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I'd be grateful for advice about features to look for, mistakes to avoid, suggestions about accessories, etc. etc..
For now, all I know is that I need something really idiot-friendly, and the smaller the better.
We have no clue if it's lost forever somewhere or still in our house in a "safe keeping" place so I had to buy her a new one for her birthday just to quiet her down.
I'd suggest something in a CANON, no less than 5MP (5 megapixels), and even cameras with complex options and creative controls (ability to set shutter speed and aperture separately) that you grow into are basically in "program mode" out of the box which is idiot-proof point and shoot mode.
The main things to look out for are the Resolution, and Zoom.
I would agree with Bill about 5 megaPixel or above to a certain extent, but it does depend on the application. I have a Canon Ixus 4, 4 megaPixel, a small pocket camer that I bought specifically for taking pics at Trade Shows for use online, and it does a wonderful job. An associate does Aerial Photography and so he has the canon D1 which is 12 megaPixels, with the attendant price tag. So it does depend on your usage. For Web use and happy family snaps, 4 mP or above would be quite adequate.
As to Zoom, the more Optical Zoom the better. Digital Zoom in a Camera is pretty much useless as it is simply zooming in on the captured image and the resultant resolution suffers.
Another consideration is the type of Memory Card used and compatability with the technology you already have.
When researching my purchase I spent hours at [dpreview.com...] before making a final decision, I suggest you do the same.
Onya
Woz
Seems like there are different levels of cameras suitable for how you're going to use the camera and your level of camera sophistication and the amount you want to pay.
I was quite impressed by this article:
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT [pcmag.com]
This camera is about as close to perfection as you can get in a consumer D-SLR.
In the lower price regions it seems like you have to compromise on features and quality. But it seems that the technology has come a long way and in general the days of low battery life and horrid picture quality are behind us.
PC Magazine and Amazon.com reviews are two places I like to consult for reviews.
Another thing to think about is how you intend to print your photos. Printing at home can cost as high as 80 cents per picture, whereas printing it from an online service like ofoto or yahoopictures will cost around ninteen cents.
Remember, CD media doesn't last, and hard drives eventually give up the ghost, so long term archiving is something to also put serious thought to.
You may want to quantify that a bit. Some estimates put CD-R life at 50-200 years. Fifty years from now, finding a CD player to read the media may be the bigger problem. Of course, 50 years from now, I won't care. That may not be true for some of our younger members.
>>and hard drives eventually give up the ghost
No doubt about that
>>so long term archiving is something to also put serious thought to.
Any suggestions?
It has a Leica lens 3x optical zoom; a large 2.5 LCD monitor, 5.1 megapixels, and is so easy too use. Came with AA rechargeable batteries and charger. (You can get insurance if you like too)
It came with software to offload to your computer, but I didn't need it because it is compatible with Nikonview.
After I bought it, I took a drive down the highway and would just hold it up and snap pictures of things I passed. I was amazed how quickly it autofocused, and when I offloaded the pics, they came out clear!
Highly recommend you check it out. :)
Have a safe trip.
Those are manufacturer estimates. I've had CD-R's go bad on me sooner than that.
Commercially produced Music CD's (the kind you get in a record store) are a better quality than the stuff you buy to record at home, which depend on a dye that may become corrupt, as well as the laminate that covers it. Some estimates put the lifetime at five years on up.
Somewhat related, don't know if you remember, but around ten or fifteen years ago there was a huge batch of CDs from the UK that turned yellow and deteriorated within a year of pressing. A real bummer. I had one of them (a limited edition Psychic TV CD).
From what I here you saying I have a few suggestions:
Canon SD200 - 3.2 megapixel
Canon SD300 - 4.0 megapixel
Canon SD400 - 5.0 megapixel
canon SD500 - 7.1 megapixel (My co-pick)
Sony DSC W5 - 5.0 megapixel (bang for the buck, Big LCD)
Sony DSC P200 7.2 megapixel (My other co-pick)
As far as easy to use, it doesn't get any easier than Kodak. Kodak is putting out some pretty good long zoom cameras latley.
The best review site (besides mine, LOL) is [imaging-resource.com...] , this guy has all the bases covered.
There is some nice digital cameras out there, stick to the name brands and you will be o.k. Hope this helps.
I was looking at spending up to £400 on a replacement but eventually I decided to bid for a new Praktica Luxmedia 4008 on eBay and I was lucky enough to get this for £122! I know that this is not a major brand but you may still be able to find it on eBay at a similar price. This has turned out to be a great camera for me with an 8 x optical zoom and 4.2MP, which I find more than enough for most situations. It has lots of professional features but it also comes with an eejits's mode that does just about everything I want.
Incidentally I also bought a 512Mb SD card on Ebay and it holds as many pictures as you could possibly want and also allows quite lengthy videos to be made.
Another place to look for reviews is Steve's DigiCams.
1) In hind sight I would prefer a camera that would fit in my pocket easier or is lighter for carrying around on a string on my neck.
2) My camera provides me with way too many options. I would think a lesser camera would suit me just fine.
3) If I were to splurge on something I would get optical zoom greater than 3X.
I think the two biggest features to look for are the optical zoom and the size of the memory card.
When cameras could only hold 30pics I thought it was lame that I had to travel with a laptop to download pics from a digital camera. Film was still the way to go on trips or vacation.
I now have a Kodak DX7590 with 1GB card which can hold 240 or so pics at the 5MP setting. I usually shoot at the 1.7MP setting which is still fine for 4x6 prints so I can easily store a complete vacations worth of pics on the camera.
The whole "putting all your eggs in one basket" idiom has burned me more than once with my 2 GB card. It's easier to accidentally delete all your vacation/trip pics when they are all in the same place. I would rather have 4 512 meg cards and only lose a quarter of my pics to my own error. :)
I got myself an Olympus C-670 recently: 3MP, 3x digital zoom and 10x optical zoom. € 220 or so, including battery recharger. The zoom works great; the zoom efect is comparable to a 35mm cam having a 42 - 420 mm lens. The downside of having much optical zoom is that the cam doesn't easily fit into your pocket. That model is discontinued now (everytime I buy a camera or a PC or whatever, within weeks the model gets discontinued ... ).
Added:
It is a more square shaped camera so it doesn't fit easily into ones pocket but ask yourself "Do you realy want a camera that fits into your pocket easily?" Dempending on the type of cloths you wear it could:
fall out(loose clothing?)
get damaged(pockets aren't designed with padding and may take a bit of abuse)
be uncomfratable(where do you keep your wallet? front pocket, back pocket, or in your glove box?)
I use to put my old one in my coat pocket, once it got bumped to the one position and ran the battery down and another time the lens cap came off and my car keys scrached the lens up
I treated her to her first trip to New York City, and she figured the camera was working fine, and just started snapping away.
When we tried to view the pictures later, it wouldn't let us and kept saying there was no memory card, which there was.
Anyway to make a long story short, she went back to Indiana, went to try to have any pics put on a CD and they told her there wasn't any pictures on the memory card. So she lost all her pictures. She was very upset.
She then bought a new memory card, and now she says it's working fine, (but I wouldn't be so likely to trust a camera after something like that.)
The good news is.. now she has to come back and we get go to New York again. :)
