Replies

1. 
   RMillard | Aug 09, 2003 07:16am | #1

   I have owned 3 digital cameras. Right now I have a Nikon D-100, which is a great camera, but hardly qualifies as inexpensive. Before I bought this one, I had 2 Minolta’s ( 2.3 and 3.3MP). I found them to be good cameras for the money, and liked the fact that they used rechargeable AA batteries, as opposed to some dedicated ( and expensive) rechargeable one. This was a good thing since these cameras, went through batteries, like they were going out of style. I believe that many of the newer cameras have overcome the battery drain that plagued the earlier models. My D-100 does very well were battery life is concerned, I took over 400 shots at an air show a couple of weeks ago, on the same battery. When I was looking at the D-100, I found a website that had great and independent reviews of digital cameras. The address for that site is http://www.stevesdigicams.com.

                                  Rob Millard

1. 
   wundernaloud | Aug 09, 2003 08:07am | #2

   The fuji mentioned previously is a good camera . Its simpe, takes great pictures .My wife "borrowed " it to take pictures fo her glass work and complains a little bit about the background color and hoe it effects the colors in her work, but that can be managed through different modes in the camera. So I went out and bought a Cannon s30 Power shot with 3.2 mega pixs,ti was a deal at $230 dollars. It got a few more bells and whistles then the fuji and the extra pixs. The fuji takes AA batteries which is nice. Get card reader that helps save batteries.Also a card with more memory than the one you get with the card is a must. I have 64 and a 256 MB cards> the nice thing about the digital medium is you can take lots of pictures and pick the ones that do your work justice. A good veiw and organization program is a nice addition. I use ACDsee which also allows some tweeking of the photos the have a web site www. acdsee.com were you can purchase and download the program.

2. 
   forestgirl | Aug 09, 2003 08:42am | #3

   Digital cameras have come such a long ways since we got our Minolta Dimage V.  I've just started checking out the new ones, and some quick observations: 

   • The expense really goes up with the "megapixel" rating, and IMO it's wasted after a certain point -- how often do you need 14"x11" prints or whatever?  Personally, I'm going to work backwards, aiming for 5x8 prints max, and look for whatever that means in terms of megapixels.
   • Battery life is crucial.  The Dimage V ate batteries too.  We ended up getting the AC adapter, inconvenient to say the least.  Some of today's cameras will shoot an entire wedding and reception, using the flash, and still have power to spare.
   • It's well worthwhile to read various reviews.  A camera may look like a real bargain until you read that the pictures "look like they were taken under water" or some such thing.  Take your time and do the research!

   Good luck!  They're fun to have and use.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   Gretchen | Aug 09, 2003 12:35pm | #4

   Battery life goes up exponentially if you use the viewfinder instead of the video screen.  I can take hundreds of pics at high resolution on one battery charge.Gretchen

3. 
   SCFrankland | Aug 09, 2003 10:19pm | #5

   I have to say that I am very happy with my Fuji Finepix 2600Z.  It takes great pictures and is not bad on the batteries.  I am looking at a Cannon SLR body as I am big into the 35mm stuff and I all ready have several thousand invested into gear now. 

   Scott C. Frankland

   "This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control"

4. 
   rreeger | Aug 10, 2003 01:00am | #6

   David,

   Don't be afraid to spend a little on a quality camera.  Especially since you will use it to show off your work.  In doing so, it becomes one of your "tools" and your probably wouldn't skimp on your tablesaw, bandsaw, planer, etc.

   RR

5. 
   BertJ | Aug 11, 2003 07:07pm | #7

   David,

   You have some good advice already--particularly Rob Millard's post. I'm on my second digital camera that I bought 3 years ago--a Casio QV-2000 UX. This is a 2.1 M-Pixel unit with a 340 Meg microdrive. (Their latest model is a 3 M Pixel version.)

   Casio is not as well marketed in this country as the Sony, Canon & Nikon models, but I REALLY LOVE this camera. With the massive storage capacity of the microdrive, I took 300 high-resolution pictures at a wedding recently and still had room for 100 more pictures! (And you can now get 1 Gig in a microdrive!) It is also easy on the battery drain problem. The out-of-the-box pictures are superb. As Jamie implies, who needs an expensive 5 Megapixel unit for the typical point-and-shoot application?

   BJ

1. 
   Gretchen | Aug 11, 2003 07:58pm | #8

   Digital imaging is not all about MP's.  There is that little lens thingy too.  I have heard good things about the Casio.  It really depends on ALL you will be using it for. If it is only for "sharing" on the internet, then a cheapie will do it fine because you don't want to send big files.But you will love having a digital.  Look up some reviews and pay attention to all the features, and particularly how they rate the lens.  The newer credit card size cameras do not come out well in a LOT of areas, lens resolution being one.  Don't forget the bigger computer hard drive, CD burner, etc.  Printers are almost being given away but ink is expensive.  Epson seems to have the corner on close to archival print inks.  Otherwise the pictures turn an inviting shade of green (on my old HP).

   I will add that I think that te 3MP cameras are being emphasized and the manufacturers are coming out with good models with excellent features at that level. They are at an affordable level also. I have had a 3 for almost 3 years now (since they were expensive!!!) and I don't know that I will ever upgrade again.  I did from a 1MP.

   Gretchen

   Edited 8/11/2003 1:01:04 PM ET by GRETCHEN50

6. 
   DJK | Aug 12, 2003 03:59pm | #9

   Gee, if Grizzly sold them they could sell a boat load just to Knotheads.

   Dave Koury

1. 
   Manchild | Aug 12, 2003 04:16pm | #10

   Are you calling me a knothead?

1. 
   DJK | Aug 12, 2003 05:50pm | #11

   People who frequent the Knots Forum are refered to by some as Knotheads.

   Dave Koury

   fellow knothead

1. 
   Manchild | Aug 12, 2003 05:52pm | #12

   Thank you very much! Funny, I don't feelany different?

7. 
   jdpeck | Aug 13, 2003 02:21am | #13

   You can find great, detailed information about digital cameras at http://www.dpreview.com.

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 13, 2003 09:04am | #16

   Thanks for that link, JD -- it's just the ticket for me since I don't want to go out and buy a bunch of magazines to figure out where to head next!  Here, I'll put it in clickable form:

   http://www.dpreview.com forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

8. 
   Manchild | Aug 13, 2003 04:51am | #14

   I bought a Fuji Finepix 2650 today. Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it.

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 13, 2003 08:57am | #15

   Congrats, David, you'll have fun learning!  Just think, no film wasted in experimenting!

   BTW, you'll also want to learn how to edit the pics down to 60 KB or smaller file sizes before uploading to Knots.  If you need help, LMK.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)