Digital Cameras

I have a Sony Cybershot. It's about 3 years old now and it's still my favorite toy. It takes very good  pictures and has more features than I need.

I have a nikon d50, the entry level digital slr....
I love it, but, its a bit much for people who aren't looking for the digis that have manual mode, and changeable lenses....

I don't really know what to look for either (I had a lot of help picking this one out...)
but, I know that digis with really high megapixels are just so you can blow up pics and not lose quality.  I have 6 megapixels, but you would never need more than that, and I think 4 or 5 is still good.

The thing that bothers me the most about most digitals is the delay.  Once you take a candid shot, the shot you wanted is gone... so thats one thing I would look for, is a cam with the least delay, especially when photographing animals (Tyson is my favorite subject!).

Also, a camera that takes a memory card allows for you to be able to store more pics.  I have a 1GB memory card, and it can hold about 500 pictures.

You may also want a camera with good zoom?

Another thing I've found people sort of picky about is the display on the back.... Plasma, glass, size, there are a lot of options!

Thats all the advice I can give... But good luck!

I also have a Sony Cybershot and really love it. 

Take into consideration how much you would be willing to pay, as well as what you want the camera to do for you.. Also know that anything that is hot on the market now, will cost considerably less in 6 months to a year.  We researched and watched ours for about 6 months before we made the purchase. The price decreased  by $50.oo. But today to buy the same camera it is $200 less.

We didn't go SLR. I would have liked to, but we weren't preapred to part with that much money, nor do we have very much camera know-how. We got the fuji finepix and we also use a 1 GB memory stick for increased icture storage and rechargable batteries :
[linkhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AHQM8/102-0042933-2073710?v=glance&n=502394]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AHQM8/102-0042933-2073710?v=glance&n=502394[/link]

We are still learning about it even today, and what it can do..We wanted good quality pictures since we are in Europe to travel..So what was important to us, was being able to capture stuning views and scenery.. We are happy with it. However, i do find that one thing i liked better about our cheap beginner digital was the size and portability. This one is not so easy to just whip out on a whim.  To go on walks with my dog, I  need to wear it around my neck if i plan on taking any ictures instead of  simply carrying it in my pocket.. 
Unless you are always on the ready and prepared, it's a mad dash to get it out of the carry case, or from the inside  of the backpack. Needless to say, more often than not, the photo opportunity is gone by that time. But i hated running out of batteries all of the time with the cheaper camera, and although the quality was not terrible with the the beginner digital, we can tell a huge difference in the details we are now able to see. Pros and cons to everything i guess, but  just a few things to bare in mind.

 BTW Alieliza, I love the quality of your pictures, they are always so crisp and clear.. And your favourite subject is a natural! Definetly, star material[]

Sorry to be so long winded, hope some of this was helpful.
Happy Camera shopping!

we have a kodak digital camera. we like the quality of the pictures it takes most of the time, but it eats batteries like crazy. and that is with the screen turned off most of the time. the quality of the pictures is not as good if you use the screen as a viewfinder.

if i were buying a point and shot camera, i really like the little canon cameras(powershot sd***). i have been trying to talk the wife into an slr, but as yet have been unsuccessful.

good luck with your camera search.

I have the Sony Cyber-shot and I'm not too crazy about it. It's only 3.2 mega-pixels.  I hate that you have to wait so long to take another picture. I also don't like the zoom on it. I will be looking to get another soon and giving this one to the kids.

BTW Alieliza, I love the quality of your pictures, they are always so crisp and clear.. And your favourite subject is a natural! Definetly, star material

 
Oh, why thank you!  I didn't realize anyone had noticed anything like that.  How wonderful of you to say!  Im blushing [].
 
yes, Tyson is a natural subject... no wonder hes my fave!

i have been trying to talk the wife into an slr, but as yet have been unsuccessful.

 
As stated above, I have an slr and love it.
I had been shooting with a 35 mm manual for a while, and decided I needed to go digital!  I went with the SLR, and have yet to figure a LOT of stuff out.... I haven't even begun to explore manual mode (Im so psyched about automatic after never having it before!)
 
I know its a lot of money to shell out, but look on ebay, and if you aren't too picky, the Nikon d50 is the most affordable, and still great quality... you really can't go wrong with the Nikon..
Although, the canon digital rebels are VERY nice!
 
Go SLR!

i have a 35mm slr (a minolta i have had since '91). i love it. i do like the convience of digital though (no going to get the photos developed).

maybe a digital slr would make a good christmas present?[]

ORIGINAL: cyclefiend2000

i have a 35mm slr (a minolta i have had since '91). i love it. i do like the convience of digital though (no going to get the photos developed).

maybe a digital slr would make a good christmas present?[]

 
I had a 35mm Nikon for quite a while, my father had given it to me.... Old cam, not sure quite *how* old though.
 
I love the convenience of digital....
One of the best things about it is that it is instantaneous.
Its great to see your pics right away, but whats even better about a manual mode digital, is that you can see the effects of changing aperture and shutter right away, so its great for learning and/or perfecting that kind of thing (although, like I said earlier, I have yet to tool around in manual mode! shame on me....)
 
I think a SLR would be a GREAT christmas present!
you wont regret it!

Thanks!  I wrote down all that were mentioned and what you guys thought about them, so off to look them up and see, lol.  Glad we didnt just pick one out at the place.

I love Konica-Minolta, Olympus, Nikon and Canon brands.
 
Here is an AWESOME site that reviews any and all digital cameras that *should* be on the market. It also provides a side by side comparrison if there are a few models you are interested in (as well as prices) lease check it out before you buy - it helped me out tremendously when I was looking to buy my first digital camera
 
[linkhttp://dpreview.com]http://dpreview.com[/link]
 
[]

I wanted a digital SLR really badly before I got my camera - but my dad didn't want to spend quite that much (this was a graduation present), so he settled on what he felt was the next best thing.  The main factors that were important to me were the clarity of the image, the ability to take nice shots of fast moving animals (I have a lot of rats and always take gazillions of pictures of them), and good zoom.  The camera he got he is a Panasonic FZ5, and I LOVE it.  It has a 12X zoom and the pictures are awesome.  I've gotten so many good pictures of my speedy little rats and some fabulous ones of the dogs.  It's got great zoom, great color, and clear pictures.  I think they've discontinuted the FZ5 and upgraded it to one with more megapixels (mine only have 5 I think).  The FZ5 was about $500, expensive, but a good compromise for the more expensive digital SLRs.  The screen on mine is very nice as well, it's glass so it can't get damaged easily and it's quite large and easy to see.

I just got a nikon D70 SLR. I absolutely love it to pieces!  I have no clue about manual mode, but shooting in automatic is really easy.  The one thing I really like about the D70 is that the dial on top of the camera allows me to switch from a custom camera setting, to portrait, action, night, scenery mode.  Another thing I like about it is that nikon is always coming up with new an improved lenses. So you could potentially keep the camera body for a long LONG time and just keep upgrading lenses when and if you want to.  My next lens that I have my eye on it the nikkor 70-300. BIG zoom so I can spy on my neighbors(just kidding of course ;o)) I want to get some reference shots of birds.  The other great thing about the lenses is that you can get doublers that increase the zoom distance(basically its an attachment).
One word of advice.  If you get a digital SLR camera, do yourself a favor and get photoshop elements(at least).  Using it makes a huge difference in the outcome of your photos. I'll try to post an example later if anyone's interested...