Digital Basics - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jamesnj · #1 09-25-2002, 07:38 PM

Please take me thru the basics of purchasing a digital camera and or videocam. I need to know the differences in cheap v expensive cameras, larger v smaller cameras, etc.

I want a high quality camera that is easy to use and will not be outdated in a year.

jsmith · #2 09-26-2002, 07:19 AM

-on digital cameras you want as much optical zoom as you can afford: 3X optical zoom is a minimum for me. 2 Megapixels are fine IMHO unless you are going to print large format pictures. my current favorite is the Fuji 2800 priced under $300. this is an "SLR" style camera with a lot of bells and whistles for the money. do a search on stores.yahoo.com to get an idea on pricing. get a larger media card and don't get hung up on data transfers to PC - get a reader which is the fastest way to get your jpegs online. USB V1 is too slow for the larger files.

-on digital video there are several formats, you basically have to decide what you are going to be doing with it to start. if you think you'll do non-linear editing on a computer, you'll want the higher end ones with firewire connections. the choices can be baffling, there's even a digital 8mm format which offers backward compatibility. i'm not sure i would go for a combo still / video unit unless you have alternate storage for stills which some camera do. otherwise, you get slides in the middle of your home movies. like tmakiya says budget is also an important factor here.

JCE · #3 09-26-2002, 10:15 AM

Here are some cool links. The first gives a neat intro to digital cameras. The last 5 are to a few sites that review DCs.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera.htm

http://www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.html
http://www.top-digital-cameras.com/
http://www.dartek.com/Browse/EzSearch/index.cfm?Group=0851
http://www.reviewcentre.com/consumer_reviews10.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/FEAT1.HTM

Ashman · #4 09-27-2002, 01:35 PM

My dad spent the last year looking for a digicam. WEll he finally got one, the nikon coolpix 5700. All I have to say about it is it takes the best pictures I have ever seen on a digital camera.

When looking, Forget about digital zoom, it sucks on every camera I have tried. the key is in optical zoon, and megapixels.

the nikon 5700 is a 5 megapixel camera, and takes the msot wonderful pictures that look like a film camera took them when printed.

My suggestion is to figure out your needs, and go with a camera to suit those needs.

I have a kodak dx3500 I bought over a year ago. I wanted a low price camera for taking pictures for the web. its a 2 megapixel with no optical zom, but it takes very nice pictures and isn't loaded with many features. It is basically turn it on a take the pic, no real involved menus, simple to use, not too big, not too heavy, but it eats batteries. No biggie for me, I'll use it as long as I need to, and I'll get a nice new one later.

Alon