Okay, so it looks like I’m going to be in the market for a new camera as soon as I can afford it (which, knowing me will be sometime in 2007, but that’s beside the point).
My camera of choice right now is the Canon EOS Digital Rebel — but given its $1000 price tag, I’m afraid that it’s going to have to stay in the “pipe dream” category for a while.
So here’s my (more realistic, and not that unreasonable) wish list:
- 2-4 Megapixel resolution.
- Compact Flash storage.
- Optical zoom (not digital).
- Smallish size.
- $200-$350 price range.
Any recommendations?
CJ
Brandon
Tim Who?
ندى
13 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
Buy any camera you want. Just be careful where you point it!
I’m liking my Canon Powershot S400, but if you’re eying the Rebel, the Powershot family may be too low-class for ya.
You might take a look at the Exilim line. The 3mp version is hella cool, but the 4mp has a 3x optical zoom.
Review: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/ex-z4.html
Newegg has them for $369.
I get tired of always carrying around my Nikon D1X so I am going to get the Canon G5 or even a used G3 (They skipped G4 because it sounded like a profain world in some Asian language. Wonder what Apple does for their G4???). I has manual controls.
I am getting more into the photo blog scene and several people have blogged good things about the G5. The guy who runs Chromasia.com uses one with amazing results.
http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/
There are lots of good choices out there and if you want to spend some time on Sat or Sun going around and looking I’m cool with that. For the most part there are a lot of cameras that will work for you. The first thing I check is does it fit my hand? Do my fingers naturally fall into position? Other important question are. What are you gonig to use it for 90% of the time. Are you going to want to make prints of the pictures? What kind of memory stick/card does it use, how much do they cost? Will it connect directly to your Mac and your PC? Is there a view screen on the back? Color or B&W? Does it come with a AC converter?
I love my Minolta Diamage 7i and I hear the new ones are better yet. But that is a bit out of your price range.
Any help you need, or any question you have, I’ll be more than happy to help in any way I can.
Michael, check out http://www.dpreview.com. They have some of the most comprehensive data and reviews out on the web.
My $0.02, FWIW:
The Nikon CoolPix3100 (3MP) is in the middle of your $$ range, and the 2100 (2MP) is towards the bottom, and both have all the features you want. The 3100 has an extensive review at the site and gets a “recommended” rating. The 2100 has a bunch of user reviews and has an overall user rating of 4.31/5.00 stars. I had the CoolPix 775, one of the 2MP precursors to this line and absolutely loved it.
A little bit pricier (and also a wee bit bigger in physical size) is trhe Canon A70. It is a 3.2 MP and closer to $300. I currently have its big brother the A80 and love it. The A70 and A80 both are “highly recommended” on the site.
I keep borrowing the powershot G3 from the library. It’s comfortable, and it does well enough.
One feature I like that is important to me is that the little LCD screen folds out and swivels 270 degrees - so if ya wanna take pictures of yourself, you at least know what you’re getting. Plus, folding it back in protects the screen and keeps it clean.
It also does the rapid-fire picture taking and does 30 seconds of video, with audio. not amazing, but still fun to play with. the G5 does three minutes.
It’s a couple hundred above your price range, though.
Maybe worth it?
The Canon s400 or new s410 makes me drool. I’ve been carrying around the s110 for years and love it. Very small, great battery life.
I recently bought the Canon S400. It is small enough that I take it with me when I bike, very good quality pictures, very simple to use. You can generally get it for around $320 from Amazon or Dell. Just watch http://gotapex.com for deals. 4mp with 3x optical zoom.
The EX-Z4U is ausome. I have it and love it. Really any of the Exilim modles are great and would totally fit your needs(excpet for the low end model with no optical zoom). plus they are tiny! check them out! http://exilim.casio.com/
I have used a lot of different handheld digital cameras over the last few years for work and the Nikon line of cameras have proven to be the most reliable. The Canons have had some problems with the auto lens motors. And who really wants another Sony product. Besides the usual comparisons of pixels and focal lengths, the battery is really, really important. Nothing better than a rechargeable long-lasting battery.
I like my Sony CyberShot DSC-S70, but it falls short on your criterai with digital zoom and uses memory cards instead of flash storage
I dunno Michael - you’re getting a lot of recommendations for a Canon. I shoot with the S110 Digital Elph which is now 3 years old and ancient technology. The newer ones have 3X optical zoom, 3.9 megapixels (mine has 1.9) and a better processor. They’re the size of a pack of cigarettes, go anywhere, in a bike, in your back jeans pocket, can be dropped a couple of times and still work and don’t mind moisture (used mine lots of times in the mist on Oregon coast and at Niagara Falls). They’re cheap, produce good images and use Compact Flash (cheap, best card technology IMHO) and use LiOH rechargeable batteries - extras which can be had for $19 each (don’t pay $50 Canon price). They also sync REALLY well with Macs. Canon provides stitcher software and Elphs have stitcher mode as well.