digital camera suggestions?

[SIGSays]

i wanna spend about $400...
i was lookin at the sony cyber shots.. and the nikon cookpix s1...
does anyone have any suggestions?

[fire1811]

just a suggestion in general is. when you buy a digital camera stick with people that already make cameras. they use there own lenses and are generally better built.

I have 3 digital cameras

a A canon 300D(digital rebel) Great camera but expensive

A canon A75 for the ole lady. nice easy use camera with great pictures

and a Samsung digimax 530. its was a gift and I use it in my firefighting gear. takes good pics though

for camera reviews go here

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

or just google camera review and you will get tons of hits

[Muzikman]

What are you going to be using the camera for...what type of photography? You just want something to take snap shots, or are you looking for artsy stuff? I would avoid Sony. I would also suggest sticking to Compact Flash media. It's pretty much the one card format that has been around forever and is still the media choice for the pro level cameras. I would take a look at the Canon line of point and shoots. They are all pretty good.

[tropical_fishy]

My sony cybershot isn't so bad. The zoom is awful though, so if you're looking for a decent zoom-- the camera you are looking for is not a cybershot. The macro function works okay, but in low light without the proper setting you end up with a REALLY grainy shot.

[Vash02]

Fuji Finepix S5100. I got mine for $300 on sale... MSRP is $400. It has the versitility of a mid-range camera, and the ease of use you'd expect from a point and shoot camera. On top of all that, it has a 10X optical zoom which is darn near unheard of. Great little camera for amatuer photographers.

[trevorjk]

a green one located in the search button :rolleyes:

[MantisMag]

looking at an ultra compact i take it? the nikon should be fine. there's also the canon sdxxx series. these both use sd cards. that seems to be the standard for compact cameras now. sony of course uses their own memory sticks. another camera you might consider is a pentax optio. i've seen several pictures floating around the web of this camera inside of an altoids tin. i hear it's a pretty decent cam. just be aware that with ALL of these there will be some tradeoff in image quality to get the camera that small. they all have corner softness. dynamic range, color fringing, and noise are all concerns when looking at these cameras as well. so look at sample images and reviews.

some of these cameras have some neat features. i like the stuff that nikon does. best shot selector and d-lighting are the most compelling to me. canon offers some creative stuff with different color modes. i don't know what other companies offer as these are the two that i stick with.

*added on edit* 10x zoom is hardly unheard of in digital P&S cameras. it's actually a very popular segment.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

Fuji Finepix S5100. I got mine for $300 on sale... MSRP is $400. It has the versitility of a mid-range camera, and the ease of use you'd expect from a point and shoot camera. On top of all that, it has a 10X optical zoom which is darn near unheard of. Great little camera for amatuer photographers.

I've been wanting one of these for awhile now. They seem to be great cameras for the price. Where did you get it for so cheap?

[noahyay]

get a nikon coolpix

[Muzikman]

As far as compact point and shoot cameras, Canon's are the best and many Nikon fans have admited this. A friend of mine just picked up a Nikon Coolpix 7xxx (can't remember the exact model) and I was looking at it this past weekend. The operation of the camera is horrid and the quality is only average. For the same money he could have got a Canon and had just as good (if not better) image quality, much easier operation.

[MantisMag]

yes indeed. for the compacts canon definitely wins. the coolpix S1 is competitive but that's only one camera compared to canon's range of compacts. image quality canon has ranges from a small to a fairly significant edge over various nikon and canon models. nikon however has those really neat firmware features. it would be perfect if we could somehow get these into a canon camera. i have an old 2MP coolpix. i really loved BSS for those indoor shots in museums and such where they don't allow flash. D-lighting seems really neat and is something that you would normally have to do in postprocessing which is beyond many people's capabilities.

so anyway. look at some reviews. read descriptions of their capabilities. check out some sample images. you've already named the nikon S1. the comparable canon line is the SDX00. sony has fairly good image quality but why be forced into their proprietary formats unless they offer something much better than the competition? (they don't) i don't know much about the pentax but those pictures of it resting comfortably inside of an altoid tin keep people amused. so take a look at these cameras. you decide what best fits your needs.

