Suggestions on Digital Camera
Hi All,
I am wondering about a digital camera in the 4-500 dollar range. I think that puts me in the 2-3 Megapixel range. However, what I am most interested in (for a number of reasons) is color fidelity and image quality, not necessarily speed/bells/whistles, etc.
I have looked at the Canon digital elph, and the nikon 885. Are there any other suggestions? Sony's seem like a pin in the neck with the memory stick situation, but I hear they have good glass (lenses) in them.
What are people's suggestions?
--Mandricard
AppleOutsider
I am wondering about a digital camera in the 4-500 dollar range. I think that puts me in the 2-3 Megapixel range. However, what I am most interested in (for a number of reasons) is color fidelity and image quality, not necessarily speed/bells/whistles, etc.
I have looked at the Canon digital elph, and the nikon 885. Are there any other suggestions? Sony's seem like a pin in the neck with the memory stick situation, but I hear they have good glass (lenses) in them.
What are people's suggestions?
--Mandricard
AppleOutsider
Comments
Check out the .PDF for it and tell us what you think about all of the features. Armed with a 1 or 2GB Microdrive you are ready to take a journey and show us all of your cool pix.
<strong>Hi All,
I am wondering about a digital camera in the 4-500 dollar range. I think that puts me in the 2-3 Megapixel range. However, what I am most interested in (for a number of reasons) is color fidelity and image quality, not necessarily speed/bells/whistles, etc.
I have looked at the Canon digital elph, and the nikon 885. Are there any other suggestions? Sony's seem like a pin in the neck with the memory stick situation, but I hear they have good glass (lenses) in them.
What are people's suggestions?
--Mandricard
AppleOutsider</strong><hr></blockquote>
[QB][/QB]<hr></blockquote>
Sorry Mandricard, I'm sort of new at this site.
From personal experience, try the Toshiba PDR-M81.
If you shop it around, you can get it for around $500 (or less) It has great specs (4.3 megapixel, 2.8 optical zoom, plenty of manual settings (if that's what you want) and it takes GREAT pictures. Uses SmartMedia memory, comes with a USB cable for downloading to Mac or PC. It's pretty idiot proof.
Chris
If you do look at the Elph, watch out for models above the S100 - they all add mpeg video and tons of other nonsense, but unless you REALLY think you'll need it, it's probably not worth the $$$. The only thing I'd pay more for is more megapixels or firewire (USB seems so slow now for this sort of thing! C'mon Apple, show us what you got!)
rr.
What should I expect (in terms of cost) for this Nikon S40? And the Toshiba? Are there any mac-connectivity problems? Are they compatible with iPhoto?
I understand the Elph series are tiny and convenient, and they do look attractive, but image quality is really what I am concerned about: color fidelity (and holding of close toal values) in the darks and lights, sharpness of course, and the ability to "bracket" images, as opposed to simply pointing and shooting.
is there a website that rates these things reliably? Most places I look rate one or two against one another, not the whole gamut of things.
Thanks for the continued help.
Mandricard
AppleOutsider
Mandricard: Good to see you testing the digital photography waters. As you may remember, I got a 2MP Canon PowerShot A20 a little less than a year ago. The image quality it produces, incl. color and sharpness, is excellent. It uses 4x AA batteries, which are much cheaper than the proprietary battery systems used by other Canon and Nikon cameras. What's even better is that Canon just announced an updated A20, the <a href="http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/a40-30/index.html"; target="_blank">Canon PowerShot A40</a> at PMA 2002.
Personally, I haven't used my film cameras (a Canon Point & Shoot and a Pentax manual SLR with a good set of prime lenses) since I got my PowerShot A20. And I'm planning on hanging on to my PowerShot A20 until I can get a Digital SLR with interchangeable lenses for less than $1000.
Escher
At this point, I don't recommend any of Nikon's consumer digital cameras because offerings from Sony, Olympus and Canon are all much, much better in image output and in build quality. Let's take the two cameras you've listed as an example...The zoom lens on the Nikon operates on plastic gears vs metal with the Canon Digital Elph. Unless having 3 megapixels vs 2 is the most important thing, i would not suggest the Nikon over the Canon. Even with that in mind, there are plenty of better cameras from other manufacturers.
I actually like Sony MemoryStick. I like it more than SmartMedia, which is what you'll be stuck with if you buy an Olympus C-Series. Bottom-line, SmartMedia is not durable, and I hate fumbling around with the cases you have to put them in to protect them. Of course, my favorite medium is CompactFlash, but they don't seem to be in my favorite consumer level digital cameras. It's a bit of a pity actually.
As for Sony's Zeiss lenses. dpreview.com has some telling close-up comparisons of the "Zeiss lens" with other lenses. They're basically the same as other lenses from other manufacturers...particularly Canon, Casio and Epson. Perhaps the glass is very slightly better..who knows...check out this page near the bottom.
<a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscs75/"; target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscs75/</a>;
Nevertheless, the S75 is a great camera.
And regarding the Canon S40...If you're going to be spending that much, I'd look at the Sony DSC-S85. The S40 is $600 at B&H and the Sony is $660. The Sony has much better optics than the Canon S-series.
As for the next immediate digital camera purchase in my household. My sister's going to college this fall. I've already steered her toward the Canon Digital Elph S330. It's small, has a 3x optical zoom, a good amount of manual control and plenty of resolution for what she'll use it for...4x6s and web.
Other than that, I know a guy who really likes his Nikon 775, which was about $300 and I've always heard good things about Canon and Olympus cameras.
i purchased sony dsc f-505v few years ago. i bought it since it had zeiss lens and it was funniest looking digital camera with extruding gigantic lens..... then i realized i hardly take it with me, because of it's size. it does take some sharp pictures though. i would suggest you purchase one that you can fit into your pocket. if lens quality is your priority concern, i read that panasonic has teamed up with leica. so that might be interesting to check out.....
