Digital Camera?

[jimmiej]

I'm looking to buy a digital camera before our June trip to the World. I have no experience with these types of cameras. Can anyone give me some ideas of what to look for? Can I get a decent one for $300? I don't need anything fancy.

 

[mudd]

We are also looking into buying a digital camera. We have borrowed one from a friend the past year. His has 1.3 meg pixel with digital zoom. What we have figured out so far is that we will be looking for something with at least 2.0 mega pixel (the more pixels the better resolution if printing and enlarging) digital zoom is a zoom that happens internally and not one that you will see through the view finder. optical zoom you will see just like a regular camera. So we will be looking for both zooms. If you use the LCD display all the time you will use battery life quickly. We have always used the regular view finder just like a regular camera and on occasions preview the pictures with with the LCD display deleting the ones we don't like. Since we have a notebook computer amount of memory has not been a large issue, we would download and review all pictures when we got back to the room. The large the memory space the more and/or better quality pictures you'll be able to get. We will be looking at 64MB of memory. Don't remember the number of pictures per memory ratio. Right now we are looking at a Sony P50 camera 2.1 MegaPixel, 2x optical zoom, 3X digital zoom (possibility of 6X zoom total). the camera runs about $298, a 64 MB memory stick $50 and a starter kit (contains camera case, rechargable battery and recharger) $100. Sony's site also says they will be coming out with a P51 which will include rechargeable battery in Apr. Waiting to see what the P51 will be exactly. If anyone has the P50 would appreciate any commets.

 

[Babblin'Boo]

You know, ubid.com often has refurbished and new cameras for good prices. Take time to research before your pay, however, or you could end up bidding as much as for a new camera.

Often places like Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, even Wal-Mart run good sales on brand new cams. Search their websites for more info. When it comes to memory cards, you do not even need to buy a lot of them for your trip (their prices are outrageous) or even bring along a laptop to download images and empty your card. Just look into buying a digital wallet, for under $200. Minds at Work and iOmega make them. The biggest advantage is that a digital wallet runs on rechargeable batteries, it is portable, lightweight and small and you can download the images from your memory card virtually anywhere, as long as the digital wallet is powered up. Then when you come home you transfer everything into your HD. It even stores music files and other materials. It is such a convenient little gadget that the memory card that often comes with your camera should do just fine because you can keep emptying it as needed.

Normally, the smallest units cost about $275 and store like 2,500 digital pictures in a 3 Gb HD. That's a lot of vacation picture storage for the money considering you do not need extra memory cards or a laptop! But you could get them from private distributors selling them on ebay for under $180.00

 

[emmalgin]

Try Ubid. I just bought a Kodak 2.1 mega pixels that used to retail for $600 US. I paid $209....
A little bulky, but easy to use and very sturdy.

There are some good bargains there.

 

[rponseti]

Just wanted to put my two cents in. I have a FUJI 1400 and I love it. It has gotten great reviews. It's a 1.3mp with a 3x optical zoom. The digital zoom means nothing. You can do a digital zoom with software. The optical zoom is the one that matters. FUJI has a new camera out - the FUJI 2800. It has a 2.1mp's and a 6x optical zoom! It's about $350. That will be my next camera. I need more zoom! Here are some sites for reviews:

www.imaging-resource.com
www.pcphotoreview.com
www.stevesdigicams.com

Email with any questions! rponseti@yahoo.com

Richie

 

[Humpbacks1962]

I agree with Ubid, but make sure you aren't paying for a brand new camera! Some people get caught up in the bidding frenzy because they start so cheap and end up paying virtually for a brand new item, instead of a refurbished system! Sometimes they have band new ones too.

And I'll swear by those digital wallets. I have one myself, bought it in ebay and I think the smallers HDs now are over 4 Gb. Still, that's a lot of storage for your moolah! And don't forget the convenience of not dragging a laptop with you and emptying your memory cards virtually anywhere...

Wanda

 

[cboudre1]

I have a Sony Cyber-shot 2.1 that is great. A year ago it was in the 300 range, on sale. It uses a memory stick. They sell a adapter that allows you to put the memory stick in your floppy disc drive. It has a 3X optical zoom. 6 X Digital zoom. It also takes video clips. It is a very nice camera. I just looked on the bottom and saw that it is the P50.

