Angel Wings
06-07-2006, 02:41 PM
I have never bought a digital camera before, although I have used them on occasion when taking pictures for friends. I'm going to Japan this summer, so I thought it would be a good idea to purchase a digital camera. I'm looking for something small, but fairly cheap. I'm know very little about photography, so features are not very important (as long as I can zoom I'm good). As for quality, I'm not planning to make posters or anything. Just regular-sized photos are fine.
Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
Less than $250. Preferably less than $200
Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Compact or ultra-compact. Small enough that I can carry around easy for site-seeing.
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
3-5MP are fine.
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Standard.
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
8. Good enough to make clear photos and there's no really obvious distortions. Again, I'm not making posters or anything
Do you care for manual controls?
No.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
Random picture taking of places and friends.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
No
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Probably more indoor photos. Maybe low light on occassion, but it's not one of my big concerns
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
No
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
No, I have no experience
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
I'm thinking about Canon A620 + 1GB SD card [at newegg] for $220, or an older model Canon A530 for $157. I'm wondering if the extra $60 would be worth it considering I'm not taking professional photos or anything.
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Image Stabilization would be nice.
Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
Less than $250. Preferably less than $200
Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Compact or ultra-compact. Small enough that I can carry around easy for site-seeing.
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
3-5MP are fine.
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Standard.
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
8. Good enough to make clear photos and there's no really obvious distortions. Again, I'm not making posters or anything
Do you care for manual controls?
No.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
Random picture taking of places and friends.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
No
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Probably more indoor photos. Maybe low light on occassion, but it's not one of my big concerns
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
No
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
No, I have no experience
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
I'm thinking about Canon A620 + 1GB SD card [at newegg] for $220, or an older model Canon A530 for $157. I'm wondering if the extra $60 would be worth it considering I'm not taking professional photos or anything.
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Image Stabilization would be nice.