title about covers it.
I would love to buy my first digital camera..
(so I can take car pictures)

Is there anything out there that would be decent in the 200 range?

(I'll have to justify it with the wife, that we can use it for trips and non car pictures too)

what should I look for?
-#'s of pixels?
-powers of multiplication?

thanks for humoring a computer and camera newbie.
brant

I had a Sony DSC-S50 for a long time. It's been discontinued now, but they're available cheap on ebay. Great cameras, and they do 1600x1200, which is plenty for the casual user. It also has a swivel screen that's great for taking undercar and engine compartment pics. It has a super-spiffy macro mode, better than alot of the newer high megapixel cameras. Everything else I'd reccommend is outside your stated price range.

IMHO, the biggest difference is in the lens.

Nikon's lenses are nice, the Karl Zeis sony lenses are good, too.
Leica makes some nice cameras (have to find it used though in your price range).

buy.com has some nikons in your price range.

Don't let anyone on the list know, but you might try ebay. I found a great deal on a Sony Mavica, but I dropped it and broke it to the tune of cost more to fix than camera was worth. So, I ended up getting a Kodak EasyShare DX 6490. It has the docking station so it charges and you can download pics. I love this camera.
CCLINAKODAKMOMENT

I'll start surfing ebay then...
should I specifically look for some of the above mentioned units... or should I try to learn what the features are all about..

do I need to worry about memory?

craig, what are the benefits of a docking station ? (I guess you already said that it charges it, so it would save on the battery expense), but when you say it will download pics, do you mean straight to internet or for memory purposes?

thanks all.
brant

Check out the Nikon Cool Pixs 3200. 3.2M pixels, 3x optical zoom. Don't get one with only a digital zoom. 3.2M pixels will give you all the quality you need. Look for the best price on the internet. Look for shipping included. Start with CNET. I think this link will work:

CNET Nikon Cool Pixs 3200

EBay is OK too.

-Jeff

As far as pixels a 4 or higher megapixels will give you good quality. If you can't find any in your price range, I've seen 2.1 megapixels that have good quality. For memory there are cameras that have built in memory and there are those that use removable media. Thing about the removable media is you can take it out and go to your nearest photo processing place and they can print out all your pics.

Nikon.

For digital cameras I'm huge Canon fan. The Canon A85, A80, or even a discounted A75 (3MP) should be close to your price range.

Brand name used to be important when they made mechanical cameras. i.e. you could drop a nikon down a hill and it would still work. Name brand optics used to be important, until they started computer designing and grinding the lenses. In the business we used to talk about lines per millimeter, chromatic and aspheric abberation. That stopped long ago, then we started talking about whether a lens had SS ball bearings. For a long time now optics have been capable of more resolution than film can record, let alone digital. Your main consideration is megapixel/dollar. Second is the optical zoom range. Docking isn't a big deal, most are USB or firewire. Check Ebay item #3844333744 , falls in your price range. I personally prefer Canon, but this Olympus looks like what you want.

After 10 years with an old Mavica (handy recording on floppies, just slip 'em into any floppy drive equipped computer and awaaaaaaay you go!) I bought a Canon A75. Has many of the features of my Nikon 6006 film camera, and Canon has a great history and reputation in the digital field. It's pocket sized, makes good images which do well at 8x10 or larger, takes AA batteries (I use the Duracell "Ultras"), has an optical zoom, and was on sale at Best Buy cheaper than anywhere on the net. You WILL need to buy a memory card, 'cause the one that comes with it is really small. I was out the door for around $280 with the card and a spare set of batteries. HTH, The Cap'n

I picked up a Canon A75 this summer at Best Buy for 250. 3.2 megapixels, lots of settings to choose from.,
Great camera for the price.

I also picked up a 512 mb memory card for 60-70 bucks at Costco. Never will have to worry about how many pics with that. I think around 1000+ on the highest res setting.

I prefer cameras with lithium battery packs (rechargable).. Check reviews for battery life ratings. Also price how much a new pack costs, as they don't last forever. If you want to do lots of reading, my favorite review site is http://www.dpreview.com

I have to recommend the Nikon Coolpix 3700 which is now selling at Butterflyphoto.com for $253 and has a $100 REBATE so it only cost $153.
I took this camera all over Holland and to Crete in August and loved it. I gave to my son and also got one for my 82 year old dad.
Killer camera...3.2 mpixels, movies with sound, just sound recording, etc.

