Hellfire010 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I've been thinking of buying a digital camera for many purposes, one being Paint.NET, similarly to some of Rick's works (such as his sig). But... I have no idea where to look, or what to look for. So, I just want to know if anyone has any suggestions on a good quality digital camera, but within a reasonable budget range. Just hoping for some suggestions, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinSoldier Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 How much are you willing to spend? For less than $300US, I bought a Fujifilm Finepix S5200. It is mostly automatic but it has a lot of manual settings that I can mess with as well. I bought it because of good reviews and a great feature set for a camera in this price range. From Amazon I got the camera and a tripod with shipping for about $280US. I had to buy a new memory card separately (it only comes with a measly 16MB). After using it for a few weeks I really love it. My only problem with it is that some of the more manual settings reset to defaults when the camera is powered off. Otherwise it is by far the nicest camera I have ever owned. If anyone else knows of a quality digital camera for less than $100US, I'm listening because I want to give one as a gift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoltBait Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 TinSoldier, that's a nice looking camera. Much better than the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 I bought. My camera takes very nice pictures and I have been happy with it (that is, until I saw TinSoldier's camera). Quote Click to play: Download: BoltBait's Plugin Pack | CodeLab | and how about a Computer Dominos Game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaveN Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I prefer SLR to digital... But if I had to reccomend something, i would say go to cannon or HP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinSoldier Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I used to want an SLR but I could never afford one (not that I could really afford this digital, but whatever). It's good enough for me and it has all of the adjustments that most SLRs would have (aperture, focus, zoom, shutter speed) plus I can change the film ISO with a setting instead of finishing a roll first. If I wanted to spend more money I could buy a wide-angle lens or some filters for it. And I can preview my pictures and print only what I want. A bad habit I always have with film cameras is letting them sit forever and not taking the film down to get it developed. I'll admit for the highest quality, though, film still rules. I just never got that serious into photography. This camera will let me get my feet wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkbark00 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 no offense, but HP cameras SUCK! I would definitely go with a company that is actually advancing digital camera technology..like Canon or Nikon, maybe Fuji. Also stay away from Sony cameras in general. Their image sensors are always really bad and give u grainy pics even at a low ISO. Quote  Take responsibility for your own intelligence. -Rick Brewster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaveN Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I really want a digital SLR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Yoshi Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I have a Casio QV-R40... and it is the piece-of-crappiest camera to ever grace my presence. The thing doesn't even turn on half of the time, and it crashes if I try to do anything other than take a picture, change the zoom settings, or connect it to the computer. To top it off, it doesn't accept SD cards bigger than 16 megs, which means I can take eight pictures tops before I have to unload it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire010 Posted November 29, 2006 Author Share Posted November 29, 2006 Well thanks everyone, this'll help me decide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoltBait Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Remember the following: You want the largest lens possible. You want the largest optical zoom (10x or higher) You want USB. You want large memory. You want rechargable batteries. Quote Click to play: Download: BoltBait's Plugin Pack | CodeLab | and how about a Computer Dominos Game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Your question is to broad Hellfire010, it's like asking "what kind of car should I get?". What do you want to use the camera for? Snapshots at parties? Eagles at 100 yards? Photos of the Milky Way? Most cameras have their own strenghts, you need to pick a camera that will fit 90% of your shooting. The S5200 tinsoldier suggested is a good camera, especially for what it costs, but doesn't have any image stabilization meaning you need higher ISO and/or higher shutter speeds especially at full zoom. The Panasonic FZ30 or FZ50 has great zoom, resolution and image stabilization but sucks above ISO 100 making it a very good camera when you're in good light - like full sunight - but poor in less than optimal light. What is your budget? You said a "reasonable range", what is reasonable to you? Serious shooters often spend thousands just on lenses for their DSLR, other people are happy with a $100 point and shoot that fits in their pants pocket. You may be happy with an Olympus FE 115, they run around $150 maybe less on sale, it takes nice shots especially in good light, but after using better cameras many P&S are very frustrating - what have you used in the past? You might want to head over to http://www.dpreview.com/ and http://www.dcresource.com/ to read reviews of a wide range of cameras to see what might fit your needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westrock Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I've had a Canon S3-IS for about 3 months and I really like it. They are about $380 from Newegg. I bought a 2Gb SD card at the same time for $30 and I have since bought a lens adaptor and a polarizer lens (about $100 together) which has made the camera even better. That Fuji one did look pretty good too. I probably would still have gone with the S3 though just because has a couple "upgrades" here and there in the specs. The thing eats batteries though when I use the LCD all the time...or forget to turn it off after transferring pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinSoldier Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I plan on getting some NiMH batteries for my Fuji, but so far I've probably taken 350-400 pictures on the first set of alkaline batteries. Mix of flash/no flash and mainly using the LCD backscreen. Heh, the Canon sounds nice but I was pushing my budget as it was :wink: ! When I bought a new memory card I only got a 512MB, but that can take about 430 pictures. Not so many in RAW mode of course but I haven't tried that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire010 Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 Sorry, I wasn't specific cause I don't really know, lol My budget, I suppose, would be $400 or less (if I'm lucky), but I'm not like a professional photographer. Nevertheless, I do want the best quality camera I can afford for various scenary shots, such as mountains, forests, and other things in nature. Maybe even a city or something. The reason I asked here is because I noticed Rick's sig had a mountain in it, which I remember him stating it was from apicture he had taken, If I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Harvey Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I have a Canon PowerShot A620 which I am more than happy with Great Picture, lots of control, a really cool tilt/swivel viewfinder, and good battery life using standard rechargeable AA cells... all-in-all a pretty good package for the price. The current model (A630) is excellent as well; I just bought one for the mother-in-law... you could pick up one for < US$300 and still have enough money left over for decent-sized memory card and a case for the camera 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinSoldier Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Make sure to get a tripod. They don't cost very much (mine was like $20 but it's still pretty nice). It will help for a lot of pictures, especially zoomed or slow shutter speed or low-light or action pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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