I wouldn't give them any special consideration for their name alone...same with the Zeiss lenses in the Sonys, which have proven to be not all that special.
Example:
<a href="http://www.dpreview.com/news/0009/00090102leicadigilux43.asp"; target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com/news/0009/00090102leicadigilux43.asp</a>;
So, the models I am now looking at are:
The Digital Elph,
The A40
The Nikon 885
The Olympus C-3020Z
The questions that remain:
What are people's experiences with OS X and these cameras?
What about hardware/software compatibility?
Do they all take movies?
How much time is too much time between shots? (i.e. What should I expect from a camera in terms of the time it takes to process a shot and allow you to shoot the next? How much time is too much time?)
Thanks for all the help, once again.
Mandricard
AppleOutsider
I know the Olympus C-3020Z, Canon A40, and the Canon Digital Elph S330 and S200 aren't listed.
If they really don't work with iPhoto right now, you should get a flash media reader anyway...one that is iPhoto compatible.
<strong>So, the models I am now looking at are:
The Digital Elph,
The A40
The Nikon 885
The Olympus C-3020Z</strong><hr></blockquote>
Mandricard: I have no doubt that Olympus makes great digicams. But in my opinion, anything that doesn't use CompactFlash for storage is highly inconvenient. CF cards are both cheaper per MB and available in significantly higher capacities than any other flash format. It's a mistery why the industry (including PDAs) hasn't standardized on CF yet. I guess everybody is hoping to create their own turf.
[quote]<strong>What are people's experiences with OS X and these cameras?
What about hardware/software compatibility?
</strong><hr></blockquote>
OS X is really a non-issue. You will realize soon after getting your camera that using third party software (such as GraphicConverter and iPhoto) is much better than anything that comes with the cameras. And as Eugene pointed out, you're better off with a $20 CF card reader regardless of camera compatibility.
[quote]<strong>Do they all take movies?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I'm not sure, but I think they all do. Check their specs on DPReview.
[quote]<strong>What should I expect from a camera in terms of the time it takes to process a shot and allow you to shoot the next?</strong><hr></blockquote>
In my admittedly limited experience, all the point and shoots are annoyingly slow. I used a manual SLR for 15 years and resisted autofocus cameras until I got my A20 last year. I have found the autofocus lag and lack of manual focusing (with a ring on the lens, not with silly buttons) a major nuisance. I imagine the situation is much better with the recent digital SLRs, but they are currently out of the question for budget reasons. To sum it up: (1) Look at the times on DPReview. (2) Faster is obviously better. (3) Don't expect to be blown away by the speed of any sub-$1000 digital camera.
If you don't mind a slightly larger camera and like the idea of using standard AA batteries (still get NiMH rechargeables), choose the A40. An additional benefit is that you can get a wide angle and telephoto adapter for the A40, none of which are avaiable for the other 3 cameras. If you want to carry the camera with you at all times, the Digital Elph is without equal. I'd skip on the Olympus because it doesn't use CF. The Nikon is nice, but I have no personal experience with it, aside from holding it at the Apple Store and finding that it fits in my hand very nicely.
Escher
(been readingg for years)
I've been using a Nikon 885 for the last 3 or 4 months and have been giving it some pretty severe testing.
I've come from a decent SLR so picture quality, lens quality and manual control were the main factors in my choice.
I have to say that I've been chuffed to bits with every aspect of the camera - the picture quality is fantastic, it feels good and solid and fits the hand great. It has a slight tendancy to oversaturate reds in certain conditions although this is a known bug and a firmware update will hopefully be available sometime soon. I've not noticed it in pictures unless there is a strong red presence.
The autofocus, although not super-fast in the viewfinder works well in practice. If you try and catch it out by pointing and pressing before it gets a chance to breath, it still gets everything nice and sharp.
I've not plugged it into OSX at work yet but at home on 9.2 it's been a dream, just mounts on the desktop.
There is a slight delay in pressing the shutter but this is fairly standard in this level of digital camera as far as I can tell.
I'd certainly recommend the camera to anyone, I've been really pleased so far.
Cheers
Escher
Mandricard
AppleOutsider
my 3.3 mp sony takes better pix that my friend's brand new 5mp nikon. also, get a sony with the carl zeiss lens. the image quality is SO SO SO SO SO sharp, it's better than my regular vision (with glasses)!!!!!!
colors look great too. no accuracy problems. not that you needed any extra features, but the sony has those too. unlimited mpeg movie mode with sound is a very cool and comes in handy.
i want to be completely honest, and the only thing ithat irks me is that the flash is too strong. you will probably have to set it to low instead of normal (which is not hard to do).
as for the memory stick, it is 1000x better than a compact flash card in my opinion. it is smaller than a wrigley's stick of gum, and is 100% compatible with mac. installing drivers was s snap, and for OS X, i didnt even need to install them. completely plug and play. there is no need to upload pix to your computer with memory stick. you just plug in the USB cable from the camera, and the computer treats it just like it would, say, a zip disk. you may need to buy a bigger memory stick, however, which have come down a lot in price lately. $80 for a 128mb, or 64mb for $40. i only have the 64mb, but i have never run out of room.
hope this helps.
***btw, just wanted to add, this is NOT the sony camera with the long barrel lens!! this one is regular 35mm camera size. and it imports directly into iphoto if you want it to. it also has macro and manual settings for aperture, exposure, etc, but i'll be damned if i know how to use those. "auto" everything mode works just fine for me. however, maybe some day i can learn how to use the other advanced features.
[ 04-23-2002: Message edited by: mac's girl ]
[ 04-23-2002: Message edited by: mac's girl ]</p>