Which Digital Still Camera?

[bennylaird]

After being burnt by Kodak and their failure to standby their own products, I'm in the market for a good compact digital around th 6 meg, 3 x optical etc range.

The Canons and the Olympus seem to be the go but would love to hear of any experience with different models etc.:)

If you have time I'll rant about just how bad Kodak can be...............:mad:

[bennylaird]

http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/digital-cameras/kodak-easyshare-ls443_reviews.html

Read the comments here, mine is one of them.

[Cliff Rogers]

Kodak burned us too, we went to Olympus.

We have had a couple of Kodaks but when they wouldn't sell me a new battery door they lost me.
They wanted me to send the whole camera & $45 to sydney for a quote.
I told them to get faqed.

[bennylaird]

After paying $1000 for a camera which is now dead with a gear failure that they refuse to repair.................Faqed is too good for them.

[Bob38S]

Sony Cybershot DSC-P10

Works well - takes good pix - had it since July 2004 - no probs at this stage - nor am I expecting any.

Kodak would surely be aware of the negative feelings re the quality of their product and service - If it were me I would be a little worried.

[bennylaird]

Sony Cybershot DSC-P10

Works well - takes good pix - had it since July 2004 - no probs at this stage - nor am I expecting any.

Kodak would surely be aware of the negative feelings re the quality of their product and service - If it were me I would be a little worried.

Yes have been looking at the Cybershot.

What Kodak offered was a similar performance camera at about $150 off full price. ie a $550 camera for $400. Still meant paying $350 to get back to where I was after spending $1000. Seems to me a design fault like this should have been recalled.

[HappyHammer]

After paying $1000 for a camera which is now dead with a gear failure that they refuse to repair.................Faqed is too good for them.

Can you claim it on your household insurance? You might have to drop it down the toilet...accidentally..;) :eek:

HH.

[bennylaird]

Sounds unethical? Buuttttttttttttttttttttttt................................

[DJ’s Timber]

My first camera was a Kodak and it was returned within the first week and told them to it was a piece of sh#t and wanted a different one and that went back as well and got a Samsung instead which has been great

[HappyHammer]

Local news has reported a plop in Werribee :eek: :D

HH.

[Iain]

Friend of mine had all sorts of problems with an Olympus DSLR (which Olympus did fix), I have a Fudgy S7000, which suits me as it's a bulky camera for my huge paws.
No interchangeable lens but I live with that.
My old Kodak 1.3mp is still going strong and has survived 4 school camps, must have gone downhill since this model.
Always known as the Yellow Peril, never use Kodak film because it is too temporamental.
Kodak used to put their name on Chinon 35mm cameras, and they were crap.

[bennylaird]

Seems that every shop I ask has had problems with Kodak service, a lot don't stock them for that reason.

Loved my little Olympus Trip 35 such a solid performer, if the digital are anywhere near as good I might go that way.

[Christopha]

You have my attention! A couple of weeks ago t'was my eldest sons' graduation in Melbourne. I used his digital camera ( a Fuji Finepix) to do the proud dad taking graduation pics thing. It is some time since I owned a camera of any sort and I have decided that I need a digital......
Now I have severe budgetary constraints due to her indoors not being there anymore and I need something simple for an old fart to understand, I also need something that might allow for my trembling, wobbling old body.
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE..

[Cliff Rogers]

....need something that might allow for my trembling, wobbling old body.
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE..

Canon have a camera with stabilization technology but it might be cheaper to have a couple 'steadiers'.;)

[Iain]

MOnopod, I use one for the video camera to get nice steady pan shots without all the amateur wobble, works for a still camera too and is compact.

[Ashore]

Couple of months ago got an olympus u 720 sw
The one in the add with the dog
Waterproof to 3 meteres shockproof if dropped 1.5 meters onto tiles, has anti shakky hands technology , stitches panaroma pics together 7.1meg pics 3x optical movies etc etc $530 , great little camera
Only problem I have found is that you have to use olympus XD cards for the panaroma feature and they cots more than other brands.

Rgds

[FRB Design]

29308

29309Have a look at the sony dscw50, one thing people don't think of when buying is does it have a veiw finder.Check how many other brands don't. This sony is great value.

[Cliff Rogers]

MOnopod, I use one for the video camera to get nice steady pan shots without all the amateur wobble, works for a still camera too and is compact.

I have one for my big binoculars, works well.

Another tip is to use a piece of string with a loop in the end.
You stick ya toe through the loop & wrap the loose end around your camera at a comfortable height & streach the string tight, it takes up an amazing amount of wobble.

