Need Help Finding a Digital Camera

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Hey all,
I'm going to be getting a digital camera (my first :Q I know!) to mainly take pics of products for the site I'm doing work for (See sig). It will be used to take product pics 99% of the time with a plain white background, with some shots focusing closely on different aspects of the product. I don't care about the camera's performance outside of that use as the camera won't really be mine, but I will still occasinoally use it out and about.

I am a complete photography novice, so advanced settings and doodas don't do much for me NOW, but might be valuable in the future. So for now, let's not rule out advanced cameras. Something in a smaller form factor would be nice to take with me, but again that's not a priority. I would prefer something that uses the more modern memory cards, like xD or SD. Does anyone have any recommendations as to what type of memory card & why?

Zoom isn't a big issue, the standard 3-4x optical & 4x+ digital is fine. If there's a camera with good IQ and higher zoom on it for a decent price, I'm interested!

Price-wise, we're looking at sub-$400 cameras. Probly won't buy a $400 one, but I want to know the full range to keep in mind esp when looking @ used cameras.

Let me know if I forgot any of the specs you might need to know. Thanks in advance!!

I forgot to mention, we're looking to get something recent. A model preferrably released within the past few months, but if there's a slightly older one you love pass it on!
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Originally posted by: richardycc
DSLR + a macro lens, you are looking at around $1k.

Not looking to go quite that high, need to keep the price under $400 MSRP. DSLR is down the road when our site is closer to AT's size ;)
 

bigrash

Lifer
Feb 20, 2001
17,648
28
91
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Originally posted by: neovan
canon s500. i think its on sale at costco for $280 after $30 rebate

I'll check that out, thanks

I have this one and I highly recommend it. Let me know if you have any questions.
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
I might just PM you bigrash!

FrankyJunior, I've been checking out dpreview a LOT; its been very helpful but I'm still just overwhelmed with the choices.
 

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
0
Forget about the megapixels, that doesn't tell you much about the quality of the pictures it can take. If it was designed by marketers, it will have a crappy lens and a lot of megapixels, and the pictures will be crap.
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Forget about the megapixels, that doesn't tell you much about the quality of the pictures it can take. If it was designed by marketers, it will have a crappy lens and a lot of megapixels, and the pictures will be crap.

I know that much, I am of course looking for a QUALITY 5MP camera.

sd400, sd500 ?

i just got a sd300 and I love it.

the SD400 looks very nice, but is kinda pricey. The A95 looks like an excellent bargain ($330 @ Dell, before any possibly coupons) for a 5MP camera. Any other best bang/$'s out there?

What about Olympus & Nikon? Any opinions versus Canon?
 

cheapgoose

Diamond Member
May 13, 2002
3,877
0
0
well, the sd300 is only 4mp, but i swear some of the pictures i took look better than my buddy's sony t1, which is a 5mp camera.

anyway, a few days ago, I saw the sd500 for under $400 at dell. that's a 7mp camera.
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Olympus C-5500 Zoom

Any opinions on this? Price is right, uses xD card (faster pic storage, right?), and has some nice zoomage on it.

edit Disadvantage: uses regular AA's (or NiMH of course) vs Li-On Anyone have a preference: AA's vs Li-On? I would imagine Li-On is the way to, but skool me if I'm wrong ;)
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
0
Originally posted by: cheapgoose
well, the sd300 is only 4mp, but i swear some of the pictures i took look better than my buddy's sony t1, which is a 5mp camera.

anyway, a few days ago, I saw the sd500 for under $400 at dell. that's a 7mp camera.

I will look into that. A good deal on a 7MP (esp Canon) might be a worthwhile investment