Shopping for a Digital Camera
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free skin care · Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:27 pm

I plan to buy myself my very own digital camera....it's sort of a New Year Resolution. Any advice on brand, good zooming & focus and pixel I should get?

Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:54 am

Canon and Fujifilm in general are my favourite in terms of photo quality, but I also own a little Olympus that does a good job.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. The number of pixels really depends on what you plan on doing with your photos. If you will be printing poster sized photos then the more mega-pixels (MP) the better, if you're going to be just taking standard shots and either keeping them on your computer for general viewing or printing them in standard photo size then 5MP is great already. You'll probably be hard-pressed finding 5MP by now, the camera manufactuers keep pushing up the MP factor on their cameras despite the fact that for general photo taking all it really does is just give you less space on your card for storing photos for very little return in terms of photo quality (unless you print them larger or actually edit your photos, etc).

2. As far as I am concerned, the bigger the zoom (optical zoom, NOT digital) the better. 3x optical zoom would be the bare minimum, I would be hoping for at least 5x optical zoom, ideally 10x. You just can't beat a great optical zoom when you're far away and want to get a nice clear shot. I never even consider the amount of digital zoom (nor do I ever use it) that a camera has since digital zoom degrades the quality of the photos.

3. Look for additional features like face/smile recognition that help with focusing and taking the photo at the right time. Canon and Sony have implemented this very nicely. An image stabilizer is also a very good thing to have to eliminate hand shake and hence blurry photos in low light conditions (especially when you don't want to use a flash).

4. A view finder is a personal preference. It seems that most compact digital cameras have dropped this off their list altogether. However, my experience with a LOT of digital cameras by now is that in really bright light is it *very* difficult to see the screen (if not impossible on some cameras!) so an additional optical view finder is a good thing to have. Of course, having one then reduces the size of the screen, so you'll need to decide what is more important to you.

5. I've assumed that you're after a compact type camera and not a digital SLR, but if you want to get into some serious photo taking then you're most definitely looking for an SLR, which will allow you to change lenses.

6. In terms of compact cameras, some now have a concealed optical zoom, meaning that the zoom equipment is actually *inside* the camera body (zooming horizontally inside across the width of the casing) so you don't get the lens sticking out of the camera and extending out when you zoom out. Such cameras are handy for when you're taking photos against glass, and also easier to maintain in more difficult conditions (e.g. beach) since you don't get sand stuck between the zoom apparatus as it extends in and out.

7. No matter what camera you buy, the golden rule is always that the quality of the photos is linked with the size of the lens. The bigger the lens, the more light it allows in, the better the pictures.

8. This is probably of less importance these days since storage is becoming cheaper and cheaper, but some companies have their own proprietary storage format. This means that if you were to upgrade to another camera from another brand, all of a sudden all your storage cards are useless. Olympus is an example here, ideally you want to go for a brand that uses SD cards.

9. To me the cable connector for the camera-PC link is quite important. Many (e.g. again Olympus) have their own proprietary connector on the camera side of the USB cable. That means that if you lose that, you will have to get a rather expensive cable from the manufacturer. These are more and more available on eBay now though, mainly from Asia. However, on my next camera I want to see a standard mini-USB connector, which costs peanuts and is easy to replace in any computer or electronics store. Canon and Sony (and the new Fujifilm cameras) all use a mini-USB connection for example, but they're not the only ones.

I am not sure what your price range is or for what sorts of photos you plan on taking and whether you plant to print them, so I won't recommend any specific cameras. However, there are two places I always look before I buy a new camera (this happens surprisingly often in my case Smile

) and these places are like the EDS or MUA but for camera lovers:

http://dpreview.com/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

What I would do is go to a nice camera store like J&R or B&H select the points from above that are important to you and ask for a few recommendations. Write them down, look them up on the above two sites and then make a decision Smile

HTH

free skin care · Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:15 am

That does help, thanks! I wanted to have something compact and I plan to use it so that I can save it onto my MacBook. I'm tired of all the photos I have and all the space it's taking to store it. There is only so many photos you can put on your wall.

Every summer, I usually do some sort of travelling and I just want to take some photos and email them to my friends.

I just remembered that the old one I had & lost it during my move did not have a good flash. So if I want to take pictures in a dark room, the picture is way to dark.

I can't comment on price range because I am clueless on what the cost is these days. I don't want to spend money on a camera, only to find out that I overspent and the quality is not all that great.

Does that narrow it down?

Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:52 am

Yes, it does. So you're after something compact (hassle free when traveling) and good in taking low-light photos and with a pretty good flash. I think I have the perfect camera for you Smile

It's the Canon PowerShot SD 790 IS and it is one of the top performing cameras in the compact category. Good flash and good at taking low-light pics (though, regardless, a mini-tripod is recommended for any camera in low light situations). It has great features, including face recognition and image stabilisation (which also helps in low light). The face detection allows the camera to do red-eye reduction so it doesn't have to be done with software later. The things I don't particularly like about it is that it's only 3x zoom (i.e. standard) and it has no optical view finder. My friend has this camera and is very happy with it, and I admit it takes lovely pictures. It's about $200. You *can* get cameras cheaper than this - if you are prepared to sacrifice the sleek "super compact", then you can get a very good camera for half that.

You can look at the camera and read some reviews of it here: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SD790IS-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B0011ZK6OS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231152078&sr=8-1

A great option if you don't need the super compact is the Canon Powershot A590. It's an 8MP (the earlier mentioned one is 10MP) but has 4x optical zoom. As you can see from the pix, it's small but a bit more chunky than the SD 790. Has some good features as well (e.g. face recognition, optical view finder, the earlier mentioned red-eye reduction, stabilizer). It's also half price at just over $100. http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-A590IS-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B0011ZCDKS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231152438&sr=1-1

free skin care · Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:10 am

Wow Mabsy! I am definitely looking into Canon now.

free skin care · Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:29 pm

Skincare wrote:

Wow Mabsy! I am definitely looking into Canon now.

I am on my 2nd Canon Powershot and really love it...I currently have the SD750.

free skin care · Sun May 10, 2009 8:09 am

I am seriously considering the Canon Powershot SX10.

20x optical zoom
10 MP
takes up to an hour length movies with sound

sounds great for my needs but it is not compact. It is bulky. But I am ok with it because it is what I am looking for. Now I have to get to the store to see it in person.

free skin care · Sun May 10, 2009 4:26 pm

I ended up getting a Nikon D60.

free skin care · Sat May 16, 2009 2:00 pm

I ended up getting the Canon Powershot Sx10 IS.

Really nice inbetween camera between a compact and an SLR. I was lemming the SLrs but the Powershot sold me because of the price, and features. It doubles as a digital camcorder and also has a fold out LED screen so I can take pictures using the screen too. 20 x zoom is awesome. I will love this camera for years to come but the rechargable batteries had to be re-charged after one day of use ! Maybe I was using it a lot.

Fri May 22, 2009 5:21 am

i bought a camera of Canon IXUX 110IS

Mon May 25, 2009 8:57 pm

Skincare wrote:

I ended up getting a Nikon D60.

Yay Nikon! We have a D70 and I use it all the time. It's nice to have a back up pocket-sized camera, too, but the quality of Nikon is excellent! No shutter lag and really intuitive. I hope you're happy with it.

free skin care · Tue May 26, 2009 11:54 pm

I think Canon and Sony is ok

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