Digicams: resolution, quality and prices

[Tiberius]

Just looking through lists of digital cameras on PCPhotoReview.com and trying to figure out which category has cams that i can afford. The cam will mostly be used for digital photo editing, so i need the quality and the resolution. Something's confusing me though: there are cams out there that have excellent resolution, and yet they cost as much or even less than other cams which can't even compare to them in that department. Is there some sort of a resolution vs quality catch i don't know about: for example, can a camera that shoots at higher res actually end up producing images that are lower quality than those of an equally or higher priced camera that shoots at lower res? If so, would that be the reason for the price difference? Or is pure marketing?

Another thing i wanted to ask is what the deal with prices is. I know they're usually dropping pretty quickly, but are they simply plummeting at the moment? A camera with MSRP of $999 can nowdays be found for just over $300 on eBay. Now, i'm used to finding good deals on electronics, but 70% off MSRP is one hell of a deal. So what's up with that? Is there something major on the horizon?

 

[LethalWolfe]

In regards to your price vs res (I'm assmuing yer talkin' megapixels here) can you list some examples? One camera might have significantly more features than other (thus making it higher priced), or it might have a much better lens system (which, can determine image quality as much as pixel count can).

I think the biggest question is are you looking for a fixed lens camera, or one w/interchangable<sp?> lenses?


Lethal

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: LethalWolfe
In regards to your price vs res (I'm assmuing yer talkin' megapixels here) can you list some examples? One camera might have significantly more features than other (thus making it higher priced), or it might have a much better lens system (which, can determine image quality as much as pixel count can).

I think the biggest question is are you looking for a fixed lens camera, or one w/interchangable<sp?> lenses?


Lethal

I agree if you can give us a few (4) examples.

 

[Tiberius]

Of higher-res cameras costing less than lower-res cameras?

 

[randomlinh]

the MSRP can be from years ago. it doesn't really change. so it's not a good reflection on "where prices are going" when you're trying to compare.

just give an example of whatever you're talking about. The only system that might be confusing is the fuji interpolated 6MP camera's (they are 3MP CCD's).

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Tiberius
Of higher-res cameras costing less than lower-res cameras?

Yes.

 

[bolido2000]

If you want a good value the Vivitar 3725 is great. *Almost* the same as the Minolta DiMage S304. 3.3 Megapixels with 4x optical zoom. Staples and Frys used to have them for around 280 before any type of discount. I got the Olympus D-40 for 252 dollars at Amazon a while ago and is great. There are always deals on digi cams...just be patient