What camera should I get?

[RangerClay]

Mrs. Santa wants to give me a digital camera for Christmas. Now, I have never owned a digital camera before so I have no idea where to start. What model would you suggest for a first time owner and what some features I should look for?

I am home with two sick kids today. Give me something to compare and contrast on the net today.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!!

[Guest Finn]

Re: What camera should I get?

Sent you a email. Hope it helps.

[Turkeygirl]

Re: What camera should I get?

We have a Kodak that Andy bought refurbished from Kodak...don't get that, it isn't that great of a camera. I've been thinking about getting my own, something a little better, because I have alot of good photo opportunities in the woods. I've heard and seen Canons are decent. I'd suggest looking in Consumer Reports and searching online. Let me know because I'm looking for one to!

[QDMAworks4me]

Re: What camera should I get?

[ QUOTE ]

Mrs. Santa wants to give me a digital camera for Christmas. Now, I have never owned a digital camera before so I have no idea where to start. What model would you suggest for a first time owner and what some features I should look for?

I am home with two sick kids today. Give me something to compare and contrast on the net today.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Joe I have dealt with a lot of digital cameras since they have become popular and the only one that I would suggest to buy is a Sony cyber shot. We have a couple of them and trust me with a digital camera you get what you pay for. I would suggest nothing lower than 5 megapixels because if you go lower than that some of your pictures come out blurry and some of them come out really nice, it is the pictures that you really wanted to come out that always come out blurry it seems. Sony cameras usually come with rechargable batteries and a charger also. We have the 7.2 megapixel cyber shot and truct me they are about half price from when we bought it. Here is the website for Sony cameras and we can talk about it tomorrow when you get back to work.

Good luck with the kids and make sure you do not bring the illness with you to work

Sony cyber shots

[johnf]

Re: What camera should I get?

I would look for the highest resulution you can afford and remember that digital zoom is worthless. If you want to zoom get optical. I would say a minimum of 6x. They are making some that go up to 12x and are pretty high on the pixels.

I have a fuji camera that I got about 5 years ago that is only 3.2mp and has a 6x optical zoom and it has worked flawlessly and takes great pictures. I can't see how any 6+mp camera with a 10X zoom would disappoint you. On our christmas list at home is a 6-7mp 10+ optical zoom camera for the family.

When choosing a camera I would also think about memory and batteries. Get the most memory you can afford and don't get a camera with some wierd battery that no one carries. Either get a rechargable or something that takes regular batteries that you can find. It really stinks to run out of battery and not be able to find one that fits.

Ours takes 4 AA's.

Here is a link with some different options. I like what the sony has. For the money the kodak looks like a good deal.

best buy

[M00N]

Re: What camera should I get?

Personally I like the Kodak EasyShare Z612. It's a 6.1 MegaPixel camera with a 12x stabilized optical zoom. If you search around normally can find them for the $260-270 range new. When they first came out they didn't have the adapter to use 55mm screw-in lens on them, but they have that out now. So, now you could use a wide angle, telephoto, or close-up screw-in lens or filters with the camera incase you ever wanted to tinker with that kind of photography. But, out of the box a very good camera for the price gets the job done. Not difficult to work all the buttons are clearly laid out and easy to figure out how to use even for beginners, but has options for advanced users to enjoy it, too.

Either case what you end up looking at some things to look at when buying cameras is the optical zoom, because digital zoom is rather worthless. Image stabilization on the optical zoom to prevent blurring when using the optical zoom, because lets face it sometimes you shake while zooming and focusing on a target need all the help you can get to stabilize the photo from blurring, unless you're using a tripod of something on the camera to stabilize. And megapixel for clarity and quality of photos.

[wtnhunt]

Re: What camera should I get?

Depends on what you want to spend. Digital slr's in my opinion are no comparison to point and shoots and can do so much more, but they are considerably more expensive. The sony cyber shots are great little point and shoot cameras.

With whatever you go with check butterfly photo on prices before buying, they have great prices.

[smallmunster]

Re: What camera should I get?

You can check reviews on most digital cameras at http://www.dpreview.com as they have most models available today on there. I had a Panasonic FZ5 and now have a Panansonic FZ7 (had for 1 week) and have been pleased with both. I bought the FZ7 from butterfly photo for $275 including 2 day shipping. If you are going to to any wildlife photography get something with a 12X zoom and image stablilization. Without IS the super-zoom cameras are almost worthless without a tripod. The Panasonic super-zooms are usually at the top of their class along with Canon. A digital SLR will take better pics, but they cost a lot more and a 12X (420mm) lens would be very large and spendy for a fast one.