[Iain]

You stick ya toe through the loop & wrap the loose end around your camera at a comfortable height & streach the string tight.
Just trying to picture some goose with a piece of string trailing of his thonged toe while walking through the crowds attempting to look normal:D :D

[Cliff Rogers]

Just trying to picture some goose ....
Let me see now, I think I do have a picture here somewhere..... ;)

[Slavo]

We have the Canon Ixus 750, takes SD cards, good colour reproduction and sharp focus, compact and light, no complaints yet - had it for about 6 months.

[Studley 2436]

Nikon do one called the L3 which my wife has and the great thing about it is it shoots nice photos straight out of the box. Bad things no optical viewfinder and no histogram.

No What you ask? Well a histogram is a graph of what information you have recorded. You want a nice meaty looking graph that falls down to zero at or before the ends. That way you know you have a good exposure. If it is too far to one end or the other you can give it some under or over exposure to compensate. So the first two things I would look for on a digital camera are the control to under or over expose and a histogram feature. They make a big big difference to the photos you will get.

Studley (who when not hiding in the shed takes pictures for a living)

[Christopha]

Nikon do one called the L3 which my wife has and the great thing about it is it shoots nice photos straight out of the box. Bad things no optical viewfinder and no histogram.

No What you ask? Well a histogram is a graph of what information you have recorded. You want a nice meaty looking graph that falls down to zero at or before the ends. That way you know you have a good exposure. If it is too far to one end or the other you can give it some under or over exposure to compensate. So the first two things I would look for on a digital camera are the control to under or over expose and a histogram feature. They make a big big difference to the photos you will get.

Studley (who when not hiding in the shed takes pictures for a living)

Strewth Studley me old china! Speak bloody Aussie for me PLEASE!!!

[Studley 2436]

most of them are made in China Christopha

Studley

[Felder]

I drive a Nikon point-and-shoot camera, with five mega-thingys.

Great camera for what I use it for - approx $500 when I got it twelve months ago.

I very rarely use it's five megapixels. Most of the pics I take I scale down to about two megapixels so they are easier to email. Quality still looks fine.

Easy to use, and gets four thumbs up from me.

[Sir Stinkalot]

I will put my two bob in for Canon. I started off with the Powershot 350 back in 1996-1997 great little unit, then the Powershot S10 in 2000ish and I am now hopeful that they will announce a replacement to the S80 at next months launch.

There has been a new range of Canon cameras released last week .....

A good site for reviews is www.dpreview.com

[Coldamus]

I have an Olympus C760 and am not pleased. It has a great lens with up to 30x zoom but the autofocus is so slow that the subject is always long gone before the camera has made up its mind.

SWMBO calls it "the whirrer" because of all the autofocus activity. It does have some good features such as a proper viewfinder, ability to save and quickly retrieve several sets of favourite settings ("mymodes"), panoramas, 2 in 1 photos, etc.

The reason I chose it is that it has manual focus ability. Well, sort of. The manual focus is via arrow buttons and is too fiddly for action shots but useful for static shots or to preset a specific focal distance.

However the camera is let down by poor performance in low light conditions and under artificial light. The colours of the subject appear fine through the viewfinder but, as soon as the shutter is pressed, the light balance changes and the result is a washed out shot, usually out of focus as well. I have gradually learned ways of overcoming these difficulties but it is still a P.I.T.A. I had a cheap Canon A410 which gave far better results but gave it to my sister. The Canon gave far more natural colours and really was point-and-shoot with perfect results more often than not.

If I were buying one now, it would definitely be a Canon - either the Ixus 750 which is very stylish and 7.1 megapixels or the Ixus 60 which is 6 megapixels but small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Both of those have proper viewfinders, 2.5" LCD screens, Lithium-Ion batteries and, like most Canons, they use standard SD cards instead of proprietary cards like the Olympus and Sony. The Ixus 750 is currently advertised at $499 and the Ixus 60 for $369.

regards
Coldamus

[bennylaird]

Thanks everyone, good to get your views..........

[Christopha]

Yes Thanks indeed.....

[Bob38S]

You have my attention! ................................. I also need something that might allow for my trembling, wobbling old body.
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE..

I'm told that half a bottle of red does wonders for the wobbles.

:D:):D

[scooter]

We bought a Canon A85 point & shoot early last year, quite happy with it.

Shutter lag is still a PITA though.


Cheers................Sean

[Dean]

I have 3 cameras, all Olympus... reason being is that they give, by far, the best color reproduction. No camera is perfect, but you have to remember that 90% of a quality photo is because of the photographer, not the camera.

I have an Oly E-300 DSLR and C-8080. Both too big for what you need I'd say. More recently I bopught the missus an Oly FE-115. These are tiny 5Mp cameras designed for the beginner... i.e.e just turn on and shoot. Has some nice features but only writes to JPG and tends to overcompress them. I probably wouldnt recommend it for indoor shots but in good light it works well. There are lots of brands to choose from, all with similar specs. A mate has a Pentax Optio E-10 and it produces nice photos too.

