Cameras

Ok I want to get a camera preferably digital and I've seen so many good photographers on PT so I'm hoping someone will help me out?

Im a loss cause because I dont have a clue about cameras and I know if I go into a shop and ask about them I still wont have a clue so can anyone break it down for me?!

Also can anyone recommend a nice easy to use one? I would be an easy target at wiping photos everytime I turn it on which is why I decided to ditch my old one years ago :o

The price range doesn't matter too much as I dont think it will be an impulse buy It will probably be a few months til I get looking in shops anyway I want to hopefully get to know more about them so I dont get conned into buying something I dont want in the shops and it gives me more time to save up! :p

Everyone is going to recommend a Canon Powershot. You can't go wrong with a Canon. They have models that are easy to use - I have the A510, which does WAY more than I ever wanted to know about photography. I'm really enjoying learning how to do this stuff and the help here on PT makes it even easier.

I will copy and paste what I said in another thread.. hehe

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Canon, Canon, Canon. I won't go into a speil on this like I normally do, there have been lots of threads here made on this same topic, maybe look for them and there are already LOTS of opinions on what's good and what's bad.

Here are a few, hopefully they will help!

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=102084
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=99666

And I will copy and paste what I said in the last thread, because it still holds true:

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Originally Posted by Jessika

Canon PowerShot

Its really the only camera worth your money for the price range and quality you get out of the camera.Not only that, but they are DURABLE. My A300 I've had for three years now. Its been dropped, banged, kicked, you name it and it still works perfect! A bit slow compared to newer cameras of course, but still good considering its age!

I DO NOT recommend Kodaks or HP cameras. They may be cheap, sure, but the quality and features lack.

Another thing I might add is that don't assume more MP means better quality pictures. All it REALLY means is... bigger prints!! Unless you're a professional, or unless you will be making poster sized prints, you really need nothing over a 3 or 4MP camera. 5, tops. So that way you can go for a "lower-end" camera and not end up wasting money on higher MPs that you will never use.

Another thing -- lets say you have a 4MP camera. The ONLY way to get a true 4MP picture from your camera is to have the quality settings ALL the way up and the resolution the highest it will go. Otherwise, you are not taking true 4MP pictures with the camera.

I hope all that makes sense!

EDIT: and with any camera that does not have internal memory OR uses memory cards, you have hte option to hook the camera to your computer BUT you can just skip all that and use a card reader instead That way you also don't even have to isntall any additional software!

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I'm going to say Canon as that's what I have now. I actually have two of them, one for my purse and another with a big (10x) zoom and can take up to an hour of video.

These are the two I have and I really like them both:) Good luck on your buy!
Canon PowerShot SD 110 Digital Elph
and
Canon PowerShot S1IS

Yep, a majority of us will say Canons!


The Canon PowerShot A-series is incredibly user-friendly and high quality.

I'll add another vote for a canon, I have a canon powershot A80 and I love it. I just bought a canon powershot SD450, I haven't tried it yet because it hasn't come in yet but I'm sure I'll love it.

Thanks everyone, I was looking at Kodaks to be honest but I'm really being swayed towards a Canon especially as most of you replying post GORGEOUS photos of your pets!

OK.. I know I'm probably sounding really silly now but MPs? now many do I need to be looking at?

I dont own a printer but on the rare occasion I would like to print out photos but it would nessasarly be a top quality need just something that would look nice in an album, I think I was being a bit harsh on myself when I posted before I think if i sat down and studied the user guide I would be able to pick it up quite quickly.

I'm not really too bothered about movie quality because I cant see me using that as much as taking stills but I would like something that will look good with a decent close up and distance shot

so after that does anyone suggest a model to look into? Im looking on the canon site and it seriously does confuse me still :o Sorry to be a pain I feel less embarassed asking here than in a shop

I'll be the dissenting vote! I use Olympus cameras. I have three Olympus digitals--a C-50, a C-5060 and a Stylus 800. The Stylus is unbelievably easy to use. The C-5060 has a nice auto mode, but it also has tons of settings and can be fully manual. It is a larger camera and hard to carry everywhere. I carry the Stylus with me all the time. It's weatherproof, pocket sized and takes good action shots of the dogs. I pretty much wore the C-50 out. It still works and still take a fine picture, but there's a trick to getting to turn on now. My hubby carries it with him as he doesn't take very many pictures. I figure in the three years I used it, I probably took well over 300, 000 pictures with it. It doesn't owe me a thing.

My next camera, if I can stop giving all my money to the vet, will be an Olympus Evolt 500 digital SLR.

To print a good photo you need 3.2 megapixels. You'll be hard pressed to find a camera with less that anyway. My Stylus is 8mp and the C-5060 is 5.1.

Check out www.dpreview.com for lots of good, easy to read reviews on all kinds of digital cameras.

IMO, for someone who only prints on occasion, I would suggest a 2-3 MP camera.
If you could find a PowerShot A75 or PowerShot A80 it would be perfect.

For me, I print all the time and use my PowerShot S2 IS most often. It is a 5 MP and prints some of the nicest photos.


I've used everything from Sony, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, Canon, and Fuji.

Canons are #1, Olympus & Nikon score for second.


The cameras I own/ed

FujiFilm FinePix 1300
Canon PowerShot A60
Canon PowerShot A80
Canon PowerShot S2 IS

I only have the second two at the moment.

I have used Nikons and really like them. Right now they have Nikon Cool pixes in 3.2 mp, 4mp, 5 mp and sometimes even 6 mp for $200 or less at WalMart, Circuit City, Target and Best Buy (watch for sales although sometimes you don't even need that). They are nice small cameras and I have had no problem with them at all. For 4 x 6 pictures 3.2 mp is all you need. Most cameras in the lesser price ranges have a 3X optical zoom. The one many on this site are now using, the Canon IS 2S has a 12x optical zoom. Which means you can be quite away aways and get a good closer picture. That is my dilemma right now, my Nikon Coolpix 3200 takes great pictures but I would really like that zoom. But then you have a larger camera and I like small pocket size cameras. And to be honest I don't need to spend the money it would cost to get the higher zoom. Which does not mean I won't give in to my impulse though. Hope this helps.

Thanks Kfamr, Your helping me alot! :)

**edit**
Ive just looked on another review site for the A80 and the only disadvantages I'm seeing is that its meant to be heavy and eats up batterys but that kind of thing wouldnt bother me as long as it took rechargeables! **

Which one is newer out of the A80 & the A60? I mean am I better off with the newer one? Im defiantly looking into these two they look quite promising!

Thanks Glacier, I will look up the best Powershot one that will suit me then I'm going to look at Olympus and choose between the 2, I heard they are also very good and from seeing your photos that you have posted I dont think I would be dissapointed!

The A80 is newer than A60, however it may be more difficult to get the A60 as it is discontinued.

Personally, the A80 is better. The feature I really like about the new Canons is the flip out LCD screen.

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Originally Posted by Kfamr

The A80 is newer than A60, however it may be more difficult to get the A60 as it is discontinued.

Personally, the A80 is better. The feature I really like about the new Canons is the flip out LCD screen.

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Thanks Kfamr! I'm taking your advice and going to look into getting a powershot A80.

Anyway I'll stop bugging you now I'm off to bed!

Thanks again for your replies everyone!