Choosing a Digital Camera

[b4u]

Hi,

I current have a sony video camera, which can take digital pictures with 2 Megapixels. I want more resolution, and more image quality, so I'm thinking about buying a digital camera.

Since I bought a Memory Stick with 128Mb, I was thinking about buying a Sony camera, so I can use it. Is this a good choice, or will I get a better quality going for other brands, even if that means buying another memory card type?

Anyway, thinking sony, what would you choose? I saw 2 options ono a glance (haven't look much more products, though):

Cyber-shot® DSC-H1 Digital Camera DSC-H1
5.1 Megapixel
12x optical zoom
32Mb already built in
Focal Length: 6 - 72mm
Aperture: f2.8 - f3.7

Cyber-shot® DSC-V3 Digital Camera DSC-V3
7 Megapixel
4x optical zoom
no memory included?
35mm Equivalent: 34 - 136mm
Aperture: f2.8/f5.6 (W), f5.4/f10 (T)


So the 7 Megapixel camera would give me much better image resolution, but I would lack some real zoom ... 12x vs 4x optical ... which would be the best choice?


Together with your opinion on which of these 2 models you would choose (and why), I would like to leave some questions from a photo noob:

1# Optical zoom is better than digital, right? I mean, it's made by the lenses, instead of just zooming digital which would loose quality. Right?

2# Aperture: f2.8/f5.6 (W), f5.4/f10 (T) ... can you explain me better what settings are better for this aperture focal values? Why? Any link with some good explanations? (i'll also google for it as soon as I post this messsage )

3# What about 35mm, 136mm, ... that would be related with zoom possibilities, or what?


Many thanks for the answers ...

 

[DocBartend]

good site to visit for specs is steves-digicams dot com

 

[Calin]

Optical zoom is better than digital as long as you have enough light. Also, digital zoom is non existant on the highest resolution (it only exists on lower resolutions... but I might be wrong with that).
Optical zoom in lower light is sometime taking the images with the flash, when non-zoomed images don't need the flash

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Digital zoom is, for all practical purposes, worthless. It pixelates the images badly.

I'd get the ultra-zoom (12x optical). I own a Panasonic FZ5 w/ a 12x zoom and it's incredible what I can zoom in on.

See here: Very zoomed on a hummingbird across the yard

 

[Freejack2]

digital zoom is a joke. If you don't mind the extra weight a superzoom is great. I've got the Canon S2 IS and it's nice to be able to zoom in 12x on anything. Don't just decide to buy the H1, look at the S2 IS and the FZ5 first. Memory is dirt cheap. You can get 1gb sd cards for $55.

 

[b4u]

So overall, I would better go for a better zoom, rather than some more quality right? I'll be seeing this cameras on my hand latter today.

Originally posted by: Freejack2
digital zoom is a joke. If you don't mind the extra weight a superzoom is great. I've got the Canon S2 IS and it's nice to be able to zoom in 12x on anything. Don't just decide to buy the H1, look at the S2 IS and the FZ5 first. Memory is dirt cheap. You can get 1gb sd cards for $55.

Have you seen the others before buying your cannon, I mean, were they available at the time?

Reading some reviews, it "seems" that reviwers prefer the sony over the cannon ... of course they all compare almost every pixel to make a choice, and a regular user probably won't notice the difference ... but one of my fears is really image quality and colors ... for example: Sony DSC-H1 vs Cannon S2 IS -> which one you think displays the real world colors better? And which one has the less bluring overall? (your opinion)

 

[SouthPaW1227]

I hate all Sony electronics, I'll just be honest. They are overpriced and overhyped due to brand recognition.

I needed a camera for a trip and shoot, so I got the FZ5. I prefer Canon above all, but the S2 wasn't released at the time so I got the Panny, and I'm thrilled with it.

BTW, "quality"? 5MP is PLENTY of quality. Unless you're gonna be printing prints above 11"x14", you don't even have a need for more than 5MP. That 12x camera w/ 5MP is plenty of quality for the amature/prosumer.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Canon > Nikon > Sony

In other words, you can do better than Sony! Don't just look at megapixels. More megapixels does not always equal better photos. To print good 8x10s, you only need 4 megapixels. Remember to look at other factors, such as weight, size, portability, battery type, etc.

