Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the best review site for digital cameras I've seen is here: http://www.dpreview.com/
Great site!
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Digital camera suggestions?
- Thread starter SoarEyes
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The Canon Gseries for my money rocks socks. You can get a G2 anymore for cheap (wasnt there one in the classified forums for $250?). I love mine. The g3 does seem to produce better images but I would argue not by much. Both are great cameras.
The g5 is still a bit costly... so I'd urge you strongly to buy a g3 or 2, either way you'll be very happy.
The g5 is still a bit costly... so I'd urge you strongly to buy a g3 or 2, either way you'll be very happy.
i here this a lot from 505 owners.
i just bought a 505v used. should be here today or tomorrow. can't wait! that lens is awesome!
Your s50 sounds like a lemon. I got my s50 2 weeks ago and I've put around 200 pictures thru it and the only ones that look bad are due to user error/exprimentation. If you are looking for a good point 'n shoot I'd ahve to recommend the s400 that others have brought up. I chose the s50 because I wanted to have more control in the camera, but I still wanted something small (smaller than the G series at least).
I've read some reviews and the s50 and s45 will give you the same quality. The only difference is that the s50 gives a bit more res (which might come in handy if you crop your photos a lot) but it does have a bit more chromatic abbrisiation<sp?> basically really hi contrast areas where blacks and whites meet you could get a purple halo effect. I've seen it in a few of my shots, but its not nearly as bad as the reviews made it seem and I've take a good number of hi contrast shots were I've overexposed it 2 stops in order to blow the whites out.
So the point of that rant was if you can find an s45 for real cheap compared to an s50 you won't lose very much if you choose the s45.
Lethal
I've read some reviews and the s50 and s45 will give you the same quality. The only difference is that the s50 gives a bit more res (which might come in handy if you crop your photos a lot) but it does have a bit more chromatic abbrisiation<sp?> basically really hi contrast areas where blacks and whites meet you could get a purple halo effect. I've seen it in a few of my shots, but its not nearly as bad as the reviews made it seem and I've take a good number of hi contrast shots were I've overexposed it 2 stops in order to blow the whites out.
So the point of that rant was if you can find an s45 for real cheap compared to an s50 you won't lose very much if you choose the s45.
Lethal
Just a little tip about the G2...I wouldn't get this camera if you had the choice between the G3 and G2...The lens on the G2 is less sharp and the resolution is not as good...I think canon was still trying to perfect this level of camera and did a great job with the G3...the G2 lens elements are aranged in a different manner which gives it more pincusion distortion and more chromatic abrasions in the highlights then the G3...but for the price these issues may be overlooked considering that you get a great camera for around 250.?
N
Sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Besides, I'm REALLY good at wasting money. My experience with the G5 has been tremendous, but methinks the G3 would give me excellent reults and saved me some scratch. Listen to this guy. He has the whole picture on the G series it seems to me.
I really love my Sony DSC-F717. I use a Canon G3 and Canon S50 at work occassionally and I feel my Sony produces better images. The lens is definitely superior. Plus I like saving pics in TIFF format instead of RAW, just saves me a step. The memory sticks are a little of a hassle, but that's a small complaint.
Les, thanks for the kind words...I did a lot of research before I put my money down...I'm kinda paticular about these things...I hope I didn't make an a$$ out of myself if you wrote that comment sarcastically. Didn't read like it...so thanks...
N
It is true that the carl zeis lens is far superior to anything on the market at the moment...and technically its the best glass out there (generally) but for the price of the f717...$ 999??? I would just get the digital rebel...sure its gots some minor problems...but the next gen sould be better...or for that manner...I'd muster up a couple of hundred extra and get a 10D...far superior camera then the f717...and interchangable lenses...(the rebel and the 10d) Don't get me wrong here...I'm not a canon fanatic...if anything..I'm a hasselblad fanatic...but as far as digital consumer and prosumer camera's on the market right now...canon seems to be doing all the right things to me....
another tip...if you are in the market for a digital camera (consumer level) and are not in a hurry...I would wait to see what the new canon A80's specs come out like..I've heard nothing but good things about this camera and am very excited to see what kind of reviews it gets...for all you that don't know...its modeled after the A70 but it adds more features and what sold me on specs alone is the tilt and swivel screen from the G3 is added. very exciting...imagin a camera...slightly bigger then the canon digital elph series cameras with a tilt and swivel screen?? are you all drulling yet?? I am and have been...it has the same sensor and pixel ration as the G3...but am unsure if it is the exact same sensor...or better....nevertheless I will be a great point and shoot consumer level camera...sorry I'm not sure what the exact release date is...but it is rummored to be ready for christmas...so for those of you that can wait ... and are in the market for a camera of that calliber I would wait...great for pics of christmas dinner, and all the G5's, and 17" laptops that you all get for christmas. hehehe.
and for my final note..I'm very interested in some of the high end fuji's and panasonic's, and suprisingly olympus camera's that are coming out..?? spec wise...they seem to have intersting features...I'll reserve judgement untill I can play with one myself....but for all you Mega pixel hoggs...that belive bigger is better...look out for the sony 8mp camera...?? but it still has the same problems as all sony's do...expensive for the features that you get....and expensive accesories...I think they should lower the camera prices in order to compensate for the high acces. prices and proprietary MS ....or move on to CF which has a max now of 8gb of memory and lower the prices of thier acces. and extend battery life....I can shoot all day with my canon's and still have battery left for another half or 3/4 day of shooting.... thats with full flash power....! As I've stated before I've had many sony products and I think they are a great camera....but at the moment I don't have cash coming out of my A$$ so sony doesn't make sense right now...if money isn't an issue....you wouldn't be disapointed *(generally)* with sony...
thanks for reading through my ranting...and long winded suggestion's.
