Digital Camera recommendations

Hi. I'm looking to buy a digital camera, probably 5mp+. I'm looking for small size, good image quality.

Any personal recommendations?

Thanks.

The Canon Powershot line is pretty good. I've had a couple of them, they've all been great.

Thanks. I forgot to mention the probably obvious fact that it has to be Mac compatible. I'm drawn to the Sony DSC-T5 but think I've read that it doesn't work too well with the Mac; anyone got one of those?

Sorry - just found another thread on this subject. ADMIN: guess you can delete this one if that's what you do...

The compact Digital Camera market is very competitive and there are loads to choose from.

The four manufacturers I'd consider are Fujifilm, Sony, Panasonic Lumix and Canon.

I've always been partial to Fuji, because their cameras are easy to use and the colours are always rich and well saturated. I have an S9000 myself (not for you, it's huge!). But recently a friend of mine bought a Lumix which has the Leica lens (f/2.8 - 28mm). It's pretty small and takes amazing pics. There are a few models to choose from, so one should fit your budget.

If you can, try before you buy. You'll find most cameras now have similar features, but usually its things like the placing of buttons and menu navigation that makes all the difference. Also, whatever you get, a 28mm lens is a must in my book.

I recently bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 which also has the Leica lens with a 35mm equivalent 35-350mm. It has the image stabilization feature which helps prevent blurry photos. It isn't the smallest out there but will easily fit in a shirt pocket. Haven't taken many photos with it yet but I expect great things from it with the Leica lens and all.

I have a sony cyber-shot which works very well.

Hi Reel1. Does it work well with the Mac? (I guess as long as it will connect and I can drag the files into iPhoto that's all I want.)

The range of cameras is bewildering.

I think I'm leaning towards the Sony Cybershot w70, which is recommended on steves-digicams.com.

to those with experience with Lumix cameras...

i'm considering replacing my 3MP nikon coolpix (very slow, poor low light quality, middling flash picture quality/color) with the 5MP/10x zoom Lumix model DMC-TZ1A.

this one:


what would you say are the high and low points of the camera?
i know it doesn't feature a traditional point and shoot viewfinder - which are mostly worthless, and inherently inacurate, so i don't really care about that.

one question, does it have an automatic lens cover or a clip on one - i know it's an awful big lens for a point and shoot? this isn't a deal breaker, just something to consider.

my plan, if the camera is worth it, is to purchase from best buy. right now they have it at $225. i figure i'd pick that and a 1Gb high speed SD card and a nice little sandisk usb sd card reader and the protection plan all for around $340. i also like the dark blue - snazzy!

[edit below]
i guess i should also note my camera useage/habits.

i used to be very into photography, still have my old completely manual old tank of a canon lurking in a closet (which needs some serious maintenence). but i've stuck mainly to the point and shoot stuff lately with some very nice results (mostly as a result of being able to shoot the doors of a digital camera then sort 'em out later). i do like the latter method as it results in some happy accidents (as Bob Ross would say).
i do, however, want to up the quality (and the speed/range) considerably. and eventually if i can spend enough time on the "hobby" opt for a nice digital slr as a spiritual successor to the tank in the closet.

MartinS, the Cybershot works very well My Ima sees it will allow me to pull all the photos off of it and place them in the Iphoto Library. You can also simply open up the camera's icon on the desk top and pull the photos off from there. I am sure many others work equally as well but I am happy with the Sony.

well, i went ahead and did it.

bby was out of the blue lumix above around xmas time, but got more in... at 299.99. i checked again and found they had them on sale again for 259. so, i did it. placed the order this morning with 2 day shipping.

i'll have to post pics/tell you guys how it is when it gets here!

and here it is!



pic was taken in fluorescent light, no flash (obviously).

its been pretty amazing so far. takes great flashless low/natural light pics (which i prefer to take).

it feels very sturdy, the blue part seems rubberized, not like painted aluminum or plastic. there is no viewfinder, which is fine with me, just an lcd. even with a normal low-speed SD card it resets from a pic very fast. i haven;t tried any bursts with more than a couple shots though - so not sure if a high speed SD card will really be needed. menus are straight forward and would be familiar to anyone who's had a digital camera. it uses a LIon battery pack and came with a wall charger for it.

all in all, so far i'm happy as a clam with the camera!

Canon Powershot without a doubt is the most bang for your buck. It is also extremely small. I have an SD630 and I couldn't be more pleased. It is also Mac Compatible. I attach it to my computer and the computer recognizes it ... opens iPhoto and asks me if I want to download the photos. So simple, so smooth. http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=2738

rpmgatech said:

Canon Powershot without a doubt is the most bang for your buck. It is also extremely small. I have an SD630 and I couldn't be more pleased. It is also Mac Compatible. I attach it to my computer and the computer recognizes it ... opens iPhoto and asks me if I want to download the photos. So simple, so smooth. http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=2738

Click to expand...

i thnk this thread is over but I LOVE THE 630.

canon for life!

who attaches a camera to a computer anymore?

i just use a usb thumbdrive type contraption and insert the SD card. and yeah, even though i don't want it to do anything, iphoto immediately tries to hijack the situation.

I asked for Image Capture to take care of downloading my photos instead of iPhoto.

It puts the date on each folder, downloads the photos where I want them to go and I don't have to worry about duplicates, moving photo libraries and not showing up anymore, etc.