Hey guys, am thinking about getting a decent digial camera for my Pops for a Father's Day present... but earlier.
Knowing that many use them here and such, would appreciate some recomendations and some overviews on what features are useful and those that are not.
Am thinking $250.00 as a budget #, would like a zoom feature, 4Mp or higher and easy to use. (Point and shoot automatic features for his use) and maybe some manual features to give the best pics possible, when I get the darn thing in my hands. A built in auto-flash is most desirable. Have a tripod for long shutter speed shots in low light as well.
I've used an Olympus 35mm SLR (OM-10?) for many years and just don't use it much as it's bulky and not well suited for fishing trips and wading. It takes good pics in Auto-mode and very good pics in manual mode. (Just out of practice is all)
Admittedly, Ol Swez is a bit out of the loop here and am depending on you guys to educate and advise. Am clueless, but catch on fast. THINK
Comments/recommendations pls.? CLAP
Swez
PS Brand names, model numbers and links would be most helpful. A rating system would be most helpful too. (1-5 stars)
Replies (9)
jamesp on 03/4/2007 20:59:33
Swez, you can get a nice 5 or better megapixel Nikon Cool Pix in that price range. we have given the kids 4600 and 5600 models in the past. They are easy, have all the features, a little optical zoom and a lot of digital zoom. They are small and compact and very durable. The model #'s change every year but they have been a good value. Im using the 4600 now as my daughter got a Sony alpha 100 for Christmas. It is super nice,11 mp, real camera body with swappable lenses. Pro grade stuff. I have a Sony Cybershot for work. It is fine but I prefer the Nikon
cplkittle on 03/4/2007 22:35:47
I bought my wife a Kodak Z710 for Christmas. It is a 7.1 mega pixel with an onscreen realtime brightness balance indicator. It came with a 1/2 meg memory stick. I paid $286 for the camera, a case, a 1gig card, and an extra rechargable battery. I bought it from Kodak's website. I am simply amazed at the quality. We can print pictures off that camera that make any one hour photo's pictures look like crap.
My wife said she would email you if you had any questions about it. She said she would be happy to tell you all about it.
swez on 03/5/2007 11:29:00
Thanks guys...
Looked up both suggestions and boy, it's a coin toss here. I like the Nikon models as they have very good features and pretty intuitive in use.
The Kodak has a few other features I also like, but not sure if I need a docking station for transfering digital images to my PC and printing them.
When all else fails, read the manuals huh?
Thanks again gents,
Swez
jamesp on 03/5/2007 11:50:08
Swez, you dont have to use the docking station. You can transfer photos with just the cable.The one we have is USB to a tiny Kodak connector that fits the camera.We have an older Kodak with the Easy Share Dock. Not long after we bought it, they changed the Dock to a different style. We only used the dock once as I recall.
cplkittle on 03/5/2007 14:04:39
agreed, the USB cable is easier to use anyway. The only thing the docking station does that the cable dosen't is charge the battery. From what I have read it is not good to 'top off' the battery everytime anyway. You can use the rechargable battery pack or disposable AA batteries. The Kodak will come with editing software also, and you get your own online album space as well.
swez on 03/5/2007 17:19:58
Cool... was hoping this like an MP3 type deal whereby a USB cable and the correct software make things pretty much plug & play.
About batteries... Did you know we can recharge standard Duracell batteries a number of times before they poop out? It's true!!!
Have this small fishing light that has dual lights on it. One is a ring of bluish-white LED's for a wide, soft light pattern. The other lamp is a pure spot light w/ adjustable focal range. It runs on 3 AAA batteries.
After a few nights of fishing, the spot light gets a tad weak and just recharge the battery pack with a small DC bench top power supply.
(0-17.5 volts, 500mA's current)
The battery pack is 4.5 volts, so I hook up my DC meter and dial up the power to about 6.0 volts. As the batteries charge, the meter voltage will drop. When it reaches about 5.0 volts, done. (20 minutes or so)
FYI: If we use too much voltage/current, they will get warm to hot and leak out the magic ooze. Toss it as it's cooked and will damage electrical contacts in the battery pack.
Swez
cplkittle on 03/5/2007 21:02:30
I think rechargables have different chemical innards.
Interesting to know that you can squeeze a little extra juice out of them without having to throw them in a fire.
swez on 03/5/2007 23:33:47
Yep, have been doing this method for some time and yes, they do have different chemical electrolytes than NiCad's and Lithium Ion batteries.
Other brands of batteries don't take a charge as well as the Duracell's. I've tried the cheap Panasonics and Fuji batteries too, but they just don't take well to recharging.
When I find a better flashlight, will invest in re-chargable batteries. My brother has a 6 volt version that cost about $75.00. Mine was only $6.00 at Big Lots. Love the dual light option here. His main beam is much brighter and last longer with a 6 volt cell pack.
Swez
jamesp on 03/6/2007 07:40:44
Swez, I have a Hobbico brand battery charger/discharger conditioner that I used to match high output cells for my radio control stuff. I can charge anything from alkaline Ni-Cd, Nickle metal to lithium polymer cells up to 12V on it. It records maximum Ma on charge then the rate of discharge in Ma to determine the integrity of the cells. It was state of the art about 4 years ago. No telling what the newest/latest /greatest version is capable of doing...
