Digital cameras?

[calv]

what digital camera do you have? What do you love/hate about it and where's the best/cheapest place to get one? I know cannon and nixon seem to be the most popular ones. Also please tell me the megapix it is and did you have to purchase any other stuff for it such as memory card or battery?

we have a powershot 4 that we've had close to 4 years and I think it's on it's way out. Many pictures that I take seem to come out blury and I hate that. :( TIA for your help.

ETA: How long are digital cameras suppose to last?

[wencit]

I have the Canon SD550. I love that it's so small and compact, I can pop it into my diaper bag and take it everywhere. I also love the video capabilities on it. I've taken several precious videos of DS that I probably wouldn't have gotten if I had to drag out a regular camcorder. I kept my eye on Fatwallet for deals and eventually bought it back in December when Dell had a sale for $330 (regular price is $500, I think).

I believe Canon has since come out with a newer and better model, the SD630.

[pampamz]

We have a Canon Elph SD200. It's great for our use which is pics of our kids! But it has many settings for other types of photography. It is only about the size of a credit card and about 1/2" deep but has a big viewing screen. One of the best things is that the battery comes with its own little charger that I can plug into any outlet and it charges pretty quickly.
Ours came from Future Shop (I can't stand the place, personally but they had a sale). You could probably get a great deal on many diff. cameras off eBay...

[calv]

how many megapix is it?

[pampamz]

p.s: ours has 3.2mgpix, digital zoom, video and we did buy a memory card.

[bunnisa]

We have a Sony Cybershot from 2003. At the time it had one of the highest megapixel ratings at 5.1. It wasn't cheap but they've come down significantly in price since then. DH did all the research and we've been VERY happy with it.

LOVE:
Takes beautiful photos (Carl Zeiss lens)
Takes videos (we use it ALL the time)
Gazillion settings, and the Auto one works great.

DON'T LOVE:
Shutter speed. It's quite fast (better than most digitals), but not instantaneous like an SLR.

Next time around we'll get a digital SLR.

Check out cnet.com for great reviews!


Bethany
blessed wife and mama to two!

"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
-Justin Torres

[SquamLake]

We have the Nikon Coolpix 995. Seen here: http://www.nikonimaging.com/global/products/digitalcamera/coolpix/995/

We bought it almost 4 years ago and still love it. Takes wonderful pictures, easy to use, etc. Very expensive when we bought it, but I believe the price has come down considerably. Not sure what the later models are like. Really can't go wrong with this camera. We did buy a memory card for it, only because we wanted one with larger memory capacity.

Good luck.

[calv]

what's the big deal w/SLR besides the price. I'd LOVE one but don't think I can convince DH to get one for me. :( And if we do get an SLR is a another lense a must? It's all a bit overwhelming.

[Mamma2004]

We bought the Nikon Cookpix 995 about 4 1/2 years ago. We took it on vacation, loved it, then it was stolen (!)...and we actually bought the SAME camera again a few months later. We have been really happy with it EXCEPT for the hideously slow shutter speed so typical of digital cameras.

We can't afford a digital SLR so we're sticking with our Nikon!

HTH,
Stephanie

[wencit]

The SD550 is 7.1MP. Overkill for most uses, but that wasn't my deciding factor.

[Dcclerk]

For me, the SLR is worth it. It's big and clunky, so definitely not a throw it in your camera bag type of camera. But the shutterspeed is spot-on, and that is worth the $100s more to me. We do not have another lens. I would like to get one some day, but haven't missed it terribly. I certainly haven't felt like I could be taking better pictures with a different digital camera, although maybe some of the cameras with built-in lens have amazing optical zoom that I don't know about.

I think it really depends on what kind of shots you like to take. Most of my friends want to capture the cute moments of life on a day-to-day basis, and an SLR would be too unweildy. I don't go get my kids' pictures professionally taken, so I want my camera to take more professional shots that I can blow up and put around my house. I also like the more artsy shots, which for me are hardy to capture with a point and shoot. I still take some day-to-day pics, but the majority of mine are the kind that I want to play with on Photoshop and then hopefully blow up and frame. (My colleagues refer to my office as "the Gallery" ;) ).

Good luck with your camera decision.

[Mommy_Again]

we have the canon digital rebel and it is worth every penny (about $800 or $900 when we bought it- cant remember!). There is absolutely no lag time at all- you just click click click with no pause. It's amazing, espcecially after years using my Sony Cybershot and waiting what seemed like minutes in between shots. We got ours at Sears- they will price match plus 10%.

ETA: there have been several threads about this camera in the past if you want to further research

[calebsmama03]

We have the Nikon D70 and it is definitely worth it! We do all our own formal pics at home and save $$$ on professional shots - with DS we had all of his done by a pro in our neighborhood and it was several hunder dollars each time - eeks! There are frequently deals on DSLRs - keep an eye on slickdeals and other deal forums.

ETA - we just have the "kit" lens (got it a year ago) and it has been sufficient for us. THere have been times I've wished for different lenses but we aren't putting more $$ into the camera until we learn to use it better ;)
Lynne
Mommy to C 3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple, 5/05

[nitaghei]

A digital SLR and a digital P&S serve different purposes, I think, and aren't really substitutes. If the primary purpose is to take day to day pics, then a P&S is probably adequate, and maybe even better than a DSLR. I have a little Fuju Finepix 5MP with pretty good zoom, and it's great for slipping in my pocket or bag to take pictures. The resolution is high enough that I can crop tightly and still get good quality prints, even 8x10s. It's a good little camera for its price, but does have limitations, including the dreaded shutter lag. Better than many digital P& S camera, but obviously not as good as a digital SLR. So I do miss some pictures - particularly of my camera shy and very fast moving dog. So I'd really like to get a DSLR at some point (still saving for it). But even when I get that, I can't see totally abandoning my handy little P&S.

HTH

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker (at the Rainbow Bridge)

"Moderation is best in all things." Hesiod

[Thatchermom]

Another Digital Rebel fan here, but I used an SLR as a film camera as well, so it doesn't feel so bulky to me. At least I'm not carrying around a dozen rolls of film, too.

You asked about best place to buy - even though it's not always cheapest, Costco is it. Their return policy beats any regular or extended warranty hands down. The lcd on our camera cracked (read: I dropped the camera bag and broke it) and they handed us a new camera, no questions asked. Took less than 10 minutes, the price had gone down nearly $200, and they handed me the difference in cash. Digital cameras are finicky and break easily. Costco is your friend!

[BeachBum]

If you do go with a digital p&S find out how long it takes for the camera to reset in between pictures. I have a Cannon A510 which is a fab camera, and highly rated by ZDNet, but sucks for taking pics of the kiddos. It takes so, so long inbetween shots I've missed so many!

[calv]

Thank you so much for all your tips/help. I really appreciate it and need to do some more homework. DH & I were checking cnet and a few other sites. My head is spinning.

Anyone own a canon A60? Thoughts?