Help me choose a digital camera!! (1 Viewer)

[Cam S]

Well, I'm well overdue for a new digital camera to replace my aging 1MP Kodak camera. I use it alot for both pleasure and business, taking pictures of houses and properties for clients. I'd like a camera with atleast 3MP or higher but would like to keep the price under $900 Canadian. I would also like it to be compatible with Compact Flash memory as I already have 128megs of it, and possibly work with the new IBM Microdrive memory. I would like it to have an adjustable shutter speed, and arpeture setting as well.

A few of the camera's I have been looking at include:

Casio QV3500
Casio QV4000
Canon PowerShot S30
Kodak DX4900
Edit: Nikon Coolpix 885

Does anyone own any of these? I'd like to hear comments on ease of use, quality, options etc etc.

Thanks guys

 

[Daniel Swartz]

I can't say enough good things about the Canon PowerShot G2. I've been very happy with the results.

 

[Jude Faelnar]

I completely agree with Daniel. The Canon Powershot G2 can do all that you want your new camera to do (as you mentioned in your post)... and more. You can count me as another very satisfied G2 user.
JUDE

 

[felix_suwarno]

use the G2 if you are an advanced photographer who knows how to use the features. it is a killer camera, and expensive.
i purchased the G1 instead. my only problem with it is that in door pictures have bluish tint on them. chroma bug, i think. outdoor pictures are awesome. it is also easy to use.
one more problem : if you wanted to add lens / filter, it is very inconvenient. i have a UV filter, but if i use blitz, the blitz light would hit a small part of the elongated additional lens, so there is an area on the picture that is not lit by the blitz.
notice the bluish tint on this picture?
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outdoor pictures look good, here is a sample :
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[Cam S]

I was looking at the G2 but it retails for $1300. I do have a budget, and I'd like to keep within it. ANy comments regarding the other ones i mentioned?

 

[MichaelPe]

Wow, the sample images from the Canon website are stunning (PowerShot S30/S40):
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s40-30/sample.html

 

[Chris Souders]

Hey,
I have the S30 and like it. Have only had it a month, but the battery life for the proprietary battery is pretty good. Pictures look good. I got mine at www.abesofmaine.com and got a great deal. I believe it fits with your requirements and microdrive.
Chris Souders

 

[Tim Kilbride]

I've got the Nikon Coolpix 800 and love it...it's got a lot of features that a manual 35mm offers (bracketing, aperature, shutter speed, flash override,etc. ) takes great pictures, and is capable of taking external optical filters and such...it is a little shy of 3mpixels, but I think the Coolpix 880 hits that mark...and you can get it for well under your price point if you hunt around!!! I also have a Nikon 900 at work...any of the Nikons would suit you well...


Tim K.

 

[Cam S]

Do you guys think that a camera that is capable of using the new IBM Microdrives as an important feature? some of these camera's can only hold a a couple pictures on a 16meg card. I have a 128meg card, but still that isn't much.

 

[Dennis Reno]

I don't think so Cam. If I recall correctly, 512MB cards are now available. They are expensive, but available!

A 128MB card should be enough to hold several dozen shots I would think. I use a 64MB card with my Kodak DC4800 and it will hold approx. 60 shots at the highest quality.

My father-in-law is an amateur photographer who finally took the digital plunge with the Canon S40. He loves it. Its small enough to be easy to carry on trips but still has a ton of user controlled options. If your budget allows I would take a close look at the S40.

 

[Gary Hensley]

The DX4900 is a great camera for the money. Simple to use and takes stunning pictures. Picked on up two months ago and love it. 256Meg Compact Flash card was 89.00 and holds ~205 4.1 megapixel pics.

I picked up a new Canon S9000 printer when I got the camera and it does an incredible job for printing photos!

 

[Tim Kilbride]

Gary,
I'm not questioning you in any way...but

256Meg Compact Flash card was 89.00 and holds ~205 4.1 megapixel pics.

Doesn't that come out to over 800Meg on a 256M card? Does your camera do any type of compression? My Nikon can hold about 120 full size (2.1M) pictures on a 256M card...it saves them as TIFF's. I'm just curious, that would be a definite reason to upgrade to your unit from mine...

Thanks
Tim K.

 

[Todd Hochard]

Tim,

Most cameras normally use JPEG for storage. It's a very generous (meaning light) compression, so the typical JPEG artifacts are essentially non-existent.
I have the Sony DSC-S70 (2000 model, 3.3Mpixel), and a 2048x1536 shot typically takes up 1.2-1.3MB/picture in JPEG. If I put it in TIFF mode, the pics occupy about 6MB each.

Felix,

Your blue tint looks like the white balance on the camera is stuck in Outdoor mode. Check to see if you can put in Auto or indoor, and try that.

 

[Jared_B]

Tim, I believe Gary had JPEG pictures in mind when he made his statement. TIFF images are not compressed at all, while JPEG images do have varying degrees of compression. A 4Mp TIFF image would probably be at least 10-15 megs, while the same picture in JPEG format could be anywhere from 200k up to 4 megs.

 

[Cam S]

How much of a difference in picture quality is there between the Tiff images and the uncompressed and compressed version of JPEG??

 

[Dustin B]

What are you planning on using it for Cam? If you are just snapping pictures you are going to view on your computer or post on the net even a 16meg card will take oodles of pictures.

Set the camera to compress to 1024x768 jpegs with a normal compression level and you could fit hundreds of images on a 128meg card.

 

[Cam S]

Dustin, I'll be using the camera alot, and will be using it for alot of business. I've been documenting the stages of construction of a clients dream house, so that needs alot of pictures, and of high quality. I also like to take a ton of pics just for pleasure.

 

[Andrew W]

Most Canon cameras can store images as JPEG or in a raw format. The raw format is compressed losslessly and can be transformed into a TIFF or JPEG by the convesion software.

Raw image files can be considered "digital negatives" since they are the data that is collected directly from the CCD or CMOS chip.

The typica raw file size of a 4.1MP image from my G2 is about 3MB. I can get around 85 pictures on a 256MB CF card.

The size of the JPEGs vary because you can select the size and the quality.

 

[Todd Hochard]

My Sony doesn't have selectable levels of compression. It uses a generous algorithm, with about 4:1 compression from TIFF.
At 2048x1536, I can get about 50 pics on my 64meg Memory Stick.
And, I can't tell the difference between the JPEG and TIFF. I've tried close analysis, but I just don't see it.

Oh, and I take EVERYTHING at the highest resolution. You never know when you may want to make a high quality print of something. Better safe than sorry!

 

[Dan D.]

Felix,
I too have a G1, but don't have the blue tint problem you are experiencing. Is it possible you don't have your white balance set correctly? I have great success indoors and out with the Automatic setting (AWB).

BTW, I would definitely recommend either the G1 or G2 to anyone in the market. I haven't touched my Canon A2E SLR in over a year.