Digital Lust.

[ysobelle]

So the Ritz Camera around the corner from my store is having a special. You join their print club, pay a certain amount every month, and get a certain number of prints every month. In return, you also get serious discounts on the digital camera of your choice. As in a Nikon Coolpix 3100 for $99.

I’m not sure I want that particular camera, though. It’s 3.2 megapixels, which means I could do 8x10s. But what if I want to go larger? Also, it’s almost entirely automatic, and I’d like to learn how to really do photography—f-stops, light levels, all the stuff I listen to Kyle mention—or not mention cos he doesn’t have to think about these things any more—and have to just nod and smile.

So Brandon, the nice camera geek at Ritz, pointed out a few other cameras, and sent me home with a catalog to drool over. Here are my options:

The aforementioned Nikon Coolpix 3100.



Canon

Powershot A70

3.2 mp, 3x optical zoom. Movie mode.


PowerShot A80

4.0 mp, 3x optical zoom, movie mode with photo effects. I could, he says, do a 16x20 enlargement with this.


Fuji

FinePix S3000, 3.2 mp, 6x optical zoom, movie recording.

FinePix S7000, 6.3 mp, 12.3 mp files, 6x optical zoom, RAW and JPEG formats, digital movies with sound.

FinePix S5000 3.1 mp, 6mp file, 10x optical zoom, QVGA movies (?).



The Fujis, he says, are the most…playful. I can even attach lenses to them. He explained how the S5000 can list at 3.1 mps, but still take 6mp pictures. I’m not sure I entirely understood, but I tried.


They all come with three classes in photography. Software. Online storage. Photo printer paper. Some other cool stuff.

I’m leaning towards the FinePix S5000, but honestly, I feel utterly clueless. Anyone have any advice?


Oh, and understand, of course, that I might bail on the whole idea, as my car needs new struts.

Comments

S5000

[fondor.livejournal.com]

Bitching camera! It is a wonderful piece darlin' I have goofed around with one for about four months now and it will be part of my Parf budget for this year. Much easier to use than most of that class of cameras including the HP 945 and the Sony DSC 10. Some of the pics from my wedding were taken with it. I'll try to get them uploaded soon so you can see it.

[mauser.livejournal.com]

Depends entirely on what you plan to do with the Camera. Huge Megapixels are okay, if you are printing out a lot of stuff, but you have to shrink 'em way down for the web.

Personally, I like Sonys a lot.

There are Tricks for Bogus Stats you need to watch out for. Digital Zoom, for example, is a fake. It means cropping out the middle of the picture and blowing it up. Optical Zoom is what you want. You also want to see what kind of a Macro super closeup you can do.

Also, if it uses a special battery, check what they cost, you WILL want an extra one.

I'd also do the match on this "Plan" and find out if you're actually getting a deal or if it's a hose job.

Wth Digital cameras, since they have automatic exposure, you won't get to do all the F-stop stuff. But the thing to check for is what kind of Auto Exposure modes they have.
q

[jayene.livejournal.com]

To add to what was already said...
If they do use regular batteries spring for a set of rechargable...you will save money in the long run. If you use a USB cord to transfer the Pics to your computer, or use the view screen a lot then you use a lot of power. The rechargables cost about 30 or so at Walmart.
I personally have an Olympu D-560 Zoom with 3.2 mp and 10X optical and digital zoom. I can pick up threads on satin and every detail of a seed bead necklace... now I just need better software.
Love
'Nise

[miscelenaclosed.livejournal.com]

I've had my Canon PowerShot A70 for, what, two weeks now?, and I lurve it.

I'm amazed at the detail I can get from it. Far better than film. And it's both automatic and fully adjustable... plus it's got some effects built in, and the movie thing with sound.

While I was doing my research, I visited consumerreports.org for info, and thereby narrowed it down to either this one or a Kodak (which was also highly recommended by anole360) The repair issues were the clincher: this one, the guy at Best Buy told me, was coming back less often than the Kodak.

This one came with everything I needed, and more (I have yet to cable it to my TV, but I can if I want to...hee!) and I was downloading pics within, oh, fifteen minutes of sitting down at my computer (installing the software took a bit, but went off without a hitch)...

It's eating batteries, so thank god it takes regular AA's. (Ikea has a 10pack of AA's for 1.99... I bought three... and I'll be getting rechargables very soon)

It's really easy to use, too... the buttons and menus make sense.

Hope things work out with the car (Hondas are great, but they do have their weak points) and that you get one cam or another soon... they're just too much fun. ;)

You did see my pics from my visit up there, right? :) There're more here. :)
(http://www.miscelena.com/philly)

Crepes!

[miscelenaclosed.livejournal.com]

Hee! (http://www.miscelena.com/philly/pic0085.JPG) You must come visit ME sometime soon, too, and stay for more than half an hour... LOL

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

You, good Sir, need to seriously update your LJ! And get a damned avatar, would you? You artsy thing, you!

Thanks for the comments. Do you use yours with manual or automatic features? And how's it gonna be part of the budget this year? You buying a new one?

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think any of the ones I'm looking at do a digital zoom-- they're all optical.

[mauser.livejournal.com]

I think All digital cameras have some form of optical zoom. The trick is figuring out if the Zoom figure they give is a combined one.