I'm looking for a GOOD quality $200-$400 digital camera. Anyone got suggestions?
Nikon Coolpix 3100 (3 megs.) or Nikon Coolpix 4300 (4 megs)
I researched digital cameras for weeks before buying one.
IMHO.. the Nikons will have the best all around results.
Another that is very good is the Fuji Finepix 3800. It has the advantage of a 6x optical zoom. The Nikons ,and most others, only have a 3x optical zoom.
But the Fuji is not as good in low light. Ther is not as much manual control of it either.
I showed my nephew the pics I was taking and he bought a Nikon 4300 also. He is a photography buff.
If a zoom lens is your thing, disregard 'Digital Zoom' when looking. It's 'Optical zoom' that counts.
The Nikon 4300 will take 35mm quality pics up to 8 x 10. And if set on 'auto' it's 'point and shoot'. The pics are perfect, and I'm very critical when it comes to photography.
4300-$450, 3100-$350, Fuji 3800- $350.
I've seen them on the internet substantially cheaper but I opted to by from a local dealer.
Plan on buying a larger memory card than the one that comes with the camera. A 128meg compact flash card is about $75 and will hold ( depending on the resolution setting) about 100+ pics.
Also, I recommend one that uses rechargeable AA size Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries. They are cheaper in the long run and in a pinch, your camera can use regular alkaline batteries. You can buy extras with a charger at most discount stores for about $20. Also get an extra memory card (or two). The more storage (MB) size the better.
Then get a memory card reader for transferring your images from the camera to your computer in lieu of the USB cable that is supplied with the camera. This will save your camera's battery power and be less work for its electronics.
Everything I listed can be bought for less than $400. I have a Fugi 2600 (2 mega pixel) and a 3.2 Mega pixel Sony DSC-P52. I got the Sony so I could use its memory stick to display my photos and most other JPG images on my 36" Sony TV.
To any one interested.
To display other JPG images on a Sony TV with a memory stick slot, you have change the file name of the image to a file name that mimics the camera's default file system. For instance, a JPG image with a file name of election.jpg must be changed to DSC0xxxx.JPG (Sony's file name/number) with the xs representing a unique number for each image. I copy the images I want to use to a temporary file folder for the name change so that my original files are not disturbed. The files are then transfered to the memory stick into the folder with the other photos.
Canon A70. No contest. (If you can find one....).
Best technology purchase I ever made.
I recommend the new Olympus with the 10x optical zoom (has 3.2 megapixels).
Two years ago, I bought an Olympus C-700 with 10x optical zoom at 2.1 megapixels, and I love it. More camera than I need, fully automatic AND fully manuel, depending on what you want. A bit hard learing it all, but you don't need to to use it.
The best part is the 10x optical zoom, which is rare. (Don't be fooled by a high digital zoom; a digital zoom merely enlarges the image by trimming off the edges, and you can do the same on any computer image program like Photoshop or Paint). But a high OPTICAL ZOOM gives you great flexibility.
My Olympus takes great shots at 2.1 megapixels, but now they've got a 10X opitcal zoom camera at 3.2 megapixels. Should be great. Mine cost about $450 on ebay.