I'd like it to be able to capture short video as well - nothing crazy. I've been using a 2mega pixel HP PhotoSmart for a few years but it's clunky and doesn't do video...It's dated and is enough to get by but who wants to just get by?

What is the best size megapixel camera for the buck?

Ease of use?

Are video's easily uploadable/downloadable/edited?


I'm wondering if maybe I should get a camera for photo's and a digital recording device for video's... Thoughts, epinions?

-pt

want a small camera or a digital SLR?

SMALL....I mean: small...think Zoolander's cell phone...

I have been using my 5900 for a couple of years now and its the bomb. It does stills and videos and uses a memory card which means ultracompact as well as having no moving parts to break. It fits on a shirt pocket.

Did I mention dirt cheap?

http://www.aiptek.com/

when I first met Gint he was carrying a little pentax that fit inside of an Altoids can! If I recall he was pretty happy with it.

I think that's a great size!

i have a konica/minolta Dimage Z10 . it has 3.2 mega pixels. nice zoom znd more features than i can figure out how to use.

also with a large SD card i can shoot 48+ minutes of video, or 1800 still pictures.


Robin

I am a bit of a photographer-amateur--and my two cents is to go digital at least with a 5 MP point and shoot---their video capabilities are not as good as a real dedicated video camara--so, sound and sharpeness on the videos will not be there.

Canon powershots are good camaras--but we are talking around $300 dollar range and up for 5 MP.



Believe it or not--I still shoot with my 35 mm SLR, fully manual camara--I just like to suffer and have fun trying to figure out all my exposure settings. But I do carry around a powershot S50 (older model) for day to day pics and video.

I have a Canon that I really like. It's a Powershot SD200 Digital Elph, with 3.2 MP. It's a year or so old, so the model #s have probably changed a bit. I haven't used the video much, just once to twice to play around with it. If you really want to take video, a dedicated video camera is the way to go, but for occasional fooling around it's fine. The camera is the size of a pack of cards, and pretty easy to use. You can run a cable from the camera directly to a TV and view pictures and video : a nice feature for a quick slide show.

In terms of bang for buck, I'd say stick to a medium range of pixels. Unless you plan to do high-quality enlargements (big ones) 3.2 MP is plenty. Mostly I take "snapshots" to post online, send to friends, etc. and I keep the camera in a lower resolution mode.

In terms of convenience, I definitely recommend a model with rechargeable batteries. It's a real convenience to have 2 batteries : one in the camera and one in the charger.

I'll second the Powershot. It is small, and a damn good camera.

I also HIGHLY suggest that you go to this site: www.dpreview.com
and do some research. They will give you not only good reviews for most models, but also retail and street pricing that is pretty accurate.

Zach

Damn good info gents. Many thanks!

-pt

We have a Panasonic FX9 and like it a lot. 5 Mp, and very quick shutter response time. Very nice video quality, and in .mov format too. Nice for a Mac fellow like myself.

Very small, roughly cell phone sized. A very large, and bright display in the back. SD card memory, can hold lots of stills and/or video. feature rich, and an easy to navigate menu system.

Has built in mechanical image stabilization, which I like better than the digital stabilization stuff. And it seems to work really well so far.

So far the only drawback I've found is that the CCD suffers some saturation on one edge when shooting video in bright daylight. No problem at all with stills though. Not a big deal, and some wouldn't even notice or care.

We used to have a Kodak 2MP camera, and it just plain sucked compared to the Panasonic. The video quality is so good that we tend to use the camera to shoot video clips of our daughter instead of the bigger digital camcorder we have. The camcorder takes time to get going, the camera can go from pocket to shooting video in very little time. Has pretty good audio too...

-Josh2

edit - it's a Panasonic, I had mistakenly written Pentax...

I also HIGHLY suggest that you go to this site: www.dpreview.com
and do some research.

