# Which Digital Camera?



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Need some help here as I am looking for a digital camera....so what's the best one for simple, dependable, outdoor use?


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## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

Dick 
I have a Olympus C50. It is small and pretty much bonehead proof. I believe there are now camaras on the market that are just as good or better than mine for far less money then I paid. I paid about 600 bucks including a large memory upgrade.


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## Goldy's Pal (Jan 6, 2004)

Don't buy anything until you look at the Sony Cybershot with 5.1 megapixels. It ran for $500.00 but it really takes good pics and has some nice features. I just started using a digital this summer so I'm not an expert, but I really am glad we made this choice. Good luck.


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## Drew Willemsen (Sep 29, 2003)

check out an s500, you can find them on www.bestbuy.com, or at just about any place that sells cameras, it is a digital, simple enough, and still has plenty of options that you could use


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## leadshot (Aug 2, 2004)

I have a Sony cybershot 5.0 and love it. It's small enough to keep it in your coat pocket and it takes great pics. I bought it a year ago for about $400.00 and since then, have found the same camera new on E-bay for alot cheaper :******: When it comes to mega pixels.....I don't really think that theres a big difference in the picture quality as long as you get one above 3.0 The only thing I wish was better on this camera is the zoom. It has 3x the zoom and wish it was more. But it also has the movie feature on it so it's like having a camera and a camcorder all in one. Get a big enough memory chip and you can take pictures and video's all day without ever running out of space. Another nice feature is that it takes 2 AA batteries and I have a battery charger in my truck with spare batteries, so I will never run out of juice. But just remember, you cant beat a digital camera in my book. There a great item to have when you want a great picture to share online.


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## pjb1816 (Sep 8, 2003)

Dick I'm in sales working at bestbuy. send me a pm with your price range and ill give you the low down dirty info.

Phil


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## pjb1816 (Sep 8, 2003)

leadshot said:


> When it comes to mega pixels.....I don't really think that theres a big difference in the picture quality as long as you get one above 3.0 .


Megapixels makes a HUGE difference in the end. Going from a 3.0Mp to a 5.0 or 6.0Mp can effectively double the quality of the photo, and make blowing up a photo -- or croping a photo -- that much better looking in the end.



leadshot said:


> The only thing I wish was better on this camera is the zoom. It has 3x the zoom and wish it was more.


Zoom is really hard for camera makers to build into a camera -- especially if its a small-sized camera that your looking for. I would reccomend to get atleast a 3.0x OPTICAL zoom. Remember that digital zoom is a fake zoom and it ultimately lowers the photo quality on the picture. I actually turn digital zoom off, as you can "digital zoom" a photo when its on your computer by "cropping" the photo.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

pj, price isn't the object. I'm not tech updated so you're talking to a neophyte here. I was looking for a quality picture, ease of operation, some kind of a zoom feature probably, and a rugged system that could stand field use. The cost of the camera would be offset by the no-developement film cost, would it not?


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## drjongy (Oct 13, 2003)

I would look at a Sony model..very hard to beat all-around. These days I wouldn't go under 5.0 megapixles. Also very important to look for optical zoom, which is lens-based, rather than digital zoom, which is a "fake" zoom and not near the quality of optical.


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## curty (Sep 18, 2003)

Hey Dick...I have a digital that has optical and digital zoom..and am very impressed with it. Whats nice about them is the savings on developing, deleting bad shots ect. and you can always carry extra memory cards...great investment!!!


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I use a Canon Powershot A75, it has 10x zoom with 3.5 of that optical. It is 3.2 megapix, has a few other features including review and movies. It cost $250.00 and is simple enuff to learn to use. It uses a flash card. Good Luck


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_op ... on_eos300d

Look at these if you want to be able to use multiple lenses and take long range photos, this is their entry level true 35mm digital and is really nice. the flesibility of mutiple lenses makes a lot of sense if you want it for wildlife photos


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

i also have a canon powershot and i love it. i take over 1500 photos a month for my job and i've had this camera for about 1 1/2 years with no problems.


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## pjb1816 (Sep 8, 2003)

Dick Monson said:


> The cost of the camera would be offset by the no-developement film cost, would it not?


That's the general hope behind the system. I would buy a good digital camera / photo printer combo. This would allow you to print only the photos that you want to hand out or frame. And yes, eventually you should get major savings by not developing your photos professionally.



