Technology Digital Cameras's

[abraxas]

I have decided to buy a digital camera and although I do know a good amount about technology in general when its comes to digital camera's I know next to nothing, besides the fact that I should try and get as many megapixels as I can. Here are some of the questions I have...

How big do I want my digital screen to be 3" or 2" or something else?

How many pixels is enough pixels?

Size? How big is too big to carry around all the time, and how small is so small that I will lose it constantly (remember now I am a big guy to button size is also a factor here)?

How much zoom do I want?

Are there any add-ons, or other stuff I should look for (ie auto-image stablizing)?


Thanks for any help...

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[Zazoo]

randomly found this in the ophthalmology forum, might be helpful.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=111256

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

Hi,

If you Google for "digital camera", you should find a number of good websites to help you narrow things down. I guess the first thing you should do is ask yourself what kind of budget you have and what you want to do with the camera.

Some tips and suggestions:

1) As suggested on many camera websites, if you don't know what you want, but just want to take good pictures for a reasonable amount of money, get a Canon Powershot A95 and call it a day.

2) Don't fall into the megapixel trap. More megapixels != Better picture. The only advantage of having more megapixels is having bigger pictures, making it easier to make bigger prints (or cropping). Doesn't help most people.

3 MP will give you a good 4"x6" print.
4 MP -> 5"x7"
5 MP -> 8"x10"

3) Regarding zoom: Digital zoom is worthless. Optical zoom is where it's at. I hesitate to say whether more is better, but usually, it is. Go for 3x or more.

4) Size: Really small cameras are hard to handle for me. It's like taking a picture with an iPod mini. So my rule of thumb is that it should be about iPod-sized, or slightly larger.

5) Image stabilization is awesome, if you can get it. Unfortunately, it only comes on higher-end cameras.

All said, I wanted a smallish, cheap camera that could take reasonably good pictures. I spent $150 on a Canon Powershot A510 and am pretty happy.

 

[sunny123]

The actual LCD screen on the back of the camera is only useful for zooming in and seeing whether or not pics have come out blurry or not. Check out the Sony DSC-W5/7, as their LCD screens are 2.5" large.

 

[KRiv]

Heres a good deal on one

http://www.slickdeals.net/#p6367

 

[fielight]

some prefer larger lcd's because it's easier to see... it's really personal preference. 2" is pretty much standard.

absolute minimum resolution i would say 2mp for 4x6 prints (though i have a Nokia 3230 smartphone that takes 1.3mp pictures, and it actually prints pretty respectable 4x6 photos too... but i wouldn't suggest something like that as a primary camera obviously.) larger is better, usually (but depends on the printout sizes you'll make). 4-5mp would be something that will keep you "current" for the next year or 2.

i think a digital camera should be compact enough that you can carry on you or in a backpack without noticing it's there. otherwise, you won't use it and will only take it out on special occasions (rendering it useless, basically). as an example, i have a panasonic d snap that's the size of a credit card, 1cm thick, but still takes 2mp photos... even though it doesn't have the highest resolution, it's incredibly useful, because i always have it on me. the canon elph series (3, 4, 5mp) would be a good compromise between size vs resolution.

3x optical is standard. unless you're considering SLRs for professional quality stuff, i don't think you'll need more (if you're a point-and-shoot type, the 3x should be enough).

one option you might consider is the new Panasonic Lumix line. these have 5+mp resolutions, with image stabilizer, 6x optical zoom (?), etc at very affordable prices (i've seen sub $300 online).

 

[SkylineMD]

Zoom to me is a big deal since I had tried to use it once to take some shots of my cousin from far away and the zoom was SOOO bad I could barely see him. My next camera is either going to have 10x zoom or be an SLR (more likely the latter).

 

[SkylineMD]

Also, if you want to compare cameras and read reviews, www.dpreview.com is a great site along with www.steves-digicams.com