Digital Camera recommendation

[Ronin]

If you were looking for a digital camera to buy that had a rechargeable battery, memory stick, zoom, and the best performance for a reasonable price, then what camera would you recommend to someone who wishes to buy one for their first time?

[ilovetheusers]

SONY, SONY, SONY. It fits all of your prerequisites and has the added feature of transfering the pictures vie USB without using any crappy software. I have a dsc-sc30 and a dsc-f707. I love both. The 707 is amazing beyond all expectations.

For a first time buyer I would recomend any of the Cybershot series (dsc-####). The mavicas are alright but I'm not happy with the resolution on them.

Go here for great reviews on cameras:
<a href="http://www.dpreview.com" target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com</a>

[Scuba]

Actually I prefer the fuji Nikon or Kodak if you have 3K to spend.
Then is the Sony.
Since I don't have the 3K I am using a Sony and very happy.

<a href="http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/cameras/dcs760/dcs760Index.jhtml" target="_blank">http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/cameras/dcs760/dcs760Index.jhtml</a> and have fun time drooling

[ilovetheusers]

Yeah, that's nice alright.

Droll, Drool.

[Scuba]

Did you see the digital back for the Haseblad cameras with the 16MegaPixle ? Yammi

[Cpudoctor]

may I be so bold as to ask why the preference for "memory stick" media type?

[ilovetheusers]

[quote]Originally posted by Cpudoctor:
<strong>may I be so bold as to ask why the preference for "memory stick" media type?</strong><hr></blockquote>

I honestly don't see any difference though some folks will flip out if you recomend the memory sticks that sony makes as they are not compatable with a different camera and may only be used with sony products. If you get a new camera down the road it probably gonna be a heck of a lot better than the one you are buying now and the extra 8 or 16mb stick you bought will not do for it anyway (need more space with better cameras as tthe file sizes are larger with larger pics - you can still use it but what's the point if you can only takea few shots).

Now as it is - the memory stick/card is one of the least important factors in buying your camera but stick with the stuff made by the camera manufacturers brand (in my opinion). You want to look at optics (cannon and nikon have good ones and sony started using carl zeis lenses which is good too). The next thing in the battery - which sony leads the pack on with its rechargable batteries that seem to last forever (my sony cameras go for about 150 minutes on 1 rechargable battery). The megapixel rating is important too - the higher the better. The next is the interface with the PC - some cameras require you to use a program to get the pics over and others do not (sony cams all use usb and act as a seperate drive on your PC that you may grab the pics from). After that look at ease of use and how it feels in your hand and any other little things that might annoy you/make you happy.

If you postr a price range we can do more in the way of recomending something. Also, what are you using it for - this might help too. Apart from that you really need to to to a site like <a href="http://www.dpreview.com" target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com</a> and look at all of your options.


scuba - heard of that cam but haven't seen it and can't find anything about it (haven't looked hard though). One thing - whats the point of 16mp? Isn't 6mp like photo quality or something? Still, the wheels of progress I suppose.

[Cpudoctor]

The reason that I asked why the prefference is that as a "stand alone" media type... I plain ole just don't trust it. I had my first bad experience with media when I went from an Olympus 340R (great camera in it's day) to my trusty Nikon 950. The first used smartmedia (which I loved for the size and convienance) and the Nikon used Compact flash (whick at the time was available in larger sizes). That said... BOTH of these types have an unsurpassable lead in compatability (flash path, PCMCIA, card readers, PDA's) and their going to be around tomorrow... I promise

[ilovetheusers]

OK, if you had a Nikon 950 you are probably looking at getting something nice.

I love my sony 707 with it's 5 megapixels at $1000 I'd have to say it's more than a bargain but I needed to go get a 128mb stick for it and that was another $150. I got 24 1280x1024 pics from the 16mb it came with. Here is a pic I took (taken at 1280x1024 on sepia and edited in photoshop with a diffuse glow and a slight change is hue).
<a href="http://www.stormpages.com/minis/filename.html" target="_blank">http://www.stormpages.com/minis/filename.html</a>

Your other options for nice cameras are going to be expensive like $3000 or more for a Fuji or a Nikon dx1 for like $6000. I have seen good things on line about the kodak cameras too but again it's something like $5000. As for any on the above cameras (but the sony) I have no personal experience so I am only telling you what I read on the web.

[Scuba]

We got a device called "Digital wallet"
It's a 10G laptops drive in a small box like walkman with place to put in all type of Flash cards and USB to send to the computer.
With it you need one 16M flash media from any kind and done forever with the problem.
It got rechargeble batteries, portable and all.

My brother also use it to transfer files betwin computers like portable USB hard drive. Added bonus.

------
It's not a cammera, it's a cammera back that you can put on a normal professional camera instead of the film pack.
You can read about it <a href="http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/cameras/dcsProBack/proBackIndex.jhtml" target="_blank">HERE</a>