Searching for new camera

Gizelle · May 26, 2005

Hi all,
I am looking into buying a new digital camera. I have an easy, cheap Kokak 3.1 mp at the moment and want to get a decent quality camera that will last me for a long time. Any suggestions?
Thanks

railman44 · May 26, 2005

You left a lot of important info out in your search for a new camera. Are you looking for an "easy" point & shoot with more MP? Do you want a DSLR? How much are you willing to spend? What kind of photography do you like to do? If you're looking for a DSLR, I'm very partial to my Nikon D70. I too have a Kodak 3.1 MP camera. It takes great shots.

Gizelle · May 27, 2005

Thank you Railman44. I really don't want to spend any more than I have to. $1,000 is the max. In the perfect world, I would like a simple point and shoot that takes professional quality pictures with a lot of MP. I have heard many great things about the D70. Too bad it isn't possible to test drive a camera like I would a new car.

Digital Matt · May 27, 2005

Gizelle said:
Too bad it isn't possible to test drive a camera like I would a new car.

Sure it is. Go down to a local store that sells them and ask for a test drive. They want to sell cameras, so they'll be more than happy to let you try it out.

hobbes28 · May 27, 2005

Digital Matt said:
Sure it is. Go down to a local store that sells them and ask for a test drive. They want to sell cameras, so they'll be more than happy to let you try it out.

What he said. I took the D70 out a few times at our local store before we bought one. I still take the lenses out for test drives while I'm looking. They'll let you check them out as much as you'd like pretty much. Some of the professional stores will let you rent one for the day or per hour so you can see just how much you like it in places where you'd use it in real life.

Big Mike · May 27, 2005

If image quality & is one of your parameters, take a serious look at a DSLR like the D70 (or new D70s)....or maybe the Canon Rebel XT. A DSLR is much, much better than a point & shoot camera...even if the P&S looks like an SLR and has 8MP.

Your best bet would be to head down to a camera / electronics store and try them out. $1000 is a lot of money so make sure it feels good in your hands and that you find it easy to work with.

Don't forget that you will need a nice big memory card & a few sets of batteries.

Gizelle · May 27, 2005

Thank you all very much for your help. I will be heading to the stores after work!

Wirral Bagpuss · May 27, 2005

Well the tension is mounting !!! Wonder what Gizelle got in the end? I cant wait to get my paws on the D70s !!! Only a few hours left to go!!

Gizelle · May 29, 2005

So far, I have NOTHING! The CEO of my comany approached me @ 5:01 p.m. Friday night and gave me an assignment. I ended up working until 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Why didn't I leave at 4:30!!:angry1:

Bada Gora · May 29, 2005

If your not sure about the dSLR option, I would suggest a Konica Minolta DiMAGE 7. It is a 5.2mp camera that will take nice images. Its worth a look.

Cheers,
Brandon

flysolo1 · Jun 3, 2005

last month i was in your shoes i had a d40 olympus that took awsome pics but it took a crap and i needed to go out for a new one. when i went to the local store best buy i found myself looking at sony and other that had some high resolution. i spoke to my uncle who ownes a nikon d100 and told me why waste you money on something that you are not going to be happy with especially if you buy it and go to these forus and all you hear is them prasing the d70. i went back to the store and bought a nikon d70. it was great for the month that i owned i sold it and got greedy and bought the d2x and now i now what the best is. go and buy a good camera once and then those 1000 will go a long way.

laudrup · Jun 18, 2005

It might be worth considering a film camera, you'll get fantastic picture quality. I used to have a 6mp casio digital cam, but it didn't have any manual settings and i wanted to learn more about the technical side of photography.

I use a Canon T90 that i picked up cheaply on ebay and when scanned the pics are like 20mp or more. It'll help you learn all about photography techniques and the settings will give you a lot of creative control.

You'll save a fortune in initial cost of equipment but obviously be paying for development of film. If you do choose this route keep a little notebook to write down the settings and a description of the photo so that you can see what effect the setting take.

It also means that because you're having to pay to get film developed you'll put a lot of consideration into the composition of shots, because often with digital it's easy to get snap happy and take hundreds of shots at a time. You'll also pick all manner of lenses at bargain basement prices too!

The only real advantage of digital is that you can immediately see what you've captured.

Hope this helps and doesn't cloud the issue.