Looking to buy a digital camera

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Looking to buy a digital camera

May 05, 2005, 03:58:55 AM

I'm sick of borrowing my roommate's camera and I'm sure he's sick of lending it out, so I'm in the market for one. I just need something basic without a lot of features I won't use and don't want to pay for. Optical zoom would be nice, but not necessary. At least 2 MP as well. Any ideas? Cheap and reliable are key words here. I had an olympus that was dropped once (didn't hit very hard) and ruined forever, so I'm staying clear of them.

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #1 – May 05, 2005, 04:13:50 AM

Picked up a Kodak easy share CX7300 a few months ago 3.2mp, 3X digital zoom (optical zoom = walk forward

) really easy to use, takes decent photos, uses AA's, has a memory card slot, and about $130 canadian.

The only thing I didnt get was the optical zoom I wanted but I still use my 35mm for anything important anyway :o

:2c:

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #2 – May 05, 2005, 05:48:14 AM

I've always liked our Sony Cybershot P72. It's only 3.2MP, and am thinking about going to a 7MP for the next camera. Will definately stay with Sony.

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #3 – May 05, 2005, 07:34:52 AM

Quote from: amooset

I had an olympus that was dropped once (didn't hit very hard) and ruined forever, so I'm staying clear of them.

I've had my olympus for a couple years now... It's been dropped (at least 2-3 times a year), close enough to huge fires that I had to wear bunker gear, hit with a fire hose, stolen by the dog and probably a million other things and it still works awesome!

Can't judge a whole product line by one experience. I had a POS sony camera before that and out of the 9 months I had it, it spent 6 in for repairs (on warrantee). I'd still buy another Sony, that was just a fluke, I know tons of people who had great luck with them.

What's your price range? I'd definately recommend optical zoom, you'll regret it if you don't get it.

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #4 – May 05, 2005, 07:46:41 AM

Depends on what you really want to use it for.
All I wanted was something cheap, that would connect to my computer (no USB, so serial or card reader), to take pics of parts to attach to my posts.
Local Buy&Sell paper had an old Kodak DC215 with all cables, software and 40MB CompactFlash card for $40. Grabbed some AA-NiMHs, a cheap surplus parallel-port reader, and I'm set.

If you're looking to print poster sized, razor sharp pics, then something a little more "up-to-date" would be in order. :hick:

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #5 – May 05, 2005, 10:04:35 AM

I'm a Minolta guy, so when I got a digital, I went with a Dimage 323E 3.2Mp. It ran for about $400 Canadian, and came witha free Lexmark printer/scanner/copier/fax. Anyway, it's a very nice unit that isn't too hard on batteries, takes BEAUTIFUL pictures, and is extremelly easy to use. It uses SD flash cards and has a video feature (no audio) that records in quicktime .mov format.

Whatevery you buy, get one with a decent optical zoom. Digital zoom is just a buyers trap. Digital zoom produces pictures of extremelly low quality. So zoom with the lens. If you want it to get closer, you can use photoshop. Honestly, that's all the camera is doing with digizoom. Increasing the scale of the Jpeg. And get a good memory card, at least 256mb, because most cameras come with a bare bones 16mb card that can only take a handful of pictures.

If you want to see some pictures I've taken with the Digital, look here. My best work is with my Minolta XG-9 35mm SLR. Nothing beats real film and manual focus on a fixed lens.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/10784068/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/7619072/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/7618687/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/7313476/

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #6 – May 05, 2005, 12:35:11 PM

bought my son and my mother law each a radio shack flat-photo no optical zoom but other wise very reliable. cost is about 49.00 US. only around 1.4 meg though. has a memory card slot. if you don't want usb/card reader or other cables the only way to go is with the older sony mavica that load pic's on to 3.5 disc. some on e-bay for around $100.

good luck. waiting to see some pci's of your awsome car (LOL)

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #7 – May 05, 2005, 03:00:46 PM

I have a Kodak easyshare CX7430 works great 4MP has optical zoom. ....takes a nice picture for my needs....I paid around 169

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #8 – May 06, 2005, 10:56:35 AM

Whose camera is the "toughest"? Durability is an issue as well, it's going to be in the garage, outside, all kinds of places. Any horror stories where you camera survived? I know Crystal mentioned dropping hers (what model was that btw?). I really need it to be cheap and it looks like about 150 is the best I can do. Optical zoom will cost me something like 20 bucks or so. Sound about right? If someone got a deal better than that, don't keep me in the dark, I'm poor!!

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #9 – May 06, 2005, 11:10:30 AM

Mine has been dropped from a few feet up, a couple of times. Carpet, ground. Never on concrete, though. It has never had a glitch. But I see you're not looking in that price range anyway.

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #10 – May 06, 2005, 11:40:16 AM

i'v got an old kodac dx3500 and my buddy has the next up which has a zoom and does movies. that thing is tough as nailes and took excelent pictures. i'v thrown it, droped it, soaked it in water. droped, then triped over it. and sat in dirt and it still works fine. their cheap to, only like 100bux

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #11 – May 06, 2005, 03:21:35 PM

i've dropped mine on carpet, gravel, crushed rock, dirt, had it fly off the dash board on a hard corner, crack the window, and fall to the floor, aswell as being in my greasy hands and being in the rain a bit but not too much. Still works great just a little scratched here and there, Paid $117 with a few *special* discounts from work

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #12 – May 17, 2005, 04:16:20 PM

I retract my previous comments, my Kodak ped out on me yesterday. Took it back to walmart and got an Olympus D-535 instead, 3.2MP 3X optical zoom 4Xdigital (12X total) Had to kick in an aditional $80 but it looks/feels much higher quality and it has more buttons :D

amooset did you ever decide on a camera?

Re: Looking to buy a digital camera

Reply #13 – May 19, 2005, 01:33:55 PM

:flame: Norcent :flame: stay away from them mine sucks and its even a 3.2 mega pixel, the contrast is horrible.