Digital Camera Suggestions - $500 Budget (1 Viewer)

[ThomasC]

Hey David, how did you find out about the clearance? Was it in the weekly ad, or do you have to go to the store to find out?

 

[Ray Chuang]

In my humble opinion, my choice right now is the Canon PowerShot A80.

There are a number of reasons for this:

1. It uses Compact Flash memory cards, which are widely available.

2. It has very good picture performance.

3. Its swing-out LCD display makes it much easier to do picture composition.

4. It's small enough that you can put it in most coat pockets.

5. Best of all, it uses standard NiMH AA rechargeable batteries, something that you can get fairly easily. Many of the smaller digital cameras uses proprietary battery packs that can be a pain to find because of its non-standard size.

Drew Bethel, the Olympus C-5060Z is a good camera, but its use of non-standard xD memory cards (which can be hard to find) and its confusing menu system means it's not on my recommended list.

 

[ThomasC]

Thanks for your help, everyone! My mind is made up. I'm getting the Canon Powershot S400 or S410. Now I need help with my accessorizing.

What's the best 512mb CF card out there?

Should I go with Canon's battery for backup, or are there reliable third-party manufacturers that sell them cheaper?

Can you recommend a case that can fit *just* the camera, a battery backup, and possibly another CF card?

 

[David Lawson]

Thomas, I had to go to the store; the clearance price isn't advertised, and most of the locations here have either sold out of the S400 or shipped them all to this specific location for clearance.

I'm wondering about the battery myself. I was checking Pricegrabber for options, and generic ones were under $9. I doubt that's a wise investment, however.

CircuitCity.com has a Canon-brand case for $5 that's just big enough to hold the items you've listed. The site says it's out of stock, but I'll let you know if I see one at the store tonight.

 

[ThomasC]

David,

If Circuit City isn't limiting people to one camera per person, is there any chance you could pick one up for me? However, if you're able to, don't count on doing it just yet. I still need to talk to my parents about how I'm going to pay for this, since my final paycheck from work doesn't come my way for almost a month. Plus, I want to see if any of the CCs back in Columbus have it on clearance as well.

 

[Max Leung]

I remember buying a battery for my Canon Digital Rebel for $20 US (compare to nearly $100 US for the OEM). I think it was from an online store called Battery Barn (which sold stuff through ebay). Fast service, and the battery works well, although it fits rather loosely in the Canon battery charger. They claim that they only sell batteries with the overcharge protection, because some non-OEM batteries don't have this and this can be very dangerous.

Lithium-Ion batteries tend to have very long life. I can take 200+ pictures, at 5 megs per picture, on one battery.

 

[Jed M]

I have a "DigiPower" Li-Ion as my second battery and so far, so good (since Christmas). It cost about 20 bucks. I have not noticed a difference in battery performance.

 

[David Lawson]

Thomas, I'll ask them about remaining quantities tonight. If they're down to their last one, I'm afraid you're out of luck.

 

[ThomasC]

Hey David, I just talked with my parents and they can lend me some money, so if you can get two of them tonight, that would be great. If all goes well, please PM or e-mail me so we can figure out how I'm going to pay you and how I'm going to get it.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I picked upt he Kodak DX6490, which is a 4.0M pixel camera and comes with the dock that both charges the camera and does one touch transfer of pictures to the PC. No other camera I have seen comes close to the ease of use. I also love the 10x optical lens and have found that it is beneficial to have the optical zoom capability vs the digital zoom.

[url=http://webhome.idirect.com/~orange1/kodak6490.jpg] [/url]

 

[ThomasC]

David,

If they're out and you have a cell phone on you, please call me ASAP, because Dell has a deal on the S410 for $329.10, and it ends tonight. I PMed you with my phone number. If you don't have a cell, just let me know by e-mail or PM or here. Thanks!

 

[David Lawson]

Thomas, YGPM. I should get to Circuit City around 5:30 today, so I'll call you from there.

 

[ThomasC]

It is done. Unfortunately, David told me that Circuit City was all out of the S400s, and they were marked up to $400 or something, so it wouldn't have been worth it anyways. I took advantage of the Dell deal and got the S410 and a Canon battery for $387.78, which unfortunately included $24.52 of tax. Being an Ohio resident can suck sometimes. Oh well.

I'm still taking CF card and case recommendations.

 

[Jed M]

This may be a bit much, but this is a pretty nice deal.
This is from HTF's Got Apex:
512mb for $106 shipped
If you have never shopped at Buy.com and spend over $150 you can use a $10 off coupon also. I have never had a problem with any of my three SanDisks.

 

[ThomasC]

Jed, that's a Secure Digital card. My camera requires a CF card. Thanks anyways!

 

[Jed M]

oops, yeah I missed it was SD. I need to look at the picture next time before I copy the link. My bad. :b
Sorry I couldn't help but I still stand by SanDisk for my S400.

 

[larry mac]

I bought this one at Sams last week for $418. Noticed yesterday that it is now $398 (they said I could get the difference refunded).

Some observations after only a few days:

~ love the large 2.2" display and the EVF, the refresh is completely smooth and seemless (noticed on Hewlet Packards larger and more expensive 5MP,10X camera that the EVF constantly fluttered when moved). Both displays on the Kodak will go black and white and boost brightness in low light.

~ li-ion battery lasts a long time.

~ nice software package, simple and easy. Especially impressed with the "enhance picture" feature. It automatically adds brightness, contrast and color. It gives you a side by side comparison for acceptance and I've liked the results more often than not.

~ no manual focus - bummer! All other settings have manual options however. This thing is extremely versatile.

~ the hold is a little awkward, there's not enough room between the lens body and the handgrip to get your fingers in there good.

~ no image stabilization, very difficult to get good pictures at extreme zoom unless there is pretty good light as the camera is relatively small and lightweight and the shutter release is pretty stiff.

~ it has dedicated buttons on the back for review and delete so you don't have to go into the menu. I like the layout of controls and buttons. Very useful is the mini-joystick/button to navigate the menu options with your thumb, and a unique thumbweel/button to navigate the manual exposure settings with your shutter button finger.

~ there is a hotshoe connector and a tripod socket, so I guess I could hook it up to one of my big handlemount flashes (although that probably would look a little ridiculous).

~ it turns off the display and/or EVF after a set time to conserve battery power, there are sensors next to the EVF however, that turn it back on automatically when you bring it up to your face again or just wave your finger in front of the sensors.

~ would really like a threaded lens hood for a UV filter, that lens cap business is for the birds. I think you can order one.

Sounds like I'm doing more complaining than praising, but your not going to get everything in this price range. Plus there are pros and cons with every camera. There are too many features to list here.

This is one fine camera, both in looks, feel and performance. The optics are sharp and the photos outstanding. It has full manual exposure control. The dock and software are pluses.

 

[Clay Kilpatrick]

Personally, I have been looking at this camera right here.

Pentax Option S40

It looks to do everything I need, has pretty good reviews, and Costco has a price that can't be beat.

Clay

 

[David Lawson]

That's what I get for going home to read reviews instead of jumping on the deal when I found it. Better safe than sorry, I suppose, but I'm still amazed that a discontinued camera can jump from $284 to $399 overnight. They were generous enough to offer the display model for $359. :rolleyes

I missed the Dell S410 deal as well, since I got caught up in some home wiring projects with some friends last night. The search continues...

 

[ThomasC]

David, Todd Hochard posted in this thread that he got the S410 for $325 at Wells Digital. By the time he posted it, I had already bought it from Dell, and there are some bad reviews of their service at PriceGrabber. As I said before, I'm leaving for Taiwan very soon, so I really don't have time to deal with potentially bad service.