06 Slvr Bullitt

I've come to the realization tonight that my digital camera absolutely sucks. I've been in denial about it for sometime now but after taking some fantastic shots late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and getting back to the PC to upload them only to find them either too dark, too grainy, or just downright poor after being auto enhanced...I realized something has to change. Here's some information about my current digital camera...

It's an HP PhotoSmart 120 1Mega Pixel camera. It was a replacement camera from an ex-friend of mine when she broke the original I had. I've had it for a few years now. Taking shots with it in the day time is o.k. but at night is a different story. Even when I take pictures are night under a good lighting source (such as a street lamp) the pictures turn out really poor. I would upload an example of what I'm referring to but I'm just too lazy at the moment to upload pics.

So what I want is TMS's advice on choosing my next digital camera. Here's what I'm for in my next digital camera:

** The ability to take good to great shots at night with any kind of light source.
** The ability to take great shots during the day.
** A camera with a lot of memory (or the ability for the memory to be updated) so that more than 10 - 12 pictures can be taken at once.
** A camera that possesses a pretty strong flash for dark/night shots with little to no lighting.

This is all I can think of off the top of my head. Seeing how it's been a few years since I've been in the market for one, I'm not sure what's best for me. All I know is that I'm looking for something better than I have now and something that perhaps will let me shoot those "magazine" quality photos that I've seen some of you guys post on here. As far as price, I'm willing to go up to $250 on the price.

So give me some advice and let me know what digital camera you think is best for me.

JedCranium

Try looking at the Point & Shoots from Canon and Sony. It looks like you want creative control so look for some manual features not just fully automatic. If your going to shoot at night get a tripod. Go to Cnet.com and do a camera search in your price range. Also check out Crutchfields online. Don't buy it until you try it! Big lcd screen is good and zoom lens is a must. Don't worry about a mini/compact size camera, they are more expensive than their big brother counterparts for the same features.

Good Luck!

Bill

Treadhead

I think just about anything is going to be better than your old one. My cellphone is 1.3 mega pixels. Kodak makes some decent ones for cheap. Just get on a site that sells cameras and check some out or head down to the camera shop.

Glenn

I say stay away from fuji.
http://cameras.pricegrabber.com/digi...5.000/x=61/y=9
my suggestion would be the first one on the list. Also I like canon's to start with. I don't like some of the soft ware that comes with the kodak's
Memory cards are pretty cheap on fleebay for it. I picked up my battey charger and batteries from ebay as well as a filter.

www.pricegrabber.com is always my go to when I want to compare prices.

karman

My Fuji S700 works great, is easy to use and does everything I want.
I've never even tried the software it came with.
10x optical zoom 7.1mp and under $250.
Maybe the older ones weren't as good.
+1 on pricegrabber though

mobster

Canon makes some great cameras in that price range, as do a lot of other company's.

Here is a great site to review cameras http://www.dpreview.com/
I'd also suggest that you go somewhere that sells cameras and try out some different models... that's the best way to find out what you like/dislike about the various cameras.

As far as memory goes you can get a 2G card for about $20-$30, depending on the camera resolution you should be able to take 400-600 pictures.

Of course, no matter what camera you go with it should be light years ahead of the one you have now

Glenn

fuji in low light = not as good as others

pville piper

I have a Samsung S730. It's 7.2 megapixals and take very nice pictures. It also shoots pretty quick. My old digital camera had a long lag when you pressed the shutter release. This one accepts a 2 or a 4 gig memory card and holds about 125 pictures with a 512 meg card. It will shoot video and give at 640x480. The only downside is that there is no provision for an external mike and the internal mike is okay. The nice part is it is only around $120 for the camera.

karman

I guess it all depends on what you want and your experiences.
I don't take a lot of pics in low light, but the ones I have are okay.
I have a Canon dv video camera which only works when it wants to.
I can't recommend Canon as reliable.

