Digital Cameras?

Question

I am looking into getting a digital camera and I dont really know where to start. I don't need anything fancy I will probably get it a Target or somethig, in fact price is more of a concern, I was thinking of spending aroung $120.00, but there are so many out there with so many features. How do I know how many megapixel's is enough and what about optical zoom, and (sorry this might sound really dumb) don't you have to buy something like a memory card? How do I know how much memory I need and what one will be compatable with the camera?

Answer 1

I am assuming you are looking for a compact. I know you don't want to hear this, but for a $120 you will not find a decent digital camara. Trust me, I went the cheap route and now own a camera that is virtually worthless plus the cost of buying a camera that would actually get the job done.

The challenge with a cheap digital is that they don't perform well. Pictures are often off color in lower light. Additionally, pictures are often blurry unless you use a tri-pod. So you have your cheap camera that takes pictures that suck - so why bother? Save up and buy one of the following cameras and think of it as an investment. Trust me, otherwise you will spend money on something you will be frustrated with and will rarely use because of your disapointment with the quality of pictures you are taking.

Kick your budget up to $160 and get the Canon A520 with 4 megapixels and 4 times optical zoom. 4 megapixels is plenty with quality camera like this. Optical zoom allows you to zoom in without dimminishing the quality of the image. 4 times optical is decent. After that, your camera converts to digital zoom which the more you zoom the lower the quality of your image will be.

The best compact digital camera for any amount of money is the Canon A620 selling at around $220 with 7 megapixel (you want at least 4) and the perferred optical zoom over digital zoom of 4 times. For the same price the HP R817 has the same features but with 5 times zoom, but the Canon is still a slight favorite.

As for memory, your camera will come with a limited amount of internal memory that will store about 30 to 100 images. If you want more than that, then you buy the memory card specific to your camera. The higher the memory of course, the higher the cost ($25 to $85).

Answer 2

You should start by asking yourself, what you're going to be using the camera for most of the time. What kinds of photos are you going to be taking, landscapes, portraits, still life?

If you're going to spend 120 bucks for a camera, I'd personally reccommend putting a bit more with it and getting a Canon A530., the NIkon L3, or the Sony S500. They've got plenty of features that will do cool things, plus it's a 5 or 6(in the case of the Sony)megapixel camera. Which means that the photos you take with it will be very high quality and very crisp. The camera will come with a memory card to get you started, but you'll need to eventually add one with more memory on it so you can take more pictures. The SD Cards now, are much cheaper than the Compact Flash cards. You can get a 1 Gigabyte card for 25-35 bucks.

If you're going to put 120 bucks down on a camera, you should invest a bit more to get something which will last longer than simply settling for a brand like, Vivatar, Fuji, or some other one.

Check out the DPreview sight below, lots of helpful information there.

Good luck!

Answer 3

On top of what you've already been told, you'll need to think about the following too.
If you want to take pictures that could be published, it's recommended you get a camera of no less than 6mp. If you plan to take close ups, for example of flowers, then you will need a camera with a macro setting. As for a memory card, you will need one almost certainly, it seems that most camera's without a memory card can only store a handful of photo's. So it really is essential to buy a memory card, the price varies and depends on capacity, so make sure you ask how many top quality photo's a card will hold, that will tell you what size card you need.
Good luck and have a great time playing with your new camera.

Answer 4

Kodak makes a couple good ones for the price and there are more options to buy later, like printer docks etc, Look for at least a 6 mb resolution. I have bought a couple great ones on e-bay for under that price. Look at Walmart and Target there are usually bundle sales where you get the dock with it ( not a printer dock but a charger dock so your camera is always ready. Then the memory card in the camera you can replace and get alarger one, you will have options for using it for video also if the camera has a large enough memory.. e-mail me if you have more ?? I will see if I can help more [e-mail]

Answer 5

Here's everything you need and you will be very happy:
Canon Powershot A530, plus 512 MB Lexar card for $180:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=8612&A=details&Q=&sku=433216&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

Oops, that costs too much. If you can't get Santa to help you out, go to WalMart. On-line, they have a few cameras worth owning in your price range.

Fuji FinePix A400 - $120:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5079303

They also have a few HP cameras in the $100 range that are decent.

Yes, you will need to spend about $20-30 on a memory card. Read the package to see what you need, but it's probably an "SD" card.

Answer 6

You could try Wal Mart... go for the HP 435 it sells at about $125. It has 5.2 MP and is a great quality camera..

Answer 7

RadioShack has alot of good n cheap cameras, Like Kodak or Panasonic which start at the price of 89.99.