Edit: The "F" number has to do with how fast the lens is. Tpically, the lower the better. The XXmm - YYmm numbers are the zoom rating for the lens.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
I hate all Sony electronics, I'll just be honest. They are overpriced and overhyped due to brand recognition.

I needed a camera for a trip and shoot, so I got the FZ5. I prefer Canon above all, but the S2 wasn't released at the time so I got the Panny, and I'm thrilled with it.

BTW, "quality"? 5MP is PLENTY of quality. Unless you're gonna be printing prints above 11"x14", you don't even have a need for more than 5MP. That 12x camera w/ 5MP is plenty of quality for the amature/prosumer.

Mostly agree with everything except megapixels.

Digital zoom IS useless. All it does is do what every graphics program does when they zoom. Better to have the highest optical zoom, then move in on with whatever picture software comes with the camera unless you already have better. Gives you a chance to crop as you see fit.

If everything else were equal then more is better with pixels. True you could get a decent 8x10 with the 5mp but consider this.

The camera I used is in the 8mp range (Canon 20D) with a macro lens. I cropped the image used that. I used only about 1/6th the total image area, or in other words 1/6th the number of pixels I had. The less you start out with the less "room" you have to work with.

Since the first camera has a great advantage with the optical zoom, you have to crop less (though in reality it won't do what a 500 dollar macro lens will but it has the potential to do a lot).

 

[Kelemvor]

http://www.dpreview.com is the best place I know of for camera info. They also have huge forums for every brand and you can ask questions...

Main points are:
Optical Zoom: Higher the better. I lov emy 10X optical zoom and would never buy a camera with less.
Digital zoom: Turn it off. Better results by modifying the image after the fact in Photooshop or something
Megapixels: Higher the better. For standard 4x6 prints a 3 or 4 MP camera is just fine. 5 Even better. If you want to blow pictures up to 8x10 or larger, then I'd go with 5 or more.

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
I hate all Sony electronics, I'll just be honest. They are overpriced and overhyped due to brand recognition.

I needed a camera for a trip and shoot, so I got the FZ5. I prefer Canon above all, but the S2 wasn't released at the time so I got the Panny, and I'm thrilled with it.

BTW, "quality"? 5MP is PLENTY of quality. Unless you're gonna be printing prints above 11"x14", you don't even have a need for more than 5MP. That 12x camera w/ 5MP is plenty of quality for the amature/prosumer.

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Canon > Nikon > Sony

In other words, you can do better than Sony! Don't just look at megapixels. More megapixels does not always equal better photos. To print good 8x10s, you only need 4 megapixels. Remember to look at other factors, such as weight, size, portability, battery type, etc.

Edit: The "F" number has to do with how fast the lens is. Tpically, the lower the better. The XXmm - YYmm numbers are the zoom rating for the lens.

I have always gotten a canon digital camera, and have loved them all. Currently on a Powershot a95, the rotatable LCD screen rocks, its 5MP, but limites manuel controls.

I despise all Sony products....as quoted above. Memory stick prices are far higher than other forms of memory.

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Canon > Nikon > Sony

In other words, you can do better than Sony! Don't just look at megapixels. More megapixels does not always equal better photos. To print good 8x10s, you only need 4 megapixels. Remember to look at other factors, such as weight, size, portability, battery type, etc.

Edit: The "F" number has to do with how fast the lens is. Tpically, the lower the better. The XXmm - YYmm numbers are the zoom rating for the lens.

i disagree.

for P&S, canon > nikon > sony - yes, but for SLR, nikon > canon > sony

 

[CombatChuk]

I'm not sure if the H1 has image stabilization. But check out Canon's New Powershot S2 it has a similar reach of the H1 and the lens has image stabilization.

 

[Pepsei]

1. i don't like built-in memories
2. 4 mega pixels give or take, and fuji finepix series can be cheap.
3. built in mic is a bonus.
4. this is for the cheapest but still ok model.

 

[b4u]

Originally posted by: CombatChuk
I'm not sure if the H1 has image stabilization. But check out Canon's New Powershot S2 it has a similar reach of the H1 and the lens has image stabilization.

I didn't really knew the S2 had image stabilization, but I know the H1 has ... the choice of going sony isn't a strong one ... it was just the first brand I got info from ... I'm also liking the Canon PowerShot G6, with 7.1mp but 4x optical zoom ... similar to the sony V3 (only better).

