digital cameras

[mneagle]

Can anyone give me some advice on small digital cameras?

[jon]

www.photographyreview.com

www.dpreview.com

www.cnet.com

[Thinker]

I know what you mean, they're everywhere nowadays! My advice is to take the stuff into the bathroom before you tear of the magnetic strip and stuff it in your waistband. It's still illegal to put cameras in the bathrooms.

[robertm]

I have a Sony DSC-5 and it works great. Small and light. Good pics and battery life. I did a lot of research before buying. As a side note... it took a 30 foot tumble and put a dent in the side but it still works like new.

[Off_White]

I've only had limited experience with digital cameras, but I've found they kind of suck for action photos, the delay between pushing the button and getting the picture is just too long and unpredictable.

[payaso]

I like film too much, so I find the quality of my digital shots just isn't good for landscape shots (mountain ranges, etc.) unless the light is just perfect.

[fleblebleb]

I used to have a Nikon Coolpix 950. But I took it along on one too many overnight trips and killed it - a little bit of moisture can be enough, there's at least two high voltage sources (flash, LCD panel) that can fry all the CMOS if they short. Note that anything but the most simple film camera has the same vulnerability, as long as there is a chip to do the autofocus...

 

I'll get a new digital camera eventually, one of those nice new small ones, but definitely only take it on climbing trips in an underwater case.

 

Apart from the fragility I think digital rocks. No more skyhigh processing costs. I shot thousands of images before destroying my camera and never paid a penny more than the startout price. The software crashed very occasionally, which required rebooting by opening up the battery compartment, but it never failed to get me the picture I wanted until I finally fried it - even in evil weather on the summit of Rainier.

 

The latency from click to capture is getting lower and lower too.

[slothrop]

I've got a Canon PowerShot S300 that works pretty well. It has some features to control the exposure, and has a decent optical/digital zoom for its small size (just thicker than a pack of playing cards). It's so convenient, I hardly even think about carrying it, it just goes in the bag. My only beef is with the battery -- one long day and 50 photos in cool weather and it's done for. You can turn off the LCD and not use the flash to save power, but I still wish the battery life was better.

[IMAM]

I have an Olympus D520. Small and light (6.3 oz) holds 2 AA batteries. Simple to use also. I like it, but it seems function more slowly in colder weather. ??

[freeclimb9]

1.5 oz w/out the one AAA battery, holds 100 pictures, 2x2x0.5", and costs $40 (that's about the same cost as half a dozen disposable cameras, so it pays for itself if you get 150 pictures out of it): SiPix StyleCam Blink.

www.sipixdigital.com

[Steve_A]

I have the Kodak DX3600 and am very happy with it. It's a 2.3 mega pixel camera with 2x optical zoom. I think I paid about $280 plus $70 for a 128 MB memory card. It will hold about 200 pictures at full resolution. I frequently print shots up to 8x10 and get what appears to me to be the same quality as print film. I highly recommend it.

 

Comments or things to look for:

You will need an extra memory card. The amount of memory that comes with cameras is inadequate.

 

Look for cameras with optical zoom. It will not degrade picture quality. Digital zoom will degrade. Might as well do it with software at home.

 

A nice feature is a lens cap that automatically opens/closes when the camera is powered up/down.

 

Another good web site is:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

[gapertimmy]

be sure not to buy a camera with too much shit on it. go into the process knowing what you want, and don't be lured by the latest and greatest bells n whistles.

 

besides, when that one company finished developing the pixel that measures RGB in each single pixel, that will be the next BIG thing with digital cameras, until then, you should be more than fine with a 2.0-3.0 megapixel

[freeclimb9]

quote:

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Originally posted by gapertimmy:

be sure not to buy a camera with too much shit on it

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SiPix StyleCam Blink for $40. Think of it as a "starter" digital camera. It's $40, which I suspect that you could easily spend at the Pub in one sitting.