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How does everyone choose what digital camera they are gonna buy?

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Originally posted by: coolred
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Ornery
You can't compare a camcorder to a digital camera. The low light problem is a matter of being able to focus with the digital camera. With the camcorder, it's a matter of grainyness.

Most digital cameras have some kind of focus assist light to help out. Once the camera can focus, it WILL take a good picture, unless you don't use the flash. Trouble is getting it to lock that focus in the first place. The Hologram Autofocus Assist NEVER fails, and it works quickly without having to zoom wider, turn up lights, or find some "contrasty" portion of your subject.
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That is complete BS. There are many situations in which a P&S digital or film camera will take crappy pictures with the flash. You clearly don't know WTF you are talking about.
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Can you elaborate further? I feel you may be right, but at least Ornery is attempting to post useful info. It seems like most everyone else just chimes in with generic this is better comments. He at least says this is better for this and this reason. While I have no reason to doubt what he says, I also have no facts myself to back up what he says. But its still better then "mine is just better"

On another note, thats a cute kid you got there, how old is he?
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Thanks, he's almost 2 1/2 years old (pics taken with a 3 year old 2MP Canon S300 digital camera).

There are many situations in which the on camera flash will be inadequate. If you are shooting across greater distances (even half way across a room that is not well lit) the on camera flash simply won't throw enough light to take a decent picture and the picture will come out too dark. Sometimes the camera may focus on an item you didn't intend it to focus on. I don't care how sophisticated the camera is. It doesn't always know what your intended subject is and you might get a shot that focused on a fan blade of a ceiling fan instead of your subject or a plant off to the side of your subject. There is no camera that will take good pictures all the time.
 
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Originally posted by: Ornery
Small enough?
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Nope. 😉
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I'm throwing in a vote for my Canon Powershot A95. I looked at many reviews for months before settling on this camera. Pictures are gorgeous, it has a boatload of settings I've barely touched yet and the swivel screen helps A LOT. The only downside is the light assisted auto focus is a bit slow. Also, I personally don't like ultra-compact cams because my hands are large and my hand shakes every time I hold one of those to take a photo. The A95 is the PERFECT size for me.

However, I do see a good market for ultra compacts and there are definite benefits to some people which outweigh the sacrifices. Just last week I went to NY for a friend's birthday at a club. I brought my A95 but I had to leave it in my coat most of the time because it was just too bulky to carry around casually. My friends had an SD200 and SD300 and they were able to carry them around in their pockets and snap photos constantly. Although I'd take my A95 over these anyday because of quality, features and the ability to use AA batteries, such ultracompacts are def. sleek and stylish. Perfect for those who aren't camera buffs.

Going back to the point coolred, I'd recommend a Canon SD200 or SD300. I've seen them in action and they're tiny, beautiful and take extremely good photos very quickly. Your girlfriend would love one of these.
 
Originally posted by: Connoisseur
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Originally posted by: Ornery
Small enough?
Click to expand...
Nope. 😉
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I'm throwing in a vote for my Canon Powershot A95. I looked at many reviews for months before settling on this camera. Pictures are gorgeous, it has a boatload of settings I've barely touched yet and the swivel screen helps A LOT. The only downside is the light assisted auto focus is a bit slow. Also, I personally don't like ultra-compact cams because my hands are large and my hand shakes every time I hold one of those to take a photo. The A95 is the PERFECT size for me.

However, I do see a good market for ultra compacts and there are definite benefits to some people which outweigh the sacrifices. Just last week I went to NY for a friend's birthday at a club. I brought my A95 but I had to leave it in my coat most of the time because it was just too bulky to carry around casually. My friends had an SD200 and SD300 and they were able to carry them around in their pockets and snap photos constantly. Although I'd take my A95 over these anyday because of quality, features and the ability to use AA batteries, such ultracompacts are def. sleek and stylish. Perfect for those who aren't camera buffs.

Going back to the point coolred, I'd recommend a Canon SD200 or SD300. I've seen them in action and they're tiny, beautiful and take extremely good photos very quickly. Your girlfriend would love one of these.
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Yeah, I used to have a Canon A95. Kept if for a couple of weeks, then got rid of it for the Sony.
 
Originally posted by: fritolays
off topic

I'm getting ready to purchase a canon s70, any last minute thoughts/interjections/etc?

thanks
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I had the pleasure of using the Canon S70 for a week - excellent camera! Here are some samples from the CanonTalk.net gallery:

Canon PowerShot S70 samples
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Here are two of the first pics I ever took with my Canon EOS-20D DSLR. Mind you, these are also some of the first pics I've taken with a SLR/DSLR period!

