Author Topic: In the market for a camera. (Read 8538 times)

HuntingFanatic · « **on:** November 19, 2007, 09:06:05 AM »

As the title says I want to buy a new camera. I dont have a large budget. Im seeing cameras around 250 to 350 that look appealing to me. Are there any qualities I should be looking for? I am a newbie. Please help.

jackelope · « **Reply #1 on:** November 19, 2007, 09:09:31 AM »

in the 350 range there are 3 cameras you should look at.
1-canon s5 I.S.
2-panasonic lumix fz-18
3-fuji fine pix s8000 or something like that...
they're all 350-400 and they're all great. you just have to pick one that you like best. the fuji and the panasonic both have 18x optical zooms and the canon is 12x. they are all very user friendly.

jackelope · « **Reply #2 on:** November 19, 2007, 09:10:42 AM »

i would add that you should save your pennies to get to the 350 range if thats an issue. don't spend 250 to get a camera you won't be happy with.

HuntingFanatic · « **Reply #3 on:** November 19, 2007, 09:32:28 AM »

There is an olympus SP 550 UZ for 339. any thoughts?

jackelope · « **Reply #4 on:** November 19, 2007, 11:28:08 AM »

here's my .02
for $40.00 more, you can have rechargeable batteries, leica glass and more megapixels in a FZ18. thats what i ended up going with....it's also what boneaddict is taking all these deer pic's with. i don't want to carry around a shopping bag full of AA batteries with me.
i was inches away from buying the canon, but everyone told me the fz18 was a better camera. i like it so far, but have only had it for a week.
i got it at costco for 379. also comes with photo editing software for whatever thats worth.

billythekidrock · « **Reply #5 on:** November 19, 2007, 06:23:24 PM »

What is the megapixel and optical zoom on the FZ18?

jackelope · « **Reply #6 on:** November 19, 2007, 06:24:51 PM »

18x optical zoom, 8.1mp
there's another 4x digital zoom, but the pic's get very grainey at that length.
is that a word?

boneaddict · « **Reply #7 on:** November 19, 2007, 06:45:59 PM »

My Mom has the Canon. Very nice. A feature it has the Panasonic doesn't, at least that I haven't discovered is once you lock focus on somthing it will track that item. Panasonic has 18x zoom and that is a HUGE difference compared to the 12x. Thats what my old Lumix has. The panasonic is smaller so carries better, and it has Lieca glass, which you just can't beat. You can actually choose a smagapixel size and have an optimized optical zoom. I haven't done this yet as the 18 is PLENTY. You know what my vote is. I believe the Olympus has 15 power and is liked by folks.

jackelope · « **Reply #8 on:** November 19, 2007, 06:52:54 PM »

the olympus is 18x too, bone.
all 3 cameras i mentioned are all about the same size, at least not different enough to make a difference. with the size of my paws, the one gripe i have about those cameras is that none of them fit very well in my hands, they are all too small.
i believe the feature you're talking about is there on the lumix, but i haven't messed with it enough. the facial recognition deal is cool, thats for sure. too bad they didn't have mule deer recognition, bull elk recognition, etc.

LEN · « **Reply #9 on:** November 19, 2007, 09:23:38 PM »

Was just looking at the 12x -18x

canon S5 I.S. 36-432mm
panasonic lumix fz-18 28-504mm

This doesn't seem as much a difference as one might expect when converted to 35SLR
and the S5 has a hot shoe for a strobe.

Both are great little cams.

LEN

boneaddict · « **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2007, 07:44:35 AM »

I agree about the size. Its almost hard to take the seriously as a camera when they are alll bite sized. Nothing compared to "literally" big Canon I have. I finally cracked the book yesterday on the lumix. I agree the face recognition is very cool. Again, I am looking forward to some macro work. I tend to do more of that with fish and flies.

HuntingFanatic · « **Reply #11 on:** November 20, 2007, 08:44:57 AM »

Thanks for the input guys! I am going to buy the panasonic lumix z18. Now comes the tough part. Silver or black.
Thanks again!

