I have looked at a bunch of different ones. The limit I can spend is $250.00 and I have to get it from Best buy, because I am putting it on my card. but I have looked and looked on the website and not sure. I want one with at least 7 (if not more) and one that you have had expierence with and you know for sure its a good one. thanks!~ Look for a camera with a 1) minimum 5 megapixels (mp), this is very good for most users. 2) 4x optical zoom is good, don't worry too much about digital zoom. 3) Best to stick with regular (or rechargeable) AA batteries. Lithium battery are good, but not easy to find if you're on vacation and need batteries at a convienence store or can recharge quickly. 4) I see that many digital cameras are doing away with the optical viewfinder (the old fashioned way of looking through the viewfinder to take a picture), and strickly having just the LCD screen to compose a shot to take. I, personally still like the optical viewfinder to really focus on a particular subject, or use on a really sunny day where it's hard to see your subject(s) on the screen, or just to save battery power on my camera. These are just a few things to consider for your first camera. With that said, here's what I have...
I LOVE my Canon PowerShot A620. It's a 7.1 mp camera which takes awesome still shots, and just as awesome video. Great for home and everyday use. Easy to take on vacations and you can take some really artistic/creative photos too. A great all-around camera. My 35mm cameras are Canon too, and I still love and use it. .
I had a Sony, and I gave that to my daughter, and purchased the Canon PowerShot A610 for my teenage son. The Canon A610 is exactly like my A620, but is a 5 mp digital camera. They both take GREAT pictures, but my favorite thing about the camera, is the vari-angle LCD screen. You can even hook it up to your tv and see your pictures/video on whatever size screen you have. It's pretty neat on the big screens! (The necessary cords come with it). It is very easy to use, and a camera you can grow with. http://www.usa.canon.com
Go to 'products' to 'consumer products' to lead you to the cameras.
Our A610/A620 has a setting, call "kids&pets". Typically you use these on the subjects that usually has a hard time keeping still. But I also use this setting when taking pictures of my soccer team during game play. I've also taken pictures of my kids, nieces and nephews jumping in the air, a la cheerleader jumps, with great results. Lag time is very, very, very minimal. (e.g. delay from pressing button to actual camera capturing the shot). This is just one of the many settings the camera has to offer and you can also manually set and program your own settings.
For ease of point and shoot, just choose the setting in which you're taking pictures of, (i.e. indoor, outdoor, nighttime, portrait, fireworks, snow, beach, and 'auto' [automatic]), and it'll adjust accordingly the proper exposure/settings. And it even has an 'underwater' mode to use, but that's if you purchase the special housing for the camera. (I don't have the housing. I'll wait to save up or find it for very inexpensive). If you get more experience or for the experienced, you can manually choose exposure and settings like the old 35 mm.
I'm a bargain hunter. I purchased both NEW Canon this late spring 2006 on line. My son's was under $200 and mine was $204. Just Google (or Froogle) or Yahoo! Search any Canon model, and then see which merchant has the best price with those low price websites and order on-line. The price is waaaay better than going physically to the stores. If you need it right away, just upgrade the shipping. It's still cheaper than buying at the stores. No matter what model camera you're searching for, better prices are on-line.
I don't know if you'll find this model (A610) at the stores. They have newer models, the A630 (8mp) and the A640 (10mp), they boast more mega-pixels and ISO settings. But 5mp is more than sufficient for most users. What I did was physically touched and feel the camera at the store, then go on-line to purchase. But if you prefer to purchase at the stores, some good places are Best Buy, Wal Mart and Target. Suprisingly enough, they have good selection at Wal-Mart and Target.
Here is the link if you'd like to check out the specs on these models and other Canon cameras: http://www.usa.canon.com
and go to 'products' to 'consumer products' to lead you to the cameras. It tells you what the camera has and what it looks like up close.
While you're searching on-line, you'll also find many reviews on these cameras. All with many positives things to say about the camera and you can also find information on these 4 Canon models if you search in Yahoo! Tech http://tech.yahoo.com/rc/digital-cameras...
Hope this helps with deciding what you want/need! When I avised a small company to buy a computer, 8 years ago, the owner saw a digital camera, wich I advised would be a good investment for insurance and whatever, he bought the Kodak Easy Share, that was 8 years ago and that camera still works perfect.
So if it was up to me again, I would buy a Kodak. You have to? Gezz. I'd order it from beachcamera.com or somewhere else its a lot cheaper for me. But back to your question. I have personally owned Kodak, Canon, and Nikon. All execpt Kodak I was execpationally pleased with. Kodak lacks in style, picture quality and design in my opinion. I personally own a Nikon CoolPix S6 or 5, I forget the number... I gave it to my lil cosin but it was about a year old. It took great pictures but I like my Canon SD700 but that is way out of your range. I also own a Canon A630 that takes really good pictures and if you do not mind the size it feels great in your hands. The Cool Pix is a great choice too. I have never had owned a Sony before but I never had the best experience with them with Picture qualitly wise. Just FYI 7MP is way over kill if your looking for a camera under 250. I find my Canon Rebel XTi 10MP a little over kill for me. Plus its not about the megapixels ita all about the sensor. If the sensor sucks the camera sucks. |
