Looking to purchase new camera need advice

[jiggerj]

I would love to get a new camera that takes fantastic night time shots but at a reasonable price. Dont want to tap into that addon savings too much :) Simpler the better for me!

[gopherit]

Are you looking for digital or 35 mm?

I'm currently shopping around for a new digital... meant to buy it back in August, but can't make up my mind! Looking at either a Panasonic FZ5 or a Canon S2 IS... if anyone has input on either of those (or has a camera in the same digital ballpark that they like!) I'd be interested in feedback!

Hope I didn't hijack your thread, jiggerj! Hopefully we can both get the camera info we need! I agree that simpler is better... one thing I always do is visit several stores and see homw many of the cameras I can "instinctively" just pick up and use! Some of these new teeny tiny ones have such small controls, I can't see them, and even if I could, it's not always intuitive how to use them! Or I end up pressing things I don't mean to, LOL, just because it's all crammed together. I'm also big on camera "feel" (how it feels in my hands) and materials. SOme on the plastics feel pretty brittle / cheap to me on some cameras. And I refuse to pay top dollar for something that will be half the price tomorrow! I'd love to get an SLR... but I just can't pay the SLR price. Someday....

Anyway - Good luck on your search!

[jiggerj]

Are you looking for digital or 35 mm?

I'm currently shopping around for a new digital... meant to buy it back in August, but can't make up my mind! Looking at either a Panasonic FZ5 or a Canon S2 IS... if anyone has input on either of those (or has a camera in the same digital ballpark that they like!) I'd be interested in feedback!

Hope I didn't hijack your thread, jiggerj! Hopefully we can both get the camera info we need! I agree that simpler is better... one thing I always do is visit several stores and see homw many of the cameras I can "instinctively" just pick up and use! Some of these new teeny tiny ones have such small controls, I can't see them, and even if I could, it's not always intuitive how to use them! Or I end up pressing things I don't mean to, LOL, just because it's all crammed together. I'm also big on camera "feel" (how it feels in my hands) and materials. SOme on the plastics feel pretty brittle / cheap to me on some cameras. And I refuse to pay top dollar for something that will be half the price tomorrow! I'd love to get an SLR... but I just can't pay the SLR price. Someday....

Anyway - Good luck on your search!


Im not sure which type I'm looking for. Just hoping for suggestions on different cameras that people enjoy EASILY with good results. :)

No need to apologize ...no hijack of thread...I hope we both find the camera of our Disney dreams! :)

[vascubaguy]

There are many many cameras that you could use to take good nighttime shots. However, it is more of how you take the picture rather than the camera you are using.

They do have cameras that have optical stablization, which could help with capturing a good night photo. However, the main thing is to use a tripod, turn the flash off (unless you are trying to get someone in the foreground), and increase the exposure.

I've been glancing at new digital cameras, but haven't seriously considered buying one yet. Maybe if I find a good deal on ebay.

I'm checking out the Sony Cybershot DSC-H1.

If you decide to go digital, some things you might want to look for are: rechargeable batteries (std. AA size), 3.2 to 5 megapixel (don't need more than 5), optical zoom, etc. There are many other bells and whistles you can get. Just depends on how much you want to pay. You can get a nice digital for around $200, the DSC-H1 I'm looking at retails for $500, but I've seen it go for around $300-350 on ebay.

HTH

[DSNY FN]

One of the keys to nighttime shots is being sure the camera is stable and supported best bet is a tri pod for nighttime shoting. I prefer my Nikon F80 35mm slr my wife loves her Nikon D70 DSLR I am a film guy myself I just find the images to be much more crisp than digital.

[AFMom]

My suggestion is to go for the biggest and best lens you can get! Some of those new digital cameras (and the 35mm ones) have these tiny little lenses to make them look cute and small - but the pictures they takes just aren't as good, imho. My MIL has a 5 mp camera but a tiny lens, and her pictures are nowhere as good as our 4.1 mp with our huge Carl Zeiss lens. We also have optical zoom - not just digital zoom - very important! All of these make a difference not just in nighttime but anytime picture taking! We have a 4 yo Sony Cyber Shot , BTW, and we love it! Takes great nighttime pics - but you would need to re-set all of the modes, use a tri-pod etc, and I'm not usually patient enough! I end up looking on the net and getting all of the firework shots, etc by downloading them off the internet after our trips! I cheat!

[DarthGoofy]

You have a few options. You can either go with a camera with a great optical zoom, or a camera with lots of megapixels. It is expensive to get one with both.

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-P200 that I am very plesed with. In fact, the nightime pictures on the favorite pics thread were taken with this camera. My camera only has a 3x opitical zoom, but because it is 7 megapixels, you can really zoom in on an area without losing the resolution or detail. Another reason I like it is the fact that you can take pictures in different megapixel sizes and then change them before you print. During our Sept. trip I took everything in 5 megapixels and was able to change the ones I wanted to print over to 7 megapixels before printing. It is a great feature. The other reason I like this camera is that it is small. In fact, it is about the same size as my cell phone. I am partial to Sony because of the Carl Zeiss lens which helps reduce glare.

There are lots of choices out there, and I wish you well.

[DSNY FN]

You have a few options. You can either go with a camera with a great optical zoom, or a camera with lots of megapixels. It is expensive to get one with both.

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-P200 that I am very plesed with. In fact, the nightime pictures on the favorite pics thread were taken with this camera. My camera only has a 3x opitical zoom, but because it is 7 megapixels, you can really zoom in on an area without losing the resolution or detail. Another reason I like it is the fact that you can take pictures in different megapixel sizes and then change them before you print. During our Sept. trip I took everything in 5 megapixels and was able to change the ones I wanted to print over to 7 megapixels before printing. It is a great feature. The other reason I like this camera is that it is small. In fact, it is about the same size as my cell phone. I am partial to Sony because of the Carl Zeiss lens which helps reduce glare.

There are lots of choices out there, and I wish you well.

Carl Zeiss lenses are great it is to bad they are atached to Sony products. I worked at Best Buy for awhile and they were the cameras we had come back most often with problems. I prefer Canon and Nikon and now Konica Minolta doesn't have a presence in Canada so all warranty work for their stuff has to go to the US at your expense. For Digital Fuji also makes a pretty decent camera my 9 year old is getting a new Canon A510 for christmas and my mother is getting the A410 she has no clue how to work a camera so the more basic the better for her but our 9 year old can use our SLR's both the digital and 35 MM so we got her somethig with a few more features to it.

[vascubaguy]

I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-P92 that's I've had for a few years. I haven't had any trouble and it takes some pretty good pics. Although I'm not a Sony loyal buyer, I am a bit partial to their products because I have the memory sticks that I of course couldn't use in non-sony products. I'd hate to get a new camera and then have to spend all that money over again to get a different memory media. Those GB cards can be costly!

I'm one of those whose experience with electronics has shown that 98.99% of the problems people have with electronics occurs somewhere between the user's left and right ear.

One question I often ask when I get tech support questions for computers is, "have you checked the link between the desk chair and the keyboard?" :goodvibes

[DarthGoofy]

I'm one of those whose experience with electronics has shown that 98.99% of the problems people have with electronics occurs somewhere between the user's left and right ear.

Boy, isn't that the truth.

[KNWVIKING]

This is a great shot for reviewing digital cameras: http://www.megapixel.net/

I've never researched nite shot capabilities so I have no suggestions.

I will say however that the Panasonic DMC FZ30 will probably be my next camera.