Need Digital Camera

[ZUnit]

First, i have no experience with digital cameras.
I read this and I think to get Fuji FinePix A330, but my question is it ok that lowest resolution is 1280x960 will pictures be to high when you print them on paper, or mean can they be resized to any size (I mean not on my pc, but firm which prints pictures) or its better to take them in small resolution?

I heard creative
PC cams can be used as web cams, so can any digital cam be used as web cam to?
If not, maybe ones that have digital out can?

 

[Alex08]

i own one of these creative pc-cam 880's, possibly the worse buy you could make. Pictures are unbelievable grainy. The flash is horrible. The only way a picture comes remotely close to acceptable is that you have perfect lighting. However if used as a webcam, I suppose its ok, there isnt really any lag, however once again lighting plays a big role, its horrible if the room is a bit dim. I had a logitech notebook cam that was 10x better with lower lighted settings.

as for which digital camera to choose, i'm not sure if you can resize a picture with just the camera. I know there's settings like low, standard, and high which is usually used to keep pictures down in size on the memory card so that you can take more pictures.

 

[shortylickens]

I dont want to fill up this thread and your problem could be complicated by excessive info so I'll keep it simple:

If you dont know anything about digital camers(yet), I wouldn't recommend buying anything expensive to start learning. Its a whole new world to get into and you may be unhappy with your purchases.

Go to an Office Max or Staples (better yet CompUSA if you have it) and talk to the geek salesperson. They will probably show you an expensive model webcam.

Photography is the kind of think you dont want to skimp on. But I dont know what your budget is either.

BTW: Most nicer model cameras allow resizing but I prefer to take the biggest, highest quality I can and then work with them on my computer.

 

[ZUnit]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Photography is the kind of think you dont want to skimp on. But I dont know what your budget is either.

BTW: Most nicer model cameras allow resizing but I prefer to take the biggest, highest quality I can and then work with them on my computer.

My budget for camera is ~200$ max, but i am from Europe so prbably it will cost me ~50$ more than in US.
I mean i usually pass tape to firm to print 10x15 cm (4x6") pictures and this is even less than 640x480. so thats why i ask.
And wont taking it in 2048 and then resize to smaller size cause degradation or you'll have to crop part of pic to make it look normal?

 

[shortylickens]

Pixels are not set in size.
IF you were to setup your photo program to the standard 72 dots per inch (dpi)
then a 640x480 digital photo would be 8.9" by 6.7".
Most good photos are edited and printed at 96 dpi.

Taking a photo at a larger resolution and scaling it down is always preferable to a small photo scaled up. Eventually you'll find a favorite resolution (with practice).
A larger photo is also easier to crop. I do that first and then scale it to get the size I want.
My camera goes up to 2560x2048 Pixels. But I send my mom no larger than 800x600 since I know her computer desktop is set to 1024x768. It looks big to her but she doesnt have to zoom or pan.

250 dollars will get you a darn nice camera these days. Just look under the digital camera reviews on the main Anandtech page.