Digital Camera's and Cam corders.

[Snowman]

Hey guys,

Well it's officially time for me to stop being about the only person on the planet without a digital camera. Now that the Mrs is up the duff we figure it's time to invest in one.

What we want to know is recommendations of not only camera's but places to get them. I'm as much interested in ones to stay away from as ones to get (if that makes sense). All I'm looking for is a simple point and shoot type one. And smallish. I'll leave the giant ass tricky shite to Joel and Greg etc.

I also want to look at getting a Cam corder of some description. I know even less about these than I do digital camrea's! LOL. What I want is something that can take extended recording, be able to put the "movies" onto my PC and also be able to have an input in feature so that I can get a bullet cam for track stuff.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[saff_cossie]

Let me know what you decide mate

[Bec]

Snowball - when you decide which camera you want let me know - if Kodak sells it I can get you a discount.

[Ronin 09]

Snowball.... hahaha

I have a Canon Ixus 400. I reckon it takes some pretty snazzy pics - see my gallery for some of my trip from Japan.

I got it from O/S, so that's not very much help...

The Ixus i5 is tiny, but doesn't have a zoom if that floats your boat...

[Ant97GTR]

Snowie....I can highly recommend the Pentax Optio 555. There has been an updated model release called (I think) the Optio 750. Very easy to use, small and plenty of zoom for a compact.

[Bec]

IMO - For still and video cameras good/great zoom is a MUST!!!!!

[Snowman]

Yeah I've had 2 recommendations for the Canon IXUS range now. Apparently just released the new IXUS 700 (7MP) 3 x Optical zoom and looks alright.

Will also investigate the Pentax - thanks Ant.

[R31Nismoid]

Greg told me the Canon. For a compact camera etc, they are one of the better ones.

Giv greg a call snows. He will explain it. And a friend took his advise and is rapt in it

[NS2500]

Hang on...the Mrs is up the duff? Did I miss a memo? Congratulations!

Couple of notes when looking at compact digital cameras...

* Don't get caught in the megapixel hype - 5 is plenty, anything higher and you'll have bigger file sizes (less space) and not a whole heap more picture quality

* Optical zoom is important, forget about digital zoom

* Compact Flash and SD memory cards are good value - get a big one

* Movie mode can be really handy, even if you have camcorder as well

I'm a big fan of any Canon Powershot or IXUS when it comes to compacts.

[Mavric]

Hey dude yea i brought a Cannon not to long ago and im very happy with it.. it's a 5megapixle what ever that means and takes really good shots... possibly look for something wif sports mode if u want to take shots of cars on the track but not a must... also sorry bec but avoid kodak, first one i got was ****house very dissapointed with it.. so im all for cannon after mine..

good luck with it all...

[Snowman]

Well these Canon's sound promising so I'll go check em out.

What about cam corders? Anyone have any experience with the new DVD style ones that go direct onto DVD-R discs? Compared to other digi-cams?

[Oosh]

How much do you want to spend firstly?

And the only thing about the IXUS range is that it uses a special Canon battery, so when it dies (and Li-Ion have a limit shelf, not usage, life) you can't just go anywhere to get one.

I have a PowerShot A80 which takes 4 x AA NiMh batteries which makes it a bit bulkier but i can also slap some cheap stock of the supermarket shelves if needed. It has some good "point & shoot" presets and you can do some manual stuff for the trickier light conditions if you feel so inclined. I've been very happy with it's operation and image quality (4 MP with good optics).

Don't get too hung up on mega-pixels either, for day-to-day shooting anything more than 3.2MP is plenty, I suggest you look at a PowerShot A95 which is a 5MP item and more than adequate.

[Bec]

Ummmm......

I was not saying to buy a Kodak camera, i was saying that if Kodak (shops - foudn at Eastland/Chadstone/etc) sell them - then i can get discount.

Last time I checked Kodak shops did sell Canon cameras etc..

[inark]

well if u want a really good digital SLR theres a canon EOS10D with a lense and stuff for 1100 he said he would sell it to me for... check the for sale section... altho they look daunting theyre not... but then again... sounds like u dont want anything too fandangly.

check Teds out... large range and good pricing for a shop.

im getting some new gear soon.... about 5 video cameras and a digi SLR soon and most of it will be coming from Teds and ebay because from all the places ive looked theyre the cheapest by far.

ie. EOS350D which im looking at is about 1k cheaper than camera house and other stores ive seen... Canon XL2 video camera @ Teds is 89995 and on ebay 5599... so shopping around can make a LARGE difference

[inark]

How much do you want to spend firstly?

And the only thing about the IXUS range is that it uses a special Canon battery, so when it dies (and Li-Ion have a limit shelf, not usage, life) you can't just go anywhere to get one.  

I have a PowerShot A80 which takes 4 x AA NiMh batteries which makes it a bit bulkier but i can also slap some cheap stock of the supermarket shelves if needed. It has some good "point & shoot" presets and you can do some manual stuff for the trickier light conditions if you feel so inclined. I've been very happy with it's operation and image quality (4 MP with good optics).  

Don't get too hung up on mega-pixels either, for day-to-day shooting anything more than 3.2MP is plenty, I suggest you look at a PowerShot A95 which is a 5MP item and more than adequate.

we have one of those powershots at work... i actually hate using batterys like that... i prefer the easy use of the mobile battery style than the fidly and space taking AAs. BUT that camera is very good and u can even put a zoom lense on it too which is pretty cool.

[saff_cossie]

well if u want a really good digital SLR theres a canon EOS10D with a lense and stuff for 1100 he said he would sell it to me for... check the for sale section... altho they look daunting theyre not... but then again... sounds like u dont want anything too fandangly.

check Teds out... large range and good pricing for a shop.

im getting some new gear soon.... about 5 video cameras and a digi SLR soon and most of it will be coming from Teds and ebay because from all the places ive looked theyre the cheapest by far.

ie. EOS350D which im looking at is about 1k cheaper than camera house and other stores ive seen... Canon XL2 video camera @ Teds is 89995 and on ebay 5599... so shopping around can make a LARGE difference

before you buy, give me a list if you want and I will see if I can beat the price. Could save you some more dollars as I resell most of these

Canon batteries for the IXUS range and a few others are IRO $65.00 which I can get hold of. There are four of us in my g/f's family with IXUS' and all over a year old with no problems and regular use if that helps.

[Oosh]

we have one of those powershots at work... i actually hate using batterys like that... i prefer the easy use of the mobile battery style than the fidly and space taking AAs. BUT that camera is very good and u can even put a zoom lense on it too which is pretty cool.

I've got the zoom-lens attachment, probably wasn't worth it really, alway best to just get a SLR if you're gonna play with lens's but it has come in handy from time-to-time.

[R32_GODZILLA]

The Ixus i5 is tiny, but doesn't have a zoom if that floats your boat...

I have the Canon IXUS i5(5 megapixel)....mine has 6.5x digital zoom?

Not a bad little camera, havn't had much of a play around with it yet...only taken a few practise pics...heres a couple for an example of quality:

Steve.

[Mr. Oizo]

How much do you have to spend?

Canon A series, probably the A95.

Good manual controls, and good image quality.

check www.dpreview.com if you wanna look into it yourself

[xRHETTx]

check Teds out... large range and good pricing for a shop.

IMHO a camera shop like Teds is good if you want good advice and sales people who actually know about the stuff their selling. Much better than places like JB hifi or wherever, might get a slightly cheaper price but you'll end up with something you didnt really want if ur not careful.