Need a little advice on Dig. cameras

[Chuck K.]

I am looking for a rugged (reasonably) very user friendly (for the computor challenged ) camera. I Have a cheap polaroid now does a fair job but does not have zoom and cannot record MPEGs. Just curious as what some others are using and want their input..
Thanks, Chuck

[Paradiddle]

I think the Nikon Coolpix is a great camera - it takes great photos but is not the easiest to use. It is a camera that you can grow with. I have the 950 which is a couple years old (2.1megapixle), but the 990 was considered the best of the best for a while.

The Sony Maciva FD200 is a very easy to use camera - you can even store to a floppy. While I don't think it's optics are as good as Nikon's - it does take good photos.

Are you wanting to shoot photos for the web or for print? Your resolution needs are much less if you are keeping all your stuff electronic.

Those are the two cameras I've used - I have one of each right now.

Jeff

[Chuck K.]

Thanks for the reply. I had originally planed on the Maciva untill I read about the 990 but if it is not user friendly I will probably go with the Maciva....Chuck

[Daless2]

Good morning Chuck, How are you today my friend?

I'm not the most knowledgeable person in the world when it comes to photography or digital cameras, but I have had a digital for about 7 years now. (I don't even want to think about what I paid for this one way back then.)

My daughter just purchased a new camera from Wal-Mart.com that she likes a lot.

Here's a link to it.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...3A5426%3A46756

It is a Cannon Powershot A40.

It is 2.1 MegaPixels. and cost $297.64

It has all the standard features and is very easy to use.

Has both mechanical zoom lens and electronic zoom features, and will record about 30 second of MPEG video.

One of the best features is that it uses 4 AA batteries and has the ability to turn the little LED screen on or off when using the camera. (That little LED screen on these cameras EATS Batteries!)

I have found if you leave the LED screen off most of the time the battery life skyrockets!!!!

I also like that AA batteries are a cheap and easily replaced when they go dead. (Or you could use two sets of rechargeable AA batteries.)

My camera has one of those lithium-ion (spelling) batteries, and when it discharges must be re-charged. This seems to be the state of the batteries when I need the camera the most.

Just something you might want to consider.

Hopefully Sergey and Ron will see your post and be able to add their recommendations. They sure seem to have there acts together when it comes to this stuff.

Have a great day,

Frank

[TJRON]

Almost all the cameras are easy to use. You put it on program and shoot away! My camera, and I know Kat's camera, has about every feature possible if you want to take the time to use them. It is a study and a cheat sheet or lots of practice helps to make these features "friendly".
Get a camera that takes AAs! Then buy at least two sets of Ni-MH batteries. These things are great! They have no memory and they can be charged any time. One set last me a day easily if I remember to shut the camera off when I'm not using it.
My camera uses the Smart Media cards. I have a 128 MB and a 64 MB cards. I can shoot for days. Several hundred pictures! This extra investment in cards and batteries is about $100 and well worth it. The beauty is, pictures cost nothing once the investment is made.
I have been able to take unlimited experimental pictures and I'm on a very fast learning curve. I love it!
Stu beat me up for the the need for a good long optical zoom. He was right!
That's about all I know. Jim B is really into the high end of digital photography and printing. He has been helping me out with things I never even thought about. Thanks Jim and Stu.........

[Chris L]

I have a canon powershot Elf S300. 2.1 meg and very user friendly. Records Mpegs and is small enough to wear in a case on your belt.



http://www.1-888camcorder.com/cans3powshot.html

[TObject]

I have a Nikon COOLPIX 5000. I don?t like the thing. All these tiny buttons you bump to. You have to jump through the loops to change simple options. The camera is always trying to outsmart you, turning the options on or off automatically when you don?t want it. The lens is not very sharp. Low light pictures are noisy. Camera is slow, you take a picture, and then you have to wait and wait and wait, while it is writing the picture to the memory card. And the biggest complaint: I think Nikon really dropped the ball on flash options for this camera.

The only thing I like about digital is instant gratification ? you don?t have to drive film to the lab, you don?t have to spend time scanning it. You shoot it, and it?s ready right away. That is sweet.

[TJRON]

Originally posted by TObject
I have a Nikon COOLPIX 5000. I don?t like the thing. All these tiny buttons you bump to. You have to jump through the loops to change simple options. The camera is always trying to outsmart you, turning the options on or off automatically when you don?t want it. The lens is not very sharp. Low light pictures are noisy. Camera is slow, you take a picture, and then you have to wait and wait and wait, while it is writing the picture to the memory card. And the biggest complaint: I think Nikon really dropped the ball on flash options for this camera.

The only thing I like about digital is instant gratification ? you don?t have to drive film to the lab, you don?t have to spend time scanning it. You shoot it, and it?s ready right away. That is sweet.

Too bad you bought the wrong camera!
Ron

[TObject]

No that?s probably other way around. I think a wrong person bought the camera.

I bought the best digital camera Nikon offered at the time I could afford. I bought Nikon, because I have a lot of Nikon accessories, and I am familiar with technology they use.

I doubt my review would change a lot if I bought some other comparable camera, I just wouldn?t have all the cool toys that I can attach to it.

I still make nice pictures with the camera; it is just that when I use the camera I feel that I have to fight with it all the time.

