help: what digicam should i get?

[joeyeoj]

i'm sorry, i really don't have an idea about the technical specs of a digicam. but i'll try my best to give you the best description of the camera i'm looking for, i hope you could help me. :)

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* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

less than $400.

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

not too bulky. i'm looking for a camera that i could easily carry around.

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

at least 7mp?

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

no idea about this. whichever is good enough, i guess. hehehe.

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)

8-9

Do you care for manual controls?

not really

* What will you generally use the camera for?

i'd like to take pictures of nice views (with very good close up shots and not-close-up shots. hehe.)... esp when we do out-of-town trips and stuff like that. ;)

* 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?

not really.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

yeah, could be.

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

most preferably, i'd like to have Canon and Sony.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

none yet.

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

totally not knowledgeable on those concepts in digicams. heheeh. sorry.

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please post your suggestions. i'd really appreciate it. thanks guys! :D

[joeyeoj]

ei guys, what do you think of Canon IXUS 850 IS?

[David Metsky]

That's a nice ultracompact model; Canon makes a few others that are similar as well. If you want a slightly larger model, the A570 gives you pretty much the same quality as the Ixus 850 (called the SD850 in the States) with full manual controls and a few more features. It also takes AA batteries, which means you'd want to buy NiMH rechargeable batteries. The Ixus takes proprietary Li-Ion batteries, so you wouldn't need to buy anything else. But if you ran out of power you couldn't just pick up some Alkaline AA's to get you buy in a pinch.

I have an SD300 (earlier model like the 850) and love the small size, rugged build, and quality images, so it may be a good choice for you.

[joeyeoj]

That's a nice ultracompact model; Canon makes a few others that are similar as well. If you want a slightly larger model, the A570 gives you pretty much the same quality as the Ixus 850 (called the SD850 in the States) with full manual controls and a few more features. It also takes AA batteries, which means you'd want to buy NiMH rechargeable batteries. The Ixus takes proprietary Li-Ion batteries, so you wouldn't need to buy anything else. But if you ran out of power you couldn't just pick up some Alkaline AA's to get you buy in a pinch.

I have an SD300 (earlier model like the 850) and love the small size, rugged build, and quality images, so it may be a good choice for you.

actually, i was looking for a thin, small digicam that i could easily take anywhere that's why i liked 850 IS (plus, of course, of its specs). what do you mean when you said, if i ran out of power I couldn't just pick up some alkaline AAs? isn't the battery rechargeable? geez, sorry for being sooo clueless on this. hehehe. this is gonna be my first ever digicam. :D

[deborahjeanne]

The battery is rechargeable, but it is not AA - so you have to keep it charged, and/or have a second one on hand. In Canada it is about $80 to purchase an extra battery.

My friend recently realized she left her battery on the charger, and couldn't take photos at my daughter's ballet recital - if she had had a camera that took AA batteries, we could have stopped and picked up some alkaline batteries for the event.

[David Metsky]

Exactly. Or you can run out of juice in the middle of the day and then there's not much you can do. But all ultracompact cameras use proprietary Li-Ion batteries so this will be the case for any one you look at.

I bought a few extra rechargeable batteries for my SD300 and take them with me so I never run out of power.

[joeyeoj]

thanks. that's what i thought too. hehehe. i actually prefer these kinds of batteries. i find AAs bulky. hehe. that wouldn't be a problem. :)

anyways, i researched again and i'm kinda confused with the variety of digicams out there. so i trimmed down my choices to Canon IXUS 850 IS and Sony Cybershot T100. i've read they're good cameras but i'd have to consider their cons. pls help me decide. hehe.

CNET Review says that ixus 850 IS has the ff downside:
1. few manual controls
2. extremely noisy photos at ISO 1,600.
* what's with this ISO thing?

with Cybershot T100,
1. buttons are a little small
2. no optical viewfinder
* what's the purpose of an optical viewfinder?

weird, t100 has a higher editor's rating than the ixus. but, the users say otherwise. i've read t100 sucks with indoor/low-light shots. is it true?

so guys, what do you think?

sorry, questions just keep flooding in. hehehe. can't help it. :D

thank you for taking the time reading/answering my inquiries.

[David Metsky]

I almost always shoot with the optical viewfinder, I rarely use the LCD screen. This is for several reasons:

Saves power - I'm often out hiking for days and can't charge batteries
Gives a much steadier shot with the camera to your eye vs holding it out at arms length
Works is bright sunlight, LCDs are awful in bright light

I keep the LCD turned off. So, I'd never buy a camera without one, but you may not have those concerns.

ISO is the camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the number you use the easier it is to take pictures in low light. Some P&S cameras (mostly Fujis) can go to high ISO and still take clean pictures. Most (like the Canon and the Sony) cannot. For these cameras you can set the ISO to 200 or possibly 400 and still get useable photos, but above that the images get too noisy. The Sony is worse at this then the Canon, but neither camera should be used at ISO 800 or higher.

Personally, I prefer the Canon but I already have Canon so I'm a bit biased.

-dave-

[deborahjeanne]

I had a Sony, and considered it this time. I was annoyed though, that my memory stick - which only works in the sony, is too big for the new ones. By going with canon, I get SD cards which are much more versatile (I can use them in my palm for instance).

The sony cameras now use a "specific" usb cable for connecting to the computer - not a standard one that all the other cameras (and my palm) seem to use. I leave a cable connected to my computer, just hook the camera up, and I wouldn't be able to do this with the sony - I don't have enough USB ports.

With iphoto for some reason I have to "eject" the memory stick, with the canon sd card I can just turn the camera off. I know this seems really minor, but after 4 years of ejecting it is a real pleasure not to have this extra step.

I tried the W80 and I found the tiny buttons actually made my thumb sore.



deborah

[joeyeoj]

ugh! i stumbled on one site which featured the canon ixus 75 which i think is also pretty good.. now, i'm confused again. hahaha.

ixus 75 or ixus 850 is? which is better? the price doesn't matter much to me (well, i guess just within their price range. hehe.). i really wanted a better image quality even when i'm taking moving objects, indoor and low-light shots.

can you guys help me out?.... again. hehehe.

thanks. :)

[CameraDG]

I think Panasonic DMC - TZ3 is good too.
- 7 mega pixel
- 28 - 280 mm Wide-Angle Lens and 10x optical zoom.(good lens quality with LEICA Lens.)
- ISO Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1250, (3200 high mode) with Intelligent ISO Control
- MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) for hand - shake ( Anti blur)
- LCD 3.0" 230,000 pixel

for more infomation...
http://www.khumdee.com/CC_WebApp1/UI...7&sid=0&did=69 << TZ3