 

[Kaa]

I have a Fuji FinePix 2300, which is a 2.1 mega pixel camera. We purchased it last year for $250 on sale at Target. It is a great entry-level digital.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

My wife gave me a FujiFilm FinePix 2600 for Christmas. It has a 3x optical zoom. She paid $299.00 at Wolf/Ritz Camera. Same price at Target. I took my 35mm and took 8 rolls of 24 exposures and used the digital for 163 pictures on our Christmas trip '01.

I am so impressed with the prints that were made at Wolf/Ritz that I have decided to only take the digital on our trip next month. That way I won't pay for film and pay only for the pictures that I want to put in the album. I'll probably come out about the same price wise, maybe even more, but I will save the time of scanning any that I want to e-mail and I will be able to edit the pictures to get rid of red eye and to adjust color, contrast, etc. with Adobe Photo Shop before I have the prints made.

BTW, I bought a 128 meg smart media card last week at Sam's for $28.98. The price for the 64 meg cards at Best Buy is $49.99. I saved nearly half and got twice the memory. With the two 64's I bought at Christmas and the 16 meg card that came with the camera, I now have 272 megs of memory...I don't think even I will fill it up on a trip to WDW! LOL

 

[rponseti]

Minnie's Mate, how did you get a 128meg card from sams for $29.98? Were they on clearance or something? The website has them for $54.84. That's a steal! Wish my sams had them for that price! Please let me know how you did it.

Richie

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I have a Nikon Cool Pic that is just wonderful. I also purchased 2 128 mb. compact flashes for it, a zoom lens and a wide angle/macro lens.
I gave my kids (all 3 of them) a Fuji Fine Pic for Christmas ( 150.00 each) with an additional smart card, recharger and rechargable batteries. The pictures are really nice and they love the camera. They are a great start for digital cameras.
I have little or no use for anything Kodak. I receive at 3 a week that have gone "south".
They are cheaply made and die fast.
HPs are too large and also have the knack of dying.
Cannon makes a few really nice ones, Nikon is, IMHO, the best and Fuji is right behind them for dependability and affordability.
I like the Sam's price on memory, I think I will check that out. We bring the laptop with us, but, they way I snap photos, you can never have enough memory.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

I don't know if the memory cards I bought were on clearance. I just happened to have just been to Best Buy and had priced their cards. I had bought two 64 meg cards at Best Buy at a one day sale the day after Thanksgiving and paid $29.99 each (I was very hopefull about what I was getting for Christmas, lol). I thought the cards might have come down again since Christmas, but they were $49.99 ea. so I didn't buy any at Best Buy.

Sam's is near our nearest Best Buy, so I stopped in for some other items on my way home. You know how that can be...5 items and its $200.00!. Sam's has several different ink cartriges for printers at about half the retail price, so I wondered if they had the memory cards. It took a couple of minutes to find them, but they were marked $28.98. I felt I only needed one of the 128 meg cards, so I got the "empty" placard and when I checked out, it rang up at $59.99. I told the cashier they were marked $28.98 on the rack and she sent someone to check it out with the placard in hand. When he returned, he confirmed the price of $28.98, so she voided the original price and re-rang it at the posted price.

I then had to take the receipt and the placard to the pick-up and return counter to get the actual memory card. Eventhough it is probably a generic card, it is identical in every detail to the brand name I bought at Best Buy in December.

Whether this was a one time price, as is often the case at Sam's...here today, gone tomorrow, or a clearance item, I don't know. I believe Sam's had the same capacity flash cards for the same price. It would be worth the time to look the next time you are in Sam's.

 

[rponseti]

Thanks for the info. I may stop on my way home today. Were they located near the cameras? I've seen them before, but the price didn't jump out at me. You should have bought more at that price! If they are $29 when I go, I'll probably buy more than one!
Thanks,
Richie

 

[Minnie's Mate]

They were on the same aisle as the printer cartridges and USB cables. They were near the end of the aisle near the film center. I had to ask and the lady behing the counter pointed to them for me.

Good luck. I'll check to see if they are still at that price the next time I'm in there. It will be a couple of weeks probably before I return, though.

 

[lovhusband]

I recently purchased a HP 315 2.1 mp 2.5 digital zoom and we love it. i wish it had optical zoom but have made do without it. I printed some pictures with 2 days ago and they look like i had them professionally developed. I recommend it.

 

[rponseti]

I checked my local sam's and the 128mb cards are $54. It was worth a try. Thanks for the info anyway. Looks the internet has the best price for me!

Richie

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Sorry, I guess the posted price was either an error, clearance or limited time price.