Ask the Scrabbled: Digital Cameras
Dear Friends who pay for electronics(a digital camera is an electronic, right?),
I need your help…
I went to the desert. last month and during the worst sand storm ever, my camera died. Since I am living in an extremely photogenic place, I need a new one. Thoughts?
My criteria:
I don’t want to spend a lot of money, because it’s really only for personal use. I also have to take the bus three hours to explore my options (luckily in a duty free zone!), so I won’t know what’s available until I get there.
Seriously, any suggestions would be most appreciated. I tend to just accept hand me down electronic equipment because I don’t have a lot of money and I don’t really care.
Thank you thank you!
Comments
Canon has the best consumer-grade sensors on digital cameras. Once you move up to SLR, Nikon might be the best. If you can get one of the canon powershot G series (g9 or g10, in particular), they are by far your best buy at around $300-$400.
it doesn’t seem like you’re at all in the market for an SLR, which would run you hundreds more than a standard point & shoot. i will second john and recommend getting a Canon. they are excellent cameras in every category.
Agreed, John and Mandy, and unless you plan on blowing up a photo to fit on an entire wall, you really don’t need anything higher than 8 megapixels. Though, the market may only have 10+ available anyway.
Megapixels are misleading anyhow. You can have a camera with a bajillion megapixels that still takes shitty photos because the sensor doesn’t read color correctly and the lens sucks. Canon, or so I’ve read, has the best all around of all the little things you need for a good camera. I particularly like the powershow g series because of all the manual functions. I almost never shoot automatic.
Dang. I literally just sold my old Nikon D50 SLR after upgrading to the D5000, otherwise I woulda offered it to you on the cheap.
I’d agree with john on the canon powershot series being great as far as point and shoots go, but if you’re even thinking about an SLR I’d scope out some camera shops for used ones. Nikons are pretty rugged and last ages, and the difference between point-and-shoots and SLRs is immeasurable to me.
If that’s outta the question though I’ll throw a vote of confidence behind John’s advice.
Steve said:…the difference between point-and-shoots and SLRs is immeasurable to me.
agreed, however SLRs are a bitch to carry around casually & discreetly (in an average girlish-sized bag or strapped across big boobs). i love mine to death, but i have a few different cameras for a few different reasons.
Mandy makes a good point. I use mine for work, have the legal authority to take it most places and do not have big boobs, so that helps.
For casual stuff the point and shoots are certainly more convenient.
Canon for sure.
If this were a few years back, I’d have been all about Fujifilm on the fact that I had an old 3 megapixel finepix that lasted 6 years perpetually hanging on the arm of a partying college girl, followed by a few hard years camping and in the bottom of a huge purse.
I’m now on my second Canon Powershot Digital Elph (my first one was 7.1 and my one now is 8.0 mp. The 7.1 was stolen out of my luggage) and they’re just amazing little cameras. They take great pictures, and the price is right. In fact, when my dad came home all excited with his new Nikon coolpix, I promptly marched him back to the store to return it and get the canon.
Also, I recommend hitting up a wal-mart (this is the ONLY place I’ve ever found this) and getting their Samsonite semi-hard shell case. It’s only like 5 bucks and it has allowed my camera to survive countless spills down the mountain on a snowboard, not to mention the rather abusive area known as the bottom of my purse.
And it takes shitty photos!
No disrespect to Canon, but I don’t know what you’d expect from a camera that small. There’s no room for a decently sized lens or sensor. The Elphs are tourist cameras for people who don’t care about decent color reproduction, clarity, depth of field, or manual control.
Thanks for the tips. I´ll let you know what happens when I get to the duty free zone.
Steve, electronic purchases are a big deal around these parts, so no one ever sells their used stuff because they use it until it dies. Julia, if there was a Wal-Mart within 150 miles from where I am, I would absolutely take the bus there, but happily, Wal-Mart has not yet found it´s way to Southern Patagonia! And Mandy, thanks for thinking my tits are big enough to need a smaller camera. Awesome.
I’m really late, and probably moot, but the camera John has is awesome. I really like it.
Also, this link (also probably moot): this website is awesome for other reasons too.
alycia said:And Mandy, thanks for thinking my tits are big enough to need a smaller camera. Awesome.
i was more referring to the troubles i have with my own ample rack, but let’s just say it was all you baby.
Let’s start a My Morning Jacket cover band called My Ample Rack.