If you get to learn your camera well, you can take awesome shots no matter what brand you get.

[Iain]

But why are they some damned small, I have a hand like a ham and fingers likes bleeding salamis and have trouble holding little 'cute' cameras, despite the specs.
Hence the 35mm slr size Fuji.

[Christopha]

The Canon "Powershot A7101S" as it is reviewed on the site Stinky referred to sounds excellent to a no nuffink like me.... What sort of bucks would I be looking at and where would a boy from the bush get it?

[Coldamus]

The Canon "Powershot A7101S" as it is reviewed on the site Stinky referred to sounds excellent to a no nuffink like me.... What sort of bucks would I be looking at and where would a boy from the bush get it?

Christopha,

Australian RRP is $549. The best price I can find is $499 here:
http://www.digitalcity.net.au/store/product.asp?idProduct=2751

(No affiliation with me)

Because it is a relatively new model, the really cheap discount stores don't seem to have it yet.

regards
Coldamus

[Sir Stinkalot]

From my days in retail you were a damn fool if you paid the RRP set by Canon.

For some reason they set their RRP at least $100 higher than the value of the camera ..... perhaps it was to fool the customer into thinking that the camera was a higher priced model that you were getting cheaper, ie a camera with a RRP of $499 being sold at $399 must be better than a camera with a RRP of $399.

I don't think I ever managed to sell a Canon camera anywhere near the RRP.

That said I still think Canon make a great digital camera .... keep an eye out however for the lower resolution they are putting on their screens is getting some flack from users ..... perhaps the outgoing models may be offering more than the new models.

[Christopha]

OK, so do I buy it at $499 or not and f I do will it come with all the stuff I need to put pics on my puter, get 'em developed, print etc etc, charger batteries etc. etc???

[Coldamus]

OK, so do I buy it at $499 or not and f I do will it come with all the stuff I need to put pics on my puter, get 'em developed, print etc etc, charger batteries etc. etc???

Christopha,

The A series Canon cameras use AA batteries and are supplied with standard non-rechargeable alkalines. This is good because you can buy batteries anywhere but bad because you'll be kept poor buying them. You can buy rechargeable AA's and a charger but it is extra cost.

Personally I prefer the Canon Ixus models such as the Ixus 60 and Ixus 750 because they come with Lithium-Ion batteries and a charger included in the price. However they don't have the image stabilisation feature of the A710 IS.

All Canon digitals, as with most other brands, come with only a minimal memory card that is virtually useless. You definitely need a bigger SD card - say $50 for 1gb.

The software to transfer to your computer and to edit and print your pictures is included. Of course you need a colour printer unless you already have one. You can take the SD card to any chemist or photo shop to have prints made or print them yourself from slot machine photo kiosks.

The following is a useful site for comparison shopping and details of what is included:

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/index.htm

I have no association with them and have never dealt with them. However their prices seem generally good. Click on a brand name for a list of that maker's cameras and then click the "Info" button next to the one you are interested in for full specs. and description.

regards
Coldamus

[Christopha]

OK.... so the $499 camera with just battery charger and a card becomes a $607 camera and I don't even have a little bag to keep it in!!!

[scooter]

Harvey Norman's pencil was very sharp when I bought my camera there.

Bought the cam, 4xAA NiMh & charger, bigger card, & bag, & extended warranty, & the deal was very good.

Well worth a shot.


Cheers...............Sean

[Coldamus]

OK.... so the $499 camera with just battery charger and a card becomes a $607 camera and I don't even have a little bag to keep it in!!!

Yes, welcome to photography. However, some good news - digital camera warehouse, the link I gave in my last post, now have it listed at $459 instead of $499.

regards
Coldamus

[Iain]

I can also vouch for Digi camarea warehouse, very fast and efficient.

[Christopha]

Well, I had a reallly schidty Farvers Day and was feeling crap yesterday when one of my customers finished paying me for a little job in fun vouchers (cash!) so I bought myself a Farvers Day pressy... A Panasonic Lumix Dijitool camera. YAY! for me! Now I have to work my way through the inkstrupotion manual which is kinda the size of War and Peace x 2. I would like to say a huge thank you to Tikki who came along, gave great advice, donated a memory card and some much needed moral support.
Now, lets go find out where the fillum goes in......

[Studley 2436]

remember to rewind your memory card before you take it out

Studley

[Stuart]

You can always get a smaller version of the DVD rewinder, rather than wearing out the camera....
http://img.adme.ru/2006/03/16/5572/dvdrewinder1.jpg