N
hmmm, this sounds very familiar. i've heard similar complaints about a little ol' company called apple...
picked up my 505v for $295 used. time to buy when others upgrade.
jayscheuerle
macrumors 68020
I would agree that the Canon 10D is a better camera than the Sony DSC-F717, but it's a bit out of my price range. I only paid around $600 for my 717.
If I still had the EOS lenses from my old Canon 35mm I would have bought the 10D, but to have to buy new lenses would have added up quickly.
I really do like the digital Rebel. Too bad I already have a camera that does everything I want it to do (and then some!).
If I still had the EOS lenses from my old Canon 35mm I would have bought the 10D, but to have to buy new lenses would have added up quickly.
I really do like the digital Rebel. Too bad I already have a camera that does everything I want it to do (and then some!).
Thanks, I've got to look into this. Kodak was showing a camera with a 6x zoom at MWNY, it wasn't too bad, but much more expensive than the Fuji 3800. I need a better zoom, I don't know how people are putting up with these 3X zooms.
Just a tip for digital camera users. A lot of blurry pictures are due to camera shake rather than poor autofocus. It also gets worse if you have a long zoom lens since the aperture usually gets smaller the further out the lens is zoomed. This decreases the amout of light getting into the lens and increases the shutter time. Camera shake can be reduced if you use the viewfinder rather than the LCD screen. Using the viewfinder will force you to bring your arms closer to your body, thereby increasing stability.
The drawback is that most viewfinders don't show 100% of the image frame, but you can compensate for that by zooming in more tightly. A bonus to using the viewfinder is that the batteries last longer.
I'm an avid photographer, I own a Canon S30, and I work in a photo lab so I know what I'm talking about. I see blurry digital pictures all the time and most of the time it's due to camera shake.
The drawback is that most viewfinders don't show 100% of the image frame, but you can compensate for that by zooming in more tightly. A bonus to using the viewfinder is that the batteries last longer.
I'm an avid photographer, I own a Canon S30, and I work in a photo lab so I know what I'm talking about. I see blurry digital pictures all the time and most of the time it's due to camera shake.
Yeah, but doesn't the "camera shake" icon show up on the LCD screen if that's the case? On my PowerShot G2, if I'm not steady with the camera, a little icon depicting a shaky hand appears. Is it the same with your S30?
Oh, and I saw the Digital Rebel advertised on the Apple site. That looks like a cool camera for someone who is used to an EOS but wants to go digital without having to re-mortgage the house.
Squire
Sony's New F828
The new Sony F828 has both Memory Stick Pro and Compact Flash 1/2 slots, so if you move to that you don't loose any investment in high capacity Compact Flash Cards.
I have a 2MP Ixus with 1Gb + 256Mb so at least when I move to hopefully an F828 it will nice not to have to buy new things for a while.
Anyway's I've had a Canon Ixus / Myie? 2Mp and it's always provided lovely results.
Odd about the blurry pictures on the S50. A friend of mine repairs Digital and Film cameras so I will ask him if he knows of any problems.
Andrew
The new Sony F828 has both Memory Stick Pro and Compact Flash 1/2 slots, so if you move to that you don't loose any investment in high capacity Compact Flash Cards.
I have a 2MP Ixus with 1Gb + 256Mb so at least when I move to hopefully an F828 it will nice not to have to buy new things for a while.
Anyway's I've had a Canon Ixus / Myie? 2Mp and it's always provided lovely results.
Odd about the blurry pictures on the S50. A friend of mine repairs Digital and Film cameras so I will ask him if he knows of any problems.
Andrew
On my S30 the camera shake icon only appears in really low light conditions. If I take a picture using the LCD in normal lighting and retake it using the viewfinder, there's always a noticeable difference in sharpness. The viewfinder photo is always better. It's not always obvious when I use the camera's LCD for playback, but on my computer screen it's like night and day.
LEMON!!!
You got a lemon. Canon cameras are great. I bought my Powershot S45 in April and haven't had any trouble with it. It takes wonderfully sharp, vivid pictures. I recently won 2nd and HM in the State Fair, and those pictures were taken with my S45. You just got a lemon. I could email you a pic that I took with my S45 or post it up on this thread if you want.....
You got a lemon. Canon cameras are great. I bought my Powershot S45 in April and haven't had any trouble with it. It takes wonderfully sharp, vivid pictures. I recently won 2nd and HM in the State Fair, and those pictures were taken with my S45. You just got a lemon. I could email you a pic that I took with my S45 or post it up on this thread if you want.....
I mean the sharpness is much higher when taking the picture using the viewfinder rather than the LCD.
So, I guess I understood you correctly but I'm curious as to why that would happen. I didn't know that using one or the other would have an effect on the actual photo. I've heard that it's easier to frame the shot, etc. but I always assumed the same photographic process was taking place. What would cause the camera to take a sharper picture using the viewfinder? Does the LCD give off some kind of interference or something?
Don't get me wrong: I'm not doubting you. I just want to learn something.
Squire
Don't get me wrong: I'm not doubting you. I just want to learn something.
Squire
Been using an Olympus C3000zoom for a couple of years now, but I don't think they make that model anymore.
Whatever you decide, a 3-megapixel is the absolute minimum.
Whatever you decide, a 3-megapixel is the absolute minimum.