posted on June 13, 2001 09:37:55 AM new
I know we discussed this yesterday. But I had a quick question. I am debating about buying a camera in the 299-399 price range. I guess they all seem the same 2.1 Megapixel, some have optical zoom. Does this really make a big difference? Example Kodax dx3500 is 299 has 2.1, but Canon 2.1 is 399. I just want to use the camera for shots of my daughter and ebay. I am not a professional, nor to I care about having a "high tech" with a lot of buttons and features. Should I stick with the cheap one.
posted on June 13, 2001 10:26:35 AM new
Optical zoon will not affect the picture quality in any way. Digital zoom will, to an extent. If you have your camera set for 1280x960 and you digital zoom to 2x, your resulting picture will be 640x480 (at least on my camera).
Unless you plan on taking a lot of far-away pics of your daughter, the $299 cam should be fine.
posted on June 13, 2001 10:44:30 AM new
There was a thread on camras last month. It seems a majority of the responders have the Sony Mavica FD-73. Needing a new camra I just a couple of weeks ago purchased the Sony. I love it. The pictures are so clear. It has really made a difference in the quality of my e-bay listings. Thank you everyone for your great advice!
posted on June 13, 2001 10:59:53 AM new
I have the Sony Mavica FD93 and love it. It was very expensive, but well worth the expense. I can take stills, movies and record sound with it, all recordable on either a floppy disk or a memory stick (which is extra). If I go away, I can take a box of floppies with me and have all the pictures I want. The best part is you can preview the pics before you download them to your computer and delete them! It also has a charger which takes less than 90 minutes to work.
posted on June 13, 2001 01:13:14 PM new
I too am a SONY Mavica Fan. Love the convenience of the floppies.
If you are taking pictures for the web most features don;t matter. Overkill on pixels with just about anything.
Good flash coverage can be helpful. Light balance adjustnet (also called white balance) is helpful.
I'd recommend going out on the web and finding the nearest SONY Factory Outlet. Calling them to find which models they have refurbs on(refurbs have full new warranty). They won;t give you prices on the phone but will tell you what's in stock. And then driving to it and buy the model with the most features which meets your price limit.
Many of the SONY refurbs on eBay are purchased retail from the outlets so expect to pay under what these start at.
Now you know a dirty little secret about digital cameras.
posted on June 13, 2001 10:08:13 PM new
There are two different reasons for a digital camera:
1. To print photo quality pictures on a color printer.
2. To display images on the screen.
If you need #1 then get the highest possible resolution camera.
If you need #2 then the best overall is the Sony Mavica line of cameras. You can get a deal on eBay for used ones. I had an old FD51 that I sold for $350 (bought for $475) and put the money to a new FD88.
Most people forget that the dots per inch resolution of any monitor is at the best 80dpi, vs. printers of up to 2,400dpi. So, it doesn't make sense to buy a high resolution camera when the screen won't be able to display beyond the 80dpi anyway.
posted on June 14, 2001 06:53:19 AM new
Right now the best bang for the buck is the Kodak DC4800 or the Toshiba PDR-M65. Both are 3+ megapixels but with their $100 rebate, the final price is in the low $400 range. If that is still beyond your reach, there are plenty of high quality 2+ megapixels that have recently been replaced by newer models. You can still get the great Ricoh RDC5300 for under $400 brand new. It has a nice feature called auto-bracket where it will take three shots when you press the button at slightly different settings. You then choose the best one to keep. Want to save even more? There are good refurbs out there in the low $300 range (PDR-M5) and even in below that (PDR-M4). I was told by the Toshiba repair center that most cameras received for repair have nothing wrong with them. Someone found a better deal or their wife made them return it, so they told the store something was wrong and the store sends it back. In any case, refurbs come with a 90-day warranty which is plenty of time to discover if there is a problem.
