Digital cameras..good one for little $?

I was looking on ebay to buy a digital camera and it looks like they are all over the board for pricing and mega pixals. Is there a good one to get? What is a minimal mega pixal to get and is there a better brand? Do most use recharagable batteries? I heard there was one that had a recharger in it? I’d be using it mostly for vacation pictures and selling stuff on ebay. I’ve been taking pictures with 35mm and having them developed on disc but is time consuming. Any suggestions? Thanx in advance.

Mnfish,

There are a lot of good to excellent cameras out there. I’d say a min of 3.0 mg pix gives excellent quality. and the cost for a good one is not out of site. the higher the mg the more the camera will cost. digital zoom will distort your quality some. optical zoom is by far the more desireable. it does not distort pics. alot of cameras have a combination of both, optical zoom first out to a level then dig zoom takes over. I’ve got a Kodak DX4330, it is a 3.1, has all the software for the computer for downloads and everything you need. it is easy to use, hey even I’m pretty good with it. Look at some of my pics on the LOTW forum in the MN section. I put 3 or 4 pics on there last week. these pics were taken with the middle pic quality setting, good better best, I have always used the better setting, and the pics are just fine. the best setting uses more file size so you can’t get as many pics on the media card. I also have a CX6330 Kodak, with one year warr I might be willing to sell. hope that helps. Jack..

It’s my understanding that more megapixels the bigger the picture you can produce. We have a 3 megapixel and they say that you can produce a 8×10 picture with it. If you wanted a bigger picture then it would look grainy because your camera resolution wasn’t big enough. I don’t think there are very many situations where you want a picture bigger than 8×10 but it does happen. My wife wanted a family picture taken and framed as a 16×20 and we had to go to the 35mm for that picture. I can’t tell you how big 2 megapixel will go, maybe 5×7 but don’t quote me on that.

I have been looking into buying a digital camera also and have found epinions.com to be pretty helpful.At this point I am considering a Sony 5.1 MP compact that just came out but might wait to see some reviews on it.Prices have definitly came down on these in the last year.

I am by no means a expert on this ,but I have owned a few ,and I have found that although the more expensive ones do have more pixels,if you are going to post pics on a forum like this they make the file to big ,You can of course make it smaller or set the quality down but why spend the extra $$ . Also my current camera has a rechargable bat ,much better than bateries,another nice feature if you fish alone is the remote ,You can set the camera on the front seat and take your time to get ready and hold the fish so it looks huge then just point the remote and take the pic. One more thing I have found is no matter what kind you have they won’t stay on the dash when you come up on plane

I have the Sony Cyber-shot 3.2 Mega Pixels and am really happy with it. Came with rechargeable batteries and charger and paid 230.00 for it a year ago. Works great and very easy to use. Thanks, Bill

As in everything the words “little $” and “good one” is nearly a misnomer. Just to share another view, is versatility of the camera. I have a Canon EOS Rebel 300D. 6.3 megapixel and the flash card can hold 142 pictures at full resolution. Comes with software and PC connections. takes great pictures and can interchange lenses for added capability. Planning on getting an 80 to 200 MM zoom to improve long range shots. Saw an enlargement that was 40″ X 40″ that was not pixelated. Unfortunately the bad news is $1150.00 for the basic stuff and extra for additional lenses. Scared to take it in the boat so far. I have to find out if my insurance covers it? Like I said, just another perespective.

Here is a picture I took from a quarter mile away and cropped and resized with my PC. Keep in mind the plane is probably moving close to 180 MPH.

Bought our 15 yr old daughter a Nikon with 2.1 mp and not much else so she could take it to England this past summer when her grandpa took her. It was $150.00, and it takes really nice pictures. It has a 3x optical zoom, which is nice, and it’s compact. The only thing I would she would want different, is rechargeable batteries, but even then it’s not so bad. So it’s good and cheap.
Good luck!

there are lots of great choices out there.. they all do an excellent job taking photos…. but depending on how you use it you might want certain features that others dont have.. for instance if this camera is going to sit in the boat a lot and be mostly a fishing camera water proof is a nice extra…. they have a few very durable water proof cameras….
for printing up to 8×10 3MP is plenty…. and there are ways you can interpolate your shots to make them bigger on the rare occasion you want that…..

My camera doesn’t have rechargeable batteries but I have found that by shutting off the screen and using the viewfinder, just like I’ve done for the last 20 years or more, actually saves a ton of battery power. My camera actually allows me to shut off the screen but then as soon as I take a picture it will show me the picture on the screen. Something to think about if you are looking at something without rechargeable batteries.

Here is a great starter camera at a great price, I have the same one.

Olympus Camedia D-490 ZOOM

mnfish- i have a minolta dimage x20 i would sell you, i bought back in july for a vacation to florida. haven’t got much other use out of it besides sittin in my truck and waiting to see a big buck or something. i paid $180 for it, plus a 64mb card ($20). i’d sell it to you for 180, and i have all the manuals and cords to hook up to your computer. you can tell it’s been used; marks on the back from sittin in my console, but that’s it.

really little handy camera, get back to me if you want it

3x optical zoom

12x zoom

2 megapixels

Heres a great digital for a decent price! I know, its my old one that I wish I was keeping instead of the HP 435 I bought!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=30007&item=3846826366&rd=1

Welcome to IDA jc_32 !!!

thanks sir

I am no Photographer..
But I have a Nikon Cool Pix 2500…
It came with all software and rechargeable battery.and a photo chip.. It is just a little larger than a pack of cigarettes…I have had it three years now and I think it is fantastic. I think it is the most user friendly out there.
It was I think $249.00 but since then they have come way down in price. My model is no longer made by Nikon..They made the 2300 now..and it is a little different..My lense swivels inside itself and I stuff it in my pants pocket..
I have had zero problems with it I suppose I just jinkx my self.

I highly recommed a digital they are just too cool..Everyone I have made cds for really like them..it is a treat to watch your photos on the TV with a cd player..