[QUOTE]Originally posted by Louie
[B]I would like to get a digital camera.

 

Just got the Sony DSC-P5...very small, fits in your shirt pocket. 3.3 MPxl's, 3x optical, 6x digi zoom. Resolution up to 2048x1536. Can also record mpeg's! Great little camera if your a point & shoot type of pic taker. About $600 bucks.

 

jedwards-

No, wait, come back. That was good stuff you were putting out. We want to hear more -- at least I do. (Just don't start in on the puke green Geo Metro avatar again, it ain't gonna happen.)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Raptor
[B]jedwards-

No, wait, come back.

 

....I just got a Canon PowerShot G2 about an hour ago and I am waiting for the batteries to charge right now.

4.0M pixels, 3X optical zoom, list price is $999, picked it up for $699. I did alot of research and it came down to the Olympus c4040 or the Canon G2.

Good Luck,
Brad

 

Oh yeah Louie... that reminds me. Digital zoom is a gimmick you don't want to pay ANY extra for. It's on most cameras (and mine) but pretty useless. You zoom but there' no new data. You might as well take the shot *without* dig zoom and crop when you get it on the PC (in fact there would be several advantages doing this over dig zoom)

Only people who think it a feature are the salespeople (or people who are going to use their Dig cam with no PC..some of those but not many).

Wooah... too serious here again...

 

Thank you to everyone who has replied. I know I was very general in my question but I wanted a survey of what cameras have been bought and what were people's experiences with them. I personally found reading these comments very helpful. There seems to be quite an interest in this discussion and I hope even more would respond. I gather that minimum 3 megapixels are the rage right now and plan to spend under $1000.

Thank you again for all your advice and comments.

Louie

 

If you plan to spend *up to* $1000... get in the range of 5 Mpixels and interchangable lenses. You will be happy with quality and possibly NEVER have to upgrade.

Have a ball,
JD

 

I have the Canon Powershot G1, 3.3mmp. The newer modle is the G2 and should have much better picture quality. Having said that, the G1 takes some incredible photos. I also have an IBM 540MB Microdrive, this is the coolest thing ever. We took it on our honeymoon to Europe and took over 800 photos (mix of HUGE, medium, and some small) and still had room for hundreds more. The large pix are almost too big. Took a pic of the s2000 and put it full size onto my desktop as wallpaper, all I could see was the side mirror. The battery always lasted for a full day 12-14hrs (turned off when not useing) and never ran out on us. The color LCD is quite clear and you can tell immediately if you screwed up and need to retake.

I have several outstanding/crisp Night shots of the Grand Canal and Eiffle Tower. This camera also does video with sound. The zoom features also work well. It has the standard zoom in/out, but it also has digital zoom (1x, 2x, and 3x) which let me take very close, detailed pictures of of the Gargoyles 80-100 ft high on Notre Dame. I have absolutely no regrets with this camera, and the G2 should be a lot better.

Also, the software that comes with the camera makes it VERY easy to capture your photos to PC/Laptop. Just plug in the usb cable and the software takes over. You get one window that looks like a roll of film showing all your pix, and another that looks like a photo album (arranaged by subject for me). Coupled with an HP1215 Photosmart Printer I've been very impressed with the results.

Sorry so long, but when I read these I like more than "I got this and like it."

BTW, I got the camera with the microdrive include for $750 online. I think retail at the time was about $750 for the camera and $200 for the microdrive.

 

Check out the February 2002 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, page 50.

CR reviews digital cameras and ranks them for overall quality in the 1-megapixel, 2-megapixel, and 3- to 5-megapixel categories.

In summary, here are CR's top rated cameras in each category:

1-megapixel: Canon PowerShot A10 ($300)
2-megapixel: Olympus Camedia C-2040 Zoom ($500)
3 - 5-megapixel: Canon PowerShot G1 ($800)