Digital Camera Recommendations

[willy1111]

Hi,

I am looking into buying a digital camera for my partner's birthday which is coming up soon.

I am interested to know what to look for in a camera - ie what makes a good one. If any one can provide some helpful info or recommendations that would be great.

Looking to spend up to $600 (or there abouts).

She already has a 3 mega pixel digital camera that she was given a while ago - but complains about the battery always going flat and not real great quality pics.

There seem to be a number of options these days - almost too many to choose one, ie what combination of mega pixel's to optical zoom.

Highish on the priority list though is something with a longish battery life.

 

[WillG]

Specs important to me (prioritised) ...

* Fast startup time
* Fast accurate autofocus
* Fast to take pictures
* Good colour in the pictures
* Can take AA batteries. Good AA bateries can last sometime and have come down in price
* Can take SD memory cards (personal preference) - tend to be the cheapest and are readily available
* Megapixels - 6 will handle most/all situations unless you are doing very big enlargements

 

[geoffw]

I have a Fuji Finepix 9500- 9MP, 10 times zoom. Though that's a little above your price range, especially was you will want a bigger memory card than what is supplied (which only has room for 3 pictures!).

The S5500 takes 4MP, and is in the range.

I get about 150 pictures on 4 AA alkaline batteries- the Bunnings cheapies, $10 for 25 batteries. I don't take many flash pictures though (so to speak).

I really like the big zoom range.

More dedicated photo types are into digital SLRs- I find I can do most things I want to do with the Fuji, without the extra lenses to be carried around.

All the photos on my website were taken with the S9500-though they are scaled down.

BTW, ignore digital zoom.

dpreview is an excellent source for camera reviews.

A google on a camera + model number, restricting to Australian sites, will give you places to buy your selected camera cheaply.

You may want to check out rechargable batteries- especially those with fast chargers. It's an upfront expense which may pay for itself, depending on how many photos you're likely to take.

 

[Peter 14.7]

.

You may want to check out rechargable batteries- especially those with fast chargers. It's an upfront expense which may pay for itself, depending on how many photos you're likely to take.

This is one of the best features to get.

If you are taking flash photos and have display on, batteries don't last.

Which is the reason for digital camera is the ability to take 5 photos of one view and you select the best for printing.

I have a Cannon Ixus bought in 2003 that is has had a tough life and not failed me to date (knock of wood). Recharge in 2 hours and if you stump for second battery then you can confidently take photos all day and charge at night.

Note: it must have a seperate charger to camera which my video camera does not.

Peter 14.7

 

[Peter 14.7]

BTW, ignore digital zoom.

[ take.

Why this? Quality?

Peter

 

[doreilly]

Why this? Quality?

Peter

It's a "cheat" zoom. You can do the same thing with your PC and any editing software.

Basically software enlarges the resolution and guesses the in between pixels.

 

[sue78]

For small digital cameras I like the Panasonic FX or the Casio Exilim both have rechargeable dock.

All our electronics are Sony i.e PSP, Digicam, laptop so we also have a Sony digtal cam. It's convenient that we don't have to buy SD cards.

For bigger and better camera there's the Sony digital camera...not suite SLR but the pics are almost as good. I think it's about $800

 

[Kenster]

$600 will offer a great range of choices.

You can narrow the list down by deciding what is more important to her: Picture quality or Convenience?

The most important part of a camera is the lens quality. As a simple thumb rule, I find it's better not to go beyond 3x zoom. The longer the lens, the lower resulting picture quality (due to design compromise), not to mention light flare and camera shake.

On the camera software side, I love Canon as it is intuitive, easy to use for an amateur, yet also can be very sophisticated when used by a most demanding photographer (eg. Flash compensation feature)

dpreview.com is the best site as mentioned before.

 

[Simon]

It's a "cheat" zoom. You can do the same thing with your PC and any editing software.

Basically software enlarges the resolution and guesses the in between pixels.

I am happy to do that with the camera on the spot rather than have to muck about with software afterwards....

 

[geoffw]

I am happy to do that with the camera on the spot rather than have to muck about with software afterwards....

I'm not in the slightest.

The quality of a digital zoom is just so bad that it's barely worth considering. Even the quality of doing the same with software afterwards does not give really good results. Especially when compared against optical zoom.

For my first digital, I got caught out by believeing that digital zoom was nearly as good as optical. I was extremely disappointed with the result.

I waited a long time for a digital camera which would replace, rather than just supplement, my trusty SLR.

What I was waiting for was:
.A good OPTICAL zoom.
.8MP+
.Price under $1000

It took a while, but it was worth the wait.

 

[XBenX]

Olympus mju725sw gets my vote.

+1 has a Sony T9 - Olympus wins out on everything except product design - the Olypmus looks tough, the Sony looks hot.

 

[Peter 14.7]

I am happy to do that with the camera on the spot rather than have to muck about with software afterwards....

ditto.

If you are looing for family snaps, work pics ( my case) , etc.. then digital zoom is ok IMO

If you think you might want more quality in time, then remember they get cheaper and better every three months. So in a year when you need high quality it willbe cheaper.

In 2003 we paid just on $1K for 2.1 megapixil and 5 x zoom.

Same thing today you get 5mp for $350

Peter 14.7

 

[geoffw]

In 2003 we paid just on $1K for 2.1 megapixil and 5 x zoom.

