dawtcalm
07-19-2005, 06:34 PM
Digital Cameras have been outselling regular cameras for at least a yr now, so there's lots of competition! Kodak is not even in the regular film market anymore, WOW!!
I get this Q asked to me alot! here's a compilation of what I tell ppl:
-Is this for photography, or for leisure?
-If just for leisure it's nice to get options like taking video, recording sound, webcam ability etc.
-If for pure photography look for built-in lenses and effects, ability to change f-stop, lighting modes, variable aperture, time-lapse photograph, and ability to purchase lenses for the camera (or I highly recommend going with a SLR digital camera). Other options include external flash and tripod mounts. OPTIONS, OPTIONS, OPTIONS!
-When looking at specs, Optical zoom is all that matters, digital zoom is just cropping...
-I highly recomment one that uses it's own rechargeable power supply/battery pack! (rather than batteries you have to replace more often). (ie: to recharge my battery pack I just plug in the camera to the wall, I don't have to remove anything very convenient!).
-How much storage do you get with the camera? and what media does it use? (most likely compact flash, which is the standard now, so the most economical, Sony's probably use their own sony sticks, not as economical...)
-Look at the menu options, see how many options there are and how easy it is to use (the big selling pt on the one I got a few yrs ago was that I found it had like 8 build in filters!!!),
-Make sure that the delay between hitting the button and the actual capture is very minimal (sucks when you're capturing an action shot, you click to shoot, and the delay misses the action!!!)
-When testing out a camera, the bigger the LCD the better (obviously, but just don't forget about this when comparing your final choices).
-Get a camera that has tv-out, this is really useful for showing off the pics at the end of the day.
-All cameras hook up to your pc using USB, maybe just make sure its USB2!
IMHO the order that I rank cameras is:
-kodak (best menu system, loads of option),
-olympus (best lenses, therefore best quality picture),
-Fuji seems to be a good choice in bang-for-the-buck performance, they have alot of selection!
-HP is good too, they tend to have all the cool gimmicks (sound/video recording etc)
-Canon low end cameras I'm not too sure of, but they make some very hi-end, and at that price they better be good...
It's been a while since I've thought about this ranking, so things may have changed....
I would also recommend buying at Staples, they always have lots of coupons available on the internet. they have free delivery for purchases above $100, and they do price beating, ppl take advantage of that all the time!!!!
http://www.staples.ca/about/policy/protection/
Also check redflagdeals.com for the best deals.
Sites:
http://www.steves-digicams.com VERY EXTENSIVE reviews, this one was my favorite site!
http://proavforums.mediatechcommunications.com/
http://www.dpreview.com
All these will probably have picture samples, and in the end that's the #1 thing, QUALITY of the picture!
Have fun!!!
I get this Q asked to me alot! here's a compilation of what I tell ppl:
-Is this for photography, or for leisure?
-If just for leisure it's nice to get options like taking video, recording sound, webcam ability etc.
-If for pure photography look for built-in lenses and effects, ability to change f-stop, lighting modes, variable aperture, time-lapse photograph, and ability to purchase lenses for the camera (or I highly recommend going with a SLR digital camera). Other options include external flash and tripod mounts. OPTIONS, OPTIONS, OPTIONS!
-When looking at specs, Optical zoom is all that matters, digital zoom is just cropping...
-I highly recomment one that uses it's own rechargeable power supply/battery pack! (rather than batteries you have to replace more often). (ie: to recharge my battery pack I just plug in the camera to the wall, I don't have to remove anything very convenient!).
-How much storage do you get with the camera? and what media does it use? (most likely compact flash, which is the standard now, so the most economical, Sony's probably use their own sony sticks, not as economical...)
-Look at the menu options, see how many options there are and how easy it is to use (the big selling pt on the one I got a few yrs ago was that I found it had like 8 build in filters!!!),
-Make sure that the delay between hitting the button and the actual capture is very minimal (sucks when you're capturing an action shot, you click to shoot, and the delay misses the action!!!)
-When testing out a camera, the bigger the LCD the better (obviously, but just don't forget about this when comparing your final choices).
-Get a camera that has tv-out, this is really useful for showing off the pics at the end of the day.
-All cameras hook up to your pc using USB, maybe just make sure its USB2!
IMHO the order that I rank cameras is:
-kodak (best menu system, loads of option),
-olympus (best lenses, therefore best quality picture),
-Fuji seems to be a good choice in bang-for-the-buck performance, they have alot of selection!
-HP is good too, they tend to have all the cool gimmicks (sound/video recording etc)
-Canon low end cameras I'm not too sure of, but they make some very hi-end, and at that price they better be good...
It's been a while since I've thought about this ranking, so things may have changed....
I would also recommend buying at Staples, they always have lots of coupons available on the internet. they have free delivery for purchases above $100, and they do price beating, ppl take advantage of that all the time!!!!
http://www.staples.ca/about/policy/protection/
Also check redflagdeals.com for the best deals.
Sites:
http://www.steves-digicams.com VERY EXTENSIVE reviews, this one was my favorite site!
http://proavforums.mediatechcommunications.com/
http://www.dpreview.com
All these will probably have picture samples, and in the end that's the #1 thing, QUALITY of the picture!
Have fun!!!