Digital Camera Advise. Hey Experts

[CSX 4027]

I am tring to figure out what is the best digital camera for around $500 that puts out 5 Mil Pixels.
I am looking at the Canon G5, Nikon Coolpix 5400 and the Fuji S7000. I haven't bought a camera in 6 years and know nothing about the new wave of Point and shoot digitals.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[David Kirkham]

Steve,

Love my Nikon Coolpix. Don't know much about the others, but I am really happy with the Nikon.

Take care bud,

David

[Excaliber]

5 mega pixel may be over rated depending on your expected use. For e-mailing pics, 3 or even 2 is OK because you have to reduce the size of the file (the pic) so much you LOOSE a ton of resolution anyway. If your going to print on nice paper etc then 5 is good. Desktop wall papers, slide shows etc. back to 3.

But hey, you can't go wrong with more, I'm just saying you may not need that much and may want to spend the money on OTHER features.

I went for the Cannon Rebel EOS (6.3 meg-a-pixel) but NOT for the high res pics. It was the "cheapest" digital I could find at the time that would allow interchangable lens'. VERY important to me as I take race track pics one day (300 mm lens) and then "home" pics the next (28 mm lens).

Getting a good lens is one the most important things to look for. Forget about "digital zoom", it's worthless, look for "optical zoom" which uses' the lens (like a REAL camera does).

Stick with some GOOD reasonable priced memory "sticks or chips". DON'T use those "floppy disc" memory stuff, to SLOW!
Lots of good choices out there now and prices and features are growing like mad. Get to some of the digital cam web sites and let the research begin!

Olympus is getting some GREAT reviews, one of the best. But the competition is keen, Kodak (Kodak???) yup Kodak is coming on strong. But beware of their bundled software (Kodak), it's a nightmare that will take over your computer!!! Hard to beat Canon too. HP? I hate them, their software is worst than Kodak. Remember, it's not JUST about the camera, it's also about the SOFTWARE that links the camera to the computer at the end of the day. Olympus and Canon, thumbs up on the software!

ANY brand will have it's "loosers" and it's "winners", shop carefully.

[Rick Parker]

There are obviously many choices and they are changing constantly. My son who at the time worked at Circuit City steered my wife to the Olympus C700 as a gift for me (bless her heart). We have had it almost 2 years. 2.1 Megapixel seems low by comparison to some of the others however the 10X Optical Zoom lens has to be experienced to understand how clear and sharp the pictures are. Allow me to explain:
I took this on a week long fishing vacation last year and had a couple of guys with me that spend a lot of time on the water, one is a guide and the other fishes over 200 days a year all over the world. I took pictures of these guys holding trophy fish from at least 80-100 yards away (across the Rogue River) and you would swear they were right in front of you.
Now understand I am by no means a photography pro but each of these guys each had other digitals on the trip, kept remarking numerous times as we downloaded pictures nightly as to the quality and clarity of the pictures. Within the past year they both bought the newer version of the camera, I think the Megapixel count is up around 3.0 ??
I just have their verbal responses at the time and actions later to base my claims upon. Good luck.

Rick

[Excaliber]

....at full 10X optical zoom and 2.1 meg-a-pixel by my 13 year old son. Set on "Sport" mode, car AT speed. Picture reduced by Paint Shop Pro, otherwise untouched.

Olympus rocks!! My son now has that camera and I moved up to the Canon.

[Sal Gerace]

Steve,
I got the Sony DSC-S85. Takes great digital pics. The only bad thing I can say is that the shutter reaction is very slow! Very important if you are shooting moving or impatient subjects so keep that in mind when shopping around.

[chuckbrandt]

I like the Canon G4, I think the G5 is the same camera with more pixels. It works great, batteries last a long time, download is easy, settings are useful and simple.

Chuck Brandt

[ohekk]

Dirty Ernie!

That looks like Santa Claus racing your Excalibur!

NICE photo!

Now let's see a shot of your new sleigh!

[trularin]

The fuji is nice. That would be my choice.

[McCobra]

Hey Ernie,
I notice a one of the cones behind your car seems to be taking a nap.
Probably just a directional cone....
Cheers, Mike

[Ron61]

I have the Olympus C-4000 Zoom and love it. The camera is just a 4 mexapixel, but takes great pictures and I never use it anywhere near the top quality settings. Has a 10 power zoom, but I never use more than the 3 power. It is small and light and I can carry it in the car with me all the time with no problem. I would like one that I could change lens in but don't care for the bulky ones right now. I already have some very expensive Nikopns thqat have all the lens and stuff and it takes a huge camera bag just to lug them around.

Ron

[Bear2001]

Have been using the CASIO Exilim 3.2 megapix, 3X Optical Zoom for 8 months.

Best digital camera I have had. Compact in size, great image quality, downloading is a snap and e-z to use.

Probably won't find it at Circuit City or Best Buy, the Sharper Image and better camera stores seem to be the distributors for this item.

[Ed Csoltko]

If you like the feel of a SLR type of camera, the hottest digital SRL right now is the Nikon D70 for under $1K body only. Special packackge that includes a 18-70mm lens is $1,299.

[nd4spd00]

Steve check www.dpreview.com great site for digital photgraphy review also www.imaging-resource.com both are great sites to do research on digital cameras

[DonC]

Steve:
I second Chuck Brandt's recommendation for the Canon G4 or G5. I shoot a Canon D30 with full up interchangeable lenses etc. and get some really superb results but I've also had a chance to shoot with some of the smaller units and by far the G4 and G5 produce the most detailed shots. Add in the amount of control you can exercise over the camera and I can't find any fault. The full automatic settings even make the photos taken by my brother in law look good and he's a complete zero when it comes to things more complicated than an pencil.
DonC

[Junket]

Steve I have a Canon G5 love it a good mix between the full auto digital and SLR cameras I can shoot manual and wife can shoot auto it has a cool thing I like will shoot 2 frames a sec. One more thing if when on vacation the cab driver forgets you left your 3K camera bag when he gets another call you won't feel to bad.
Ken

[surfer44]

I have the Minolta DiMage A1 and I am very happy with the camera and ease of use. Retail price is about $1200.00 but you can find them on the internet for much less. Having the ability to cut down on the amount of pixels for sending e-mail or for maximum use of your flash card is important.
I do a low of underwater video with a Sony TRV 900 which also uses a flash card for capturing stills so that helped make my choice. Check out which recording media the one you're thinking about uses. Some are 512MB and can really put a lot of pictures on the card and some are 16MB , very few pictures.
Good luck!

[weekendwarrior]

Steve,

Use is the most important, what are you going to use it for.

When I bought mine the following was important.

1. Battery life.
2. 1gig + storage (I have CF)
3. Memory buffer (to take several quick pictures without writing to storage media).
4. Additional lenses.

I bought a Cannon D300 or EOS Digital Rebel; I can take 400+ pictures at a time without battery concerns, put on a 200mm lens, take fast action shots, in the gymnasium I can put on a real flash and shoot across the soccer field.

It was worth it to me to pay more and get more versatility. I would like to have a small pocket camera but most of our pics are sports action requiring a telephoto lens.

It all boils down to intended use.

[CSX 4027]

I will spend some time in the phot=shops this weekend to try to narrow down the choices.