Same thing today you get 5mp for $350

A digital zoom on a 2.1MP is not that great.

On a 5MP it's much better.

Hugely better is an optical zoom.

 

[sailor]

I just couldn't survive without a Nikon. Years ago I started with an SLR and now onto my 2nd Nikon digital in 8 years. I only upgraded last year, as their first one's were quite a bit larger in size.

My Nikon Coolpix 7900 makes my phots look as though they've been taken by a professional photographer....that's fine by me.

Review:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/CP7900/CP79A.HTM#specs
Specifications:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/CP7900/CP79DAT.HTM

 

[Bandita]

On the camera software side, I love Canon as it is intuitive, easy to use for an amateur, yet also can be very sophisticated when used by a most demanding photographer (eg. Flash compensation feature)

dpreview.com is the best site as mentioned before.

I HATE my Cannon digital camera - it doesn't have a rechargeable option, so you can only put batteries in, within 30 seconds, the camera is dead - it sits in my bottom drawer unable to be used as it dies as soon as you turn it on, even with brand new batteries.

Absolute #1 requirement for my next camera will be that is able to be charged by plugging it in as well as batteries.

Another good thing to have is large LCD screen (2.5inch min) - makes all the difference!

My best friend/flatmate has a Kodak V530 -which is much cheaper than your budget - but I LOVE it (all the pics in my gallery are from it) - 5MP. 3 x Optical Zoo. It has a video recorder as well. She bought it in July 2006 for $285 plus a 512mb memory card for $50 - total price for $335. The LCD screen is only 2 inch - it would be the perfect camera with a 2.5 inch.

Cheers,
Jen

 

[sue78]

Jen - the memory card is a bit on the expensive side.

I recommend ebay for SD Ram. We bought an original Sony Pro Memory Stick Duo 2G for about $60. It's around $200+ in the shops.

It's one thing to have a good camera but even that is no use if you don't know how to take good photos. My friend can take better pics than I can with his camera phone.

Panasonic FX has the anti shake which is good for shaky hands.

I have my eye on the Sony DSC H5. Received good reviews on dpreview and is better and cheaper than it's competitors. Otherwise the Panasonic DMC-FZ7. These are digital cameras but take SLR quality photos and point and shoot for the amateurs.

 

[Bandita]

Jen - the memory card is a bit on the expensive side. .

Very true - there was no bargaining power in this, she simply bought it.

I recommend ebay for SD Ram. We bought an original Sony Pro Memory Stick Duo 2G for about $60. It's around $200+ in the shops.

It's one thing to have a good camera but even that is no use if you don't know how to take good photos. My friend can take better pics than I can with his camera phone.

Panasonic FX has the anti shake which is good for shaky hands.

I have my eye on the Sony DSC H5. Received good reviews on dpreview and is better and cheaper than it's competitors. Otherwise the Panasonic DMC-FZ7. These are digital cameras but take SLR quality photos and point and shoot for the amateurs.

My brother has a Sony 6MP which I love - but one thing to be careful with if you choose Sony - then it's Sony everything! If you already have devices in place that aren't Sony and don't want to spend extra $$, I'd stay away - Sony is a one size fits Sony brand!

Cheers,
Jen

 

[redsquash]

if she is a semi serious photographer then I think you may be wasting $600.
That was my budget but doubled it after seeing what the extra money would buy and the inferiority of the cheaper cameras. I went with Nikon D70.

I wanted a slim line camera but am very happy with the Nikon

If you can indicate a little more about her shooting you may get a better reponse
Quick start up
at least 6 mp are very useful

 

[our obsession]

The joy and fun of digital cameras!

Also you may like to consider from www.choice.com.au ...can have some useful info in it's tests and reports, and gives basic rundown of features and explanations.

The October test on digital cameras (37) came up with:

Canon Poweshot A700 $549....overall

Pentax Optio M10 $299.....budget

Samsung Digimax S500 $249....budget

Fujifilm Finepix S5600 $429...sports

Canon Digital IXUS Wireless $599...flat small and light

Samsung Digimax i6 PMP $549

Canon Powershot A540 $429

Casio Exilim EX-Z600 $579

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T5 $549

I have the pleasure in using: Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS fantastic love it, it is very patient with me.
As is our Panasonic DMC TZI (Lumix) and Canon Powershot A610

Also have a digital movie camera Panasonic NV- DS65 been nothing but trouble since it saw us ...spilling beer in it didn't help.

We always buy an extra rech battery and extra cards...we do a lot of photography, amateurs but just have recorded everyone and everything...we love digital..no more slides, no more film..fantastic.

 

[natmarie73]

Geoff,

How do you find the Fuji Finepix S9500 in regards to sharpness and noisiness? I also use this model, but find it almost impossible to get razor sharp pics even when set on the maximum quality picture, and they are always very noisy too - much more noisy than you would expect a 9 mp camera to be. The autofocus doesn't seem to work all that well in my camera at least and I have heard from people that it is a common problem with this model.

Anyway, my boss has an olympus which has a 12x zoom and takes fantastic pics - always very clear and razor sharp. Don't know the model or the price though.

It would probably be a good idea to try and find out what your partner uses the camera for and what features they find important as this could influence your choice - no use spending $$$ on a huge zoom if they never use it.