Geoff

P914, put the arm down.


Please.

I'm not going to recommend a specific model because there are plenty out there.

But my one suggestion is to look at FACTORY REFURB models. Often you can find them on eBay or directly from manufacturers.

They usually come with the same warranties, and you can get a bunch more camera for your money.

Otherwise, my only advice is look for one with an optical zoom, as opposed to a digital zoom.

-Rusty

Fry's has one on sale right now till Tuesday, its a Kyocera 5 MP for $199.00. Doesnt sound bad at all to me.

Factory refurb. More for your money. Optical zoom range. Digital zoom is nice but degrades image quality. Mpeg is a great feature, 30sec. movie clips. Stick with the top 4 Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta.

Get atleast a 128 memory card with it and I agree that the lithium battery packksare better vs the AA ones. Bought along another digital camera on the trip that used AA batteries for the kids to use and those are a pain in the ass.

optical zoom atleast 3x as the Digital zoom is a joke unless you want all your pics to look like Andy took em.

Geoff

I made my first digital camera purchase this summer after a lot of research. I went with the Canon A75 and am very glad that I did. I wanted the slightly larger LCD on the back and didn't want to spend extra bucks for the swivel screen on the A80. I also felt that 3.2mp was just fine for my needs.

My biggest concern was getting good sky colors. I've had too many times of getting back from a trip and discovering that the beautiful blue sky with white puffy clouds behind the Eiffel Tour came out all washed out. I tested the Canon on this before I purchased it and I've been very pleased with the results. From my research it seems that Canon has done more work on scene analysis than any other manufacturer to make sure that stuff comes out right.

The A75 also gives me lots of manual controls so that when I want I can make it do whatever I want.

At high resolution the movies are even pretty good and I haven't used my video camera since I bought the Canon. My only complaint is that at high res you can only take a 30 second video regardless of how much capacity your compact flash card has.

Having a camera that felt good in my hand was very important. Using a CF card and AA batteries were the other things on my list and the A75 fit the bill all the way around.

Like others have said, there are lots of them on the market, but Canon gets my vote - especially the A75.

First thing for you to do is go to the magazine rack and find one that has alot of ads. Most big sellers of digital cameras take out 1, 2 and 3 page ads listing all the neat cameras for sale including a small blurb of what each camera is capeable of doing. The 3 mega pixal cameras are getting really cheap and for what you want to do with it should be sufficient.

Next, go on line to consumer reports and browse their recomended best buys. They will even tell you what the camera can do and ease of operation.

B & H photo on line will have a list of really great deals too (mail order stuff).

Rather than buying from a picture it's best that you find what you think you're gonna like and then find it at a store & handle it. I, personally, do not like a small camera because it's hard to hold on to. Fingers get in the way too.

The camera Geoff suggested is a great deal, a nice camera and available most everywhere.

I will be upgrading to a Canon Digital Rebel with 6.3 MP. It's a SLR digital and I can change lenses with my other Canon cameras.

There's a lot to look at and take some time to check them out or you might end up with something that's hard to operate & doesn't make you happy with it's results.

.....b

I also don't like the cameras with too many optional things. Too many funny sounds when the shutter clicks etc. I like a camera that shoots great pics. More...forget the cameras than tout all the killer options, bells and whistles as its just too effin confusing trying to change the setup. 90% of the shots I do are on auto! You don't have time nor remember how to scroll thru to figure out how to setup a "backlit party shot" waste of money! I do love the mpeg stuff and have taken 15 30 sec movies and made a complete movie using Vegas with blends and fades. Now that is cool. I will do a video of DHunts engine blow/fire off party on Sat.

Even my 82 year old Dad can work the Nikon 3700 forget using my Nikon 5000.

Geoff
(what the hell was a trying to say...I was out until 2AM last night drinking Mojitos with the guys)

me too!
my camera makes me look good

Canon or Nikon. You don't need more than 3 mega pixels for your first digital camera. I would also say go for lithium rechargable batt. digital cameras are notorious for eating batt. And difinitely get a large memory card I like 256MB but go 512MB if you can spend the money. I have a canon s50 and it is so much better than the kodak I left on the hood of my Land Rover.

Costco has the 512 mem card for the A75 for $45 now.

I'd buy at least a 4 megapixel camera. I think that's the price/performance sweetspot now.

