I need a digital camera

[Stonecove]

If you have no experience with digital cameras, understand that many are quite different!than film cameras in one regard. There can be a delay between the time you press the shutter button & the time it actually takes the photo. This delay is VERY agrivating and if you are trying to take action shots, you can be off time by a fraction of a second. This doesn't sound like much, but I have a dog that will not pose for a photo, so my pictures of her are usually a blur. I haven't bought a camera in a few years, but check this out as my father in law just bought a Sony and it still has a delayed shutter. I'm sure there is a technical term for this...
I'm sure a $450.00 camera today has a faster shutter delay than a camera at half the price, but better to know what to look for.
Stonecove

 

[Titan]

Check out QVC for one of their photography segments.

You'll get a pretty good description of functions and capabilities and a camera that will meet whatever your price range is.

You'll also have their return policy if you find that you make a mistake with the first purchase, and can trade up or trade sideways for something else.
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[gunlovingirl]

If you have no experience with digital cameras, understand that many are quite different than film cameras in one regard. There can be a delay between the time you press the shutter button & the time it actually takes the photo. This delay is VERY agrivating and if you are trying to take action shots, you can be off time by a fraction of a second. This doesn't sound like much, but I have a dog that will not pose for a photo, so my pictures of her are usually a blur. I haven't bought a camera in a few years, but check this out as my father in law just bought a Sony and it still has a delayed shutter. I'm sure there is a technical term for this...
I'm sure a $450.00 camera today has a faster shutter delay than a camera at half the price, but better to know what to look for.
Stonecove

Most of the better cameras, especially the SLRs, have very little delay.

 

[pps]

Second Anniversery and you're getting her a digital camera????? Setting the bar a bit high for the third and subsequent ones aren't we??? Take it from a pro-you want to work up gradually to the camera-that should be around year 20-for your second anniversery you should still be on the "mushy card-even though we're poor, I'll love you always" stage. If you must have a camera, buy it for yourself and let her use it. If you don't believe me just ask Dick Burg

You're a wise man caj.

 

[red14]

Originally Posted by CAJUNLAWYER
Second Anniversery and you're getting her a digital camera????? Setting the bar a bit high for the third and subsequent ones aren't we??? Take it from a pro-you want to work up gradually to the camera-that should be around year 20-for your second anniversery you should still be on the "mushy card-even though we're poor, I'll love you always" stage. If you must have a camera, buy it for yourself and let her use it. If you don't believe me just ask Dick Burg.

Please, please listen to the above. By the way, what did you get her for the first?

 

[mtb1bkr]

I thought the first 10-15 anniversary gifts were...

Lingerie!!! If your supposed to go for something more classy than that I'm in trouble. We're coming up on our 9th and we are going to St Maarten for a week. That wasn't really the anniversary present, but it will work now that I think of it. Then, I'm going to get her(me) a new gun.

Find a good new but slightly older digital camera with at least 6 megapixels that has good ratings and try to find it on e-bay. I just bought a good one on e-bay a couple of months ago but I don't remember what it was. I will try to remember when I get home tonight. I don't think I even paid $200 for it and it takes better pictures than I would have ever thought. As mentioned above, you don't need the highest MP camera on the market unless you are planning on printing life size photos. A good 10MP camera will print 18" prints without enlarging.

Bill

 

[Crazy K38]

Lingerie!!! If your supposed to go for something more classy than that I'm in trouble. We're coming up on our 9th and we are going to St Maarten for a week. That wasn't really the anniversary present, but it will work now that I think of it. Then, I'm going to get her(me) a new gun.

Find a good new but slightly older digital camera with at least 6 megapixels that has good ratings and try to find it on e-bay. I just bought a good one on e-bay a couple of months ago but I don't remember what it was. I will try to remember when I get home tonight. I don't think I even paid $200 for it and it takes better pictures than I would have ever thought. As mentioned above, you don't need the highest MP camera on the market unless you are planning on printing life size photos. A good 10MP camera will print 18" prints without enlarging.

Bill

I was gonna get her a remington 700, but my sister in law killed that idea!

 

[Smitty500Mag]

If you need any digital camera film just let me know I've got some that I'll let you have for a real good price.

Smitty

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Please, please listen to the above. By the way, what did you get her for the first?

Can't tell ya-but it was less than $20

 

[davrow]

Remember you need to get a class 6 memory chip, too. Keep enough money left over for that. (this improves on the "shutter lag" mentioned above).

For point and shoot cameras, we have bought Olympus cameras, mostly the Stylus line, since before digital happened. We still like their cameras.

10.1 megapixel for $149. Olympus at Costco. Until you move up to the SLR (outside of your price range) then you need nothing better than this. In fact, you might not be able to find anything better... just comparable.