So I'm getting with doubts again ... zoom with less quality (but I can shot far away), or having quality, but then i have to get closer to the action ... hard call ... need more opinions

Thanks, and keep your info flowing

 

[LordSnailz]

Can anyone comment on the image stabilization? The problem I have with pictures is they then to be blurry, 30% of my pictures I would say, I'm thinking it's cause I'm moving too much when I take the pictures?

 

[Led Zeppelin]

This camera > everything else in the price range.

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz
Can anyone comment on the image stabilization? The problem I have with pictures is they then to be blurry, 30% of my pictures I would say, I'm thinking it's cause I'm moving too much when I take the pictures?

image stabilization was a pretty big factor in my recent purcahase. got my fz4 yesterday and so far i love it. of course only panasonic and olympus have cameras in the ultra zoom compact category and olympus do not have image stabilization

 

[CombatChuk]

Originally posted by: b4u

Originally posted by: CombatChuk
I'm not sure if the H1 has image stabilization. But check out Canon's New Powershot S2 it has a similar reach of the H1 and the lens has image stabilization.

I didn't really knew the S2 had image stabilization, but I know the H1 has ... the choice of going sony isn't a strong one ... it was just the first brand I got info from ... I'm also liking the Canon PowerShot G6, with 7.1mp but 4x optical zoom ... similar to the sony V3 (only better).

So I'm getting with doubts again ... zoom with less quality (but I can shot far away), or having quality, but then i have to get closer to the action ... hard call ... need more opinions

Thanks, and keep your info flowing

You'll only notice between the different resolutions if you print bigger than letter size or if you get pretty crop happy. If you shot the picture in RAW mode, you can interpolate the picture to get the higher resolution. From my experience it doesn't replace have the extra pixels in your camera but it's pretty good.

 

[ActuaryTm]

This thread will remain incomplete without a rant from Ornery.

 

[ElFenix]

don't let memory types hold you down. memory is cheap. and 128MB of it is nothing. i've got over 3 GB of high speed flash memory. if you don't want to have to dump your memory card every day you'll do the same.

digital zoom blows. basically it takes the picture, crops it, and then blows it up. it'd be like taking a picture, making an 8x10 print, and then cutting out the middle to fit it into a 4x5 frame. you lose a lot of information. now, don't get me wrong, you may want to crop your images when you get ready to display them, but having the camera do it up front isn't the greatest thing in the world.

zoom is a funny thing. considering that pretty much all p&s cameras start with a wide angle lens you're not really getting 12x closer. for comparison, the human eye has a 35mm equivalent focal length of ~50mm. the V3 has a wide 34mm focal length, and a telephoto 136mm focal length in 35mm equivalent (35mm is the diagonal length of a piece of normal film). that telephoto means that you're not really 4x clsoer (thought they claim 4x zoom), more like 2.6x closer.

aperature is measured by the focal length (f) divided by some number. the result is the size of the hole (the aperature) in the lens that the light passes through. the smaller a number the focal length is divided by, the larger the hole and the more light that comes through. the more light that comes through, the faster a shutter speed you can use, to stop motion, or to take photos in lower light conditions.

 

[91TTZ]

Don't let the fact that you own a 128 meg memory stick influence your decision. They're cheap.

Personally, I'd go with a Canon A95.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

zoom is a funny thing. considering that pretty much all p&s cameras start with a wide angle lens you're not really getting 12x closer. for comparison, the human eye has a 35mm equivalent focal length of ~50mm. the V3 has a wide 34mm focal length, and a telephoto 136mm focal length in 35mm equivalent (35mm is the diagonal length of a piece of normal film). that telephoto means that you're not really 4x clsoer (thought they claim 4x zoom), more like 2.6x closer.

I've always wondered about that. I knew that "10x zoom" didn't bring it anywhere near 10x, and you confirmed it.

 

[NuroMancer]

I just picked up a canon Powershop pro 1 and I LOVE IT,
Thus far I have taken 840 pictures and I've only had it 1 week
I love the feature set, the 28-200 zoom.
The L series lense.
If you have the money... I paid 820 cdn + tax and it was worth every dollar. Oh and that included my 1 gig for 80x compact flash.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Don't let the fact that you own a 128 meg memory stick influence your decision. They're cheap.

Personally, I'd go with a Canon A95.

I posted in the Hot Deals forum a 512mb stick for $19 after rebate from Buy.com
Perfect for my Canon A510.