Digital Camera Recommendation

[michboro]

I don't know if anyone has used either of these cameras, but I was trying decide between the Canon SD400 and the Nikon coolpix S4. I was kind of leaning towards the S4 because of the high optical zoom - 10X, but the Canon is more compact but only has a 3X optical zoom. Does anyone have recommendations?

 

[imlazar]

I don't know if anyone has used either of these cameras, but I was trying decide between the Canon SD400 and the Nikon coolpix S4. I was kind of leaning towards the S4 because of the high optical zoom - 10X, but the Canon is more compact but only has a 3X optical zoom. Does anyone have recommendations?

Check out the Olympus C7000, I just bought one at Costco for $350, it has a 5x optical zoom and is 7.1 megapixels. It's also very small.

(BTW, a much better forum for this discussion is http://www.dpreview.com/

 

[ioahulk]

Make sure you check out the manufacturers website and some of the camera review sites to make sure there aren't any recalls or service advisories on the one you are planning on getting. A HUGE number of digital cameras have been recalled lately due to problems with the CCD's failing in hot humid conditions...just what you'd find on a cruise.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1128958202.html

 

[Tamickey]

We actually have a Canon Elph SD300 which came out last winter. Since then the SD400 & SD500 have been released. We love the SD300. It's very small and lives in a purse fulltime. As far as humidity goes, our camera lives at the beach and has had no problems due to humidity. We recently purchased an Epson Picturemate printer and the two go great together.

 

[GenieDana]

A better lens is far more important than megapixels. Unless you plan to enlarge photos to bigger than 8 x 10, any more than 5 megapixels noes nothing but make bigger file sizes, and slower capture. High megapixel cameras in the consumer market are a gimmick, used by sales to lure you to purchase because it seems its a tangible measure of "better."

There are plenty of 4 meg cameras with good lenses that will take a better picture.

Also look for other features that might be more important, such as:

If high zoom (8 - 12 x) is there image stabilization? Or will you use a tripod?
What does the f-stop do at high zoom?
How fast until the camer is ready for the next shot (processing time)?
What kind of batteries?
size / weight of the camera?
What software does the manufacturer provide?

Here are some good web sites to aid you:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

And if you are interested in digital video, here is a source for some very inexpensive systems:

http://www.aiptek.com/

 

[greasythumb]

I agree with GenieDana. Speaking from experience, I would choose a slightly larger camera with a better lens and f-stop. I recently received a Minolta X50 5 mega-pixel compact camera (about the size of a pack of cigarettes). The camera is easy to carry and turns on in about 1.5 seconds and is ready to go.

My family went on a cruise back in February and I figured that the Minolta was up to the task, only to be somewhat disappointed at about half of our pictures. All of the out door pictures were great, but most of the indoor pictures were darker and not clear if the area we were taking pictures in was not extremely well lit. My cousin had his camera, an Olympus c-4040 4-meg, which is similar to the model I had left at home (Olympus C-3040 3 meg). The Olympus has a much better lens and flash range, so all of the photos that my cousin took in the same setting that I was taking pictures in were much clearer and in focus.

In short make sure you read a lot of reviews and really consider what you will be taking photos of. GenieDana has posted a lot of great links for research.

Good Luck,

Mike

 

[ioahulk]

Number of megapixels are far from the most important thing to look for when buying a digital camera. As GenieDana said, lens quality is far more important. Here's a good article on the 'megapixel myth'...don't really agree with the end part though where he says that digital doesn't replace film.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm

 

[michboro]

Thanks so much for all of the input and the great advice. I will look into some of the reviews and websites and then try to make decision.

 

[pamkass]

My recommendation would be the Konica Minolta Dimage Z6 because it has a 12 x optical zoom and a 4 x digital zoon, plus it is a 6 megapixels and it has an anti-shake. We bought 1 for our 14 day Panama canal cruise. We loved the pictures it took and it will also record videos. We used it in low lite and bright lite. It worked so good we ordered another one that came in today.

 

[michboro]

Well, I bought the Canon SD400, and I really liked the camera, but when I was using it at my son's indoor swimming party, all of a sudden the screen went black. I don't know if it was because there was too much humidity (it was pretty warm inside), but I don't think this should have happened. After a few minutes the camera started working again. Has anyone had this problem? Is this something to be expected with humidity?

 

[Kelly Grannell]

This is normal. It's the humidity.