ianscot
07-02-2006, 08:55 AM
This is a birthday present for my sister, for whom the appeal of nifty design is maybe going to outweigh some of the more typical considerations. I'm finding it hard to give up my own prejudices, being the sort of person who combs over sites like this endlessly for my own choices... If someone can find me the equivalent of her "RAZR" phone, in terms of design coolness, that would be so much appreciated.
We began by wanting to provide her with a bargain snappy, and things crept up from there.
Thanks all for any assistance or advice.
Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
Started out thinking of cheapie $150 models with low MP -- the Nikon Coolpix L4 and its class -- but would consider anything up to $400 or so. If there was an older model, now selling cheap, which had a distinctive design my sister would enjoy, we'd be all over that.
Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Must be ultra-compact. She wants to carry this everywhere for her kids. (Hopefully might be reasonably durable -- everywhere, kids, you get the picture.)
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
Four at minimum. This is not remotely close to being the most important factor.
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Would prefer at least 3x, but might give on that for a nifty-ish design she liked. (Canon SD30?)
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Maybe a 5 -- the only showstopper on this point would be markedly poor low-light performance for her kids' birthdays and so on. She probably wouldn't notice vignetting, color fringing, and so on at all.
Do you care for manual controls?
She absolutely would not use these, I am sure.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
Snapshots while traveling and of daily life.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
She won't. At most she will do up some of Apple's photo books out of iPhoto, and that would be rare.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Average performance for both of these would be fine.
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
What my sister is going to be excited about is something unique that turns in adequate, basic snapshots. She has said she thinks my father's and brother's Canon Elph cameras are "plain," so my first thought in looking over the options was to get her something with a design that isn't "plain" looking. I know this runs counter to the instincts of avid photographers, but I honestly think if she gets a little note of pleasure out of the way the dang thing turns on, it'll make her use it much more often. She's not a fool, she just enjoys pleasant little design touches.
You can tell I'm a little at sea. Yes, I've sifted and sorted various lists of models, and visited a couple of stores, and somehow the elusive "zing" of a groovy design hasn't hit me. "What colors does it come in?" has never been on my list of questions before...
Oh, and I suppose it probably needs to use SD cards -- she wants to poach on the rest of the family's cards for trips -- so Sony's out.
Many, many, many thanks.
We began by wanting to provide her with a bargain snappy, and things crept up from there.
Thanks all for any assistance or advice.
Budget
* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
Started out thinking of cheapie $150 models with low MP -- the Nikon Coolpix L4 and its class -- but would consider anything up to $400 or so. If there was an older model, now selling cheap, which had a distinctive design my sister would enjoy, we'd be all over that.
Size
* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Must be ultra-compact. She wants to carry this everywhere for her kids. (Hopefully might be reasonably durable -- everywhere, kids, you get the picture.)
Features
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
Four at minimum. This is not remotely close to being the most important factor.
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
Would prefer at least 3x, but might give on that for a nifty-ish design she liked. (Canon SD30?)
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Maybe a 5 -- the only showstopper on this point would be markedly poor low-light performance for her kids' birthdays and so on. She probably wouldn't notice vignetting, color fringing, and so on at all.
Do you care for manual controls?
She absolutely would not use these, I am sure.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
Snapshots while traveling and of daily life.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
She won't. At most she will do up some of Apple's photo books out of iPhoto, and that would be rare.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
Average performance for both of these would be fine.
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
What my sister is going to be excited about is something unique that turns in adequate, basic snapshots. She has said she thinks my father's and brother's Canon Elph cameras are "plain," so my first thought in looking over the options was to get her something with a design that isn't "plain" looking. I know this runs counter to the instincts of avid photographers, but I honestly think if she gets a little note of pleasure out of the way the dang thing turns on, it'll make her use it much more often. She's not a fool, she just enjoys pleasant little design touches.
You can tell I'm a little at sea. Yes, I've sifted and sorted various lists of models, and visited a couple of stores, and somehow the elusive "zing" of a groovy design hasn't hit me. "What colors does it come in?" has never been on my list of questions before...
Oh, and I suppose it probably needs to use SD cards -- she wants to poach on the rest of the family's cards for trips -- so Sony's out.
Many, many, many thanks.