Well I'm in the market for a new digital camera for the first time and have no idea what to look for. I've been on CNET all afternoon watching those video reviews and now I'm more confused than ever. Any recommendations would be helpful. Price is pretty much no object but keep it reasonable. I'm mostly using it for still pictures. Thanks.
Canon A620 Cnet Review Comparison Look for 7-megapixel in the charts. Great deal IMO, would buy one if I had the need to.
What kind of camera are you looking for? A simple point-and-shoot or something like an SLR? I'm looking to get either the Canon Rebel XTi or the Nikon D80 in the next couple of months. The aforementioned dpreview.com is a great site to research. So is stevesdigicams.com. He lists some "best of" selections here : http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
www.dcresource.com Im also in the market..but may not get it until xmas time...but if i were to get one right now..it would prolly be the Canon SD700 ...or the Sony dsc-t30 (great batt life)
I'd make sure it has image stablization, a at least a 10x optical zoom and be able to set the shutter speed. If it doens't have those features, the camera is only good for taking outdoor or very close range picture with no action.
ok, say a few brand names have those features. is there a pecking order as far as reliability and quality among the manufacturers? I don't hear alot about Panasonic.
Says who? I've owned 3 Canon camera and have had no problems. If you're using just AA's, yes. Go for the good batteries.
Says the new Canons with the larger lcd's. My old canon S230 with the small lcd had great battery life. My new canon SD450 with the large screen has half (maybe less) the battery life of my old camera.
I've got an SD500, and I love the camera, but I have two batteries and make sure I've got my charged spare on me. Another feature that bugs me,and maybe the newest models have fixed it, is a lousy monitoring system to tell you when the battery is low. Mine starts flashing when you have enough juice for about 5 minutes, and it's a tiny icon. Not very helpful!
To be honest, I don't know who is more reliable. Another feature is simplicity. If a person is comfortable around cameras, get a more complex one as it will be more flexible to get the picture exactly as you want it. If a person gets overwhelmed with features easily, taking bad pictures will be a snap as all those many settings will most likely be wrong. FWIW, I own a Panasonic. I bought it for it's simplicity (it's a cross over between a point and shoot and an SLR) since the wife is the picture taker in the family and too many features baffle her. It takes way better pictures than my Olympus did though I still see room for improvement. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably look at the Canon closer. I know people like Sony but I've had bad experiences with various Sony products over the years and it's like buying a Ford to me; You may get lucky and be happy, but I'm done buying Sony products.
Thanks guys. Ill look into it and definitely pick one up this weekend. Well I really wish I had my camera today. They sent me to Seattle this morning to the Boeing HQ to pick up a new plane. That place is simply amazing. Man I really wish I had a camera. Hopefully I can go there again within the next few weeks.
I have a Canon 10D, Canon Powershot G2, and a new Canon SD700IS. Battery life is great on all of those. I can shoot at least 200-400 pictures, depending on the camera. BTW, I really recommend the SD700IS. It's only 6 megapixels but it's great. Plus, shoving 8 or more megapixels into the same sized sensor isn't that great. IT's 4x optical zoom. You won't find many with more than that on a small point and shoot.
Customer Operations and Material Management is still in Washington. Planes are still manufactured there.