Cavero

I looked into this in GREAT detail about a year ago when I wanted to replace my Kodak CX7530, and I'm still looking into it, though not as much, and for different reasons. Here's what I've learned:

-Kodak sucks. Yes, that's right. They do. My CX7530 has very poor exposure control, very slow shutter speeds (pictures very prone to camera shake), horrendus boot up time, terrible reaction time, and eats through batteries like a pit bull in front of a t-bone. My brother has a different kodak model with the same results. My father also has a Fuji he got for work and he absolutely hates it. Focus is terrible and so is low light.
-Cannon and Nikon are generally accepted as the two best companies to buy from. Most if not all of their entries are solid. One of my friends has a Cannon point-and-shoot (a little high-end at $300 or so) that is phenominal and can actually compete with my Nikon SLR in every day situations.
-Get a tripod for low light if you can. It's inconvenient but you can keep you ISO speed lower (equivalent to using a slower exposing film which greatly reduces/eliminates graininess) and also do some really cool long exposure shots.
-Most new digital cameras have plenty of controls over their settings, especially the higher-end models. If you're looking for something you can be more creative with or just have more control over, a higher end ($250-350) point-and-shoot would be the best bet. Or if you want insane amounts of control, you could go with an SLR. SLR cameras are quite expensive (entry level ones go for $600 in a basic kit with a good lens) and lenses are even more so. But the level of control is unparalleled. They're fast (autofocus, shutter speeds, boot up times, you name it), have amazing photo quality, rediculous battery life, etc. But they're also heavy. It all depends on what you need a new camera for.
-check out this website: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm
he's a self-proclaimed amateur photographer (but his shots are pretty **** professional if you ask me) who not only writes about how to get good photos, but also reviews camera gear from a technical and photographer's standpoints. he knows what he's talking about. The problem is it's HEAVILY geared towards SLR cameras, but you can find some good info on point-and-shoots in there, mostly on Canons.
-Consumer Reports recommends the Canon A630 or the A710IS for typical users. The Canon PowerShot G7 is recommened for more advanced uses. The SD800 is recommened for pocket sized cameras. If you want better zoom, then go with the PowerShot S3 IS (this is the one my friend has that I mentioned above) or the Olympus Stylus SP-510. They also say "Models with the best combination of short shutter lag and next-shot delay: All the Sonys plus the Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart R927."
This is all what Consumer Reports says. I don't have any experience with any of those camera models except for the S3 IS.

Good luck with the search

Treadhead

I wouldn't exactly say Kodak sucks. Mine (DX7630) has worked great for me for about 3-4 years now. I messed up this first pic not the camera.




Are there better cameras? Yes but, in my experience they don't suck either. Especially for a point and shoot.

06 Slvr Bullitt

Wow, those pics are way better than anything my current camera can put out. The colors are solid, crisp and the pictures is just great. That's the kind of shots I want to take. I have a camera in mind that I'd like to buy but I need to get to the local electronics outlet to try it out first.

Knight

wow you sure were due for a new camera...1 megapixel. Like others said cell phones are higher. mine is a 2mp.

You can buy some great ones for little money...heck i saw a 7mp sony for less then $300. sonys have carl zeiss lens...so they are pretty sharp.

Glenn

agreed on the sony good camera's. Do all of the sony's have a self contained charging system? Meaning you can charge the battery by pluging a cord into the camera.

GhostTX

http://www.dcresource.com/

Great research site. This guy is a great reviewer.

Stang281

I would go with a Sony Cybershot, preferably a DSC-W90.

But a DSC-W55 would be good too.

Great cameras, fast picture-taking, good flash, great quality pictures (in-focus).

Also, whenever you want to find the cheapest prices for electronics, do a search on pricegrabber.com. I love that web site.

97svtgoin05gt

I just bought a new Canon Powershot S5 IS and it's awesome. Just watch the pricing. It took me a while but I scored this camera for $380 which is pretty good considering what they go for generally. I did it on ebay and while it did take some time, the price paid off.

Strickland

I've got the S2 a few years back and love that camera. I'm sure the S5 is even better