Digital Cameras

[hectorsheroes]

Folks

Can anyone give any advice on buying a digital camera? I have seen them on offer on amazon and that and wouldn't want to be spending anymore than £100 maximum preferably anywhere between £50 - £100. What features should I be looking for etc. I have virtually no idea at all about them - I saw what lloked like a good Samsung one with 8 megapixels for about £60. Any help or recommendations greatly appreciated

[Donagh]

A lot of the features are much the same for particular price ranges now but in personal preference I always go for one with:

-- an optical viewfinder. Cameras with LCD viewfinders only are no good for action shots - they're always displaying a split second later from realtime. Also crap to see properly in strong sunlight.
-- a charger you can plug directly into the camera. Saves a fortune in batteries and handier than a docking unit for travelling.

[Bensars]

Think Fear ón Srath Bán is the man you need.  If i remember he rightly he has a little hobby whereby he uses his camera a lot

[hectorsheroes]

What does SLR and all this malarkey mean in reference to digital cameras? Also any I should avoid? As I said don't wanna pay more than £100 tops so any help greatly appreciated

[Our Nail Loney]

Thinking about getting one of these myself so i will follow this thread with interest...

Looking to spend about a hundred quid also, with a charger, not batteries, used m masa for a while, the bateries were shite!

[Treasurer]

At that price range I'd be surprised if you need to worry about what SLR means http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-lens_reflex_camera

Some cameras will advertise a large digital zoom - means feck all.  The optical zoom is what's important.  The optical zoom means you can zoom without loss of quality, but digital zoom is just like zooming in on a picture on your pc, so it's fairly meaningless really.

If you're taking quite a few pictures, the obvious advantage of the battery types are you can have a couple of sets charged.  If you buy a good set of batteries you should get good life out of them.  The batteries that came with my camera last for about 30-50 pics, depending on flash etc, but I bought a set of long lasting lithium ones (for about €15) and have taken over 1,000 pictures before needing to re-charge.

[JimStynes]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-DMCTZ5-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B0016CNOHM/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5_rsrrsi1

I bought this camera for going travelling, its got great reviews.

[stevo-08]

-- a charger you can plug directly into the camera. Saves a fortune in batteries and handier than a docking unit for travelling.

Donagh, do you mean a camera with built in battery?? Thats all fine and dandy until the battery dies, then you have to replace the camera rather than just the battery...

[J70]

Here's a little of the blurb on PCWorld.com's guide "How to buy a digital camera". There are numerous other websites with similar advice - just do a google search.


Digital Camera Shopping Tips

  Here are PC World's recommendations:

Match megapixels to your use: Most point-and-shoot cameras offer at least 5 megapixels, which is plenty for producing 11-by-14-inch prints. Cameras with more megapixels will yield even larger prints and allow you to blow up a part of an image with less likelihood that the print will be blurry. If you plan to make only 4-by-6-inch prints, you don't have to shoot at the camera's highest resolution--and as a result, you can fit more shots on your memory card.

Look for rechargeable batteries and a charger: The cost of disposable batteries adds up over the long run. Some cameras can use AA batteries of any type--disposable or rechargeable. That capability can be helpful if your rechargeable batteries run out of juice and you don't want to wait while they replenish.

Disregard digital zoom: Most cameras offer at least 3X optical zoom--and some boast an optical zoom as high as 20X. But sometimes vendors tout a high total zoom that includes digital zoom, which you should disregard: Digital zoom produces photos that are inferior to those produced with an optical zoom.

Look for a low-light focusing aid: Some cameras have auxiliary lights that help them focus in dim settings. That's important for many indoor shots.

Try the camera before you buy: Some cameras have commands and menus that are easier to use than others, a comparison you can make only with a hands-on trial. Also evaluate the lag time between when you press the shutter button and when the camera actually takes the picture. Try the zoom lens--does it operate quickly and smoothly? Find out how long you must wait between taking pictures. And try the LCD viewfinder--in the sun if possible--to determine how easy it is to read.