It has image stabilization, 7x zoom. Uses xD instead of SDHC (edit to add: uses microSD, I didn't read the whole ad), but still better than Memory Stick (take that! you Sony Cybershot folks! heh). Actually, nothing against Cybershots, I just happen to prefer Olympus.

And you can still tell her it cost a bundle, if you want!

 

[USAF385]

Another thing... as far a Mega Pixels goes... For general consumer use, once you get to 8, you're good to go. In actuality, over 8 is useless for most usage. There is only so much information that can be displayed in a given area, so once you start getting into high mega pixels, you start wasting your money. 6 Mega Pixels can be printed on blow ups up to 16 X 24. Here is an interesting article on mega pixels:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/technology/15pogue-email.html

I suggest you read it before trying to get a 12 mega pixel camera.

By the way, before I mentioned winning a $1,000 prize for a photo I took using one of my cheaper cameras... it's a 6 mega pixel. I sell blown up prints of it and the quality is great.

 

[Landpimp]

I have had many Nikon PS's.....loved them all.

recently went with a Nikon D60 with a 18-200lens.....its one heck of a set up, but the lens is $650 alone(but its the perfect ONE lens) You can get the D60 kit with 2(18-55, 55-200) very nice VR lens for I bet $600 or less now, maybe a D40 kit

for a point and shoot, I picked up a Panasonic TZ5(I think) at Costco for $250, darn good camera with a 28mm wide angle, I have use for wide more than zoom in small camera, but it does have 200mm optical zoom. Huge monitor, very good pics.

one thing "most" DSLR's dont do is show you what you looking at thru the monitor, only the view finder, which is not really an issue but something to know.

Mega pixals, really dont need more than 6 IMOP, but 8-10 good

 

[WaterburyBob]

I won't get into specific cameras, but Adorama Camera is also a pretty good place to buy.

http://www.adorama.com/

 

[Titan]

6 or 8 megapixels may be just fine for most uses.

However, I find that I often crop away a large portion of the original photo to get the composition I'm looking for. This is particularly true to photos taken quickly to capture a moment. I frequently take the picture to emphasize speed, and worry later about cropping for composition.

With a 10 or 12 megapixel camera you can do substantial cropping and still end up with a very manageable 6 or 8 megapixel image by the time you're done.


I currently have a Fuji Finepix 3.2 megapixel, a Kodak 12 megapixel, and a Pentax K20D (SLR) at 14.6 megapixels.

Each has its use.
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[Crazy K38]

these are all great recommendations I have found some good 10 MP ones pretty cheap still have some good time to buy

 

[Hofstet]

Totally agree with USAF385. The Sony Cydershots are great cameras and can be purchased at any of the big box discount stores.

 

[RonJ]

Sony, as usual, had to go with their own proprietary memory cards as did Olympus with the XD cards.
SD cards are cheaper and easier to find. They're cheap enough that lots of people keep their pics stored on the cards and buy new ones when they are filled.
I recommend you buy a camera which uses SD cards. Nikon and Canon are good examples.

 

[DCWilson]

For about a year I have been using a Canon G9. It's one of those so-called "prosumer" models, which means it is consumer friendly but with a lot of professional capability. No professional will ever use it as his main camera, but it is good enough to serve as a powerful, quick-handling backup when you can't get the real camera out of the bag and into play fast enough.

I guess you could call it a compact, but it is one of the heaviest and most massive compacts you would want to carry in a pocket. Big three-inch screen on the back, which is nice for people like me whose eyes are older than the attitudes behind them.

The successor model is the G10, which has better wide-angle capability.

Like it a lot. Also have a Sony Cybershot DSC W300, which is extremely convenient to use in a hurry, but lacks the really good built in macro abilities of the Canon.

I wouldn't call either of them cheap, but they both produce grab shots of high quality.

David Wilson

 

[ChadW]

+ 1 USAF385.. on both the cybershots and the mega pix info.

My brother and I both own simple cybershots and they're great for what we need. His even survived two tours in Iraq.

 

[Titan]

The MOST important issue in whether or not you'll be happy with any digital camera (in my experience) is its cycle time, or the time to actually capture the photo once you've depressed the shutter button.


Almost everyone I know has gone through several digital cameras in search of a faster cycle time.

There's nothing more frustrating than depressing the shutter only to miss the shot you 'pulled the trigger on' because the camera's speed wasn't up to the task.

Sony, Kodak, Fuji, Canon, Nikon, (any of the big name players) will do okay in this regard, but it's always best to compare their shutter speeds to make sure this'll be a non-issue for you.
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