Best Digital Camera - Page 2

I ended up getting the Sony DSC-V1. It had a lot of features but still fair pocketablity (coat or denim shirt, loose pants, not regular shirts). The LCD screen is practically unreadable outdoors, cloudy or sunny. I've obtained some thin plastic credit card-sized magnifiers to assist (barely) but I'm trying to stay away from the attachable viewfinders (more bulk). The whole process of choosing a camera has been fairly disappointing. Aside from the fact that there are so many choices (supposed to be a good thing, but they can't make a few that do everything right?) it seemed mostly a matter of choosing a camera that had the LEAST amount of negative aspects. The major cons on the Sony were price, proprietary battery and mem stick media, some fiddling with White Balance (Auto WB is iffy). The major pros, for me, were general best picture quality from the gallerys I reviewed (and this has proved right, generally great pictures, with the usual hiccups), a digital zoom that actually worked (quality zooming, but at lower res the more you want to zoom), and pocketability. I still drool over the bigger cameras like the EOS, which I'm sure you'll like. Let us know what you get and how you like it.

Before making a decision hop over to www.dpreview.com and go into the forum of the camera model you're considering (I think there are 3 or 4 Canon forums alone). The Canon G5 has been out for quite a while and is due to be replaced shortly. Likewise the Olympus C-5050 has now been replaced by the 5060, but the 5050 can still be picked up new for under $500 on EBay. One good thing about the 5050 is its very fast F1.8 3X optical lens which of course is very good in low light situations. My friend has the 5050 and bought an underwater housing for it for $150 that allows it to be used when scuba diving to a depth of about 90 feet and also serves to protect it from dust storms in the desert, from water damage when it rains, and helps to protect it when he has dropped it in the street.

I spent a huge amount of time in the Forums and the Reviews at this site. Now I mainly hang out in the Sony Forum here. The Reviews are excellent, as are the reviews at
www.steves-digicams.com.

Finally got my Canon Powershot S50 today.

All I can say is "wow".

Thing is absolutely amazing and most definitely the most amusing piece of technology I've ever got.

Betwen the G5 and the Sony V1 I would say G5. However, I would recommend you to take a look at the G3, because the G5 has much more chromatic aberrations than the G3 (those "purple halo" things about white-to dark transitions, between tree branches when shooting them with a bright background).

If I had to pick between an S50 and S45, I would say S45 for the same reason. This is not to say that the S50 is bad, it's pretty good.

I would say overall Canon as far as digital cameras go, in general, won't dissapoint. I switched from the Canon S230 to the Fuji F700 - unfortunately when it was at the retail price, but since then it has come way down in price. You can get it from reputable places for about $375 USD.

I can recommend the Fuji F700 also at that price. The F700 is the smallest camera I have seen with full manual controls, and after all the F700 dynamic range fiasco, is still has a bit more dynamic range in some situations than the usual cameras (the F700 has a brand new sensor that captures two light readings per position, one more sensitive than the other then blends. ).

The F700 also while a "real 3 megapixel camera" has a resolution more of like 4 megapixel when shooting in its 6 megapixel mode (which is NOT really 6 megapixels of comparable resolution say to a Canon 's60' if it existed).

Anyway, I have done a lot of research on this as I hang around dpreview, so if anybody has any Q's on the F700 just ask.

I still love and recommend Canons.

- Raist

i just got the Casio EXILIM EX-Z4 for xmas... i didnt expect to get one either or nor was it my first choice, but this thing is awesome... 2.0" lcd screen, built-in 10 mb of memory, 4.o megapixels and just a little bit bigger than a credit card.. and also comes w. a usb cradle... only thing that disappoints me is that it doesnt come w. video takinig function just sound...

i just picked up a canon sd100 and love it to death within 3 days of having it! the only downsides are that sd media is pretty expensive right now, and also the camera can only record up to 3 mins of video, no matter the size of the card. but still, i pretty much bought the camera to have fun with, and it has not disappointed in that regard, with plenty of options to let me play :-D

on saturday i bought a 4mp Kodak DX6490 and i absolutely love it, it takes truley awesome pictures, has great options and can take up to 80 minutes of video. It also comes with a docking/recharging station that is 80$ if you were to buy it seperately. The only down side is the same as the last post said, the sd card are expensive, but so are other types of media so i guess it doesnt really matter.

I just got the eos rebel and at first I thought I was going to regreat spending the extra money for it, but I must say I'm actually glad I got it. It's really a bargin, seeing it has the same picture quality that would cost a thousand more in other cameras. If your willing to spend 5 or 6 hundred for a camera, you'd be better off adding 2 hundred and investing in a slr, it's alot more expandable and you'll probably be happier with it longer. I've been amazed at some of the photos I've shot with this camera, no regreats with the price.

i got a olid deal o na canon s50 i paid like 350 and i love it....the best 5.0 megapixel camera for the price

hey raven is that the new Rebel Digital SLR??? if so please take some pics! and tell me were you got it for your 800.00$ price range!!!

"If your willing to spend 5 or 6 hundred for a camera, you'd be better off adding 2 hundred and investing in a slr"

that would be a very nice price.. thanks!

I agree Christine, $800 would be a VERY nice price for an EOS Rebel. And IMO Raven, "you'd be better off adding 2 hundred and investing in a slr" is not for everyone. For those that want to put as much PRO as possible in professional, yes, get a very expandable, and expensive, camera like the EOS, 10D, etc. For me, wanting SOME manual settings ability along with point and shoot and pocketability, my new Sony DSC-V1 is suiting me just fine. My primary complaint with it is I CANNOT see the LCD screen outdoors, even to just shoot pictures, even with brightnesses set on high, and I don't want to make it bulky by adding one of those strap on hoods. Otherwise, I luv it.

EDIT: P.S. Christine: Trying to start another sig war with that fancy signature? Nice looking Beamer, by the way.

awaiting link to 800.00$ rebel...

sig war.. ha idk I was just messing around in Photochop. I hope its not to big, im surfing the forums w/ UXGA so it looks fine for me, ill keep it until someone starts complaining about it.

P.S not my car, but wish it was

Big sigs make a page slow to load if you have a lot of posts on that page. I'm on T1 at work and DieSeL at home, so I ain't complainin'. SOME folks still have to suffer with 56k, like I do when I'm in the mountains on a weekend. When I'm surfing from there I turn off image download and manually get the ones I want afterwards.

yea im on the college lan, pretty fast, but when i go its 56K time so im very used to both worlds (ill take up your warning and one sig per thread)

I just bought a Fuji S5000 for about 350 dollars. It's got 3.1 megapixel capability and with compression can go up to 6.1. It also has 10x Optical Zoom which I really liked. The only downer is that the memory card is proprietary and does not fit in my HP 7130 Memory card slots. Oh well... It's a great camera.

Sony Dsc-f717

I bought the Sony DSC-F717 about 2 months ago, for $620. Brand new.
It's a good camera, easy to use, great for quick snap shots, or if you want to take the time to set up a shot, gives you total control! It's 5 MEga Pixel, has tons of accessories as well (Lenses, Flashes, etc....)
Nice Zoom, and great optics, only gripe i have (but with any digital camera) is digital zoom is worthless!

I also do a lot of wide format printing (Epson Stylus 9600pro Ultra Chrome)
ANd I have been able to take pictures from my Sony Camera and print them at 44" wide with minimal distortion!

Of course A Canon EOS rebel would be great, especially since I have a 35MM EOS with thousands invested in lenses all compatible with the Digital Version!!

(need to make more money first!)