New and Improved Camera Thread

[MJZiggy]

Through a series of unfortunate events, I am looking for a new camera and, once again, I am wondering if my fellow rats cared to reopen the discussion of cameras that they liked. I am interested in something with decent optical zoom capabilities...

[Partial]

Panasonic. Go with the Pannie and you will be very, very happy. Best cameras around.

[GBRulz]

Nikon is the best camera maker IMO, but they don't have squat with anything above a 4x o.z. I think they have like one model.

I have the Sony DSC-H5 and am very happy with it. has a 12x zoom. If you want something more than that, you are going to have to go DSLR

[MJZiggy]

No, 12x is fine. Even 10 would probably keep me happy. I did see a Canon that had 12 and was wondering if anyone had one and if they liked Canon products. GBR, how many megapixels does yours have?

[Scott Campbell]

No, 12x is fine. Even 10 would probably keep me happy. I did see a Canon that had 12 and was wondering if anyone had one and if they liked Canon products. GBR, how many megapixels does yours have?

I have a Canon S3 IS, and the super small Canon SD700 for my wife. The S3 shoots great. We all love it. They only thing I'm not wild about is the size of the LCD screen. There is one huge added bonus to that camera. It shoots video almost as well as most camcorders. Now I won't have to buy another camcorder until HD camcorders get better and and cheaper.

I think Panny, Sony and Canon all make fine superzoom point and shoots. I like Nikon and Canon for SLR's.

I've found this site helpful:

www.dpreview.com

[Scott Campbell]

GBR, how many megapixels does yours have?


A little something I learned recently - extra megapixels are wasted above 4 or 5mp. You can't see them unless you blow a picture up way beyond 11x14. Panasonic in particular has fallen victim to the megapixel marketing race and have recently introduced some cameras that introduce visual noise levels at the expense of padding their megapixel marketing numbers. Though I still really like their cameras and bought my Dad a F-Z7 for his birthday last year.

[MJZiggy]

Thanks for the link, Scott. The Canon and the Sony look comparable. I will have to go play with them but it's nice to have somewhere to start...

[Freak Out]

There are a zillion cameras out there, many very good ones. It all depends what you want to do and how much $$$ you want to spend.

http://www.denguru.com/2007/01/31/is-fujifilm-finepix-f30-the-best-point-and-shoot/

[GBRulz]

No, 12x is fine. Even 10 would probably keep me happy. I did see a Canon that had 12 and was wondering if anyone had one and if they liked Canon products. GBR, how many megapixels does yours have?

mine is 7.2 MP

I wouldn't go with less than a 6MP, because you never know when you want enlargements. However, I blew up a pic into a 36 x 24 print on a photo like canvas through art.com and it turned out perfect. Again, that was a 7MP camera with that big of an enlargement.

I agree with Scott to a point, but with 6 & 7 MP's $25 more than 4-5 MP, why not spend the extra money?

My Sony has the largest LCD screen I've ever seen on a camera. The bad thing is that it's a battery hog.

Another great site is steve's digicams. I don't remember the website addy off hand, but if you google it, you'll see it. Very detailed stuff on cameras.

One great feature that is partial to Canon's and Nikon's is stitch mode. If you see the pic of Lambeau on the PR logo, I took that with my Nikon. It's actually 6 different shots taken in stitch mode and the software seams it together pretty good. Sure you can do the same thing with PhotoShop, but it's just a feature that I like on my Nikon. I have a Sony and a Nikon.

[Partial]

No, 12x is fine. Even 10 would probably keep me happy. I did see a Canon that had 12 and was wondering if anyone had one and if they liked Canon products. GBR, how many megapixels does yours have?

I've had an S2 by Canon and an FZ20 by Panasonic and their is no comparison in quality. The panasonic crushes it. I am convinced it is the leica lenses.

[Partial]

GBR, how many megapixels does yours have?


A little something I learned recently - extra megapixels are wasted above 4 or 5mp. You can't see them unless you blow a picture up way beyond 11x14. Panasonic in particular has fallen victim to the megapixel marketing race and have recently introduced some cameras that introduce visual noise levels at the expense of padding their megapixel marketing numbers. Though I still really like their cameras and bought my Dad a F-Z7 for his birthday last year.

I have an FZ20 and it is by far the best camera in the market. I guess they evoled into like the FZ5, etc so I am assuming the FZ7 is an extension to the series. Best. Ultrazooms. Available!! By far..

[Partial]

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

best review site around. Compare the cameras. Look at the Panies. You'll thank me.

[Zool]

For the money, the Nikon D50 is apparently the best camera you can get. I have a friend who's a pro. He takes stills for movies and TV.

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?cid=54555&PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=1879162&fp=F&siteID=pnkDUx_cu3o-COU8AhmZDUP3HbTw3804aw&cid=60488&fp=F

If you are interested, here is his site.

http://www.edaraquel.com/ Use the scroll on the bottom to see all the pics.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1762385/

[Partial]

D50 and Digital Rebel are definitely solid SLR's for the price. I don't think she is looking to go with an SLR, though. If they is, I would recommend the D50 or the Rebel XT.

As for ultrazooms, i've gotta go with the Panasonic. They have the best image processor. Venus2 crushes just about everything else out there. That, and they have a ton of nice built in features, incredibly nice lenses, and have a great interface.