[Sephiroth]

Kodak DC290 It has a body of an SLR its rugged and easy to use.

[John]

I use This one but wish it had more zoom on it.

[Timzjatl]

My girlfriend has the Cannon Poweshot A40... Its alright i guess, not my favorite, but great for the price...
My first camera was an olympus d320? I think... its now discontinued, but it was a decent camera. When I bought it it was $340 at best Buy and I bought the 4 year warranty... do yourself a favor and buy whatever warranty package you can get for your camera. Since you will be taking it places that are hazzardous, it will be worth it. I dropped my 320 and it stopped working... Returned it and got an olympus C-3020 Zoom... its about a $450 camera and I love it...plus with my warranty I got full trade in value(what I paid the first time) on my old camera towards the new one. way more features than I use, but its easy to use the basic stuff, and not hard to figure out how to use the other stuff. It uses AA batteries and smartmedia cards, both of which are awesome. Plus my old best buy warranty covers this camera as well! My mom's BF is really into digitals and his favorite cameras are all olympuses.
The other thing that I have bought and love is an external USB smartmedia drive... it lets you deal with smartmedia cards the same way you would a floppy disk... very cool... I can take all of the pictures that I want printed on one card to our local camera store and they'll print them. Good luck, try out every camera you can, buy a warranty and post pics when you get one!
Tim

[TJRON]

Tim,
I have the Oly C-2100 Ultra Zoom (10x lens with stabilizer) and my wife has the 2040 (3 1/2 with a 1.8 lens). We both love them! They are very similar to yours.

[Handlebars]

...you can have all the digital camera you will ever need. I have the Nikon Coolpix 995 and love it. It goes on every 4x4 trip I go on and it has handled all the abuse I give it. You can pick up the camera for $700 w/ a 256kb CompactFlash memory card (for 600+ photos) at B & H Photo. It has an auto mode that will allow you to point-n-shoot pictures to your heart's content. There is also a manual mode that will allow you more control over the camera including shutter speed, depth of field and optional lenses.

Since my Jeep is always close at hand whenever I use the camera, I got the 12v cigarette lighter battery charger and mounted it to the center console with double-sided tape. I purchased one extra of the small rectangular batteries that is unique to this camera and leave it in the charger. When the one in the camera dies, I just switch 'em, I have never been left with a dead battery (the bane of digital photography), and don't have a pile of AA's rolling around everywhere.

I also picked up the Nikon wide angle adapter that screws onto the front of the camera, it changes the focal legnth range of the camera from the 35mm equivilent of 38-114mm to the equivilent of 24-72mm. This gives a wider field of view and a longer depth of field than what the bare camera is capable of. This makes me happy because I can take photos with it that have the same "feel" as actually being there due the the ability of including some of the associated scenery with my subject... like this:


Hi Chuck!


The wide angle adapter unscrews to instantly capture a scene that I want to zoom in closer, it is much easier than switching lenses on my 35mm camera.

One other thing that I like about the Coolpix 995 is its physical size- it is a little bigger than many other digital cameras, the Coolpix 5000 included. There is a trade-off between carrying convienence and convinience of interaction with a camera, in my humble opinion, the Coolpix 995 is about as small as a camera can get before I start becoming hampered in my ability to operate the camera. I frequently wear gloves on the trail and shoot pictures at the same time, I have no problem operating this camera with the gloves on.

And from the having your cake and eating it department, I also got a Hewlett Packard Photosmart 1115 printer for $200. It will print out photos that are better than the ones you get at the one-hour photo places in 4x6 and 8 1/2x11 sizes directly from the CompactFlash memory card... you don't even need a computer to use it. It's easier to use than my microwave oven. I don't think I will ever buy another roll of 35mm print film.

[TJRON]

I'd check the Ultra Zoom out:
http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?t...1&log=&NavTop=

[Chuck K.]

Just got to work and was checking my mail and wanted to thank yall for all the input... Now all I gotta do is go shopping for one once I finish the *%#!%& graveyards....Chuck

[ZUK]

Chuck----Mavica 75 is 349 at Walmart....Floppy.... excellent 10x optical zoom.....excellent macro capability and can go as close as 1/2" from object. Pic quality is good enough for the internet and posting pics, tech write-ups, and such. Does mpegs, too. I have the next model up (mavica85)......I wish I actually had this cheaper model down for its zoom mainly. I have very little need for yearbook quality pics.

[Hyperman]

I have an Olympus 2020, which I purchased in Jan of 2000. It is a 2.1 mega pixel camera and has been a very good camera. They now make the same camera with a lot higher resolution for a whole lot less. In my research, I was down to this camera and the Nikon 950. All the articles at the time were very positive on both. The Olympus is a little smaller, which was the main reason for my choice. I have had only one problem with the camera and that was caused by a flood! The camera got water in it. I sent it back to Olympus and they gave me a new one for about $200. I thought that was pretty incredible service, considering that this was in no way a waranty issue. This was not an isolated incident. A friend I work with also bought the camera and dropped it on his vacation, damaging the barrel. They gave him a new camera also for the $200 (we both destroyed our cameras on different vacations at the same time!). At the time we paid between $700-$800 for the cameras. I think they are closer to $400 now, with the higher resolution.