Digital Camera

[neophyte]

Whatever you decide to get.......wait two years and buy it a 1/3rd the current retail price on EBAY. I am currently using a Nikon CoolPix 5000.

[Amos F.]

I spent a lot of time looking for a digital and the one that started it all for me was the Canon s2 is. I have always used just one camera since I was 16 years old. I saved for a camera and I bought a Minolta X7A. I still have it and it takes awesome pictures period. Of course it helps nowing how to use it and having 20 + years with it. Batteries are an important thing in a digital. I have bought somewhere around 25 or 30 batteries for the X7A over the years and they are not a big expense. Some camera use a 'version' of a 'AA' battery and my brotherinlaw has one of these. It takes four 'AA's and he has a hard time getting 100 pictures if he is using the flash out of a charging. I bought a Kodak P850 and have been able to make over 200 pictures per charge very easily and have a spare battery for it(not'AA' style) I think it is called nickel hidried or something like that. We all went to EAA Oshkosh last year and my camera was just at the end of the second battery at the end of the day. I had a lot of pictures.
If I was you I would go to google and search digital camera and go to one of the review sites that gives you a comparison and compare the s2 is and it will give you a lot of comparisons to look at and then search for best price from there. I bought mine online and probably saved about $200 dollars by doing so.
ONE MORE THING!!!! When you have a camera picked out go find it in a store where you can get your hands on it. Is the zoom control in the right spot? The shutter button? The on off button? The review button? Does the viewfinder seem to fit you? I widh I felt I had the money to spend for the Canon SLR or Even the Fuji 9000 but maybe some other day.

Always remember that your camera is insured on your house insurance policy and if it gets smahed they will usually replace them. I bought a real nice Yashika because I thought that my Minolta was getting 'old' and I had it on the tracter with me while side dressir what I am doing, I am a farmer) and it fell out of the tool box on the fender and be the time I got the tracter stopped I had run over it. Believe me there was nothing salvageable. I forgot about it after a while (PS that was the second roll of film in the camera when it happened) and my insurance agent says I'll give you and example if you dropped your camera off the tracter and ran over it we would pay for it. Of course this was a few years after it happened and I said you think you could help me out. He said I doubt it but I'll ask. They gave me half what I paid for it because I only had parts of the body left, I through out the lense pieces when I was in the field that day. I couldn't belive my luck.
Sorry so long winded though I would give you all a laugh with my luck. Wish it was always that good with insurance companies.
Amos F.

[cope]

This is where I checked out my three digicams. I have the original C-200, one of the first HP camaras. It is 6 years old and still doing a great job as a point & shoot. I then bought an Olympus C720 refurbished, and it is a great camera as is the whole Olympus C7XX series. 8-10X zoom and SLR styling in a smaller package. My newest is the HP 945. I have heard a lot of HP bashing, but I currently own 2 cameras, 4 printers, 1 scanner, 1 PC (and another on order) and have had no problems with any of them. I sold my first HP ink jet to my son-in-law's sister 5 years ago and it is still doing great.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

[Pitalplace]

Thanks for the information everyone. Amos, aware of side dressing, been there done that. My deductible is so high that if it's smashed, it's smashed. Think I am leaning to the S2 and have been watching E bay for the best buy
Anyway thanks everyone

[Amos F.]

Pitalplace (and everyone else) that is probably the worst spelling, typing job I have ever done. Good thing you knew what I was talking about. I think you will really like the S2 IS. I felt it had the best placement of the most common operating controls. Understand abou the high insurance premiums!!! The camera incident was about 12 years ago.
Amos F

[Lu47Dan]

I bought a Vivitar 2.1 mega pixel digital camera about three years ago for around $150.00 , it has been dropped, kicked , taken four wheeling , and has taken more abuse than I can discribe and it still works great . I got a set of Ni-MH batteries and a charger with it , that have worked fine . One thing you should make sure you can get a A/C adapter for it before you buy it ,so when you are in the shop you can run it without worring about the batteries .

[sarge75801]

Go to this website:

http://www.dpreview.com

they review all digital cameras in great detail. I chose my Nikon D70 because of them, and I love it! Wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Noisy Nova]

I never go out without my Canon 2mp Digital Elph, bought on ebay. For serious stuff a Fiji S2PRO and for backup a film camera, Nikon f80.

[monte55]

[QUOTE=Amos F.;896]

If I was you I would go to google and search digital camera and go to one of the review sites that gives you a comparison and compare the s2 is and it will give you a lot of comparisons to look at and then search for best price from there. I bought mine online and probably saved about $200 dollars by doing so.
ONE MORE THING!!!! When you have a camera picked out go find it in a store where you can get your hands on it. Is the zoom control in the right spot? The shutter button? The on off button? The review button? Does the viewfinder seem to fit you?
******************

After you go to the local store and touch their camera and play with it and possibly waste their time, where do you buy the camera? By reading your post I am assuming you would go back online and buy your camera; suggesting to everyone else that is the way to save money. You may save money but this is not an ethical way to do it. How about this? Next time you need to purchase something but you want to go to the store first to touch and feel; try telling that salesperson what you are doing and see how much help you will get. If you are just going to the store that has a large display, open to the public and are not picking the brain and wasting the time of the sales person; then I see nothing wrong with your idea. Just because many big box stores' sales people are not on commission doesn't mean that a sales person can school you in photography while they are being paid by the store.
....Just my two cents.....

[loulou61]

I use a Nikon F4 I got from Wal-mart for $139. It has 3x optical zoom.
4MP. You get a 1GB SD card for $20. It take good pics. My sister has a Kodak Z612 ( they also make a 712) Under $200 and has 10x zoom. It takes great pics. I would say almost any name brand camera you buy will take nice pic's, you just need to learn your camera. That's the great thing with digitals, take a pile of pics ,keep the ones you like and erase the card and start over.