Which digital camera?

[Meatball]

I want to buy a digital camera - not surprisingly i want to get the cheapest one i can afford - with the best picture quality. I just want to point, maybe zoom in - then shoot. Send em to friends on line, and occasionally print one on my cheap ink-jet.

ive read some magazine reviews and narrowed it down to these:

1) Canon powershot elph s230 $ 330
2) Canon powershot a70 $ 280
3) Konica revio kd-400z $320
4) Nikon coolpix 2500 $ 225

the a70 is large - i wanted one to put in my pocket, but it got good reviews and is less money.

i wanted to spend alot less, but as i understand it, spending less is like buying a webcam.

does anyone own or know how to advise here?

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This message was edited by Meatball on 6-18-03 @ 8:10 PM

[Zoefus]

Go Nikon - I work there, send me a r&F e-mail, can tell you where to get the best price. And the Coolpix 3100 is a better camera, about $50 difference.

[golfcourseguy]

I got the coolpix 2500 when it first came out. I went for a bigger memory card 64 mgs. I can shoot (and keep) almost 100 pics at a clip. The battery lasts that long and recharges quickly. There's "automatic" settings as well as "special conditions". The movie clips now work with XP.
The flip up lens looks cool. The biggest knock I have is the delay between pushing the button and Flash and shoot. (and it didn't react well to cat vomit on it). The editing software that comes with it is easy to use. I'd go for the 3100 for the few bucks more.

" editing posts since day one"

[Zoefus]

Well, cat vomit will F up anything

[TooCute]

In all honesty I can't tell a difference between the photos that the powershot cameras take and the photos that the equivalent megpixel Olympus cameras take, and the olympus ones are cheaper - only difference is that they're slightly larger and do not record video clips with sound (personally I don't ever use the video feature anyhow) - but with that said, I've always been a big fan of the elph and I thought for a long time about getting it - I ended up buying the thre megapixel olympus D-560 for I think it was $299 and it came with binoculars and a 64 meg card - you can get it for much cheaper now of course - I think you could probably get the new stylus for about that price.

I'm really not a fan of the spinny thing on the nikon, and it's only a 2 megapixel camera while the others on your list are all 3.

How much memory do all of these cameras come with at those prices? Eg like I think the Konica only comes with like 16 megs... you're gonna be adding on another $50 or so for a decent amount of memory.




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[HordeKing1]

If I recall you wern't to happy with the non-digital elph. Would you want to take the chance with the digital version.

Among the camera's you listed the Nikon Coolpix 2500 consistently gets best buy reviews in the computer magazines

PC Magazine (http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,4148,5,00.asp)


However, I'd recommend spending a bit more (about 400) and getting a better camera. It will be money well spent.

PC World (http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,110962,pg,1,00.asp)

Check the above link for the top 10 rated sub $500 cameras.

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[Meatball]

after checking all those sites, and knowing that just cant afford the best cameras - you almost always have to add memory and even a lithium battery.

the canon A70 gets great reviews.
and the nikon 3100 as per above discussion.

now im looking for deals - wont come away with one for under 400 with all the extras. i started this wanting to spend 250 but that quickly went out the window..you cant get a decent camera for 250.

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[HordeKing1]

Use a search engine to compare prices. Or go back to the computer mag sites and click the option to check for prices.

When I shopped for my digital camera, I found the best price (from a reputable dealer) at B & H Photo. Just make sure that the dealer has a good reliability rating.

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