Need advice--digi cam or scanner??

[Lorraine]

I was wondering how most of you post you pictures here at PT.
I was considering getting an all in one printer, copier, scanner,
but is the quality of pictures decent when you scan them?
Or are the digi cams better? Hmm.. what do you suggest? Thanks in advance!

[binka_nugget]

I have a scanner, webcam and digital camera. Scanned images can look great if you get a decent scanner and have a decent cam to take the pics. I hate the hassle though. If you're willing to pay a little more, you can get an awesome digital camera that will also look great on prints. I recently purchased the Canon A60. I got some pics developed last week and they look AWESOME! They look alot nicer than my mom's *really expensive* camera. I'm all for digitals...just make sure you get a good model

[Lorraine]

Thanks for the advice! So You need both a digi cam and a scanner then. I couldn't just take pictures with a regular camera, then scan them on the scanner?

[binka_nugget]

Lol oh no, I meant that you can have perfectly good images with a scanner and normal film camera. I just hate the hassle of having to take all 24 pics before developing it and then scanning all of them.

[Lorraine]

Good to know! I really need the scanner printer, because the printer I have now is broken, so I was hoping I could get that, and still scan my pictures. But then I thought, I would need a digi cam for decent pictures,in order to post them!
It is a hassel to have to go through a whole roll of film first, but it would be much more inexpensive them having to buy a camera too I suppose. Eventually, I would like to get a nice digi cam too. THANK YOU sooo much for your help!!

[Kfamr]

I have two digital cameras, a scanner, and a webcamera.

I'd say go for the Canon a60 digital Camera. It's much easier instead of having to scan every little picture.

[4 Dog Mother]

I have a scanner and a digital camera too. We bought the scanner/copier/printer (all in one) because both my husband and I needed to apply for jobs and having a copier at home was a must. I am glad we did and we found a good deal at Staples. It takes longer to take pictures, have them developed and then scanned. But if you need a printer and have a good camera the scanner/printer/copier may be the cheapest way to go right now.

The nice thing about a digital camera is that you have your pictures instantly and you can delete ones that didn't come out so well. I have found in taking pictures of dogs and kids that sometimes they turn their heads at the last moment or move and you don't have to waste "film" retaking the same picture to get the face shot or smile or trick or whatever. And you can print only the ones you really want and leave the others on your hard drive or disc or CD.

With a digital camera, there are lots of inexpensive ones out there but you won't get the best quality with those. It depends on what your primary use will be for. If you primarily want just to use pictures on your computer or print out smaller copies (less 8x10) than you can get away with a 2.0 megapixel. If you plan on making lots of larger copies, the higher megapixel you go the better (from my understanding anyway). You would also want to make sure that you can add a higher memory card if you plan on taking lots of pictures. That's it for a mini lesson on digitals. I am sure there are many other people here who can tell you more than that.

Either way you go you will enjoy posting your pictures on pet talk and we will enjoy seeing them!!!

[Cookiebaker]

If you are only looking into getting one of the two, I would definitely go with the camera:

1. You can always print out/or have printed (at Walmart for example) pictures that you want a hard copy of.

2. You can take UNLIMITED amount of photos. If it doesn't turn out, you just delete it.

3. Because you are only printing the ones that you really want (not the blurred or funny faced ones) you are actually saving on developing

4. Then at some point in the future, you may want to get a scanner to be able archive old picutres.

This is just my .02 cents.Either way you go, though, looking forward to seeing more pictures!!

[dukedogsmom]

Now that I have my digital camera, I would never do the scanner thing again! The only reason I use my scanner now is to scan old pics that I've located.

[Kfamr]

The only reason we have a scanner is because my dad needed to make copies of his medical bills and so on.

[Lorraine]

Thank you all very much for your great advice!!