Buying a Digital Camera

[JoshMcMadMac]

I am looking into a digital camera for my finacée for Christmas. I am one to do a lot of research into a subject before making a purchase, but that still cannot substitute for an individual with genuine know-how on the subject. The last digital camera I purchased was three years ago and 2MP, to give you an idea of my digital photography background. I am looking for something that won't go much over the $200 range, online. That's to say that $200 retail is quite different than $200 on www.bizrate.com. I was hoping you might be able to give me some pointers, advice, or good choices. I am currently considering the Fuji E510, but am also thinking about springing the extra $70 to go up to the E550. I know that she won't use much of the capabilities of either, but it will end up being something that we will both use, and I want something versatile. Here is what I have on the list currently as possibilities:

Canon A400/A75/SD110
Fuji A330/A340/E510/E550
Kodak CX6330/CX7330/CX7430
Konica/Minolta DiMage X31
Nikon CoolPix 3200/3700/4100
Olympus D540/D580
Pentax Optio 30/40/50
Sony CyberShot P72

I like Fuji from having one. I have good faith in most of the brands listed above as well. I am just not exactly sure how to pick one out of the crowd. Opinions? Advice?

 

[Katshot]

I've had 2 Olympus cameras and bought my daughter a Gateway camera last Christmas. I love the Olympus cameras and have had zero problems with them. My daughter likes her Gateway even though it IS a tad large.
To be honest, I doubt you can buy a "bad" one these days. Most are good quality and the main differences are the features. If you're like most camera owners, you''l never use the majority of the features built into these cameras so don't waste money on them. If you aren't one of the majority, then your particular needs will most likely dictate your purchase. The only points I would make are:
1. Don't waste your money on megapixel count. Anything above 3MP is a waste of your money since even a 2.5MP camera is easily capable of taking a beautiful 8x10 shot.
2. Not all zooms are created equal. Look for a high "optical" zoom and ignore the HUGE "digital" zoom numbers. They're pretty much useless and are only there to dazzle prospective customers.
3. Look for a camera that comes with A LOT of memory. It's expensive to buy after the purchase. Some cameras prices are low but it's because they come with very little memory.
4. I prefer a camera that takes standard-size batteries instead of "special" batteries that are hard to find and expensive. It's very convenient to be able to save your occassion by being able to toss a couple "AA" batteries in and continue shooting.

 

[Sifrino3]

Sony 5.0!

 

[SC_Steve]

I picked up a Canon Powershot a310 a few months ago and that with a 128 meg card came out to just under 200.00. It can take a max picture size of 2048 x 1536 @ 3.2 megapixels and can record up to (I believe) 3 mins of video with sound in AVI format. Granted it's an entry level camera, but I've gotten many compliments on the picture quality. Great bang for the buck IMHO

Oh... it can also do panoramic pictures as well as some other neat stuff

It's a great little camera and takes some really nice pictures IMHO.

go here for camera reviews... great site that helped me decide on this one
http://www.dpreview.com/

the ONLY things I dislike about it is that I cannot directly control the shutter speed and It doesnt have optical zoom

 

[hottweelz]

You don't want FUJI cameras it requires xD Ram cards, NOT SD Ram cards... xD Picture crds is proprietary to FUJI, stick with the standards... trust me on this.

 

[djKale]

the ONLY things I dislike about it is that I cannot directly control the shutter speed and It doesnt have optical zoom

That's when you opt for the S1 IS. I bought mine about a month ago and got the high speed 512MB CF card to go with it. It was only $50 for the card. The media cards are not expensive if you know where to buy them. I suggest newegg.com.

The ability to take standard AA batteries can save your day. I bought rechargeables and also keep a spare set of Duracells just in case.

In addition to dpreview, I found this site very helpful:

http://www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.php?lang=en

Kale

 

[codewize]

I will only comment on the Kodak and the Sony. The software that comes with the Kodak camera is a load of crap. It seem to break Windows 2000 and XP Pro.

The Sony CyberSHot is a great camera at any level. I've used the 3.2mp and the newer 5.0 mp and both are great. Easy to use, easy to download pics off of and no extra crap software to mess with stuff.