Americans Lured to Look at Digital Cameras

Associated Press via MyWay.com ^ | December 21, 2004 | Ben Dobbin

[RayChuang88]

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Millions of Americans who waited patiently for the quality and convenience to leap forward and the prices to roll back are now jumping on the digital-shutterbug bandwagon.

A novelty item just four or five years ago, the digital camera is shaping up as the most popular electronics gift in 2004, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. It was runner-up in 2003 to the DVD player, the No. 1 gift since 2000.

At age 75, Marilyn Smith discovered a wealth of reasons this holiday season to switch to a digital camera. Snapping away until she gets the right shot, without worrying about film, sounded enticing. So did packing a palm-size gadget on a baggage-laden trip to Hawaii in February. But she especially liked the idea of an image stabilizer that negates wobbles.

"Why? Because I sway very easily," the retired nurse's aide explained with a hearty laugh.

[RayChuang88]

I am not surprised this is happening.

The thing about digital cameras is that they now offer excellent performance in units that can be more or less the size of a credit card! At these sizes, it's a lot easier to carry cameras around for special occasions. Also, instead of being limited to 24 to 36 shots on a roll of film, you can now have hundreds of shots on a single memory card.

Is it small wonder why Kodak is agressively pushing their own line of EasyShare digital cameras and putting far less emphasis on conventional film for the consumer market?

[Conspiracy Guy]

I waited and bought mine the other day. I still have my 35mm's but my new FujiFilm S3100 is a delight. Under $300 for a digital camera that would have been $1000 2 years ago.

[Dallas59]

I just hope all our dig pics are still accessible in 100 years.

[whd23]

I just hope all our dig pics are still accessible in 100 years.

Not to worry! Just choose the pics you want to keep, submit them online to the WalMart photo center, and pick them up in an hour at your local WalMart. Only $0.24 a picture and the prints are as durable as a print from a 35mm negative would be.

[cripplecreek]

I'm quite happy with my 3.3 megapixel vivitar for now. I do hope to got to a 5 mega pixel sometime soon.

Some of my pictures

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/54892/

[Dallas59]

Might try that. I have a HP 750 PCS. Ink is expensive. $30 a cartridge. It takes two, color and black.

[Echo Talon]

what is nice about a good digital camera is the ease of editing the pictures though software without the need to scan the picture makes it very easy, also the savings in time/hastle and money in film development.

[DoughtyOne]

Once you have the digital files of your pictures, the only thing that need be done is that they are every so often transfered to the next storeage technological medium.

In 100,000 years, your photos will look as fresh as the day you took them. They will not fade, crack, bend or otherwise deteriate from their original quality.

That's pretty cool.

[MarkL]

I managed to pick up a returned, old stock Sony Mavica camera a few years agp, and while it's not a bad camera, there are lots of things I simply can't do with it. Very bad shutter lag, and writing to the CD just seems to take forever. I've got quite a collection of animal butt photos! And the 2.1MP resolution leaves a bit to be desired if I want to blow anything up to 8x10 or larger, but it does take great photos.

I'm giving serious thought to getting a Nikon D-70. I used to be a very serious amature photographer, and I've still got my Olympus OM-2 film camera, although I haven't used it in years. But having a DSLR with interchangable lenses would be very nice.

Now, all I need is for Santa to be really nice to me this year! lol

Mark

[cripplecreek]

Ive found that I take dozens of pictures of the same thing so I can pick and choose what I want later. It's also pretty handy when I know someone looking for a used car. I can send them pictures and info on cars and they can decide if they want to take the time to check them out.

[RayChuang88]

I do hope to got to a 5 mega pixel sometime soon.

Actually, the price of five megapixel cameras have become really cheap lately. You can often get the Canon PowerShot A95, the Casio EXILIM EX-Z50, and the Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 for well under US$400 at online retailers.

[KarlInOhio]

I've got quite a collection of animal butt photos!

Caused by the shutter lag or just a personal choice of photo selection? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[doug from upland]

I am going to get one and need to check out the benefits of several brands and models. Why did you choose that Fuji model?

[Trust but Verify]

The Kodak Easyshare system just won a JD Power award. I'm very un-techie and I can download the pictures using the dock you can get. We bought the Kodak DX7590 which comes with the dock. We like it a lot. I was resisting going digital until our vacation pictures from Mt Rushmore didn't turn out.

[whd23]

Might try that. I have a HP 750 PCS. Ink is expensive. $30 a cartridge. It takes two, color and black.

You definitely should. I've never seen a home-printed picture that looks as good as a photo lab print. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that other stores offer the same service as WalMart (submit online, pick-up in one hour at local store) but they're the one that I use. Very convenient if you need/want the prints right away. The pricing is less if you have the prints delivered (takes about a week). We also used them for our photo greeting cards this year; online submission made it a breeze!

[RayChuang88]

But having a DSLR with interchangable lenses would be very nice.

But alas, digital SLR's are still exorbitantly expensive. You might want to look something like the Canon PowerShot Pro 1 or the Nikon CoolPix 8800 instead for now.

[LTCJ]

Actually, the price of five megapixel cameras have become really cheap lately.

I just got a 5Mp Kodak Easyshare though Walmart which included a docking station and rechargable batteries. Price:$199.

[scooter2]

I just hope all our dig pics are still accessible in 100 years.

As if you're going to be around in 100 years to look at them?

[Conspiracy Guy]

It has 6X optical zoom, 4.0 mega pixels, view finder, and monitor (I'm a view finder guy), and as much memory as you want to buy. I compared it with other's and I liked it more. I believe it's made by Olypus.

[Dallas59]

Nice pics! I bought an Olympus. 5 megapixals.







This pic will be on the cover of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce road map for Winter 2005...