I'm finally ready to get a digital camera but I know nothing about them. I could use some advice on what to look for such as 1) what megapixels to get 2) do i need extra memory cards 3) should i buy a photo printer or just use my normal pc printer? Anything you can offer would be much appreciated.
2006-07-31 06:27:43 · 6 answers · asked by Jimbo 2 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Cameras
This is a big subject, so it's hard to tell your everything. If you know anything about film photography, a lot of the volcabulary will carryover, so you just have to learn how the idea is implemented in digital. Then there are some new ideas that are digital only.
Search on the web for "digital photography" and "tutorial", and find a friend to help you get started.
Megapixels: More lets you print bigger enlargements. 3MP is enough for beginners - you could print 4x6's and 5x7's.
Memory cards: Most cameras do not come with any, so get at least 1. A 256 MB card will hold 200 pics from a 3MP camera. More MP's requires bigger cards. Some people have 1 card and empty it often to computer; other people have extra or bigger cards for their convenience.
Printer: many normal pc printers will do fine with photos if set to the highest quality and set for photo paper. To start with experiment with your own printer or use a photo center. 4x6's at home cost at least 30 cents including photo paper and ink; photo centers cost 16 to 29 cents. (large prints are cheaper at home).
Zoom: Consider only "Optical" zoom, where the lens actually changes to magnify. Digital zoom just stretches pixels and loses quality. A 3x zoom is fine to get started.
Brands: Stick to familiar camera name brands unless your budget absolutely requires that you choose an unknown. You can get a 3MP name brand camera for $150 or less. The $100 and under cameras often have troubles.
Feel: Get a camera the feels good in your hands, and has easy to reach controls. This should be Fun! You should like it!
Good Luck
2006-07-31 07:59:50 · answer #1 · answered by fredshelp 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Depends what you mean by a camera. Currently, pocket cameras are all the rage with many different types and abilities. Although convenient, none of them are as good as a real camera, even the top of the line ones that are more expensive than a real camera.
If you want a good, non-pocket sized camera, you should budget about $500 for it. Currently, the best one in that class is the Sony DSC-H5 ultrazoom camera. It's 7 megapixels with a 12x zoom. For the typical camera user, you will be VERY happy with that camera. Buy a half gig Sony Memory Stick Pro for it and you are good to go.
If you want the best, Sony makes the DSC-R1 camera, a 10 megapixel monster with an extremely nice lens and very nice electronics. This camera takes professional quality photos but is still a fixed lens digital camera and easy for most people to use. About $900 should buy you the camera and a 1 gig Sony Memory Stick Pro. I use this camera and it is VERY nice and a steal at that price.
If you are a serious hobbiest and amateur photographer (ie you enjoy the technical end of photography), you might want a digital SLR camera and a few lenses for it (note that lenses are expensive). Be aware that the lens they typically put in a kit with these are inferior quality. It's a good idea to buy the camera as the body only and then buy one or more good lenses seperately. An entry level SLR with a good lens will perform about the same as the R1 but will do better in challenging situations like low light. The body will run you about $900. A good lens maybe $500 or more. If you are going to buy an SLR camera, ONLY buy Canon. They completely dominate this market and for good reason.
A top quality SLR will run you in the $3000 to $4000 range.
Oh yeah. Don't buy a printer. Any printer under several thousand dollars prints terrible photos. And you certainly shouldn't use your normal computer printer. Simply go to any Walmart carrying your cameras memory card in a safe place (they make special protective wallets for this). Go to their photo section and plug your card into the scanner. Select all the photos you want printed and then come back in an hour and buy them for like 22 cents each for normal photo. There is simply no way any equipment you could possibly buy can compete with the $20,000 high speed photo printer they have there. And it's so cheap, there is just no reason to print out your own photos unless they are sex pics of the wife and you don't want anyone seeing them (haha...even then, I've snuck plenty of those types of photos through there and no one has ever said a single thing about it and I doubt they ever look at the photos they print ever).
2006-07-31 08:04:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The higher number of megapixels, the better quality prints. You don't need extra memory cards, when you take the pics, you'll have a USB cable to download them right onto your computer. From here, you can automatically delete the pics from your camera as if you put a new roll of film in...Personally, I'd use your own printer at home, or even take them to a pharmacy to print them from their photo printer machine. The digital photo printers are over-priced, and ink costs a butt-load!!! Have fun with your new camera. I hope I've helped some.
2006-07-31 06:38:08 · answer #3 · answered by Shining Ray of Light 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Megapixels" are the number of points in the picture. The more you have, the better quality *on paper* you'll get. If you don't plan to print pictures, the number of megapixels is useless because your screen is probably set to display something like 1.3 megapixels. So even if you buy a 7.0 megapixels, you won't see more than 1.3 megapixels on your screen.
Don't buy a printer because you won't end up printing pictures as much as you thought. Bring them to a store (Wal-Mart, Costco, etc.) to have them printed at a very low price.
Start with the available memory. If you end up not having enough memory, buy some.
2006-07-31 06:34:13 · answer #4 · answered by Lyvy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sony DSC-HX10V/B Type of Camera: Compact Effective pixels: 18.2MP Optical Zoom: 16x LCD Size: 3 Inches Price: 14999/-
2016-03-16 09:34:41 · answer #5 · answered by Michele 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have an hp digital camera and its great! after im ready to download, i save my pics on photomax.com and i can print or make a dvd or a photo book. there are so many possibilities, there are so many things you can put your pics on its wonderful!! go to photomax.com and join for free with my e-mail address(photomax_jess@sbcglobal.net) it also works for camera phones!!
2006-07-31 08:09:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go with an Olympus and you can't go wrong.
2006-07-31 06:30:45 · answer #7 · answered by Jenny A 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