Here's the web sites that I used for research before I decided on the Canon A75:

Steve's Digicams http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Digital Camera HQ http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/
Digital Camera Resource Page http://www.dcresource.com/

I particularly appreciated Steve's Digicams because he really is independent and he provides actual shots that show you just exactly what the camera did in a given situation.

Checked your review sites and the Nikon is still $153 at Butterflyphoto.com

www.dpreview.com is also a great site for reviews though they tend to focus on higher end cameras. I like the Canon A85. The primary difference between it and the A70 is 4 megapixels and a larger swing out/swivel lcd panel. The swing out LCDs are really nice and let you easily get low shots and overhead shots. It also makes it easy to turn it 180 degrees and take a picture of yourself.

Wow,

thanks for the education everyone...
I feel like I just learned a ton.

sounds like I need to buy the memory card and batteries on top of my selection no mater which

the front runners that I'm seeing in this thread are:
- cannon A75: ($179) 3.2MP and 3X optical (4 alk. bat.)

- cannon A85: ($234) 4MP and 3X optical (4 alkaline bat)

- nikon cool pix 3700 ($153) 3.2MP and 3x opt.
(in battery section it says: 1X but nothing else specified)

- nikon cool pix 3200 ($162) 3.2MP and 3X opt.
(bat. says: 2X but nothing more is specified?)

- olypus C-740 Ultra ($239) 3.18MP and 10X opt.
(Says: standard/CRV3 Lithium)

just a couple of more questions.
1) am I correct that I can add memory to any newer made camera?
2) am I correct that I can purchase these lithium batteries or MH batteries as an option? Can a AA battery style camera interchange with Lithium, or do I need to factor this into the decision from the git go.
3) I'm confused about the mention of MH batteries I guess versus the Lithium.
3) for those of you with the Nikons, what batteries do they take?
4) is 10X optical zoom going to be better for car parts pictures and does this make the olympus superior?

thanks again
brant

1) Yes. My decision on what kind of card I wanted was based upon wanting to use it with either Windoze or Linux. I felt that Compact Flash had the highest chance of doing that.

2) Your camera may come with Alkaline batteries in the box, but those are the last Alkaline batteries you should use in the camera. You will use them up very quickly. After that, get some rechargeable NMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) or Lithium batteries and use them over and over. Which of these that you get would be determined by whether your cameral manufacturer has some note that says only use this or don't use that.

For myself, I would not buy a camera that uses a proprietary battery instead of AAs. The cost of replacing the battery will quickly exceed the cost of the camera. I found a charger at Sam's Club that works from a/c or the power outlet in my car. It came with 4 15-minute recharge NMH batteries and was less than $30.

4) Optical zoom is always better than digital zoom (at least on paper). Used properly, I've seen demonstrations of very good results from digital zoom. The secret seems to be in framing the photo properly to begin with so that you don't manipulate its size after the fact. What level of zoom you need (3x or 10x) is probably determined by what you want to shoot. For close-ups many cameras offer a macro mode so that you can get very close. I'm still learning how to use that on my A75.

Whatever you do make sure you have at least two sets of batteries.

Also, go down to bestbuy or whatever place is closest to you and figure out which cameras you like by feel. You can look at specs forever but you also want a camera that is comfortable to use.

I don't mind proprietary batteries since they usually result in a lighter overall camera. If you buy non-brand name proprietary batteries you can find them very cheap. I just bought two high capacity batteries for my Canon S400 for a grand total of $11.50 including shipping (ebay).

3X optical zoom is fine for your average snapshot. If you ever want to take shots at a track forget it. Not enough zoom. The 10x seems like a hell of a lot more for the money. Decide what camera you want. Then find out what type memory card and battery it takes. Buy them through ebay as well. Most of the time it's half the price of most retail outlets.

I have a canon powershot A40... 2.1MP and 1600x1200 pics turn out great! I have never had a complaint and they are available for under $200 now... in a 3MP version (A75) great, simple to use little camera with great features...

10x is the way to go & if you can get one with image stabilizing it's even better. I have a 10x and I can read license plates in parking lots with it

.....b

I've had one of these for 2 years and couldn't be happier.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=photo

It comes with a rechargable battery and charger - is small and takes great pics for a 2MP camera. Frankly unless your a pro I just don't think you need more than that. The newer versions of it are even better (smaller too). I put a 128MB card in mine and never run out of room taking pics at 1024x768.

I also like that A70 (I think) which I got for my dad a while back - it was just as good but not as small and didn't have the rechargable batteries.