Give extra consideration to a camera with a good selection of software: Look for useful packages such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, Ulead PhotoImpact, and Corel Snapfire for editing images, as well as applications for organizing and sharing them.

Don't base your decision on video capability: Though any still camera's ability to take moving pictures is limited, some are getting better at it. Nevertheless, if you want to shoot video, we recommend that you invest in a camcorder dedicated to the job.

Consider investing in a memory card reader or a camera dock: A memory card reader acts like an external hard drive attached to your PC or laptop, allowing you to download pictures directly from your camera's storage media. Many newer laptops have one or more memory card slots built in, as do some inkjet printers. If you have a second memory card, you can keep shooting while the images download, rather than having to keep the camera hooked up to your PC. Alternatively, some cameras come with a dock or offer one as an option, and some of these docks offer a dedicated button for uploading all of your new photos on a memory card. A dock also charges the camera's battery.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/125645/how_to_buy_a_digital_camera.html

[Our Nail Loney]

Am looking to get a camera for myself now...

Willing to spend about £150, want justa decent one for taking standard pics, night outs, family events etc... I am not gonna be trying to get any photography prizes or anything...

I prefer Sony stuff (I have a 2gig sony memory card from my phone that I don't use anymore so could put this in my camera if I get one), one with a rechargeable battery if possible??

Anyone know of any good ones for this?

[comethekingdom]

I am on my second Canon camera. Hard to beat. Bought both in different outlets and both times the sellers were giving the Canon the nod as the best make above all others eventhough they stocked many other various brands.

[Aerlik]

I bought my first fillum SLR about 14 years ago and still swear by it for taking slides.  Then about two years ago I decided to try out a friend's wee digital Canon 470.  Brilliant.  I bought one and carry it with me in my flight bag; you never know when it can come in handy, eg. landscape shot, broken aircraft etc.  The great thing about it was that alot of the functions were identical to the film camera's and then last year I bought a Canon 450D SLR and again the settings are a step up from the wee digital camera but not so hi-tech that I can't use it.  It is sufficient for my skill level for now.  That's one way to look at it.

The down side is it eats batteries but the quality is exceptional.

[Donagh]

Donagh, do you mean a camera with built in battery?? Thats all fine and dandy until the battery dies, then you have to replace the camera rather than just the battery...

No, one which recharges the battery while it's still in the camera. The battery can be replaced when it dies completely.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

What does SLR and all this malarkey mean in reference to digital cameras? Also any I should avoid? As I said don't wanna pay more than £100 tops so any help greatly appreciated

On Bensars' special request: 

SLR stands for 'Single Lens Reflex', which basically means that the camera will snap exactly what you see through the viewfinder, i.e., through a system of mirrors and prisms you're actually viewing what you're going to capture through the lens itself, and not through a separate viewfinder that would rarely (if ever) represent what the camera will actually capture. And SLR doesn't relate specifically to digital cameras, however, you'll probably not get an SLR for under £100 or close to it.  For around £100, you'd be looking at a 'compact' camera (not SLR), and these will usually have an LCD panel that will accurately reflect what the camera will capture, just beware though, the greater the number of pixels does not necessarily equate to greater picture quality (other factors come into play).

The best bet would be to have a look around a digital camera review site like www.dpreview.com, which will have buying guides by feature, and also testimonials on most cameras.

[Shazam]

Time to bump this bad boy. Looking to get myself a digital camera, not one of those SLR ones or anything it isn't going to be used for professional photos or anything like that.

I am looking one where you charge it up, or take the battery out and put it in some sort of wee charging thing?

Apart from that I am easy, don't really care about mega pixels or anything, would spend £100 plus, what ones do you guys have?

What about this one? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Cybershot-DSC-W220-Digital-Camera/dp/B001PIJ9G2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1261739407&sr=8-1