Digital Camera
 

Well one of the perks to working with your dad, is you find ways to conning him to buy things. The hardest part is to make him think he needs it first tho ;)

We'll we really do need one for our shop, because a lot of the time customers want to see a progress report, and taking pictures and sending it them is the best way.

So we're in the looks for a digital camera. I've been looking for a while, but I'm still soaking all the info in. Here's some things for you to help me out:

1) Budget: $300-$450
2) Warrenty?
3) Optical Zoom. Digital zoom can eat my ying yang. I'm all about the optical baby.
4) Manual Focus??
5) Onboard memory?? or What type of media is best? Cheap? I don't want to buy a camera for $400, then find out I need to spend another $200 for a 16meg chip or something stupid like that ;)
6) upgradable?
7) will be used to take night shots, along with extreme close up (for detail).
8) Video/sound recording is not important.

Thats about all I can think of, any info is appreciated! Thank Guru's!

My advice? Don't buy any digital electronic device that you can't fix yourself without warranty - stereos, cameras, etc. I've used my extended warranty on almost everything I've ever bought it on.

If you are in the market for a digital camera, you should check out http://www.dpreview.com/ since it has reviews on almost every digital camera on the market.

Most cameras I've seen have very small optical zooms. I think the largest optical I've seen on a non-professional digital camera was on an Olympus and it had 10 or 12x optical zoom. Nice camera, but a little higher than your price range (I think its $700 or so).

There are a couple of options for storage. There are Compact Flash cards, Sony Memory Sticks, SD cards, XD cards and floppy. The difference between them is the speed of data access and storage. XD cards store and retrieve data faster than compact flash in my experience, but usually cost a little more too.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Check out the above site and you should be able to find the perfect camera for your needs. Good luck!

Thanks for the info! I've been reading reviews on that site, awesome stuff there.

Teevee: Yup, I always buy extended warrenty as well, it always seems to come in handy a few days after the normal warrenty expires.

I suggest you look at cameracanada.com, it has cheap prices plus you save the PST because it is from Ontario.

;) Thank you!

That site is awesome, and the prices rock! I'll still buy locally (just incase with any problems) however, price matching is always good ;)

Well I've really broken it down to a few choices.

The Fuji S5000, or the Minolta Z1 (or the Z2 coming out in a few weeks).

Both have 10x optical which is the biggest plus (I hate that digital zoom crap). The price of both of these are pretty good. They are shooting just over about $500. Most likely I'll be buying them from Visions, because I've got a $80 credit to use there which brings it into my budget. Their lifetime price protection is also the best, because I know the camera price will drop in a few months time for sure.

Anyone got experiences with any of these?

Lifetime price protection? How much fine print is there to that? :neutral:

I have the fuji S602 which the S5000 shares some simularities. very good quality and reliability.

Steve

I believe the only thing it doesn't apply to is satellite and office funiture, I haven't honestly checked it recently. Also its only covered til the model is discontinued. However I should say I've used it SEVERAL times and never had a problem. As long as you have your receipt and proof you'll have no problem. I brought my DVD receipt in, when I first bought a DVD player (about 4-5 years ago) and got $200 back. Very cool.

So I decided (while typing this) to check up the price protection on their website. It seems they changed it now. Now the price protection is valid for 30 days (cash back) and from 31-60 days, its instore credit. Still better than most, however not as good as before.

But the other good thing with Visions I find is their extended warrenty. Usually you pay for it, don't use it, and they keep the money. With visions, you get the money back to use towards another purchase (over $400). Seems like a lot, but I used it back on boxing day towards new speakers, and I just got another warrenty back as well, which I'm going to use towards my camera. Definetly worth it.

Good to hear. Steve, any idea who makes the lenses?

go for a Canon. You can find GREAT deals on the A70 if you find a refurbed on. Also, A80 is a bit more expensive but definetly worth the price.

digital camera
 

I second the vote for Canon
My A80 is very nice. Super pictures. Did need the memory upgrade.
The A70 is almost as good 3.2meg vs.4.0 meg and can be found quite cheap.

About as much as a "extended warrenty" :confused: Sorry, I got ripped off several times with the so called extended warrenties. Wast of money IMO.

Walter

Fuji makes a great digital =) I love mine!

Beth

fuji makes there own lense they don't use other people which is what I like about it. they also use there own ccds which use a technology that effectivly alows you to get twice the amount of info from the same megapixels.. so mine is a 3Mp ccd that puts out the same pixels as a 6Mp camera because of the arangment of the sensors on the ccd. now I would say mine doesent exactly match a 5Mp in the real world but it does hold up against any 5mp camera out there.. I think the S500 is a 6Mp that gives a 12Mp result if I am not mistaken or is that the S7000? anyways I was looking at upgrading to the S5000 or the S7000 but there were a few features that my S602 had that they don't. another option you might like is if you can find a S602 out there as they are about 2 years old now they might be somewhat cheeper than the 1500.00 i paid for mine.

real good camera which allows macros down to 1cm distance has a 6X optical zoom and 4X digital, accepts any screw on lense/filters ect that have a 55mm thread and has the capability to be run in full manual as were as a hord of auto options. also accepts both smart media and compact flash/ibm microdrives.

Steve

Also, make sure you get a tripod if you plan on taking macros of the tank. You'd never get a clear shot without one.

I own a Fuji 3800. Its a very nice camera, but I absolutely hate the fact it doesn't have manual focus and sucks in low light conditions. I do, however, have some Hoya screw in close up lenses. Pretty cheap too. Just pretty tricky to use since I don't have manual focus on mine.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Fuji...byside-001.jpg

Hmmm s5000 or z1.

