Namita Shah |
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My First Digital Camera
I'm going to France, and I need to buy a digital camera. I don't know much about cameras and don't want to deal with too many manual features. I need a digital camera that has easy-to-use modes for pictures and shouldn't be more then 300 dollars. Can you please help me find some good cameras and tell what else I should be looking for if I want to buy a digital camera. Thank you.
August 04, 2004
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Pamela K |
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A big part of buying a camera is deciding what you most want to take pictures of. Will you be shooting mostly people, landscapes, architecture, flowers or insects, larger wildlife, or what? Knowing what you want to take pictures of will help you decide what features you need. Here are some things to think about: -- Zoom: How close will you be able to get to your subject? How big is your subject? (Remember: Optical zoom is what counts; digital zoom is irrelevant except as a way to view your pictures on the small viewing screen.)
-- Resolution: What will you be doing with the pictures? Do you just want to post them on the Web or print out small pictures, or would you like to blow them up to a large size? How much cropping would you like to be able to do without losing resolution?
-- Lens size: The size of the lens determines how much light gathering ability the camera has. If you're going to be shooting a lot of night shots, you'll want a larger lens. Most point-and-shoot type cameras have lots of automatic settings. You should think about what you want to do with this camera in the end. My camera can go fully automatic or fully manual or anything in between. You should at least try to get a camera where you can tell it to over- or under-expose relative to its automatic meter reading. Especially if you want to capture good sunset pictures or other lighting effects. Also, the mode "nighttime shot" can work for this. Also, check out this link:
http://www.betterphoto.com/digital/buying-best-digital-cameras/01-intro.php Hope this helps. Others may be able to give you more specific advice, especially if you give us some idea of what you plan to get pictures of...
Pam
August 04, 2004
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Diane Dupuis |
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Well said, Pamela! Although you may not want the manual modes yet, unless you plan on upgrading again soon, you may want one that can go from full auto to full manual. As you take more and more pictures, you may want to try some manual settings and, if your camera can't do it, then you are stuck.
I personally love my Fujifilm Finepix S5000. Check out my gallery for some of the shots I've taken. (P.S.: It's just a hobby for me - and I've only been taking it seriously in the last 8 months or so).
Good luck with your decision! I know it is a tough one!
August 05, 2004
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Maia Schwartzman |
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Notre Dame from the boat
Maia Schwartzman
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Mary and candles at the Sacre Coeur
Maia Schwartzman
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I have a canon 10D which I love, but when I went to Paris for a 4 day trip I took a kodak 3900. I took great pictures of the Eiffel tower at night and from the Sacre Coeur. I have had to play around a tiny bit in photoshop elements, but my pics came out really well, even in the bottom dark part of the Sacre Coeur. I don't know if they make that Kodak anymore, but I would think that any others would be just fine. Here is my picture I took from one of the cheaper night boat tours.
I just did a little trip to Paris and I have been there a lot of times with a bigger camera. This time, however, I was with friends for a quick trip and happy to have a tiny camera in my pocket.
August 10, 2004
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Namita Shah |
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Thanks a lot everyone, these responses have helped, and I really like your pictures maia. I just would like to ask everyone one more thing. would you please give me some more names of cameras that you know are good?
-bob
August 10, 2004
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Namita Shah |
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Fountain
Lake GEneva, Wisconsin
Namita Shah
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here are a few of my shots
August 10, 2004
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Sandra J. Colby |
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I love my Kodak DX 6490. It is a great all round 10x optical camera with macro & infinity modes. It will allow you a variety of options or automatic. Right now you can get one for about $399 with the easy-share dock & extra memory card.
August 10, 2004
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Nancy Grace Chen |
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Hello Namita! I do a lot of travel photography and competing online, and from what I've done and seen, I think you are safe going with any compact made by Canon, Nikon, or Sony (cybershot series). I personally always use Canon, so if I were to recommend a specific camera to you, it would be the Canon PowerShot SD110 (3.2 mp). Goes for about $280. Everyone is biased towards certain brands, but that's my opinion since you asked! Here are a couple of tips off the top of my head that may help you in your search: 1. Rechargeable battery. Cameras that use AAs eat batteries like crazy, and you have to continuously be spending money buying new batteries. I'd definitely recommend a rechargeable. 2. Megapixels. How big do you want to be enlarging your pictures? I've enlarged a 3.2mp picture to an 8x10, and it still looked good. You don't need a zillion megapixels unless you are planning on making huge posters. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask me any questions. Nancy
August 10, 2004
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Namita Shah |
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thank you nancy, that realy helps. I wanted to know if you could see the pictures I posted. I took them withmy slr camera.
August 10, 2004
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Nancy Grace Chen |
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Nope, I can't see them... there must have been some upload problem...
August 10, 2004
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Beth Elzinga |
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I just purchased an Olympus c740uz last year and am very happy with the photo's that it is taking...it has a great optical zoom that is equal to about 380 SLR. It has just enough automatic modes, but also has manuel operation...I think it is a great introduction to digital...it was my first camera as well. There are a number of upgrades to this camera already since I have bought this one. One picture is on this site...A Rare Find taken at night...a luna moth. The others are attached. Beth
August 11, 2004
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