fwouk
12-05-2005, 11:28 AM
I could use some advice about what camera to buy. I want to go digital for a couple of reasons. One is that I have small and somewhat arthritic hands, and think a digital camera would be lighter and easier for me to use. The other is that I have always carried two cameras, a good one to take slides of scenery (currently a cannon rebel eos) and a small one to take prints of people (curently a fuji auto 8). I would like to be able to take one set of pictures and get both prints and the equivalent of slides from them. By equivalent of slides I mean that with digital I could burn a DVD and play it on my DVD player. I'm about to take a trip to the Philippines, and this seems like a good time to get a new camera.
Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
I would prefer to stay under $1000, but would consider going over.
Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Size isn’t an issue, but weight is. Lighter is better.
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
I think I want 8, but maybe less would be sufficient for what I want to do.
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Other, I think. Ideally I would like both telephoto and wide-angle in a single lens. I currently use a 28-105 zoom, and I've been happy with it, but more telephoto would be nice. I could live with changing lenses to acheive this.
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
8
Do you care for manual controls?
I like to have them, although to be honest I rarely use mine anymore.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
pictures of scenery (ranging from mountains to flowers) and interesting sights (ranging from buildings to small details) when travelling. also snapshots of friends.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
not necessarily big prints, but I want to be able to make cds or dvds and watch them on my tv screen and/or computer screen.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
probably not a lot
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
probably not a lot
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
I've been happy with cannon and olympus in the past.
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
I currently own a non-digital cannon rebel eos, and was thinking about the digital version, with a 17-85IS lens (which was recommended to me by someone in a camera store). I’ve also looked at the Cannon S80, because I was told (by the same person in the camera store) it was the only lighter camera that could give me wide angle.
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
wide angle - absolutely yes
Image stablization - yes
weatherproof - probably not
hotshoe - no
rotating LCD - no
thanks in advance for your advice.
best,
Fay
Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
I would prefer to stay under $1000, but would consider going over.
Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Size isn’t an issue, but weight is. Lighter is better.
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
I think I want 8, but maybe less would be sufficient for what I want to do.
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Other, I think. Ideally I would like both telephoto and wide-angle in a single lens. I currently use a 28-105 zoom, and I've been happy with it, but more telephoto would be nice. I could live with changing lenses to acheive this.
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
8
Do you care for manual controls?
I like to have them, although to be honest I rarely use mine anymore.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
pictures of scenery (ranging from mountains to flowers) and interesting sights (ranging from buildings to small details) when travelling. also snapshots of friends.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
not necessarily big prints, but I want to be able to make cds or dvds and watch them on my tv screen and/or computer screen.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
probably not a lot
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
probably not a lot
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
I've been happy with cannon and olympus in the past.
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
I currently own a non-digital cannon rebel eos, and was thinking about the digital version, with a 17-85IS lens (which was recommended to me by someone in a camera store). I’ve also looked at the Cannon S80, because I was told (by the same person in the camera store) it was the only lighter camera that could give me wide angle.
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
wide angle - absolutely yes
Image stablization - yes
weatherproof - probably not
hotshoe - no
rotating LCD - no
thanks in advance for your advice.
best,
Fay