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Topic: A good digital photo camera?

Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 10-30-2002 11:59 AM

As I am planning to travel around California, I will finally buy a camera. I was thinkig about a mid-price digital camera. I am not an experienced photographer, so I thought that with a digital camera I could fire away and then delete all the bad pictures.
I don`t care for gadgets such as short movie clips or voice recording. Image quality and hardware reliability is what I look for.
Any recommendations?

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Daniel Boisson
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 157
From: Buffalo, NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2001

posted 10-30-2002 02:02 PM

I just got the Olympus D380 for my birthday and I love it. It isnt too expensive, under 200, and it has loads a features. Tkaes great pictures too, 2.0 megapixel if that means anything to you.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-30-2002 02:17 PM

Here are links to the Kodak digital cameras:
here Kodak Digital Cameras
here Kodak Easy Share System

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 10-30-2002 02:46 PM

My Kodak DC280, which is now over 2 yrs old, has been a great little camera. The color rendition & image clarity is excellent. I've been unable to come up with a justification for getting something better.

Some snapshots taken with the Kodak DC-280 during a trip to LA back in May this year: here

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-30-2002 02:49 PM

Nice photos, Dave. Good tour of LA.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-30-2002 02:54 PM

A co-worker of mine was really happy with one of the mid-level Nikon consumer models. I don't remember the model number, but it was in the $500 range and had lots of manual control options in addition to an "auto-everything" mode. I don't think that there is anything in that price range which takes a wide range of interchangeable lenses, however.

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Adam Fraser
Master Film Handler

Posts: 499
From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA
Registered: Dec 2001

posted 10-30-2002 03:46 PM

I have a Kodak digital camera also and have been very pleased with the results. My model is a DC3200 which was a little over $200 about a year ago, but now I think they go for about $100. A friend of mine has a model that is one better (has a zoom lens) and he really seems to like his also.

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Dennis Atkinson
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 129
From: Birch Run Michigan
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 10-30-2002 03:51 PM

I got an Olympus C-4000, 4 megapixel camera a few months ago.
$400 new. Very nice and easy to use.

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 10-30-2002 04:00 PM

David`s pictures are very nice and show me that 2 megapixel is defintely enough for me. I might go for a Kodak since there are so many positive comments about them here. Also, I could complain to Mr Pytlak if it doesn`t work

I checked the information on the Kodak website and I like the easyshare concept with that station that will send the pictures to the computer and also recharge the batteries. Obviously, I would have to get an adapter to use the station in the US (we have 230V here). How long do the batteries usually last in the camera? Is it better to turn the camera off when I am not shooting for a few minutes? Or will the camera use more power to reboot than in standby mode?
What other features should a rookie like myself look for? What manual features should a beginner`s-but-fast-learner`s camera have in addition to all those automatic point-and-shoot features?
Mr Pytlak, would I get an extra large software package if I say in the shop that I know you (or that I know you at least digitally)?

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-30-2002 04:38 PM

Most of your questions should be answered on the Kodak website:
here
Kodak Easy Share System Tour
here Free Kodak Easy Share Software Download

You could always go for the 14-megapixel Kodak DCS Pro 14n camera! :
here Kodak DCS Pro 14n

I believe many of the Kodak digital cameras can use either standard AA size Ni-MH rechargeable batteries, or lithium batteries.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 10-30-2002 04:48 PM

The DC280 goes through alkaline batteries so fast it'll make your head spin. I bought a set of Ni-MH batteries with a charger, and they last MUCH MUCH longer than alkaline. The ones I bought are MAHA, from Thomas Distributing, here. I had never heard of MAHA but they were highly rated and I've been using the same set over and over for 2 years and they still work like new. I bought a package deal with 4 AA batteries and the smart charger, which came with a car adapter as well as an AC adapter.

I confess I almost never use any of the manual exposure override features of my camera. As long as there's reasonably good light, the DC-280 seems to get the exposure right most of the time. Of course fast action shots will tend to be blurry and there isn't much you can do about that with such a basic camera. But static snapshots almost always turn out good. For only having 2 megapixels, the photos look surprisingly good on a computer monitor, and are certainly more than OK for web pages or sending as jpg's to friends or whatever.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 10-30-2002 05:16 PM

I agree, the rechargeable Ni-MH batteries are great for photographic applications.
here Kodak Batteries
here Kodak Ni-MH Rechargeables
here Kodak Digital Camera Batteries

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Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 10-30-2002 05:20 PM

Both my Kodak DX3900 (3.1MP) and my Kodak DX4900 (4.0MP) digital cameras will accept an assortment of extra lenses. They both use CRV3 Lithium batteries and can take about 250 pictures on average with a single battery. (They also use the Ni-MH rechargeables.)

I once tried some Duracell Ultra AA batteries in the DX3900 and it could only take about three pictures before it started complaining the batteries were almost dead.

Either way I think that both are excellent cameras. Price wise I'm sure that you could get the DX3900 for under $500 in the US. I'm not sure about the DX4900 though.

Oh yeah, the Easy Share System is real easy to use, but so is a USB cable and mouse. I guess it's like having a scanner with a scan button on it.

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 10-30-2002 06:06 PM

Shopping for a digital camera is the one thing you can do online and actually see the end product (sample pictures). A couple of good sites for comparisons are Steve's Digicams (click here and the Digital Camera Resource Page (click here

I've had an Olympus C2020Z (2.1 megapixel) for almost 3 years and have been very happy with it.

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 10-30-2002 08:01 PM

An excellent camera that originally sold for almost a thousand dollars
was available for about $600.00 not too long ago. It is the Nikon Coolpix 995 and there might still be some available at some Nikon camera dealers. One of the dealers that might still carry it is B & H Camera in New York City. They are one of the largest camera dealers in the country and I have bought cameras and lenses from them. The can be reached at (800) 947-9923. The Nikon Coolpix was once their top of the line camera in the semi pro market and have already been replaced with other models. I do not know anything about their current semi pro cameras but the 995 is excellent because I once owned one but it was stolen. The only digital camera I have is the one I use professionally and is the Fuji S-1 Fine Pix Pro that had cost me about $2,500.00. The image of the couple on my homepage at my website was photographed with this camera with a Tamron 28-105mm f 2.8 lens. If you use a Nikon SLR camera and have various Nikon AF lenses, you might want to consider the new S-2. By the way, the Coolpix 995 is a 3.34 megapixel camera and you can easlily make 8 X 10 prints from the files with no problem.

-Claude

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