One of the things I'm not really fond of is shopping. I like to go to the mall occasionally & look around, but unless I know what I'm there to get, I don't like to buy things. I'm just such a spendthrift & want to know that I'm getting a good deal for my money. I can be very cheap & penny-pinching (especially when it comes to spending money on me) so making a big purchase is a long, drawn-out process for me. It drives Yoshi crazy, since Yosh is the dictionary-example for "instant-gratification-driven-impulsive-buyer™".
I've been moaning and groaning about wanting a digital camera for some time now & have finally decided that I need to just decide on one and buy it.
What's important to me:
1) My budget is $400. I figure I can get a good digital camera that can replace my regular snapshot camera for this price.
2) Value. I don't necessarily mean cheap. I want to know that for the $$$ I'm spending I'm getting a good deal.
3) Small and durable. I want one that I can carry with me everyday & one that's not so fragile that it will break should I drop it (you know what I'm like when it comes to spilling).
As far as other features (megapixels, batteries, memory card, etc.), I will likely put them into a giant grid and compare them side-by-side, because I'm a geek like that.
So I'm looking for recommendations & I'll share with you the ones I'm looking at right now. Comments/suggestions/testimonials welcomed. THANKS!
1) Minolta DiMAGE F100
2) Olympus Camedia D-40 Zoom
3) Canon PowerShot S400
Pentax is the bomb...
I use the Pentax Optio 330 (the 330 RS is about $325. The new Optio S ($399 at camera world) is so small it fits in an Altoids box.
Also don't forget to save some $$ for a bigger memory card for any of these bad-boys...
Posted by: marc at July 26, 2003 03:49 PMI have an S200 but I'm going to get an S230 or an S400 soon. I say get the Canon if you're into the point and shoot type of thing...instant pictures. Canons are great cameras.
Posted by: coley at July 26, 2003 04:09 PMyou are a very smart consumer!
Posted by: Paul at July 26, 2003 06:31 PMI'll have to ask my parents what kind of camera they have. From what I've seen I like it a lot, and I KNOW that it's not more than 250$ right now. I think they got an extra memory card for it, however, and that would obviously add to the price...
If I can remember I'll look up info about it when I get back.
Posted by: MikeonVacation at July 26, 2003 08:53 PMI don't know about any of those cameras as I'm still using my old Kodak DC3400 (which takes wonderful pix but is a little on the bulky side) I do have a memory card suggestion tho. The card mine came with held 36 pix on the second to highest resolution setting. Good for regular everyday type stuff. But we wanted more before our trip to Disneyworld last Xmas. So hunny bought some huge 256k card which lets me take about 1200 pix. I found this scary during my trip to have 700+ pix on one card. If something happened I'd have lost everything. I'd suggest 2 or 3 smaller size cards rather than one big huge one. That's just my opinion.
Posted by: RaeVynn at July 26, 2003 11:20 PMHeya Joz, I have the Canon S200 and love it. It's a great point and shoot digital that fits in your pocket. It takes great shots (check out my gallery, almost everything in there is from it) I would go for the S400 in a heartbeat after using this one.
I actually almost bought a Olympus 540 when I was shopping, but the price differece, size, and bang for the buck I went for the Canon. The Olympus seemed to be geared more towards the pro shooter rather than the avid user.
Posted by: Kevin at July 26, 2003 11:30 PMCanon A70.
Posted by: boots at July 27, 2003 03:03 AMI got my digitial free from my credit card company. It's a canon A60. I thought, 2 pixels, bah, it probably sucks. Actually the resolution is great, it does video, it stores tons of pictures (with the $40 128mb card I bought), and it takes great pictures. The moral of the story is, don't feel compelled to spend $900 or anything if you're not doing pro photos or whatever.
Oh, and get a camera from a camera company, like a Canon or a Nikon, not a Sony or whatever. The lenses are always better and the exposures are consistently better.
Posted by: sean at July 27, 2003 08:56 AMGo with an olympus - I got one for a S. Africa trip and it was (and still is) fantastic. But spend a bit extra and get the C720 or something similar.
I'll help you shop for the best price - you know I never pay full price ; )
Posted by: sharky the kid at July 28, 2003 11:17 AM
Well, let's see...I *have* a Powershot S110, and I bought both my parents and my sister and her husband Olympus C-700s. Here's what I think:
The Olympus' allow much tighter control over the pictures you take. You can set shutter speed, aperature, film speed, etc. The downside is that it runs on AA batteries, and uses a not very standard xD memory module.
The Canon, on the other hand, is by far the smallest camera I've ever used. It takes *decent* pictures, but if you want to do something even slightly outside of "point and shoot" you're going to curse a lot. It uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and compact flash cards for memory.
I've never used a Minolta.
My advice is this: if you're into photography at all, get the Olympus. If you want a good point and shoot/don't need to think about anything camera (that's small), get the Canon.
(The megapixel difference isn't that big. The Olympus will take a 2048x1536 picture, while the Canon will only take a 1600x1200 picture.)
Posted by: phil at July 26, 2003 01:48 PM