Need some camera advice

saabaru

saabaru

New member
Me and the girlsfriend are looking to get a camera.

I would love to get a DSLR, but not sure we want to spend the money. So, we would be looking at a point and shoot...

What would be the best bang for our buck? Need a good zoom, made that mistake before on my old point and shoot.

 
How tech-savvy are the two of you? If you want a high ease-of-use factor, check out Sonys. Wifey liked the menu structure - not as tough to find frequently-used options as some other manufacturers.

Optical zoom rocks my world.

 
She is not at all. I am not super "savy" but willing to read and learn..

One of these days I will go to that camera store on Forest ave and talk to those guys.

I would love to get a Nikon D?? But they are $$$$$ but might be worth it.

 
I bought my Canon 30D at Photo Market on Forest Ave. I would recommend them. :thumbsup:

 
i came within an inch of buying another camera and putting my nikon up for sale this weekend. if you're going to go dslr, canon is cheaper but they're also made cheaper, and dont have as much lens interchangeability. nikons are built like a tank (especially the nicer magnesium body ones) and all of them will mount to any nikon lens back to the 70's. the new d40 only works with some lenses and it directed towards point and shooters, but has a lot of features buried in menus and doesn't have the internal motor required to focus lenses like the awesome 50mm f1.8. the d50 does.

i'm not too up to date on the point and shoots, but make sure to get at least 5x zoom and keep an eye on the length of startup time.

 
Panasonic Lumix FZ-18 is a great one. Even better is the Nikon P80, with 10mp, 18x zoom and Optical Vibration Reduction. It can take up to 30 pictures consecutively in fast action mode, with up to 13 pictures per second. My camera shop has a very difficult time keeping these in stock because of their value. Ballpark is ~$350.00 ish IIRC.

http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/coolpix/p80/index.htm

Other than that, Sony H-## would be a good purchase. H50 is a good compact one, but I prefer the more robust H-10.

 
As for price, we are not sure yet, but under 600. My thought is find a point and shoot, then go from there. I know she will not want to lug around a big camera, and there will be times I want to just grab the p&s.....

 
A Nikon D40 setup goes for $579 with a two lens kit, training vids and camera bag. It's a very small DSLR, and extremely easy to use. The automatic/preset modes are amazingly accurate and simple.

IMHO, invest in a DSLR - you won't be disappointed in the precision.

OTOH, a P&S is quiet, less expensive and more trouble-free (dust on sensor, etc). Just be careful where you store it!

 
Redline, it is a matter on convicing the girlfirend we would be better off in the long run.. I think I am going to head over to that photo store on Forest ave and see what they have to say. And report back.

Thanks guys for the help..

 
Panasonic TZ-3

sits somewhere between DSLR and cheapo point n shoots

key thing is it has a Leica lens, big zoom range w/28mm wide angle . 4" super bright lcd screen. understandable menus, lots of modes, from super simple to "you pick everything the way YOU want." 7 Mp, so quality is fine. ergonomics are excellent, controls are right where you'd think they should be. Have had the cam several months now, like it quite abit.

circa $300 :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 
P80 is nice, and the Lumix TZ something is nice too. I think it might be between the two. I would rather have the Nikon cause of the zoom... I showed my girlfriend and almost right away she was like NO. WTF. Soon, we will see what we end up with...

I went to Photomarket. Guy was ok, but not too helpful just said these are nice cameras. A bit lame to me, made me feel like I was in Best Buy... Aw well.

Any other good camera shops in the Portland area?

 
he may not have known the fine differences between them since the sell mostly slr stuff. also i did talk to a younger kid there once who didnt seem to know much. probably someones son or something....

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top