What is the best digital camera for an novice to an amateur?

Answer 1

IF you're going to get serious about photography take the big dive into DSLRs. If you go with the major players, Canon, Nikon, possibly Olympus, your investment in lenses will go forward if you decide to go to the professional bodies. If you do decide on going to a more serious body you can resell the old one to finance the new body and keep all the good lenses you bought as you progress. If you're sure that you only want to shoot snapshots, then most major camera brands will suit you. For a quick recommendation list see:
www.steves-digicams.com and look at what he considers the "best cameras". I don't always agree with him but he gives you a starting point to do camparisons.

Answer 2

Not sure about the S2980, but I bought a Fuji S2950 and it was the worst camera I ever sold. After 2 months, I got rid of it. There were two major problems with it. First the long lens resulted in poor optical results. The lens tended to be a lot more blurry compared to my other cameras/lenses. I believe this is the result of the higher power of the lens. And this seems to be a common characteristic of most bridge cameras. The second problem was that the shutter delay was horrendous. Shutter delay is the time between depressing the shutter button and the shutter actually opening to take the photo. This camera had a 0.8sec delay, and while that might not seem like much, it was no good for sports/action. For example, a 90mph fastball takes about 0.8 seconds to cover the distance from pitcher to batter. If you tried to take a photo of the pitcher by depressing the shutter button when he was releasing the ball, the ball would be at the batter when the camera would actually take the photo of the pitcher. The camera does have some sense of manual exposure control, which is necessary to learn photography, but the aperture controls were so limited on the S2950 it was almost useless. When I sold it, I bought the Canon SX130, which was a superior camera in the same price range. However, they are no longer available. Check out either Canon SX150 or SX160, which are the latest iterations in this model line, and while they will be priced about the same, I think you will find them superior to Fuji.

Answer 3

Consumer Reports for November 2006 has ranked the Canon Powershot A620 as the best compact digital camera. It is becoming almost a legend for longevity at the top of various consumer lists. It looks like this model has been replaced by the A630, which I would expect to be just as popular. The A640 appears quite similar and shares the "600" series numbering, so I guess it's just another upgraded version of the now-classic A620. It looks pretty much the same except for baing a 10 MP camera. The continuous drive is a little slower, but the files are larger, so that's no surprise. I own a few Nikon DSLR's and I'd buy the Canon A630 or A640 for myself.

With this camera, you will find the memory card is a cute little token of thanks from Canon, but not much more. Buy a 1 GB Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III card. You will NEED the increased capacity and write speed to fully realize the benefits of your camera.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_a620%2Ccanon_a630%2Ccanon_a640&show=all

If you want to trim the budget a little, the Canon Powershot A430, A530 or A540, are all great choices. You will need a decent memory card, though. I'd say get at least 512 MB.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_a430%2Ccanon_a530%2Ccanon_a540&show=all

Answer 4

My personal opinion...any Canon A-line series. I came into the entire photography world through Canon, beginning with the Canon A70. The little thing was incredibly tough, rugged, and took some superb pictures. As an amateur Aviation Photographer, I can't say I was truly dissappointed with Canon's products. The thing worked to the best of its ability and after 4 years of loyal service, it gave out. Now I have its newer brother, the Canon A630...which is still doing absolutely marvelous. It's just as tough and rugged as its older cousins.

It's battery life is superb...it can be a bit heavy (4 AA batteries) but they last long and don't quit for a while (Haven't replaced them yet in 2 weeks with on and off usage). The menus are very intuitive and incredibly simple to use. Not to mention they are common throughout the Canon camera lines so the learning curve is down to a minimum between cameras. In addition, the 8 megapixels on my newest Canon makes for absolutely vivid and clear pictures. Plus the large 2.5 inch display can be folded in and out.

The only downsides I can say off the bat are that one: they only give you a 16MB memory card for free so you HAVE to buy more, larger cards like 1GB and up. But luckily the camera can take either SD or MMC so its easy and relatively inexpensive. That and there is no image stabilization...you have to hold your hands steady or else. Other than that....its a superb piece of equipment and I would reccommend it to anyone thinking about beginning to use digital cameras or who want a good, all around camera for their own activities.

Answer 5

I like the Kodaks. I'm pricing a v610 for the Thanksgiving Day sales. Add a 4 gig card and you have a video cam.

Answer 6

Fiji Film, Sony, Panasonic or Casio..they are all good brands and most are reasonably priced. Happy dig camera searching!!

Answer 7

Kodak easyshare I say would be a good one.

they usually range around 5 megapixels and are very easy to use and also lightweight and durable.

They are priced roughly at $200 at target.

Hoped this helped you.

Answer 8

you can chose between CANON or SONY SNAPSHOT