[Hairball]

get a nikon coolpix

My CoolPix 5200 takes great pictures and is easily small enough to drop in a pocket. I'd recommend any CoolPix.

[noahyay]

i will admit that i have not used a coolpix camera
i have used the d70 and eos digital rebel xt both though. a lot

i was unsure of my purchase untill i had the opportunity to use a relatives Xt for the summer
now i am absolutely sure i made the right decision

the cannon was so much harder to work with when it came to simple things like af points and exposure. my guess to why more people buy it is that it is much better to use when setting the cameras to auto. most people who buy cameras just set it there and leave it there. kinda defeats the purpose.

so after the experience with the cannon im kind of a nikon person. I have used several nikon slrs and cannon slrs though and nikon always seemed higher quality for your money. plus they break less and lenses cost less

[AcemanPB]

I'll say it again, Cannon is the way to go if you want ultra compact.

I have an SD400 (5.0MP) and I freaking LOVE this camera. Its small enough that I can take it anywhere and the picture quality if FAR above 'snapshot.' It easily has the best picture quality out of all the compact digital cameras I've seen. And eventhough the camera is tiny it still feels very solid. The design and layout is easy and intuitive, the battery last a while, it takes amazing video (640x480 at 30fps or 320x240 at 60fps), and the screen is plenty big. I seriously have no complaints about this camera at all.

[Hexis]

noahyay one of the big advantages on Canon DSLRs is that they use a CMOS sensor, not a CCD. A CMOS sensor provides a much lower noise image. Some of the high end Nikon DSLRs do as well. Neither Canon nor Nikon's P&S digitals have CMOS sensors.

[noahyay]

yet another random thought that cam into my head
im just curious -do you paint your cameras green?

so your saying that both cannon and nikon have simmilar quality in p and s digital?

[Steelrat]

i will admit that i have not used a coolpix camera
i have used the d70 and eos digital rebel xt both though. a lot

i was unsure of my purchase untill i had the opportunity to use a relatives Xt for the summer
now i am absolutely sure i made the right decision

the cannon was so much harder to work with when it came to simple things like af points and exposure. my guess to why more people buy it is that it is much better to use when setting the cameras to auto. most people who buy cameras just set it there and leave it there. kinda defeats the purpose.

so after the experience with the cannon im kind of a nikon person. I have used several nikon slrs and cannon slrs though and nikon always seemed higher quality for your money. plus they break less and lenses cost less

Break less? And the glass might be cheaper because its, well, cheaper. Next time you see a major sporting event, look at the number of white lenses you see. That'll tell you which brand the pros prefer. Nothing against Nikon, but they are in no way superior to Canon. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

[Hexis]

L glass is really good. And I would much rather have a 1Ds (full frame sensor) than a D2x (frame crop factor of 1.5). Even the fast 1D only has a crop factor of 1.3. Now I just want Canon to make better Glass. Most L glass is good, but only the prmes can do the 1Ds mk2 justice.

[RogueFactoryKid]

Dimage G600, excellent camera.

[Steelrat]

L glass is really good. And I would much rather have a 1Ds (full frame sensor) than a D2x (frame crop factor of 1.5). Even the fast 1D only has a crop factor of 1.3. Now I just want Canon to make better Glass. Most L glass is good, but only the prmes can do the 1Ds mk2 justice.

Is there ANY glass that would be good enough? From what I've seen, the Canon stuff is better than the Nikon, and usually better than Sigma, Tamron, Quantray, etc etc.

[Hexis]

Only primes so far. 100mm f2 is good, 50mm f1.4 is really good, but you can still tell the difference. The zooms are ok, but you can clearly tell the difference.

[Steelrat]

Only primes so far. 100mm f2 is good, 50mm f1.4 is really good, but you can still tell the difference. The zooms are ok, but you can clearly tell the difference.

Well, primes are always going to be the best, because they have the fewest elements.