Digital Camera Finally busted...Yay !!!

by JH 22 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  JH

  After 5 years of service and 17,000 pictures of ME, my Hewlett Packard Photosmart 618 finally died.

  

  For some reason, even with fresh batteries or even plugged in an AC outlet, it won't turn "on". Looks as if it's the ON and OFF switch problem. I could be wrong, and maybe it's something beyond repair.

  Anyways, it was only a 2.11 mega pixel Camera with 3X Optical zoom.

  What I want is this:

  I don't print pictures, I just view them on screen, but I like quality pictures, since i love to fool around in photoshop. What would it give me to have a 10 mega pixel camera with average or poor lens.

  I don't want to reduce the size of the picture each time from 3000 pixels down to 1024 x 768 each time i want to view a picture. I don't like scrolling left to right uselessly.

  I'd love to get a camera with very good lens, to have a sharp picture, and a lens big enough so that I can get enough light even when I,m inside without using the flash all the time.

  I don't really need more than 3 or 4 mega pixels because I don't print pictures.

  Some think that the higher the mega pixels, the better the picture will be.

  Any suggestions for a slightly better than average camera, easy to use, that gives excellent pictures, and below 500$

  Or am I dreaming...hehe
• 

  JH

  I read on the net that 4 or 5 years ago, the digital cameras,like mine, didn't have much mega pixels, but had better lens than the cheaper cameras you see on the market today.

  I see cameras at 100 and 200 bucks with 6 or 7 mega pixels, but with cheaper lens than my old camera. I don't want that !
• 

  JK666

  A lot of the Panasonic Lumix cameras have Leica lenses. It's pretty hard to beat that.

  JK
• 

  Satanus

  The pentax optio e30 has 7 mgpixels, and the batteries last forever. It costs $150.00 plus tax at jean coutu or future shop. If you set it to the highest quality, it gives real good pics. W the 2 gig chip you can take about 500 pics. It plugs directly into the usb port. So far, i like mine.
  
  S
• 

  BrentR

  I am waiting for my HP camera to die so I can justify a Nikon D70. So far I have used two HP cameras and they have worked great for along time. My daughter is still using my old 2 mp after she has dropped dozens of times.
• 

  CaptainSchmideo

  

  Here is an example of a Kodak z710. 7.1 MP, it's got a very good lens. The only flaw is it is slow to react in action shots, but it takes great low light shots. This was taken without a flash

  http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1276/1386256309_b074656196.jpg?v=0
• 

  JH

  Pretty good with the flash off.

  With my old camera, I always had to add light with photoshohp, when I took pics inside. I did the same for your picture.

  
• 

  knock knock

  I'm in the market for a new digital camera myself. At the top of the wish list is a high optical zoom. 10+ if possible. I don't even pay attention to digital zoom. I've also been waiting for my current camera to burn out but it just hangs on. I don't take enough pics to warrant a high end camera but I want all those features at a cheap price of course. Always looking for a good deal.
• 

  Fatfreek

  Someone mentioned the Panasonic Lumix. Excellent suggestion. It was Time's camera of the year for 2006.

  I ordered mine following that issue and have not regretted it one bit. Its 6 megapixel is just about right for what I want -- excellent quality without being a huge drain on memory cards while you're on the road (and computer storage when you arrive home).

  As an aside I used it to (finally) copy and digitize our huge family album, some 250 pages. With my slow page scanner it would have taken forever. Using the camera (on a tripod) I kept flipping the pages and snapping. With cameras in this Megapixel range and larger cameras used to do copy work is feasible. Long story short, this 100+ year album, which was in my sole possession and vulnerable to fire or other catastrophe, is now in the hands of many of my family thanks to my DVD distribution. I concede I'm leaving out some time-consuming steps for this tedious task but my Lumix simplified part of it.
  
  I took some 1,250 shots while on our five-week Canada / USA road trip (we just got back). Only two of them were blurry because of my shaky hands.

  Its 12x optical zoom allowed photos of previously unthinkable shots without it. It's like having a 35mm film camera with an attached zoom lens of 36 - 432mm. That's huge and without the bulk and weight (and enormous expense) of such a monster lens. Yes, you should have the image stabilizing feature with this much zoom. Some cameras don't have it but the Lumix does.

  The memory cards are very common to other devices, the MMC/SD. The more common, the greater volume produced and the cheaper they become. Check our Froogle.com and you'll see what I mean.

  Other seldom used features but great when you need them:

  1. Automatic bracketing. When set it takes 3 snaps in rapid sequence, one at a normal setting, the other two at plus and minus your choice of exposure bracketing. Yes, more memory required but those cards are cheap for the advantage of such a feature.
  2. Yes, video capability at fairly good quality.
  3. The menu of settings is mostly intuitive and user-friendly.
  4. An eye-piece viewer option to simulate the eyepiece of the SLR cameras. I like this rather than the large screen (which consumes more battery power) on most shots.

  Len Miller
• 

  Fatfreek

  Oh, I forgot to mention price. Here's a Froogle.com listing that shows they start at well below $250. I'd stick, however, with places that you can trust. Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.

  Len