Dick Monson said:


> I was looking for a quality picture, ease of operation, some kind of a zoom feature probably, and a rugged system that could stand field use.


I would have to recommend this canon on the cheaper end:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... uct&cmp=++

And this canon as a "step up" in terms of mega pixels:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... Id=6283835

As many of these other posters have said, the canons are very easy to use and generally very high quality cameras.

I would also buy a larger memory card along with the camera, as the one it comes with will usually only hold 10-15 pictures at a time. Spending another 25-40 dollars can get you a 128 MB card that could hold 2-3 rolls of film.

One last thing thats really a life saver to have is an additional lithium-ion batter for your camera. These don't cost that much and can be a life saver when the first battery goes dead.

Good luck

Phil


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

i have a 64 mb card and i take most of my pictures at 640 x 480 resolution. i can usually get 600 to 700 photos on a card.


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## BenelliBlaster (Mar 17, 2002)

I just got a Sony CD Mavica 5.0 Mega Pixels. I love this Camera. It utilizes the 156 MB Mini-Digital CD-RW's rather than the memory Card and holds lots of images. I like it because I can store images on discs that anyone can use on a computer and don't have to invest in high dollar memory cards but rather buy replacement discs for a couple bucks a piece. I also use it quite a bit for take movie shots. It has Zeiss lens so you know the quality is there. It was a big dollar investment but I'm very happy with the results. :2cents:


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I've had great luck with the Olympus line. I started with a C700 which had a built-in 10x Optical zoom, the best built-in zoom I could find on the market. I cracked it while using it in extreme cold temps (the one time in my life I'm glad I bought an extended warranty and got use out of it), and I ended up with the Olympus C720, a step up.

The C720 has an 8x Optical zoom and is 3.2 megapixels. Since all of my photography is for the web and is compressed anyways, 3.2 megapixels suites me fine. I've used this for most of the photography you see on the site, and some of the movies as well (all digital camera movies are weak though, get a camcorder for this instead).

pjb is right, don't even bother with the digital zoom. None of my pics using it is even usable for web standards.

It won't be long before I take the plunge though. The Canon Rebel line is SWEEEEEET, expecially with all the attachable lenses available. My wedding photographer used it for all of our wedding photos and it was phenominal in quality.

Lots of good advice in this thread, good luck.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

> The Canon Rebel line is SWEEEEEET, expecially with all the attachable lenses available.


 :beer: 
I wouldn't consider anything less if you ever intend to shoot wildlife photos at long distances. detachable lenses are the only true way to get Reasonable telephoto capabilities. And this is a system you can build on with additional lenses. I've been saving for the next model up in the Canon line because it will interchange lenses with my Canon 35mm. The rebel has its own line of lenses that don't interchange with the rest of the Canon cameras


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

The SLR digitals are the ultimate but can be expensive. The Canons are very good. Last year I decided to go with a digital so I sold one of my F-1's and started looking for something. I wanted at least 10X optical zoom and my wife wanted it to be easy to use, oh and small too. After several months of looking I finally decided on an Olympus C740UZ. It is 3.2 megapixels which are plenty if you do not intend to enlarge bigger than 8x10" as others have said the more megapixels you have, the better your quality will be. Dick, check out the Olympus Ultra Zooms, if I were buying now I'd go with the C770UZ, I think this camera will do whatever it is you want to do. And get a larger card, I'd go as large as possible. If you want to check out my camera let me know, I'm only 30 minutes away. I can also email you some full size pic's but unless you have highspeed internet they will take awhile to load.

huntin1


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## clarkend (Sep 25, 2003)

Dick

I bought an Olympus C-740 UZ and have been very happy with it!

The zoom is great!

Good luck....I did a lot of research before I bought mine.

Clarkie


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Hey Dick I bet your mind is really spinning by now :lol: :lol: why can't anything be simple nowadays.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

My Olympus 340 from 1999 still kicks out some great photos.

1.3 Megapixels, three quality settings. Nice and simple, and fits great in my tacklebox. I may upgrade in the next few months, but I'm not sure I need to!

Thanks for bringing this thread up Dick, it is helping me get an idea of what to get for a camera if I do buy one in the near future.


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

huntin1

What is the model of Canon digital camera that uses a 58mm objective telephoto lens from a Canon 35mm camera?


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Huntin1, send 'em. There's time to kill today as it's raining pretty hard.
Thanks everyone for the advice.