Skyvalhunter · « **Reply #12 on:** November 20, 2007, 08:46:46 AM »

Black less reflective

billythekidrock · « **Reply #13 on:** November 20, 2007, 05:10:31 PM »

Black

boneaddict · « **Reply #14 on:** November 20, 2007, 05:27:53 PM »

Black

jackelope · « **Reply #15 on:** November 20, 2007, 05:28:33 PM »

Black

boneaddict · « **Reply #16 on:** November 20, 2007, 05:34:10 PM »

Did we mention it should be black

HuntingFanatic · « **Reply #17 on:** November 21, 2007, 08:10:10 AM »

Well......circuit city was out of them. And I dont have a costco account.

So....I had all night to think this over at work. After buying all the extras I want. I would be going well above what I should spend at this point. Ill tell you what though as soon as I file my tax return. Its mine! The black one.

I love to spend my tax return before i get it!
Thanks for the help!

jackelope · « **Reply #18 on:** November 21, 2007, 09:09:31 AM »

buy the camera first, then decide if you really want/need the extras.
you can look at www.cameraland.com....call them, talk to joel paymer. they have a package deal for like $400.00
my camera from costco came with a small camera bag, 3 different types of photo editing software, a lense hood, sd card, blah blah
i was turned away from buying any other lenses, adapters, etc. by all the people i talked to

boneaddict · « **Reply #19 on:** November 21, 2007, 09:20:33 AM »

Digitalmegastore.com They will overnight it to you if you want. Free shipping took 3 days. Cthey have different package deals. Comes with batterycharger, hood etc as a minimium I do believe. Comes with a one yr warranty and you can buy an extended one if you want.

HuntingFanatic · « **Reply #20 on:** November 23, 2007, 05:29:30 PM »

Just bought it today!

Got the extra battery and 2 gb card. How many pictures is 2 gb?

jackelope · « **Reply #21 on:** November 23, 2007, 05:38:43 PM »

depends on the quality level you set and that sort of thing. i just took 95 pics on a 1gb card at a pretty high quality level.
spend some time in the manual of that thing. i learned some pretty neat stuff in the last couple days once i actually read the directions...

congrats on the purchase.

huntnphool · « **Reply #22 on:** November 23, 2007, 05:45:19 PM »

Hey guys, I was reading about a point and shoot camera today that sounds kind of cool. I think it was by Casio and it said once you focused it on say someones face, it stayed in focus on them regardless of where they moved. I have no idea how it does this but it might be worth looking into.

jackelope · « **Reply #23 on:** November 23, 2007, 05:52:04 PM »

the fz18 does it too...facial recognition, a/f lock, etc. i learned that by reading the manual...

they're kind of like directions to men...who really needs them. hey wow, they really are handy to look at occasionally.

huntnphool · « **Reply #24 on:** November 23, 2007, 06:02:32 PM »

"i learned that by reading the manual... " touche' smart ass

jackelope · « **Reply #25 on:** November 23, 2007, 08:22:08 PM »

again, not supposed to sound like that. that was a shot at myself. i don't do manuals usually.

HuntingFanatic · « **Reply #26 on:** November 23, 2007, 09:57:00 PM »

Manual? Whats a manual?.......

billythekidrock · « **Reply #27 on:** November 24, 2007, 04:52:26 PM »

Quote from: HuntingFanatic on November 23, 2007, 09:57:00 PM

Manual? Whats a manual?.......

Isn't that a type of transmission?

huntnphool · « **Reply #28 on:** November 24, 2007, 05:01:51 PM »

"Isn't that a type of transmission?"

Of course not, transmissions are made with a mic and amplifier

billythekidrock · « **Reply #29 on:** November 24, 2007, 05:14:22 PM »

boneaddict · « **Reply #30 on:** November 24, 2007, 06:55:07 PM »

I'm not sure my camera came with a manual. There was a book that has some sort of foriegn language in it.

HuntingFanatic · « **Reply #31 on:** December 03, 2007, 04:08:31 PM »

Just got it!!!! Charge battery!! Charge!!!

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Author Topic: In the market for a camera. (Read 8538 times)

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