Digital Cameras

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jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
I'm in the market for a digital camera. A lot of the shots you guys have on here, especially the action shots look great. I was wondering if you guys could suggest any good digital still cameras. I'm thinking of buying on eBay, but I'd be happy just to find one for around $225 or less. Around that ballpark. Thanks if you can help.
 
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IrishEKU

A General PITA.
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Apr 21, 2002
3,806
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Ouch.....I will suggest toning down on the red! It kinda hurts the eyes!
 

Rooster

Today's Tom Sawyer
Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Aug 24, 2000
3,292
1
I paid $265 for my Olympus, software package and all. I haven't tried any action photos yet, but the still shots, especially close ups, are just un real. You should see my wallpaper!
 
K

KTA

Member
Jul 14, 2000
287
0
olympus makes a fantastic camera. . just stick with a major brand (olympus, hp, we have a sony), make sure it is 2 megapixels or better and you will get great pictures.

fyi.... our sony 3 megapixel takes killer photos but if it's a little dark and you use the flash, peoples skin tends to look a little pinkish.. but its not too bad
 

nikki

Moto Junkie
Apr 21, 2000
5,802
1
Kodak DC3400 2.0 mexapixel - good zoom, great action shots, and... even better - great price - $200. It isn't that good at night or at real busy photos like SX races - because it doesn't know what to focus on. But I'm really happy with mine - I take 300+ shots on mine in a month, mostly at local races, and some of the action photos are simply amazing.
 
J

jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
Thanks a lot. I'm going to keep shopping around. Would you guys suggest ebay or just getting it from an electronics store?
 

DahlElama

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Aug 15, 2001
329
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Check www.ubid.com as well. My pops and brother picked up a couple refurb Sony DSC50's for about $270 each on ubid. Very nice 2.1MP camera. I took some shots at a Qualifier using it and I was impressed with the motion shots. This isn't the greatest pic but here is an example and there are more in my gallery


Last week I picked up a Sony DSC75 3.1MP (Best Buy). It's a great setup.
 
C

Chief

~SPONSOR~
Damn Yankees
Aug 17, 2001
682
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I have a kodak dx3500. I bought it with enough memory to store 60 or so best quality pics for about 200 bucks. It's 2.1 megapixel w/ 3x digital zoom (the digital zoom has so far proven itself worthless). Go with optical zoom if you get a zoom.

The best pics I take are up close where I don't have to crop. It's taken a little getting used to, but it performs as expected for the $. I use it a LOT and have gotten some great shots.

On what KTA said, sometimes cancelling out the flash helps in low light conditions for me also, most of the time I try taking pics like that first.

Make sure to get a self timer so you can hop into some shots.

My camara and software use jpg format and I haven't figured out how to change that easily. TIF format is supposed to be much better for storing originals and reworking them.

The Kodak digital site has a lot of good tips for working with your photos.

Best part of all, NO MORE ROLLS OF FILM LYING AROUND!!!!! Paid for itself in 6 months.

Good Luck & Have FUN!!!!!!!!

Chief
 
M

motometal

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 3, 2001
2,680
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I realize Jaypro wants to buy a camera and not a cam-corder, but question...

I see that many of the new cam corders have the ability to work like a digital camera. Since I don't have either, I was considering just buying the cam-corder so I could do both. There seems to be quite a bit of overlap between the capabilities of these two units. Any comments?

Obviously, the cam corder would work way better for video clips of any length, but is the cam corder better at still shots? Or is it just a matter of expense and bulkiness?
 
J

jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
Two years ago my family bought a new video camera. And at the time we didn't go with the one with the digital still mode because we figured that we had little use for the digital function, and at the time they were pretty expensive. Boy to I wish we would have, but I guess we'll just get the still now and it'll be fine.
 

Senior KX Rider

Super Power AssClown
Nov 9, 1999
8,575
0
motometal, I have a Sony digital camcorder that takes stills and does an excellent job. It also can be hooked up to the computer with fire wire and you can take your pick of frames to get great stills. The only negative for me is that there are some places I won't take the camcorder. I have an Olympus 460Z digital for those places. It is an excellent digital camera for the money.
 
K

kev_rm

~SPONSOR~
Jun 7, 2002
195
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I like all the sony units - all the cameras in the same price range have similar features - but sony shines with their interoperability with your PC - quality, reliable, K.I.S.S. drivers and interfaces that just WORK.
 
L

linusb

~SPONSOR~
Apr 20, 2002
276
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I have been using an Olympus C-2020 Zoom at my workplace for the last 2 or 3 years and it is excellent.

Bought a Kodak DC3400 for $199 the day after Thanksgiving at Walmart's big sale. Took it back and bought a Canon S10 on ebay. I thought the indoor shots were too fuzzy on the DC23400. The S10 is okay, but color balance is sometimes not great.

I'd recommend Ebay any day. New, used, or refurb. My S10 was used and in fine shape. I've probably taken over 1000 pictures with it. My approach on photography is quality by quantity. If I take 100 pics, maybe 5 or 6 will be pretty good. The rest usually have a problem with lighting or composition.
 
C

Chili

Lifetime Sponsor - Photog Moderator
Apr 9, 2002
8,062
17
Anyone have an opinion on an a Minolta Dimage E201? I think I can get it for a decent price as a discontinued model.

Nikki what ISO setting do you use for your action shots?

Senior KXRider as far as that firewire hookup goes, my folks have a fuji dv camcorder that has the same ability but no one has a video capture card and I took some great film of my kid doing a major crash in the whoops and would like to get some pics from the video. Do I need anything other than a firewire cable to complete this task?
 

Milk

Looking for Mr. Right
Jun 28, 2002
1,452
0
Originally posted by Senior KX Rider
I have a Sony digital camcorder that takes stills and does an excellent job.
Click to expand...

Senior,

I just bought a Sony DCR-TRV140 and I think the digital stills suck so bad I stopped even taking them. Did you have to adjust anything in the camera to get better quality stills? I also noticed that the pixels are way small when I take a still. Again, did you adjust anything? What model dod you get?

I have a 265.00 HP dig camera that ibought for stills and close-ups. I had it before the camera. It takes awesome shots and comes with easy to use software. I have found that if you hold down the button halfway to take a pic and let it focus on the point you will snap, it takes nice action shots too. You have to kinda lead it though.

Milk
 

Milk

Looking for Mr. Right
Jun 28, 2002
1,452
0
Thanks Senior!!
 
C

Chili

Lifetime Sponsor - Photog Moderator
Apr 9, 2002
8,062
17
Software is not a problem the real question is for fireware is it a special port that my machine may or may not have? I haven't had time to check my pc at home yet although I'm not sure what I'd be looking for :)

No one familiar and have an opinion on the Minolta Dimage E201? I've read some of the online reviews but it's always nice to actually hear from someone on a board that most likely will use the camera for the same uses I will!
 

Milk

Looking for Mr. Right
Jun 28, 2002
1,452
0
You have to have a fireWire card to use the FireWire connection. Im not too familiar with them, but I have heard that some sound cards have them in them.

Here is a link to an Adaptec FireWire card for 44.95. I have no idea if that reasonable or not, but Adaptec makes a quality product.

http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?product_id=228374

Milk
 
J

jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
Well, we got a camera. We got the HP Photosmart 318. It's 2.3 megapixel so pretty good quality shots. I got one of my bike in my gallery now, it looked better when it was just taken, but I had to shrink it a good bit since I took it on normal quality making the filesize about a half-megabyte. So far I love the camera though.
 
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