i love love love my olympus c770. (there's an updated model, too) it's got a great zoom, has the kind of manual control an old-school knobtwiddler like me enjoys, is a relatively fast camera overall, has superzoom and nice macro capabilities, has weird auto settings for things like whiteboards and chalkboards, is rated very highly by dentists (?!), and takes pretty good quality movies. the only drawback is that the lens problem i have right now - that it fell out of its housing and is wiggling to and fro - seems to be a pretty common one in the whole model line. it's also bulky so it's hard for pointy-shooty photos on the fly.
what kind of features are you most wanting? a fast camera? arty presets (the stylus verve has a preset for taking pictures of food)? pocketable for stealth photography?
the thing i've found with digital cameras is that it's really very easy to get distracted by all the bells and whistles. i mean, if a camera takes has super fast focus and high speed burst capacity and can take 345 10-megapixel shots a second, it's cool and all, but if the optics are not the best, you'll have a whole bunch of not-great pictures to deal with. or if it has ultra mega really fancy special features but is bulky and sucks battery power, then it's annoying more than fun.
i like cameras that use compact flash or xd memory cards, they're cheap and available everywhere, and lithium-ion rechargable batteries are a must. for me, anyway. they're environmentally happy and hold their juice longer than disposable batteries.
Stealth pornography? Probably not high on my list, but modest to medium sized is good. The cannon is way more machine than I need--but it sure is pretty.
That resolution chart helps! That was one of my big questions, what megapixels translate to.
Lemme second the good experience with Olympus cameras. I got a Stylus 600 because I wanted something pocketable for the Dust Devil, and it was at the store when I decided to jump at the last second. Love, love, love it.
I've had a two or three other digital cameras before, but I'm so happy with this that I didn't bat an eye at paying 40% of the camera's cost to repair it after a butterfingers moment (doh). Even better, now they're saying it's warranty work, no charge... wows. That rules.
What makes it work for me:
- 6mp (pretty much everything is 5mp+ these days anyway, more than plenty unless you're printing BIG). - big lcd display (for sharing right after taking, always fun) - rechargable - handles darkness well (good flash/exposure management) - expandable memory (SD card)
Some people dislike the lack of optical viewfinder, I couldn't care less.
I am looking for general home/rollergirl-about-town usage. It doesn't have to be too fancy, as I have no skills. But I'd like to get something that is cool or robust enough that I won't have to upgrade for a while.
Resolution: 5 Megapixel should be good for printing 8x10, and plenty good for posting photos on the web.
ISO: Usually adjustable. Higher the number, the more grainy the image, but higher ISO is better for low light situations.
Aperture: Point and shoot types usually have a narrow range of apertures. If you want to get all creative and arty, it's nice to have control over the aperture.
Of course, the following sites are good: http://www.steves-digicams.com/ (more novice) http://www.dpreview.com/ (very, very technical)
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what kind of features are you most wanting? a fast camera? arty presets (the stylus verve has a preset for taking pictures of food)? pocketable for stealth photography?
the thing i've found with digital cameras is that it's really very easy to get distracted by all the bells and whistles. i mean, if a camera takes has super fast focus and high speed burst capacity and can take 345 10-megapixel shots a second, it's cool and all, but if the optics are not the best, you'll have a whole bunch of not-great pictures to deal with. or if it has ultra mega really fancy special features but is bulky and sucks battery power, then it's annoying more than fun.
i like cameras that use compact flash or xd memory cards, they're cheap and available everywhere, and lithium-ion rechargable batteries are a must. for me, anyway. they're environmentally happy and hold their juice longer than disposable batteries.
here's a good breakdown of resolution/quality of photo at various sizes.
right now, i'm getting all ga ga over this cannon. hummina hummina.
That resolution chart helps! That was one of my big questions, what megapixels translate to.
I've had a two or three other digital cameras before, but I'm so happy with this that I didn't bat an eye at paying 40% of the camera's cost to repair it after a butterfingers moment (doh). Even better, now they're saying it's warranty work, no charge... wows. That rules.
What makes it work for me:
- 6mp (pretty much everything is 5mp+ these days anyway, more than plenty unless you're printing BIG).
- big lcd display (for sharing right after taking, always fun)
- rechargable
- handles darkness well (good flash/exposure management)
- expandable memory (SD card)
Some people dislike the lack of optical viewfinder, I couldn't care less.
Point and shoot?
Large pics for printout?
Web work?
I'm no expert, but I can tell you about mine and what I'd like to get and why. I'll bring mine to practice.
ISO: Usually adjustable. Higher the number, the more grainy the image, but higher ISO is better for low light situations.
Aperture: Point and shoot types usually have a narrow range of apertures. If you want to get all creative and arty, it's nice to have control over the aperture.
Of course, the following sites are good:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/ (more novice)
http://www.dpreview.com/ (very, very technical)
Good luck!