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## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

For one of the Web's best sites for digital camera reviews, try http://www.steves-digicams.com/

eBay is one place but there are always a good deal around on the Net.

Yes, the more the Optical Zoom, the better. Remember, the digital zoom is basically the same thing you can do (and better) on your PC.


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## Qwack (May 25, 2002)

I love my Sony DSC-P72. It is 3.2 megs and I think the 8 x 10 prints look great. It also runs off of AA batteries so if your rechargeables wear out unexpectedly, you can put in regular AAs. Very compact too.


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

MossyMO said:


> huntin1
> 
> What is the model of Canon digital camera that uses a 58mm objective telephoto lens from a Canon 35mm camera?


Well, I would have to know what type of camera and lense, (EOS, FD) it could be either this one:

Canon EOS Digital Rebel (a.k.a. 300D), 6.3 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera ($800)
or
Canon EOS 10D, 6.3 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera ($1200)
or
Canon EOS 20D, 8.2 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera ($1500)

Any of these cameras will take any of the EOS 35mm lenses. That is what is nice about an SLR digital, if you have a 35mm SLR with a few lenses you may be able to find a digital body that your lenses will work on. Make sure you check carefully though, all of my Canon SLR's took FD lenses, I couldn't find a digital body that would accept the lenses that I had. The prices on the above cameras are for the body only, no lense included. A little to steep for me right now.

huntin1


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## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

If you are still looking and have an OfficeMax store by you this Saturday, they have a special one-day sale for:

OLYMPUS Camedia C-725 Ultra Zoom
3 Megapixel Digital Camera
• 8x optical/3x digital zoom
• 24x total seamless zoom
• xD-picture compatible

Its on sale for $180.

Here is a link to the flyer and coupon: http://www.officemax.com/pdf/misc/092504_FF_Flyer.pdf


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

I'm going to buy the Canon 10D because it accepts my current lenses its come down about $2500.00 in the last two years. I'l probably wait until after Christmas they will probably be around a 1000.00 by then (I hope). All this stuff drops in price with time.


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Thanks Dick for starting this thread!! After spending 85 dollars on film developing this week, :eyeroll: I finally jumped into the 20th century. I decided to buy the Canon A75. I have had it only one day, but its was a breeze to get up and running on my pc and it takes great photos. Look for added pages to my photo album soon! :lol Thanks again for the advice guys! :beer:


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

when my A60 decides to quit i think i'll have to get a A75 also. there great cameras.


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## Goosepride (Sep 29, 2003)

I actually have access to the same model camera that Hustad is talking about it and it works extremely well.

On a side note I've actually taped a few flocks of feeding geese with a digital camcorder as well. Talk about having fun editing film on the computer. It really is fun if you're in that stuff and you don't have to mess with the VHS part of it. Again, I don't own, but have access to...(perks of being a business teacher!)


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I dropped my A60 on the pavement in Sturgis this year, dang it anyway, it still works but not 100%. It takes pics fine, I just can't review or down load so I use a card reader. It was so easy to use I had to get the A75 when I got back. I took the A60 in for repair and the minium repair cost was $199.99, the new A75 was $250.00 pretty much had to go with the new one. I did buy the extra ins. this time though, that is $50.00 a year and probaly worth every penny if your going to use them for outdoors fun.

Enjoy


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

i always buy the warranty plan. you never know when somethings going to ^$%& up.


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## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

Here are a couple of deals that expire soon:

Dell Home has the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 4-MegaPixel 12x Optical Zoom Digital Camera for $549 - automatic 10% off - $35 off $350 coupon code 3RSN46ZF2JD9D5 [Exp 9/27, 1500 uses] = $459 with free shipping.

Dell Home has the Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2-MegaPixel 10x Optical Zoom Digital Camera for $399 - automatic 10% off - $35 off $350 coupon code 3RSN46ZF2JD9D5 [Exp 9/27, 1500 uses] = $324 with free shipping. Use this 10-Pack Mini CDRs to pad up to the coupon limit. Looks like there are some nice features in this camera.

Dell Home has the new Canon PowerShot G6 7 Megapixel Digital Camera for $699 - automatic 10% off - $35 off $350 coupon code 3RSN46ZF2JD9D5 [Exp 9/27, 1500 uses] = $594 with free shipping. No tax for most.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/defa ... =19&~ck=mn


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