Help me camera shopping

[ford31]

my grandson says get rid of my old camera Kodak 3400 get in the real world,so been looking wow what do you get any ideas and stay under 300.00 what do I look for needs are family pics,ball games,upclose distant any help thanks Tom from Missouri

 

[SteveM]

Did he tell you to get rid of the Model A and "get into the real world"? I'm trying to find an old Kodak Brownie to go with my A.

Here are some of my suggestions.

Get the most OPTICAL zoom you can get. Digital zoom is just taking the digital picture and blowing it up, which is kind of like getting closer to the TV screen - the picture gets bigger, but you can start to see the graininess.

When you test a camera, be sure it can take a picture quickly after you press the button. Can't tell you how many pics I have where the kid is already out of the frame by the time the shutter snaps.

Also, be sure it can take the NEXT picture quickly as well.

Steve

 

[Bruce Adams]

and what's the best oil for my Model A ???

Just go to COSTCO or Sam's Club with three hundred dollars in your pocket.
You pretty much cannot go wrong with a Canon, Nikon,Olympus,Samsung, Kodak,Casio, Fuji,Panasonic,Sony,Pentax,et al,.
Just see which ones are the right size and feel good to hold.
Megapixel comparisons are meaningless nowadays.
Large displays are great for passing around the camera at dinner parties.
3X Optical is adequate for most applications.
If you NEED to look for a differentiating element, you might want to see if any have "standard" batteries, since if you do not use the camera often, count on your batteries not being at full charge, so AA's are great to throw in prior to going to the occasion.
I take over ten thousand photos a year and enjoy the photography vocation tremendously.

 

[Bruce Adams]

Seve,
I did a black and white layout using my 1928 Kodak Hawkeye at the MAFCA Meet in Mass two years ago. I processed the film manually to the negative stage, then digitized them for publication.

 

[1930artdeco]

Don't forget to make sure the camera is easy to use as far as navigating menus and getting it to do what you want. I for one am sticking with my 4x5 graflex as long as film is being made.
Although digital does have its pros-instant download for email and viewing. There just is no magic in it.


Mike

 

[Marco Tahtaras]

In my experience Olympus has better optics than most cameras in the "point and shoot" category. I would expect Nikon to be good in this area as well but that is just a guess based on my experience with their non-premium lenses on my SLR (compared to others).

 

[Mustang]

Whatever else you look for in a camera, buy one that uses generic off the shelf batteries ( preferably AA's).

 

[old1928fordguy]

Nikon Cool Pix are great for the money and easy to use

 

[Cool Hand Lurker]

I am not an expert but I have been told by the photo man at Walgreen's that if you want poster sized enlargements you must have a camera that has at least 8 megapixel capacity. You might want to check out that info.
And I second the comment about a quick photo. I missed some real cool closeups of the Air Force Thunderbirds in action because the camera waited a fraction of a second after I pushed the button and I got nothing but air in the photo.

 

[HDowse]

I've had Canon "point & shoot" cameras for several years, upgrading as more megapixels were available. For those of us who need reading glasses, I especially like having an optical viewfinder (like all cameras used to have but which many digitals do not) so I don't have to squint and try to compose the picture on the back screen in tough lighting situations. I currently have a Canon A1100IS, bought it from Amazon, 12.1 megapixels and 4X optical zoom, cost about $150, real good value for the $$$. It's probably been replaced by a newer version by now. It also fits in a pocket or the $10 case I bought locally. You'll have a lot of fun with the new camera....and do be sure it takes AA batteries or the like since the cameras eat batteries and you'll want cheap rechargeables.

 

[ROCKER77]

i have been using a Nikon coolpix L100 for well over a year now and i love it, easy to use takes great pix and affordable i believe between $100-$175

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

I went to Consumers Reports since I believe that they give the most well rounded opinions and are NOT subsidized by advertising. They also give a good synopsis of what is useful and what is not.

 

[29RPU]

Just our two cents, but my wife always compares everything to death, and she recommends the best cannon you can get for your $$$. With all due respect to the other makers, and people who own different cameras, our last three cameras have been AWESOME, trouble free and great results (cannons). She recently picked up a GE because the Megapixil size was almost double the cannon for the same money, but the picture quality was poor. This advice comes with literally about 10hrs of comparing, reading customer reviews, etc. as well as personal use for at least 10years. We have never regretted our cannon purchase for the money.

 

[Fred K-OR]

Take look at Canon SX20. It has a 20x optical zoom (more than any other camera I know of) plus some digal zoom. That is out to around 300mm lense range. It is also around 12 MP capture size. This camera is a good one to start with and to grow with. It should be easy to use on all automatic or if you want to do special settings such as f stops, etc. you can do that. With this kind of optical zoom you can get your close up of your family or get some distant thing you may want to capture. I think they are around $300 plus.

 

[29RPU]

Jeez, i recommend a camera that I can't spell.....Wifey is the camera girl. I'm into carz. Good recommendation Fred.

Remember guys, when you get up around 12MP, you don't have to zoom in as much as you think. As a designer, it always irritates me when people crop their pictures so much. Stand back, get it all in. You'll have plenty of detail and definition to go back in later and get/crop out the part of the picture you might want. Clients will always zoom in and chop off a foot, or a tire. It isn't necessary to get that close.

 

[Dusty]

I am not a point and shot camera fan, however my wife just picked up a Olympus SP-800UZ. Checkout the link for details.
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1499
It has a 30X optical zoom lens(F2.8–F5.6, 28–840MM EQUIVALENT). with a 14 meg senser and image stabilization. For the price it seems like a fair camera, if you shop around on the internet it can be had for about $300.00

 

[29ModelA]

If your looking for a great camera at a good price I have the Fujifilm S700 and love it. Combine it with Energizer Rechargeable 2500 mAh batteries and it lasts forever too. (It will also use normal ones) I believe it was under $150

It takes outstanding pictures, here are a couple samples I have taken with it. These HAVE NOT been altered.

 

[Fred K-OR]

Tom, are you confused now by all the comments. Good luck.

 

[Chris in WNC]

Pentax Optio W20
mine's 4-5 years old and I use it daily in my work- rough service, crawling under houses &c.
fits in my hip pocket
best camera I've ever had.
$300

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

I have a Canon A520 4 MP for my point and shoot and a Canon XTI 8 MP SLR with various different lenses. Actually the A520 with the Macrofocus setting does best for real closeups of parts on the car when they are hard to access.