Yeap, I've also got a tripod. They are a must for close up or niteshots.

Be realistic when buying electronics. After three years, throw it away and buy a new one. Chances are whatever you paid $300 for today, you will be able to buy the same or better for $80 in three years.

Avoid extended warrenties.

Go with the Fuji.... :)

I shoot a Fuji S2 digital SLR It rocks, The super ccd technology is realy something.

Will the store let you try them out, I buy localy at Mcbain camera and they have in the past let me take a demo camera out for a spin.

Joel

Well I finally decided to go with the Fuji. Picked it up today, and actually got a pretty good deal. Listed price at Visions was $550, got them to pricematch to $470, and had some warrenty that expired, so got another $80 of the price, so $390! Picked up a 128mb XD chip for it as well, as the 16 that comes with it, doesn't really cut it.

So far, its a GREAT camera. I'm still learning all the functions. Found a forum dedicated to the camera as well.

My next purchase has to be a case for this camera. I don't however want to go with those soft cases. I actually just dropped by my friends house eariler on this week, and he just bought a Pelican case for his XL1S. Has anyone seen these cases? Very cool. They make small ones as well, so I was thinking about getting one of them.

http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuima.../P335-1042.jpg

You just pop out the foam pieces you don't need to fit your camera.

Here are a few of the first pics I've taken with the camera. I'm sure they'll only get better after I start using a tripod, and learning all the settings:

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...s/DSCF0035.JPG

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...s/DSCF0027.JPG

(keep in mind I barely changed any of the settings when taking these pictures)

so we are supposed to throw the 300 buck electronic away and buy a new one for no reason?

most electronics don't deprecate that much for the same functions. and extended warranties are very worth it. I paid 100.00 for a 5 year *everything* warranty. seeing the sensitive nature of cameras and the ease at which they can be screwed up you are foolish to stay will a 1 year warranty when a 5 year is usually available for less that 10% of the total cost.

Steve

Hey Gujustud,
The Fuji's are great camera's. I have a finepix 4900. Only drawback is the lack of underwater housings. I have not been able to find one for my camera, even looking at aftermarket mfg like Ikelite. Fuji does make one housing for a f7000, but nothing else I have found yet. Ikelite also make one for the S2, but I have not seen anything else out there for the Fuji's. If this is a possibility you are interested in, I would return the camera, and look at canon or olympus. Both manufacturers make housings for a lot of models for under $200 USD. If underwater pics are not of interest, the Fuji's are great. Just my .02,

Mike

Thats a pelican case. I think they have them at London Drugs. I got a small one for my camera at an outdoors store. Maybe try MEC?

Christy :)

My digital camera crapped out after three months, and again after two years. My MP3 player died after one year. My car stereo amp died after six months. My car stereo deck (MP3/CD) is dying after one and a half years. It's a rather expensive unit, and they haven't come down in price :razz: Extended warranties have saved me bundles. The only thing I don't buy them on is computers.

Recently picked up a Pelican Case for my laptop from these guys;

http://www.customcaseco.com/pelican_ca.html#1120

Quick delivery, no problems. It was cheaper (shipping included) then buying it locally off the shelf :rolleyes:

May depend on the amount spending if shipping is worth while.

I hope your joking about "most electronics don't deprecate that much for the same functions". Most electronics you get cheaper with MORE functions. Ex. Computers (including parts), TV's, stereo's, phones, etc...etc... Extended warrenties are for the seller to make money off you, plain and simple. I've bought many over the years and got the raw end of the deal most times (Electronics and Cars included). If you have a product that needs that much attention, you need a new product/brand. There are a few exceptions, but not many. But, it's your money not mine... :biggrin:

Walter

That a good score! Tough choice but I think you would have done ok either way.

Walter

I wish I was, you can include computers in this as they are way more sensitive to tech advances than TVs ect. take my TV for example. got a 27" in 1992 for 300.00, bought one last month for 700.00 :rolleyes:

if you want to look at cars, spent $1400.00 on extended warranty for the wife's car. two months later the front end went for a $2600.00 bill that was free, my old truck, I swamped it in a lake, $1200.00 extended warranty picked up the $7500.00 bill, my new truck the alternator went and took out a few other electronic components, the extended warranty on that fixed it all, paid for the tow and a rental while it was in the shop (more than I paid for it). we got a brand new fridge because of 3 little faults under the extended warranty.. the things were so little they were stupid but the warranty said if it needs a service call 3 times the 4th it is replaced with a brand new equivalent model.

did I buy the warranty on my laptop.. no wasn't worth how much they wanted.

I look at the price of the extended warranty and the features, some times they are worth it sometimes they aren't. also you got to look at how much and how hard you are going to use something.. if either of the answers to those questions is lots or very, then you might be best off going with a extended warranty.

I don't care what brand you get or what it is there is always going to be lemons or parts that could break down the road depending on use, so saying you need a different brand isn't always good. I have had expensive brands go just as fast as cheep one.

now when you talk about deprecation yes stuff does get cheaper when you are talking about the hundreds of no name brands out there, but if you are dealing in top end stuff they don't get much cheaper at all. take my big screen for example, it was 2400.00 4 years ago.. the current model which is identical is 2300.00 now.

cars are getting more expensive over the years and so are they higher end digital cameras. sure the cheep models or the knock offs are getting cheaper all the time but you will find those are designed to be disposable and not anywhere near the quality.

Steve

Regarding the extended warrenty, I usually get it as well. Specially in this case (with Visions).

I mean I bought the extended warrenty on my DVD player about 3 years ago. 3 years past, I never used the $80 I spent on it, so I got it back, and here I get $80 of my digital camera. Thats a nice perk.