Norsedragon
07-23-2006, 01:01 PM
Which camera should I buy?
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Budget
I'm willing to spend $500 or so but I wouldn't complain if I could get an
amazing camera for less than that.
Size
I'd like a fairly portable camera. I'd like it to be able to fit in my front jeans pocket or a small case or backpack at least.
Features
I'd like to be able to use a tripod with my phone. It would be great for taking pictures of myself when I'm alone or for group pictures when I want to be in the photo.
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
Whatever gives me the best pictures. I've heard that higher megapixels doesn't always mean a better camera. Is that true? If everything else is equal do higher megapixels mean better pictures?
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
I'm not sure. I'd like to be able to take great shots from a distance and also be able to take close ups of small objects. The other day I was trying to take a picture of a cool looking spider but it was really tiny and my camera phone (I have the V Phone from Verizon) couldn't take a clear picture of such a small object. I even had the camera set to its max resolution.
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
I'd say at least a 9. I'd like the image to be as good as possible for my price range.
Do you care for manual controls?
I'm not sure. Does this mean controls built onto the camera as opposed to controls on a touch screen? Whatever works better I guess.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
I'll generally use the camera on vacations, holidays, and taking photos to email to friends or post online. I'd like to be able to take pictures of people, animals, and scenery without problems.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
I might want to.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Yes.
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
I'd like to be able to shoot at least some.
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
The only digital camera I have is on my cell phone so other than that I don't have any experience with digital cameras and don't have any strong brand opinions either way. I've heard really good things about Canon though.
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Not really.
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
I could see Wide Angle and Image Stabilization coming in handy. Is Rotating LCD like how the image on my camera phone will stay upright even if I physically rotate my phone? If so I like that feature. What is Hotshoe? Weatherproofing would be nice but not a requirement.
Essentially I'd like a camera for taking photos when my camera phone just doesn't cut it. It takes decent photos but they're far from amazing. I definitely want amazing.
Update:
I wanted to add that portability is slightly more important to me than picture quality. Not that I want to skimp on picture quality but if one camera was like hauling around a brick and had 10/10 picture quality and the other fit in your pocket and had picture quality of 8/10 I'd definitely want the smaller one.
---------------------------------------------
Budget
I'm willing to spend $500 or so but I wouldn't complain if I could get an
amazing camera for less than that.
Size
I'd like a fairly portable camera. I'd like it to be able to fit in my front jeans pocket or a small case or backpack at least.
Features
I'd like to be able to use a tripod with my phone. It would be great for taking pictures of myself when I'm alone or for group pictures when I want to be in the photo.
How many megapixels will suffice for you?
Whatever gives me the best pictures. I've heard that higher megapixels doesn't always mean a better camera. Is that true? If everything else is equal do higher megapixels mean better pictures?
* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
I'm not sure. I'd like to be able to take great shots from a distance and also be able to take close ups of small objects. The other day I was trying to take a picture of a cool looking spider but it was really tiny and my camera phone (I have the V Phone from Verizon) couldn't take a clear picture of such a small object. I even had the camera set to its max resolution.
* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
I'd say at least a 9. I'd like the image to be as good as possible for my price range.
Do you care for manual controls?
I'm not sure. Does this mean controls built onto the camera as opposed to controls on a touch screen? Whatever works better I guess.
General Usage
* What will you generally use the camera for?
I'll generally use the camera on vacations, holidays, and taking photos to email to friends or post online. I'd like to be able to take pictures of people, animals, and scenery without problems.
* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
I might want to.
Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Yes.
Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
I'd like to be able to shoot at least some.
Miscellaneous
Are there particular brands you like or hate?
The only digital camera I have is on my cell phone so other than that I don't have any experience with digital cameras and don't have any strong brand opinions either way. I've heard really good things about Canon though.
Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Not really.
(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
I could see Wide Angle and Image Stabilization coming in handy. Is Rotating LCD like how the image on my camera phone will stay upright even if I physically rotate my phone? If so I like that feature. What is Hotshoe? Weatherproofing would be nice but not a requirement.
Essentially I'd like a camera for taking photos when my camera phone just doesn't cut it. It takes decent photos but they're far from amazing. I definitely want amazing.
Update:
I wanted to add that portability is slightly more important to me than picture quality. Not that I want to skimp on picture quality but if one camera was like hauling around a brick and had 10/10 picture quality and the other fit in your pocket and had picture quality of 8/10 I'd definitely want the smaller one.