thinking about a digital camera

Brerrabbit

Hey all,

I was thinking of buying the Polaroid PDC 5070 digital camera from argos for 135 euro. It seems to suit my price range (would'nt be looking for anything over 150 really unless it was particullarly good) and would seem to suit my needs; not really into photography in a big way -yet -,I just need an everyday joe camera for stuff I see which I find interesting, was also thinking of making a photomosaic or something like that the above mentioned camera hasa 4X digital zoom (which seems good to me).

The only thing is I can't seem to find any reviews online for it; I have tried my friend google and the stickys of the forum but not many sites seem to register Polaroid as much of a player in the digital photography market. Is there a reason for this? do they make crappy cameras?

any advice, input (or even a nod to a good site fro reviews) would be helpful also any camera recommendations for my price range (not really set in stone; I could go up to 200 or so), and needs would be very much appreciated. I'm fairly out of my depth; don't know the first thing about photograhy really.

Thanks very much in advance

impr0v

Personally I think you should go with a brand which has a better established history in digital cameras, such Fujifilm, Olympus, Sony or Canon. Digital zoom is only the zoom which the camera can apply to the image after it has been taken, i.e. when you are looking at it on the screen on the back of the camera. Be careful that you aren't confusing this with optical zoom. In terms of price, you will almost certainly do better online than you will on the high street, if you have access to a credit card, and most cameras you find should have a review available.

A bit more money spent now might be money saved in the long run. Try and get a camera with rechargable batteries, as this could turn out to be a significant expense if you use it regularly, and has a usb or other cable included, something you might not get with a very low spec model.

davmigil

impr0v is right on all counts. Check out www.nomatica.ie and you will find some good canon, olympus, fuji etc in that price range. IGNORE digital zoom, optical zoom is all that matters (something with 3x optical would be nice).

Brerrabbit

thanks for the advice folks. I think I was getting confused between optical and digital zoom. I'll check out that site in a moment. Yeah you're probably right about spending an extra few bob now and saving it in the long run.

Thanks again guys!

rymus

Nice link dav, I was going to get a 20D from technikdirekt but I might get it from this crowd now instead... Always good to have options I suppose

davmigil

Plenty more links in the computer forum (see the sticky). www.pixmania.com meant to be worth checking too.

Brerrabbit

thanks again everyone; i think I've settled on a nikon 4800 from nomatica.ie for €425 with case, batteries, charger and 256 card, it has a an8x optical zoom (thnks again for explaining the difference between optical and digital zoom!) and 3.9 mega pixels and would seem to suit my needs (never mind that I just doubled my price range a friend told me that, from his experience with film cameras that nikon tend to have excellent lenses, I just smiled, nodded politely and pretended I understood the significance of that )

I'll check out the pixmania site too before I decide though.

Sorry, I had a look at the stickies for this board, didn't even think to check the ones on the computers board.

Once again thanks everyone!


edit: hang on a tick just had a look at pixmania,

pixmania have an olympus C 765 Ultra for €403 with case, charger, and 256 card. With an optical zoom of x10 and 4.2 mega pixels. it seems to trump the coolpix on price and specs, but does anyone know which is the more reliable brand?
also some of the other bundles on that site for the olympus feature a card reader, the camera comes with a USB cable so surely I can just plug it in to the back of my PC?

Thanks for all your help and patience everyone.

davmigil

Both those cameras come at a premium price because of the 8-10x zoom lens. Most of the more affordable cameras come with a 3x Optical zoom, which is adequate for day to day shots. If you want something to take pictures of sporting events from afar or something to bring on safari, the extra price might be worth it. At higher zoom levels you would need to be using a tripod to get a steady shot though.

Else I would look at 3,4 or 5 megapixel cameras with a 3X optical zoom.

As far as I know, they are all excellent brands. My sister has a coolpix 3?00 and it's a great camera. I have a Canon Powershot A85 and I think its great as a general purpose camera too. Olympus are a good brand also! I like the A85 as it has a lot of manual controls available to use if you want to (e.g. aperture priority/shutter priority/change iso/preset modes etc.) or can just leave it in automatic. It is ready to shoot quickly once you turn it on, which is a big plus. Actually it is probably worth your while dropping into your local camera shop/Dixons etc. and having a try of a few of the models you are interested in. Pay attention to how long before the camera is ready to take a picture once you turn it on and how soon after you take a picture is it ready for the next shot. Don't even thinking about buying there though until you compare the online price though!

As regards extras, extra storage (256Mb is good), case and a charger/batteries is a must. Some brands include chargers as part of the package, others don't.

You are right, you don't need a card reader, USB cable will do the trick