(I bought the EOS-20D with 17-85mm IS lens Kit from B&H for $1999.99.)

ISO 800
Shutter 1/6 sec (IS on!)
Aperature Value 7.6
F-Stop 14
Focal length 38mm

Test Shot 1
(Size reduction of original. No other alterations.)
Test Shot 1 Crop
(Crop of original. No other alterations.)

ISO 200
Shutter 1/13 sec (IS on!)
Aperature Value 5.0
F-Stop 5.6
Focal length 75mm

Test Shot 2
(Size reduction of original. No other alterations.)
Test Shot 2 Crop
(Crop of original. No other alterations.)


(Special thanks to DeviousTrap for making this picture hosting possible!)
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you actually set up a test shot for shot number 1? hehehe
i was so eager to get my hands on my D70 that i just took a pic of the closest thing around once the battery charged

ISO 200 Full auto mode with auto flash

full size shot 1
1600*1200
 
I got myself a 12x optical zoom 2MP Panasonic Lumix. I didn't care for MP 'cuz I wasn't going to print photos, but I cared for the zoom. Sample pics are here.

For my sister's birthday, I got her a "generic" Japanese 2MP digital camera. Here's the kicker -- it only has 2x digital zoom, but is wafer thin! She loves the size and ease-of-use of the camera (it's smaller than those Casio card-shaped cameras). It also takes and stores the photos in .raw format. Now my sis doesn't necessarily know what to do with these, but with the bundled ArcSoft software, she can use the JPG compression as her output. Here's her camera

Best of luck with getting a camera! 🙂
 
Sony V1 here too. The low light focus is great. The V1 was on sale last week from some website for only $254. There is currently a deal on the Sony W1 for $230AR if you want a simpler P&S. Might want to check FW.
 
First off let me ask a question I should have asked inthe begining, but thought I understood it. Resolution and megapixels, help explain them to me. I was under the impression that a high quality photo would be 300dpi, so say you wanted to print a high quality 4x6" print, you would need a resolution of 1200x1800. Is that correct or am I not multiplying the right things? Since any printer I likely buy will allow prints up to 8.5x11, it would be nice to be able to print 8x10 pictures on it if needed, although it wouldn't bee too often. But if I am doing my math right, wouldn't I need a resolution of 2400x3000 for that? I had read that 5MP cameras have no problems with high quality 8x10's, and even 4MP can do it. But the resolution on those cameras isn't as high as my math says it needs to be.
 
a 3mp picture will make a fine print at 8x10 with no manipulation at all, 4pm camera will make prints at 8x10 that you might think are film

that scale is really off IMO ive printed 20x30 from a 6mp camera without any manipulation other then resizing and it looked stunning, i think that chart says i woudl need liek 16 mp for that
 
How do you print 20x30" prints?


Thats kinda what I had originally found out, that I should look at at least 3MP or higher, but then I read somewhere else about that not being enough resolution. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
You actually have one of those? I figured thats how you did it. I have used something like that before in my CAD days.
 
Originally posted by: coolred
You actually have one of those? I figured thats how you did it. I have used something like that before in my CAD days.
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no i dont have that, it costs more then my card did,
i had free access to one when i was in college tho, i worked for IT
 
Also can any of you canon owners out there show me some shots in low light situations.

And I guess I never actually set a budget, so lets say around 300.00 max
 
I saw this shop was doing a good deal then I went on the net to read the reviews of the Minolta F100 on www.dpreview.com

The review was good for the price it was. I got it for a good price 😀

I wanted the F717 but it was too pricey at the time and looking back now it would have been a bit too big but the imagequality would have been better.

MS is not an issue for me as I have a Vaio laptop so it would have been ideal infact. The other Sony digital cameras didn't impress me much back then.

3yrs later my dad gets a V1. We bought a 512Mb Pro Duo card as my P910i takes them also and they can be used in MS with the adapter.

I think if I get more interested in taking really good pictures I may get a 20D 3-5yr down the line for cheap 😛

My gf bought a D70 when it was first out and the images taken from it are STUNNING. The images are so solid and NO GRAINYESS AT ALL. I see the grainyness on 1:1 views of pics taken with most cameras that are not DSLR due to the small CCD. BUT you see much less of it or at all when you resize the images down or when you print them out. Anyway you can't change the CCD size unless you go for a more expensive camera 😛

Koing
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Ornery
You can't compare a camcorder to a digital camera. The low light problem is a matter of being able to focus with the digital camera. With the camcorder, it's a matter of grainyness.

