Digital camera advice?

[pbray]

My 35mm camera is showing signs of age, so I'm thinking about breaking down and getting a digital camera for next month's bike trip. I've never owned a digital camera before, so this is new territory for me.

Any suggestions on makes/models? Good brands or brands to stay away from? I'm looking to spend less than $200, since there's a real possibility that the camera will die an untimely death as it bounces out of the front pack, I use it to break my fall while hiking, I wipe out in gravel, etc.

Thanks.

Comments

[rkbwrites.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest cnet.com and dpreview.com for camera reviews.

If you're looking for small (like fit in your pocket small) than the Canon PowerShot SD700 IS is nice, Sony Cyber-shot® DSC-T9 Digital Camera DSC-T9.

Both of these are normally compared to each other since they are he same megapixel size, 6 megapixel.

The one downside to each of these is they break your $200 mark.

Canon is $499 while Sony is $399. But, in the long run the extra $200.00 you spend will save you money in the long run. I bought my Canon Digital Rebel XT DSLR last year and it's been worth every penny since.

I'd suggest going to Best Buy or big box store to handle these cameras so you get a feel for them before buying.

[princejvstin.livejournal.com]

I am still on my first digicam, but I have had nothing but good results from my Canon Powershot (I have the A510)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I use a Nikon Coolpix (the 2100, which I'm not sure they make anymore). I recall paying about $250, but the kit came with lots of little extras.

I have dropped it from the height of a couple of feet onto concrete and it's been fine, but they were comparatively gentle drops like falling out of my truck onto my driveway. I have never fallen on it.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

My husband says that most digital cameras are fragile and not built for the wilderness, but for some extra money places like Comp. USA, Circuit City or Best Buy sell replacement plans.
He also says "Get a really good, sturdy case."

[fireun.livejournal.com]

i got an olympus a few years ago, which i abuse fairly regularly, and it is still kicking. i do mostly wilderness shoots, and it has held up through rain, snow, waterfall spray, blowing sand...you get the idea.
definately, like melissajm points out, get a sturdy case. i have a cloth one and i wince every time i put it down.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Until I got my SLR, I've had Kodak digital cameras for point and shoot stuff. They take abuse well: the first one I had got dropped about three minutes after I was given it, and spent its entire life with the battery flap taped in place, but I never had a whit of trouble with it. The next two I got suffered similar abuse and never failed me. Their equivilant today are the Kodak EasyShare C series; in your position I'd probably get the C310 or C530 (I'd get the latter, my own self).

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Depends on what you want to do with it. I'm a Nikon fan, two SLR film bodies with a couple-thousand bucks of assorted lenses, but I don't think the Nikon digital cameras in your price range rate high in reviews. I use a Sony (DSC P8, 3 megapixel) digital camera for snapshots and architectural project working photos, then switch to film for the finished project beauty contest. The newer Sony models have higher megapixel rating, and some have longer zoom range. That one has a 3X optical zoom. I almost always use it in straight automatic mode, and I've never had any trouble with it.

If you want a super-zoom camera, you're probably out of the price range. Fuji's super-zooms have a good reputation, though.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Some more input from my husband:

1) Get a Battery Charger and 2 Sets of charger batteries. Also carry a spare in your case of regular batteries for an emergency. Cameras eat batteries like candy, after an event, always switch out the batteries.

2) For posting pics on the internet, a 3 megapixels camera is perfect.

3) If you want to print pictures like 6X4 or 8X10 go for at LEAST a 4 megapixel camera.

4) If you're editing pictures on the computer, pay for MORE pixels and ignore features on the camera that duplicate what you can do on the computer.

5) Get a camera with removable memory as opposed to on hand memory. You'll always want/need more. Also some places will print you pictures from a memory stick, so that is always useful to have. Also get a card reader for your computer.

6) Some cameras do movies with/without sound. If you don't plan on using this or don't have the storage for it (large hard drive on your computer), you can save money and not get it.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestions--I'll go take a look at the box store tonight and see what they have. (Unlike my house, it has airconditioning so I'll be in no hurry to leave).

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's good to know. I've seen the Canon Powershots advertised recently, and it's right in the target price range.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation. Hopefully I won't need to put the drop test into action, but I still remember the first 35mm camera I owned, which didn't last a week before I used it to break my fall while hiking in Hawaii :-(

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Good thought on the case. I don't plan on dropping it, but things happen, and I'd rather not spend the trip worrying about my camera.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec, I'll be sure to check Olympus out.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Cool. I'm pretty unsophisticated when it comes to cameras, so it's just point and shoot. Mostly just pictures of fellow cyclists, as we stand (and sweat) next to important landmarks.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs. A 3x or 4x optical zoom will be plenty for me. Mostly I take point & shoot pictures of the "You were here" variety. Plus the ability to delete bad pictures, rather than paying to develop pictures of blurs/thumbs/headless cyclists, etc.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the excellent suggestions, I've printed these off.