to be attached to the camera for charging and i think the seperate charger is expensive.

[Sharky]

Using a Sony MD70 spomething at the moment and results for net are okay but for printing are qhite naff to be hionest ... blood y hell dont dring and type .

Anyway htios sony thingy is like 5 millun pixuils and a tad over the top for wevene what I paid for my F3 waaaay back.

It hinkd it about time aI eent to bed

[Vicky]

Sharky, The Sony Mavica MD70 only had 640x480 resolution, possibly because it stores onto a floppy disk, the latest ones are a bit higher, but the Mavica and Cybershot are aimed at different markets, most of the Mavicas we sell are to people who want a record of something (building work etc). As you are not paying for the Cybershot (with extra cards + battery) it would be a good choice:)

[Sharky]

Thanks VIcky,

I am sober now:D

Yes the reason I bought the Mavica in the first place was the convenience of having the shots instantly on jpg format therefore removing the need to have any other specialiszed software for viewing on practically any computer although I use Photoshop at home and on my work computers.

From what I have read the 128Mb memory stick is essential, all I need is an underwater housing for the 5M pixel one and its maybe good bye Nikon / Fuji