posted 12-25-2004 09:02 PM                  

I have a couple Fuji's which are excellent and I just got a really small Pentax 5 million pixel one that is surprisingly excellent quality (I was a little wary as Pentax was generally considered a lower end brand)

posted 12-26-2004 12:57 AM                  

Looked and looked before buying another.

Got a 3.2 mega pixel Cannon S1-IS. I bought this camera because it has a 10X optical zoom (digital zoom distorts the picture and I do not recommend). It also has digital zoom but I have it turned off) It also has a steady imaging feature so if you shake some during the snap of the picture it will still come out clear. Uses a compact flash card, (which I had from my other camera) can take movies, and has good balance.

a 3mega pixal is good for 8X10 pictures. I have taken many clear shot and printed them 8X10

If you think you will be taken shots and wanting to blow up more than 8X10 you need a camera with 5+ mega pixel

posted 12-26-2004 02:40 AM                  

One thing that wasn't mentioned...with zoom lenses...a higher power OPTICAL zoom is a cool feature...digital zoom is worthless.

As far as brands...I've been VERY pleased with Olympus...horrible luck with Sony.

I agree that 3 or 4 megapixel is a minimum. With that you can print up to 8x10 prints with as good or better quality than 35mm film cameras. The only advantage to higher megapixel cameras would be if you want to print bigger pictures like 11x14 or poster size.

A good site to review camera is dpreview.com then click on "cameras" on the left side of the page. You can read customer reviews of any current model.

posted 12-26-2004 03:42 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Gene:
Believe me I'm no expert on this so I was in a Target store and saw this camera on sale which is a Vivitar 3.3.It does more than I know how to do and paid only $88.00 for it.It came with all instructions and cable for downloading.It is model #3705.I know some will say it's garbage but it takes pictures fine for me,and for someone like me it's a great starter camera.

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posted 12-26-2004 07:27 PM                  

I ended up with a Canon PowerShot S70. It has 7.1M pixel and a higher power Optical zoom/wide angle. And here is my 1st shoot

Looks like my Cat wants me to take it home.

posted 12-26-2004 08:25 PM                  

Sorry to hear of your bad Sony experiences.....my darling bride Jo Ann bought up a Sony 5 mexapixel camera for Christmas last year and we've had tremendous results with it.

Thanks for the additional info, Tangled, I was getting itchy for a new 6 or 7 or 8 megapixel camera...I think I'll save my money.

Kevin

posted 12-26-2004 09:30 PM                  

I know you already bought a camera but I'd like to make a point that may help future buyers?? Beleive me, I'm no camera expert but..

>3 or 4 Mega Pixels are plenty
>The most important thing to look for in my opinion is reflex time.
>The cheaper the camera the greater the lag time is between the moment the button is pushed and the shutter opens and records.
>Cheaper cameras that have sleepy hardware take too long to focus and many spontaneous shots are missed

I have a Pentax "Optio 4" (4 mega pixels) wallet size camera that also takes video. Excellent reflex speed. It's does all I need and it fits in my shirt pocket easy so it's always there.

posted 12-26-2004 09:44 PM                  

.....get an extra battery so you have one charging while the other is in use, or so you can carry a spare when out shooting lots of Kat pictures : ....

.....my camera(Olympus) came with a 16MB card.....there was an extra 64MB card included as part of the gift package, but since I had ZERO $$$ in the camera and new photo printer, I bought a 264MB card for the camera.....gives me the ability to shoot hundreds of pictures without running out of "film"....think it was about $75. at Walmart.....

....you will want to take pix of EVERYTHING.....the computer allows you to become a real foto expert :