I need recommendations for a decent digital camera between $300-$400

Me ^ | 11/2/03 | zarf

[zarf]

I'm leaning towards the new Canon A80.....any yeas or nays....or better recommendations?

[philetus]

5 megapixel Sony for $379.95

[goodnesswins]

Hmmmm....we take pictures with the time delay....is that what you mean? Also, I don't use the Kodak software (I don't think...LOL) I upload pictures up to COSTCO/Kodak website to get prints.....so, hmmmm, maybe we are getting spied on.

[Arpege92]

My hubby is looking for a digital camera as well....any and all suggestions are welcomed.

[Maigret]

Go to epinions and read the review of the Panasonic DMC-LC33, I bought one on ebay that had been reconditioned at the Panasonic factory. I first called Panasonic who told me essentially that their factory reconditioned items are better than new. That's when they become USA made!

We love this one! Very very easy to use, great pics, and we bought it for $233.00

In my reading about digital cameras it seems that the optical zooms are much preferred over the digital zooms.

[Eska]

I've had a mavica 95 for about 3 years; paid for itself a few times over; really satisfied. I think the important thing is to get a good case and some extra batteries.

We do alot of back country riding minus 20 temps. This mavica easily has over 4000 miles bouncing strapped to the snowmachine; can't believe myself it still works like new.

Last winter, a buddy showed me his new mavica that was alot smaller than mine. The lens folded down against the camera; he could put entire camera nx to his chest under his refrigawear; pretty slick.

Always been a song guy from way back when I use to replace electrolytics in 15 year old tv's; and they worked like new. Says something for Sony products.

Who out there has another camera than a sony; that likes it much better and why?

[quesera]

Canon G3, although might be just a bit over $400, but well worth it.

[rollo tomasi]

I have the Canon A80 and highly recommend it. Has a swivel LCD which is nice in tight spots (Shooting over your head, at hip level ect...).

Has a lot of manual features. Takes AA batteries which is a plus if you are on vacation and need batteries real quick.

Pictures are great, only complaint is some purple fringing (Most compact digicams are dubious for this) shooting in sunlight between trees. Very easy to take care of the purple fringing while post processing your pictures.

The flash is very good and this is where the A80 I think shines, indoors with or without flash. Has a very good AF Assist Lamp so if you are in a place where flash is forbidden just bump up your ISO and shoot. Very nice output for a compact in that type of setting.

[cornelis]

These two models (Canon G3, Fuji 3800) were recommended for above average in Consumer Reports some months ago. I'm leaning to toward the Canon. Better prices if you can manage purchases on ebay.

[billorites]

I love my Canon G3 and have taken thousands of pix in the past 11 months.

It's been superceded by the G5, the same camera but with a 5 megapixel image.

I bet that you could get a good deal on a used G3 through Ebay or find one in a shop from a dealer clearing stock.

Very, very capable camera.

[zarf]

How are the manual controls? Enough to give some creative leeway?

[Shanty Shaker]

Before you buy a camera decide two things.
1. What kind of pictures do I currently take and would that change if I had different gear?
2. How much loot am I willing to part with?

If you aren't sure about the first one it takes more loot. The camera you mentioned is a very adequate camera for snapshots and can take some impressive posters if you have plenty of light. You will not be dissapointed with that camera if you don't use the manual settings on a slr camera.
I currently am using a Canon Digital Rebel. I also have a Canon d60 which I find I am using very little since I got the Rebel. The Rebel cost $899.

[Aliska]

Canon Power Shot S400. Wish I had one, but I got an Olympus C4000Z. I really like it, but I think Canon lenses are better. Look at the sample pictures for this camera in dpreview.com galleries S400. They will blow you away.

Also check out the chat forums at dpreview where you will get help and opinions and user experiences with the camera you are interested in.

The S400 is a little bit over your budget but not by much.

[Aliska]

Don't base your decision on the availability of a digital zoom. It may be a selling point but the quality is so bad that it is almost worthless.

Yes, that is true. I never use digital zoom and few people do once they find out it doesn't work very well. Go for the optical zoom factor and ignore the rest.

[Lokibob]

The people who use digital cameras for a living (E-bay sellers) vote for the Sony Mavica fd-75. It is an older camera (probably 4-years or more) with .35 meg pixels.

Proof is in the bidding. This camera sells for $250+ on e-bay used, and $300 new or refurbished. That is more than it sold for 4 years ago, it is in such demand.

It has a 2x-10x optical lens. I have zoomed the images up to 20x with very little loss of image quality. Most digitals today advertise a 2x OPTICAL zoom with a 10X SOFTWARE zoom. It has a rechargeable battery with a 2 hour life (use it for 2 hours without recharging). it also has a 10 second feature that allows the picture to be taken after you get into the image.

I love my mavica. It has a hefty feel (weighs a little over a pound) and looks like a camera, not a toy.

The fd used floppy disks to record the images, and they can be popped into the 3 1/2" drive and used directly. Another feature is the ability IN THE FIELD, of copying a disk to another disk. I use that feature when somebody asks for copys of the pictures I take. The newer models of the Mavica is the CD series. It puts the images on mini-cd's. I have no personal knowledge of this camera, however.

I'll post a couple of pictures in a few mins from my mavica.

[supercat]

One of my biggest complaints with almost all digital cameras I've seen is their incredible slowness. Most digital cameras take forever to power up, take a second or so to get ready to take a picture (half-push the shutter), and take a quarter-second or so to take a picture when the shutter is actually clicked. Then once they've taken a picture, they take forever to process it before they're ready to take the next picture.

I sorta miss my old Casio QV-770. The thing was a battery hog and the resolution was pitiful by today's standards (640x480), but it had a mode where it would snap four pictures in rapid succession with a first-picture shutter lag of NEGATIVE 0.1 seconds. Unfortunately, I suspect today's higher resolution CCD's may not be able to do that.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Both dpreview and http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews.html are very informative.

[BillyBonebrake]

Gateway DC-T50 Great 5.25 MP Camera, $400. I bought it after I read the review in the WSJ and it replaced my sh***y 2.3 MP Minolta. Good luck. Oh...it has an optical zoom, too. BB

[rollo tomasi]

Yes, you can fully customize pretty much anything, but if you could afford the extra $100 or so think about the G3.

G3 also has the swivel LCD plus it has a hotshoe to put an external flash on. Both of those cameras have the same sensor but the G3 has the better lens. Both have the ability to add lenses but again in terms of quality of the lens the G3 has the edge. The G3 also has an infrared remote control which is nice.

Picture quality is great on both Cams. I also have a 10D which is $1000 more then both of those and sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between my 10D and A80.

There is a good discussion here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=6509284

which might help. I thought about the G3 but the wife wondered why we needed two expensive cameras. Settled for the A80 and was glad I did. The AA batteries are a great feature to have in a digicam. Bought recharchables NiMH (2200mAh) from http://www.mahaenergy.com/ and the battery life is great.

[Elliott Jackalope]

I'm a big fan of Canon products. I've found their quality to be very good, my D60 is a real workhorse. Also, ignore any claims concernind digital zoom, the only thing you should pay attention to is the optical zoom. Do any digital zooms on your computer, don't do them in the camera.

[xrp]

I have its precursor, the Canon A70, excellent camera for a low cost. With a large enough memory card, you can take 150+ good quality pictures at a resolution of 1024x768 or up to about 10-12 minutes of video capture. Have fun!