Camera, what to buy

[glennmac]

I'm going to buy a good one after the New Year. It's probably down to the G2 and 995. The Canon has a few features that I prefer, but I do like the swivel body on the 995. Plus I've always wanted a Nikon (had just about everything else in film cameras), and the price is sure good.

 

[huckflynn]

I've received it. I ordered it on 12/10 and received it yesterday, 12/17.

 

[MikePA]

I've heard both good and bad stories about buydig, hence my question.

I've purchased from State Street Direct and vanns and have been very pleasd with their service. Their prices were a little higher but I could find no complaints about them. I've had to return an item to vanns (a Tivo would not work on my phone lines) and there were no problems.

 

[huckflynn]

Yeah, I read a few negatives about buydig.com too -- but there were many,many positives. I decided to give them a try. I got a little nervous when Friday rolled around and I hadn't received any correspondence aside from the initial order confirmation.

Then Sunday night I received an email with a tracking number on the shipment which went out on Friday -- and Monday morning the camera was at my door.

I'd give them a B+ -- their prices are great. The customer service is light.

 

[Buck]

Chillimau,

I have a Kodak DX 3600. I also have a DC 290. There is a huge difference between the DX 3600 and DC 290. The DX is far more "consumer" friendly. Just put it on it's mount and the batteries are charged and the pictures unloaded. I haven't seen this feature on any other make. This may make a world of difference to you. It can be a real pain getting the pictures on your computer. Also is a pain is batteries. The DX series addresses these needs uniquely.

Hope this helps...
Buck

 

[TonyC]

<font color=blue>After a $100 rebate........... you should be able to get it for $600</font color=blue>

Dang! I can buy a box blade for that! I'll just stick with my Olympus 460. For $300 it takes pictures like the attached and I can still buy another tractor implement!

 

[GrantMO]

Try looking at the reviews on Amazon.com under electronics. We got a Kodak DC280 this year and really like how easy it is to use. We also got a 64Mb card and it came with rechargeable batteries. I'd probably get a card reader too while you're at it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Mike,

How is the low-level light aspect on the C-2100, especially like indoors as a basketball gym with poor lighting...? Any graininess of the pictures?

Does the 1.7x teleconverter screw on..., can you use other 35mm lens with an adapter...?

Yes, I think that stabilizer circuit would be the nuts, especially not using any tripod. Do you have some sample pictures, both in reg. and high resolution you've posted to direct me to and compare...?

 

[CVHoss]

Sorry to hear about Bird's problems with Sony. I've had two of the Mavica cameras and have had no problems with them. I bought the first one, an FD-7, when Sony first brought them out. Last year, I sold it to a friend and purchased a FD-95. While other cameras are less expensive and may have a higher pixel count, the selling point on the Sony was it's use of 3.5" disks. A camera with a memory card requires close proximity to your computer if you plan on taking a lot of pictures. Not a problem for birthdays, holidays close to home, etc., but one of my criteria was to replace my 35mm on vacations. Purchasing enough memory chips for a two week vacation (or a laptop to take along) can add a considerable amount to the cost of the camera. I can buy a LOT of 3.5" disks for the cost of one chip. The mode I use mostly on the FD-95 takes pictures in a 1600 X 1200 format. Muhammad would shoot me if I uploaded one at this size, but here's a link to one on my website just to give you an idea of the size and quality at that pixel count.

Also, be leery of "digital zooms". While they are better than nothing, picture quality degrades rapidly when in "digital zoom" mode. Both of the Sonys had a 10X optical zoom and the FD-95 has an additional 2X digital (for a total of 20X) but even Sony recognizes the problems with digital zoom and gives you the option of turning it off in the setup mode so you don't accidentally get into it in "the heat of battle"

Good luck in your search.

Hoss

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...selling point on the Sony was it's use of 3.5" disks. A camera with a memory card requires close proximity to your computer if you plan on taking a lot of pictures...</font color=blue>

I always thought I was gonna get a Sony for the floppy disk reason... until I bought my first "el cheapo" digital and compared it to a friend's Sony I had been using...

Downloads with USB and memory cards are far faster and definitely more convenient than floppies... picture storage is extremely poor using a floppy, standard Compact Flash and Smart Media memory cards are dirt cheap, small, holds a zillion shots versus the proprietary Sony memory stick that end up costing a premium price...

I'd recommend to anyone just "getting into this digital camera thing...", is to buy a bargain basement, el cheapo digital camera with minimum requirements of USB, standard memory card usage{Compact Flash or Smart Media}, and a 3X optical zoom, 1 Mega pixel CCD resolution {2 Mega pixel preferred for larger 8x10 stuff}... Mandatory options are rechargeable batteries {2 sets} and charger, ac adaptor, and cheap memory card reader... and at today's pricing with the changing market...~under $200. for all the above {and cheaper as time marches on...}

Then after some time is spent with “this beginners camera package”, with some experience under your belt, you can eventually buy that “ultimate” digital camera with exactly the features you’ll know you need and want and truly use… /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif