PDA

View Full Version : college student needs new digital camera, thoughts?


collegestudent
12-16-2008, 08:47 PM
I'm looking for a new digital camera to take pictures of holidays, friends, teammates, etc. I filled in the following questionnaire, please help! I currently own a Sony 4-mega pixel dscs90 I also post pictures to Flikr and my knitblog. I have also tried to use the manual controls only to fail and I absolutely detest how large the camera is.



---------------------------------------------

Budget

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

$100-150 or slightly more if the camera completely fits my needs

Size

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

Something that will fit in my pocket. (current camera is too bulky)

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
7 to 8

* 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)

I like to send my pictures to Walgreens to be printed - 10?


Do you care for manual controls?
No

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Family and friends at holidays, sporting events, location (I went to NYC type pictures)

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
Largest would be 8x10 but that is probably not what you mean

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
Probably

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
No

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
I like Sony

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Not exactly.

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

I would love to have image stabilization or face detecting, pretty much anything that would reduce blur etc.

speaklightly
12-16-2008, 09:07 PM
collegestudent-

How about the camera that Consumer Reports Magazine just judged to be the very best low light level camera of 2008:

Are you ready?

It is the Kodak Z-1012

Surprise!

sarah Joyce

AndyfromVA
12-16-2008, 09:11 PM
The Sony W120 is a fine all around camera and its price has come down lately to about $120. It won't give you a 10 out of 10 for picture quality (no small camera will) but a 7 out of 10 isn't bad.

KCook
12-18-2008, 09:28 AM
Good suggestions above. Also, you can find great closeout prices on the Panasonic FS3 now. Very easy camera to use, a pure Auto-shooter.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraDetail.php?cam=1174

Kelly Cook