Best Digital Camera for around $200 ?? Ideas?

[Ryan]

I think the FujiFilm 2650 is at or near that price point. I liked it when I used it, it's a simple point and shoot camera with a good picture

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Ornery

Originally posted by: BigSmooth
I consider value when describing a product as "good" or not. The E Machine is not exactly analogous because they make junk.
Is a P4 Dell for $350 a "good computer" for most people out there? Absolutely. Sure, it's got integrated audio and video, but in the grand scheme of things there is very little software out there that would not run on that machine. Plus you've got the Dell name and support backing it.

To sum up, a camera can be "good" even if it's not high end. If it provides everything a user wants or needs and beats the competition in quality at the same price, I'd call that a good camera.

I disagree. You're saying that it can be "good for what it is". Bah. Either it's good or it ain't. Ole' jamerdean is going to buy something for $200.00, then upgrade to something else not long after. I see it here all the time. I bet most DC owners on this board are on their third or fourth cameras already. Why? Because the first one or two weren't 'good' enough.

I'm seeing a lot of people going ga-ga over this new Canon SD10, and paying a small fortune for the damn thing. Yeah, I think $200.00 is a lot of money, so $300.00 for what some of the images look like, that come out of that SD10 is ludicrous! Is it good 'for what it is', a cute camera? Do images matter in a 4MP digital camera or not?

I guess we just use the term "good" in different ways. I consider the Honda Accord a good car even though in absolute terms it has very few advantages over, say, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. But it provides 95% of the benefits at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Ornery]

An Accord is friggin' $24,000.00! It BETTER be good! A $200.00 camera is more comparable to a car half that price.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Ornery
An Accord is friggin' $24,000.00! It BETTER be good! A $200.00 camera is more comparable to a car half that price.

But the S-Class is clearly superior, right? You said "it's good or it ain't". People buy tons of cars that cost 2 or 3 times the cost of the Accord so they have to be getting some benefit from it.

If someone is paying $96,000 for an S-Class in a free market, they must think it is 4 times better than an Accord. And people DO buy S-Classes for that price. So if we call the S-Class a "good" car, that must mean the Accord "ain't".

 

[jaydee]

Arguing over the definition of a word that is subjective in every sense is pretty pointless.

On to the main point: What are you going to use the camera for?

 

[adlep]

<----- Click..

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: BigSmooth

Originally posted by: Ornery
An Accord is friggin' $24,000.00! It BETTER be good! A $200.00 camera is more comparable to a car half that price.

But the S-Class is clearly superior, right? You said "it's good or it ain't". People buy tons of cars that cost 2 or 3 times the cost of the Accord so they have to be getting some benefit from it.

If someone is paying $96,000 for an S-Class in a free market, they must think it is 4 times better than an Accord. And people DO buy S-Classes for that price. So if we call the S-Class a "good" car, that must mean the Accord "ain't".

A $96, 000.00 car is comparable to a digital SLR with several lenses.

A $200.00 DC is comparable to a $12,000.00 car. Would even one person on this board, say that car is 'good'? Like I said, he'll be looking for a replacement in a short time, if he goes this route.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Ornery

Originally posted by: BigSmooth

Originally posted by: Ornery
An Accord is friggin' $24,000.00! It BETTER be good! A $200.00 camera is more comparable to a car half that price.

But the S-Class is clearly superior, right? You said "it's good or it ain't". People buy tons of cars that cost 2 or 3 times the cost of the Accord so they have to be getting some benefit from it.

If someone is paying $96,000 for an S-Class in a free market, they must think it is 4 times better than an Accord. And people DO buy S-Classes for that price. So if we call the S-Class a "good" car, that must mean the Accord "ain't".

A $96, 000.00 car is comparable to a digital SLR with several lenses.

A $200.00 DC is comparable to a $12,000.00 car. Would even one person on this board, say that car is 'good'? Like I said, he'll be looking for a replacement in a short time, if he goes this route.

I understand your view, you are looking at "good" in more absolute terms than I am. But jaydee's right, we're probably just wasting our (virtual) breath here since it's a subjective term.

 

[BHeemsoth]

Originally posted by: Ornery

Originally posted by: BigSmooth

Originally posted by: Ornery
An Accord is friggin' $24,000.00! It BETTER be good! A $200.00 camera is more comparable to a car half that price.

But the S-Class is clearly superior, right? You said "it's good or it ain't". People buy tons of cars that cost 2 or 3 times the cost of the Accord so they have to be getting some benefit from it.

If someone is paying $96,000 for an S-Class in a free market, they must think it is 4 times better than an Accord. And people DO buy S-Classes for that price. So if we call the S-Class a "good" car, that must mean the Accord "ain't".

A $96, 000.00 car is comparable to a digital SLR with several lenses.

A $200.00 DC is comparable to a $12,000.00 car. Would even one person on this board, say that car is 'good'? Like I said, he'll be looking for a replacement in a short time, if he goes this route.

You really need to calm down. Not everyone needs a high end camera, because the majority of people here are just doing point and shoot, and then printing the pics out on their inkjet printer.

I have a canon a40 (a camera well liked by many here) and it does everything i need just fine (occasional use, and occasional printing of 8x10 or 4x6's). I would love to have a canon rebel, but i simply dont need it.

I guess what I am trying to get at is that if you take a picture with a canon a60 or fuji a210, most people will never notice the difference between a picture taken with those cameras or with a $800+ SLR. This person obviously dosent have the need to spend alot of money, so you should really stop b!tching about it.

 

[Ornery]

The less money you have, the less you want to waste it. He's going to squander $200.00, then probably $300.00 on the next one, then $400.00 on the one after that.

My dad now has the A40, which I foolishly suggested he buy. In hindsight, I'd tell him the same thing I'm saying here. It's an adequate camera, so don't expect much. I'd have talked him into a better camera, if I knew then what I know now. Within two days of using that camera, the first thing he wanted to know, was why it didn't zoom more. Should have returned it right then.

A couple weeks ago, he wanted to know if it could shoot a wider shot. It turns out that the wide angle lens with adapter will be about $100. At Christmas, he was complaining how long it took to focus and take a picture. Also, how long it took to recharge the flash, before it could shoot again. Instead of getting a 'good' for what it is camera, it's looking more and more like he wasted $250.00. When you have little money, that's a pretty sad situation.

 

[BigSmooth]

Is it a "waste", though, when you consider that with most of the other cameras at that price point, he would have had more complaints then he had with the A40? He's probably gotten far better pictures thus far with the A40 then he would have otherwise... heck, maybe he would have given up digital photography altogether given the terrible quality of many cams out there, especially a few years ago when the A40 came out.

Although it sounds like the A40 was not enough camera for the type of photographer your dad is, not everyone gets bitten by the upgrade bug. The camera's ratings at consumer sites such as Epinions speak to that fact.

 

[jamautosound]

NASA's Spirit Rover is providing a lesson to aspiring digital photographers: Spend your money on the lens, not the pixels.

Did you know the Mars pics were taken with a One-Megapixel Camera??

ZoomViewer


Pretty amazing, I thought. I believe I will be doing more research about the type lens of my next camera has.