Selecting a Digital Camera

willardhaven

willardhaven

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Anybody know anything about Digital Cameras? My girlfriend is looking to buy one, and I have no idea where to start searching.

Any recommendations on a brand, model or any deals would be great, thank you. : )
 
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Sorry to rain on Tom's parade, but both those cameras are pieces of shit relative to others. She might wanna get those is she doesn't really care too much about features, and shooting in low light situations and optical zoom. But, I'd recommend looking at what I've listed below if she wants something with a little more *oomph*.
:(. Whoring myself for money at Best Buy's Digital Imaging Dept. I've come to learn what digi cameras are all about.

The Kodak CX7300 is terrible because it has a plastic body and plastic lens, its not even glass. That will give you a shitty photo quality comparatively. It also doesn't even have optical zoom, only a 3x digital which is close to useless. All digital zoom does is enlarge the pixels and ruin image quality.

The Canon A400 is better, but still an overall bad camera. Good luck trying to shoot in low light situations with this thing.

If you want a decent camera for the price, look at the Canon A510, its a 3.2 MP camera for $199.99. Kind of steep for a 3.2 MP, but the quality will not disappoint.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...104-5767436-4430368?v=glance&s=photo&n=507846

However, for $200 you could go a step up in terms of megapixels and get the Kodak CX7430. Its a 4 MP camera and because its a Kodak it'll be really easy to use. However, the body is still plastic, but a better plastic, and Kodak's lens work does not get really nice until their DX series which ave the Schneider lenses.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...104-5767436-4430368?v=glance&s=photo&n=502394

If you have a rather large hole burning in your pocket, I'd say look at the Canon SD300 Elph and Sony DSCW1. I can personally recommend the W1 because I own it and love it. It's got a huge 2.5" LCD screen which I love, and also the Car Zeiss Lens and fun little features. Its also a 5 MP camera which she may or may not want/need.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...104-5767436-4430368?v=glance&s=photo&n=502394

And as far as the SD300 is concerned, I have heard nothing but good things about it. Its a 4 MP camera, and extremely small and sleek. It can also film at 60 FPS! Thats unheard of for a camera.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...104-5767436-4430368?v=glance&s=photo&n=502394

Sorry if I sounded condenscending, not meant that way at all.
 
It really depends on what she wants to do with it. I bought one of those $99 range cameras just recently because I just need to take pictures of a bunch of my old junk to put up on ebay. But maybe those wouldnt be appropriate for...other stuff.
 
I don't have a lot to add to Happy Panda's post--I also work in the Best Buy DI department, so I mostly have similar information to offer. So allow me to reinforce his selections.

Kodak is great in ease of use, though Happy Panda's right--the CX series are shitty.

I'll agree that the Sony DSC-W1 is an excellent camera, though 5 megapixels might not be necessary unless she's doing some cropping or larger prints. Sony's T1 also recently took a price drop--it's not much higher in price than the W1, and you get a much smaller camera with all of the features of the W1 (large screen, 5 megapixels, Zeiss lens) along with the Lithium-Ion battery (though I'm not terribly fond of the flash on that model).

Allow me to add that if you're looking for something easy to use (and willing to sacrifice a megapixel), Kodak's DX series kicks major ass. I highly recommend the DX 7440 with the Shneider lens, 4 megapixels, 4x optical zoom, large screen (2.2" I think) and a Lithium battery. Plus, SD cards are dirt cheap in comparison to the Memory Stick. If you're just getting started, this one's worth a look.

The Kodak DX 7440, Sony DSC-W1, and the Sony DSC-T1, are all great cameras. What you should select really comes down to your previous experiences and what you and your girlfriend want to be able to do.
 
she wants a nice digital camera around 300$

she wants an attractive camera design-wise (casing and such).

an all-around good camera feature-wise.
 
What's attractive is subjective. At that price range I recommend checking out the Sony W1 and the Kodak DX 7440.
 
I've got a DSCW1 and it's a hell of a camera. It's got point and click modes if you want and even manual settings. It's also got differing modes to give you the best pics. Landscape, beach, candle, night portrait and a few others. The screen's huge, too and Sony models have the best visibility in darker lighting conditions from my experience. Battery life is excellent, too.

Just ask if you have more questions about that particular model. Really good camera. Sears has it on sale this week for $329.
 
What are people's opinions of the Canon Powershot A80? I had looked at getting one of those a year or so ago. But ended up just sticking with my woefully outdated 2MP Kodak Easyshare.
 
I didn't take a look in depth at the features between the DSC-P100 and DSC-W1 but the latter has a huge screen. It really does help and the MSRP according to Sony's site is the same. As I said Sears has it on sale below that. I can't recommend that camera enough.
 
I think we're going with the SONY DSC-W1 since it is 310 at circuit city, it seems like a good buy.

If there is a camera (which costs around 300) that can compete with the sony, then let me know.



Thanks a ton to everyone who replied especially Panda : )
 
The primary differences between the DSC-P100 and DSC-W1: The P100 a lithium ion battery and a smaller screen. The W1 uses AA batteries and has a larger screen. Both cameras are great all around.
 
No prob. dental.

Yes good choice, just be sure to protect it tho. That 2.5" LCD is gonna be extra prone to scratches and cracks if you don't keep it somewhere safe.
 
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