Most digital cameras have some kind of focus assist light to help out. Once the camera can focus, it WILL take a good picture, unless you don't use the flash. Trouble is getting it to lock that focus in the first place. The Hologram Autofocus Assist NEVER fails, and it works quickly without having to zoom wider, turn up lights, or find some "contrasty" portion of your subject.
Click to expand...

That is complete BS. There are many situations in which a P&S digital or film camera will take crappy pictures with the flash. You clearly don't know WTF you are talking about.
Click to expand...
You CLEARLY don't get the point!

The trouble with digital cameras in low light, is not so much with the exposure, as it is with getting the shot focused in the first place. If the camera's focus assist light can reach the subject, then the flash will too. My point is that it has to focus first and foremost. Without that, you've got no shot at all, flash or no flash. Once the camera can focus, it WILL take a good picture, unless you don't use the flash, which will cause the shutter speed to be too slow.

Originally posted by: coolred
Also can any of you canon owners out there show me some shots in low light situations.

And I guess I never actually set a budget, so lets say around 300.00 max
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I owned a Canon S50, which was a $400.00 camera at the time. I took low light test shots. Nobody here is going to show you pictures that didn't focus in low light. I took those shots without flash, so you could see what the ambient light was like. Actually, I wouldn't consider it "low light" at all, but the camera absolutely would NOT lock focus. Of course, it allowed me to shoot the shot anyway, but simply could not focus. I took that camera back to the store and tried another of the same model. It had the exact same problem. In good lighting it was fine. Shot fabulous images, but how often is lighting ideal? Not often enough, so I returned it. That's another advantage of buying locally.
 
1. Brand and reputation of their products.

2. Price and accessories and softwear included.

3. (MP) the higher the better.

4. Price range.

I have the Nikon coolpix 3200 +3.0 (MP), and the 4500 +5.0 (MP), they are great cameras, small and compact. Very easy to use and take wonderful pictures. The first retails now for about 190.00 and the second will run you about 280.00..........
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Ornery
You can't compare a camcorder to a digital camera. The low light problem is a matter of being able to focus with the digital camera. With the camcorder, it's a matter of grainyness.

Most digital cameras have some kind of focus assist light to help out. Once the camera can focus, it WILL take a good picture, unless you don't use the flash. Trouble is getting it to lock that focus in the first place. The Hologram Autofocus Assist NEVER fails, and it works quickly without having to zoom wider, turn up lights, or find some "contrasty" portion of your subject.
Click to expand...

That is complete BS. There are many situations in which a P&S digital or film camera will take crappy pictures with the flash. You clearly don't know WTF you are talking about.
Click to expand...
You CLEARLY don't get the point!

The trouble with digital cameras in low light, is not so much with the exposure, as it is with getting the shot focused in the first place. If the camera's focus assist light can reach the subject, then the flash will too. My point is that it has to focus first and foremost. Without that, you've got no shot at all, flash or no flash. Once the camera can focus, it WILL take a good picture, unless you don't use the flash, which will cause the shutter speed to be too slow.

Originally posted by: coolred
Also can any of you canon owners out there show me some shots in low light situations.

And I guess I never actually set a budget, so lets say around 300.00 max
Click to expand...
I owned a Canon S50, which was a $400.00 camera at the time. I took low light test shots. Nobody here is going to show you pictures that didn't focus in low light. I took those shots without flash, so you could see what the ambient light was like. Actually, I wouldn't consider it "low light" at all, but the camera absolutely would NOT lock focus. Of course, it allowed me to shoot the shot anyway, but simply could not focus. I took that camera back to the store and tried another of the same model. It had the exact same problem. In good lighting it was fine. Shot fabulous images, but how often is lighting ideal? Not often enough, so I returned it. That's another advantage of buying locally.
Click to expand...

HMMMMMMMMMM!

I think this is the reason why I can't shoot with my Minolta F100 with NO FLASH!

The images always look OUT OF FOCUS! Fvck! I had been WONDERING FOR AGES why it wouldn't shoot without the flashon 😛

Thank you Ornery!

I'll try a few shots with my fathers V1 and see the difference 😀

Koing
 
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