Digital Camera

[Martin]

I'm thinking of buying a digital camera in the near future. I have a copy of Which Camera but would like to know if anyone here has experience with digitals? Any advice would be helpfull.

[anacortesdamp]

Martin:

I got an HP315 as a birthday gift three years ago. Things have moved on a lot since then. My camera doesn't have an optical zoom. You zoom by walking closer to the subject! If I were buying one for myself, I would definitely get about a 4:1 optical zoom. Digital zoom isn't worth the candle, as all it does is screw up the resolution.

The HP is a 2.3 megapixel camera, and I haven't felt a need for more resolution. I normally print 4" x 6" prints, using an HP Photosmart 100 printer which is specifically set up to do that size. It's irritating that the camera works in the 4:3 format, so I have to wipe off 1/2" of height to get it to fit the printer.

I do my editing on an elderly version of PrintShop (Version 5.0) which came with the camera. It doesn't have red-eye removal, but all else is far more than I have the expertise to use. Since I often take photos of our two Labrador Retrievers, I need "green eye" removal anyway!

In the present state of the market, I think I would buy the weatherproof Canon. Can't remember the model, which is probably different in the UK anyway. It has a 3:1 optical zoom and over 3 Mpixel resolution. It retails here for about $200, which probably equates to the same number in pounds!.

I certainly find digital photography to be much more flexible than film and I prefer it. However, it's not for the technically challenged. My wife relies on a conventional film camera for the photos she wants to take, as she's intimidated by the need to do digitial editing, even just to get from 6 x 4.5 to 6 x 4 format which our printer uses.

The other thing I found is that the full-page ink-jet printers of a few years ago do absolutely awful prints. I have an HP OfficeJet and I wouldn't use it for any kind of photo-printing. If I want bigger than 6" x 4" prints, I take a CD to a local photshop and get their system to print it.

Digitial photography is clever and potentially very powerful, but it has its limitations.

Hope this background is helpful.


Frank Damp

[noel]

My machine is only 1.3MPixels but I take all my photos on full resolution incase I decide to print them. It's a Fujifilm 1.3, 2 years old now, I keep thinking I will upgrade but the print photo quality is so good I don't see why I should. if I were buying one now I would go for 3.1MPix minumum with an optical zoom and a 64Meg card to allow you to take a large number of photos without filling the card. I have found it important to use good quality paper to print. My Epson printer gives louzy prints with HP photo qualit paper, while on the other hand the Epson photo quality is excellent as is Kodak photo quality.
I listened to a program about Lord Lichfield who said he had switched to digital 2 years ago and was saving £50k a year on processing costs.

[Martin]

Thanks for the replies, I picked up a camera magazine with a good listing in it. One camera I'm looking at is the Canon IXUS 430, not too expensive (cheaper on Ebay) and a very good rating.
4 Megapixels
36-108mm lens
15-1/2000 shutter
3x optical zoom

[William R]

Martin, I`m using a Fuji A204 which I picked up at Dixon`s. It only has 2 million pixels, and when I asked the "expert" at Dixon`s he asked if I was intending printing up to poster size. Negative! So leave it at 2.0 mill pixels. My printer is an Epson 44 at A4 size and I get very high resolution prints from it, using either U-lead Photo Express or Photo Shop 7. My advice is keep it simple, but make sure that you have Protection available in case you get "finger trouble" - I learned this at some cost of lost images which were not replaceable. Cameras use all sorts of storage cards and generally come with a 16mb card, these are going out of fashion in favour of 32mb and 64mb, but you pay the price. The Fuji does varying lengths of video footage, which I`ve only used once. I have a Canon Ixus APS camrea which is good, and get photos to disc from Max Spielman chain of shops, these can be handled the same way as digitals on Photoshop for enhancement and touching up, getting rid of "red eye" etc. Best of luck in your search, choose wisely. W.R.

[LDunlop76]

We're in the same position as you, Martin. I took advice from a friend who has exhibited photography. My main requirement was a compact camera which would fit in a bumbag easily for day trips. My mate recommended the Nikon Coolpix 3100. We just ordered one from Amazon, who have them reduced price at present. You could probably get it cheaper still if you shopped around. Amazon also have a good deal currently on memory cards - a 256Mb one for £23 - apparently this should hold a whole holiday's worth of photos no problem.

I will let you know how we fare with our when it arrives (end of this week). In the meantime here's the link:http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008PS6O/qid%3D1088588288/202-7928196-1686250

[LDunlop76]

Our camera arrived Wed afternoon and I've been very pleased with it so far. Haven't had time for too much experimentation, but it is brilliant for close ups - rather too detailed in the shoot daughter took of my eye - every crows foot showing up in all their glory! LOL! Very easy upload to the PC too - even non-techie me could do it no problem! Don't know why we didn't go for digital until now - too much Luddite in my soul! ;-)

[Martin]

I'm putting my shopping list together now.
1 camera
1 spare memory card
1 card reader/writer
1 Spare battery

anything else that I should be thinking of?

[noel]

I spare battery? Mine takes 4.
Use rechargeable batteries. You can buy 4 plus a recharger for around £10.

[LDunlop76]

quote:

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Originally posted by noel

I spare battery? Mine takes 4.
Use rechargeable batteries. You can buy 4 plus a recharger for around £10.

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Our camera came with a charger, which makes the price even better value. Look out for the mAh value of the batteries - most are 1300mAh. The higher the value, the longer they last. The Nikon ones which came with ours are 2000mAh, and it's a 2000mAh charger too. I'm told the higher the value of the charger, the faster your batteries will recharge.

Noel's right that you need rechargeables, Martin. I put Duracell ones in ours when it first arrived as I couldn't wait till the chargeables charged up before I used it. Only got 4 photos out of brand new Duracells. I've since taken 23 shots with the rechargeable ones and they're still usable - this is on one charge. You do need spares though - the last thing you want is to run out of juice on a day out.

I would have thought the software you need for the camera will come with it, Martin. You can read the memory card by plugging the camera into the PC, so you probably won't need a card reader. Check out what equipment comes with your chosen camera before you commit to it - all the extras can really bump the price up!