Knowing that many use them here and such, would appreciate some recomendations and some overviews on what features are useful and those that are not.
Am thinking $250.00 as a budget #, would like a zoom feature, 4Mp or higher and easy to use. (Point and shoot automatic features for his use) and maybe some manual features to give the best pics possible, when I get the darn thing in my hands. A built in auto-flash is most desirable. Have a tripod for long shutter speed shots in low light as well.
I've used an Olympus 35mm SLR (OM-10?) for many years and just don't use it much as it's bulky and not well suited for fishing trips and wading. It takes good pics in Auto-mode and very good pics in manual mode. (Just out of practice is all)
Admittedly, Ol Swez is a bit out of the loop here and am depending on you guys to educate and advise. Am clueless, but catch on fast. THINK
Comments/recommendations pls.? CLAP
Swez
PS Brand names, model numbers and links would be most helpful. A rating system would be most helpful too. (1-5 stars)
Replies (9)
jamesp on 03/4/2007 20:59:33
Swez, you can get a nice 5 or better megapixel Nikon Cool Pix in that price range. we have given the kids 4600 and 5600 models in the past. They are easy, have all the features, a little optical zoom and a lot of digital zoom. They are small and compact and very durable. The model #'s change every year but they have been a good value. Im using the 4600 now as my daughter got a Sony alpha 100 for Christmas. It is super nice,11 mp, real camera body with swappable lenses. Pro grade stuff. I have a Sony Cybershot for work. It is fine but I prefer the Nikon
cplkittle on 03/4/2007 22:35:47
I bought my wife a Kodak Z710 for Christmas. It is a 7.1 mega pixel with an onscreen realtime brightness balance indicator. It came with a 1/2 meg memory stick. I paid $286 for the camera, a case, a 1gig card, and an extra rechargable battery. I bought it from Kodak's website. I am simply amazed at the quality. We can print pictures off that camera that make any one hour photo's pictures look like crap.
My wife said she would email you if you had any questions about it. She said she would be happy to tell you all about it.
swez on 03/5/2007 11:29:00
Thanks guys...
Looked up both suggestions and boy, it's a coin toss here. I like the Nikon models as they have very good features and pretty intuitive in use.
The Kodak has a few other features I also like, but not sure if I need a docking station for transfering digital images to my PC and printing them.
When all else fails, read the manuals huh?
Thanks again gents,
Swez
jamesp on 03/5/2007 11:50:08
Swez, you dont have to use the docking station. You can transfer photos with just the cable.The one we have is USB to a tiny Kodak connector that fits the camera.We have an older Kodak with the Easy Share Dock. Not long after we bought it, they changed the Dock to a different style. We only used the dock once as I recall.
cplkittle on 03/5/2007 14:04:39
agreed, the USB cable is easier to use anyway. The only thing the docking station does that the cable dosen't is charge the battery. From what I have read it is not good to 'top off' the battery everytime anyway. You can use the rechargable battery pack or disposable AA batteries. The Kodak will come with editing software also, and you get your own online album space as well.
swez on 03/5/2007 17:19:58
Cool... was hoping this like an MP3 type deal whereby a USB cable and the correct software make things pretty much plug & play.
About batteries... Did you know we can recharge standard Duracell batteries a number of times before they poop out? It's true!!!
Have this small fishing light that has dual lights on it. One is a ring of bluish-white LED's for a wide, soft light pattern. The other lamp is a pure spot light w/ adjustable focal range. It runs on 3 AAA batteries.
After a few nights of fishing, the spot light gets a tad weak and just recharge the battery pack with a small DC bench top power supply.
(0-17.5 volts, 500mA's current)
The battery pack is 4.5 volts, so I hook up my DC meter and dial up the power to about 6.0 volts. As the batteries charge, the meter voltage will drop. When it reaches about 5.0 volts, done. (20 minutes or so)
FYI: If we use too much voltage/current, they will get warm to hot and leak out the magic ooze. Toss it as it's cooked and will damage electrical contacts in the battery pack.
Swez
cplkittle on 03/5/2007 21:02:30
I think rechargables have different chemical innards.
Interesting to know that you can squeeze a little extra juice out of them without having to throw them in a fire.
swez on 03/5/2007 23:33:47
Yep, have been doing this method for some time and yes, they do have different chemical electrolytes than NiCad's and Lithium Ion batteries.
Other brands of batteries don't take a charge as well as the Duracell's. I've tried the cheap Panasonics and Fuji batteries too, but they just don't take well to recharging.
When I find a better flashlight, will invest in re-chargable batteries. My brother has a 6 volt version that cost about $75.00. Mine was only $6.00 at Big Lots. Love the dual light option here. His main beam is much brighter and last longer with a 6 volt cell pack.
Swez
jamesp on 03/6/2007 07:40:44
Swez, I have a Hobbico brand battery charger/discharger conditioner that I used to match high output cells for my radio control stuff. I can charge anything from alkaline Ni-Cd, Nickle metal to lithium polymer cells up to 12V on it. It records maximum Ma on charge then the rate of discharge in Ma to determine the integrity of the cells. It was state of the art about 4 years ago. No telling what the newest/latest /greatest version is capable of doing...
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