I spent a bunch of time of dpreview. They weren't impressed with my Sony Cybershot, but it was a 100 percent improvement from my Olympus C700UZ. The Sony has such crisp photos and auto zoom is accuraqte 95% of the time. You can't beat a large bright LCD screen either.

I just got a Nikon Coolpix 5.1 mp as a gift. It's about the size of a pack of cigarettes

I heard good things about Canon powershots from family...

I have a Canon SD450 "Digital Elph" that takes movies at 60 fps and it only measures 3.25 " x 2 " x 0.75 ". After I bought it I realized that for only 50% more money I could have bought an entry level Leica digital camera - I don't know if it's any better but that way you could tell people that you own a Leica.

the current generation Leica digitals are having some issues with firmware. I'd stear clear of them until they get it fixed.

Zach

I figured I'd steer clear of the Leica's for the simple reason that I don't know wtf they are. So, ignorance is bliss

I've been researching this same thing for about 2 months now... my budget was <350... final 3 candidates were :fuji F30, Sony W100, and the canon SD700IS(800IS is too $$$)...

the F30 won... but it's not known as the most user friendly... it does require a few tweaks to get proper exposure in some conditions...(mainly dialing back the exposure compensation in REALLY bright lights), either in post or while taking the picture... but the camera has the sharpest detail, best low-light performance, and can produce good 8x10+ prints at 1600 ISO speed, and good 4x6/5x7 prints at 3200ISO... no other camera gets speeds that fast and no other camera is as usable above 800 speed...

the sony and canon had more noise at 200 ISO than the fuji at 800!!!

and it still fits in a blue jeans pocket, eventhough it's not quite as small as the sony or the canon....


imaging-resource.com is a good site to compare... since it really does come down to personal preference...

edit:
here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

you can compare pics side-by-side and see what you like...

also read the site's reviews and recomendations... they print out pictures and tell you what the max(good, usable) size you can get out of the pictures at a given iso speed... for me, I put the F30 up against every casio, canon, nikon and sony that would fit into a small jacket pocket... the f30 won IMO...

Actually, for me, it came down to what Costco had in stock...

I can't see myself buying a digital camera from anywhere else...

-Josh2

I have had several Di cameras and if you want to take action shots check the response time. some are to slow and the subject is gone by the time the shutter clicks. I dont know if this is normal but it sucks

Coupla guys at work are photo buffs and one of them recommended this one so I got this little jewel for Christmas...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07K - its a 7.2 Megapixel with a short focal length Leica lens (not electronics) that lets you take wide or panarama shots- sorta like wide screen TV ...

Panasonic FX07k

Gots video, image stabilization, and an up close macro lens that focuses down to .17 foot.

Only thing wrong with it is the wussy SD memory that comes with it- holds a whole 4 pictures.

Got mine from Newegg for $276 with a 1gig SD memory card and a camera pack.

Like it a lot so far. Not a drop in replacement for my old Minolta 35mm with all the lenses, but you should see the pics my friend at work took of the grand canyon.

Ken

It's the kind of camera that the guy used to photograph Jessica Biel in the move "Stealth".

http://www.leica-camera.us/photography/

Never heard of Aiptek. Very cool camera! Does it have optical zoom or just digital?

My dad got a Leica digital when I got my D100 in 2002. It was a nice 5 mp camera.

I ordered a Nikon L1 last night...gonna try that out this year. $159 on ebay for a refurb with all the accessories. 6.2 megapixel and a 5x optical zoom.

Kodak Z710...

7.1 MP's..

10x Optical Zoom...

Additional 4x Digital Zoom...

Camera w/ 2GB Memory Card at Office Max... PRICELESS!

Actually, $198.99 for the camera and $20.00 for the BIG Memory card...

Takes up to 1 hour of Video, and more photos than you will ever need!

Download to Computer with enclosed UBS lead, or to VCR/TV with optional Video leads ($9.99). Runs on rechargeable lithium batts, or non recharge batts, or an AC adaptor (optional).

nm, I edited my original comment with the link...