I'm after some advice if any one has it. I want ot buy a cheap digital camera. Its purpose is to take all sorts of pictures, most of which will stay in digital format. I travel a lot with my job - including helicopter rides so it will probably get bashed around a fair bit - hence wanting a cheap one. I currently have 3 in mind which all meet the sort of spec I am after, these are:
Kodak LS633
Fuji finepix A330
Pentax Optio 33L
Any comments experiences with these cameras greatly appreciated.
Mat
when people ask this type of question, my answer is "what do you really want to do with this camera?"
By this I mean:
Are 99% of your photos going to be of people close up? (often true)
Are your photos mostly indoor / outdoor (meaning do you need a flash)
Do you need a zoom lens? (most folk don't: just stand nearer, its easier and faster or crop on the PC later)
How are you going to carry it? (if its in a bag, size doesn't matter. in a pocket, it does).
What resolution? (to fit a biggish pc screen, 1600x1200 means at least 2Mpixels: give yourself some cropping room, so say 3M or 4M ideally. I get by fine on 2M though).
And you've already stated it must be rugged (which implies static lenses if possible, so zoom lenses less desirable).
And obviously: what cost? Cheep you say, but what do you think of as cheep?
Originally posted by Mat Kelley
I'm after some advice if any one has it. I want ot buy a cheap digital camera. Its purpose is to take all sorts of pictures, most of which will stay in digital format. I travel a lot with my job - including helicopter rides so it will probably get bashed around a fair bit - hence wanting a cheap one. I currently have 3 in mind which all meet the sort of spec I am after, these are:
Kodak LS633
Fuji finepix A330
Pentax Optio 33L
Any comments experiences with these cameras greatly appreciated.
Mat
Olympus MJU 400.
Pretty sturdy, 2-4M pics and with 512K Memory (ultra small) you can take about 600-700 pics on one memory card.
Unless you're actually expecting your camera to break, I would recommend this. Easy to put on laptop too.. USB turns it into an additional HD. Good quality pics, close and far.
cheers
Originally posted by Mat Kelley
I'm after some advice if any one has it. I want ot buy a cheap digital camera. Its purpose is to take all sorts of pictures, most of which will stay in digital format. I travel a lot with my job - including helicopter rides so it will probably get bashed around a fair bit - hence wanting a cheap one. I currently have 3 in mind which all meet the sort of ...[text shortened]... 330
Pentax Optio 33L
Any comments experiences with these cameras greatly appreciated.
Mat
Mat - welcome to the digital camera world.
I don't have any direct experience with the cameras you listed, but here's my two cents. Hope its okay to expound.
i have a sony P52.
I would not recommend anything under 3+ megapixels, regardless of what you have planned for the pictures.
Remember that an actual zoom is much better than a digital one.
What kind of media do you intend to use. Part of the reason I went with a Sony was that I have other electronics (mainly a sony d8 camcorder) that use the same media stick, so they are interchangeable.
What kind of media (size) comes with a camera. I would not suggest starting with anything less than 128mb. I get about 82 pictures on mine with that size memory stick.
I do not use a sony memory stick, as i've found the lexar brand for sony work just as good and are cheaper.
Good luck.
~ turtlex
Originally posted by Mat KelleyI own the Pentax 33L and love it, once you get used to using the tilting LCD screen and not having a viewfinder, it is very simple to use AND the optics/lens are superb. I have borrowed a friends Sony 5MP camera to test side by side and the printed results (8x6)from the Pentax at 3.2MP are better. I expect that if you wanted to print at A4 or larger then more megapixels would be required, and if you want a camera mainly for webpages buying an expensive one is overkill.
I'm after some advice if any one has it. I want ot buy a cheap digital camera. Its purpose is to take all sorts of pictures, most of which will stay in digital format. I travel a lot with my job - including helicopter rides so it will p ...[text shortened]... omments experiences with these cameras greatly appreciated.
Mat
But for all the functions this camera has, including histogram and plenty of manual choices I doubt it can be bettered for the price, typically around £140
Happy Shooting
Mike
I agree with an earlier comment concerning digital zooms, they are, IMHO, almost a complete waste of time, the 33L has a 3x optical zoom, i have the digital zoom permanently switched off.
Originally posted by Toewhen people ask this type of question, my answer is "what do you really want to do with this camera?"
when people ask this type of question, my answer is "what do you really want to do with this camera?"
By this I mean:
Are 99% of your photos going to be of people close up? (often true)
Are your photos mostly indoor / outdoor (meaning do you need a flash)
Do you need a zoom lens? (most folk don't: just stand nearer, its easier and faster or crop on the PC ...[text shortened]... less desirable).
And obviously: what cost? Cheep you say, but what do you think of as cheep?
All sorts of photos some close up some of scenary some of equipment used in offshore industry.
Zoom lens essential I have on camera that we keep at home with 6 x optical price range I'm looking at 3x
How are you going to carry it? (if its in a bag, size doesn't matter. in a pocket, it does).
Smaller the better but realise this is limited by price.
What resolution?
Don't believe I need more than 3mpixel
And obviously: what cost? Cheep you say, but what do you think of as cheep?
Cheap is always relative but in the region of £100 sterling.
Thanks to all those who have made suggestions so far.
Mat
Originally posted by Mat KelleyNothing wrong with any of the above options but if a zoom is a must, its either (1) many megapixels and zoom on the PC (digital zoom on camera is a nonsense) or (2) decent optical zoom now. Walking closer won't work on/off oil rigs!
All sorts of photos some close up some of scenary some of equipment used in offshore industry.
Zoom lens essential I have on camera that we keep at home with 6 x optical price range I'm looking at 3x... Smaller the better but realise ...[text shortened]... limited by price.... 3mpixel ...in the region of £100 sterling.
In which case, for about £140 to £150, you could also consider the Olympus C-725UZ. 3.3Mpixel, 8x optical zoom.
And a bag so it doesn't get hammered. I'd worry about any zoom lens that is constantly in helicopters that isn't in a good bag.
Mat -
A quick search at www.amazon.com (surprisingly good prices) puts a 3megapixel digital camera starting at about 119 (US Dollars). I don't know if you consider that affordable or not. There are quite a few listed, of every major brand, and the prices go up from there. You can search by megapixel (ie between 3 and 3.9 megapixels is what I choose), which is helpful in comparing prices and options.
FYI - on the low cost end - the Fujifilm A210 3.2 MP Digital Camera w/3x Optical Zoom - is 119 (US).
try the same camera's on www.amazon.co.uk
you'll find the US doller to UK conversion rate is about 1:1,
rather startlingly different to the real one.
Which raises a good point: if you can get a US friend to buy it
for you, do. Electronic goods in the UK are overpriced across
the board.