Digicamera choice help ? : NEWBIE

Hi guys,

I'm a web designer looking to buy a digicamera
for family and work. I know I'm asking a lot of
Q's but I really need some guidance on this and
would hugely appreciate any help you guys can
offer

I'm looking at around ST250 - ST300 for a budget.
The choice is mind numbing.

I'm looking for a decent pixel number, I suppose
around 2.8Mb - 3Mb seems to be necessary for
decent photos

I don't know why digital zoom would be important
to me - I take it this is to do with the mini
screen on the camera. I would not care about
that, because I would be downloading to my PC and
zooming from there. Am I correct in this
thinking ?

Optical zoom seem to be the equivalent of the old
camera zoom lens (?) and the most I see around
this price is 3x zoom. Any idea what this would
equate to in the old camera language ?

I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?

http://www.dixons.co.uk/store/martprd.dll/store/d
ix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@
2020172298.1057328791
@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadcijlmkhgjcefecfgmdffgdgho.
0&category_oid=-9005&page=Product&sku=846460

--
Howard


Howard9

Howard9 <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com:

> Hi guys,
>
> I'm a web designer looking to buy a digicamera
> for family and work. I know I'm asking a lot of
> Q's but I really need some guidance on this and
> would hugely appreciate any help you guys can
> offer
>
> I'm looking at around ST250 - ST300 for a budget.
> The choice is mind numbing.

Not really...

> I'm looking for a decent pixel number, I suppose
> around 2.8Mb - 3Mb seems to be necessary for
> decent photos

Yes, 3MP is a minimum. If you think you may be cropping images to select
the bit you want (a process that poorly aligned optical viewfinders
encourage) then you may need more than that.

> I don't know why digital zoom would be important
> to me - I take it this is to do with the mini
> screen on the camera. I would not care about
> that, because I would be downloading to my PC and
> zooming from there. Am I correct in this
> thinking ?

Yes - digital zoom is a waste of time.

> Optical zoom seem to be the equivalent of the old
> camera zoom lens (?) and the most I see around
> this price is 3x zoom. Any idea what this would
> equate to in the old camera language ?

The zoom ratio is the same. Mostly digicams are displayed with 35mm
equivalent lens values: i.e. a Minolta DiMAGE 7i will say 28-200mm
rather than the actual 7.2-50.8mm focal length.

> I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
> looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?

You need to consider the cost of storage and accessories, too. Sony
cameras use their Memory Stick technology and this can be more expensive
than the Compact Flash and SD or MMC card alternatives. And proprietary
batteries are the other problem.

I have a Canon Powershot S40 which is very good: 35-105mm (eqiuv) lens,
4MP. Its for sale...

--Sophie

"Howard9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com...
> Hi guys,
<guys> Hi Howard!

> I'm looking at around ST250 - ST300 for a budget.
> The choice is mind numbing.

I can narrow it down in a few words, if you like.

> I'm looking for a decent pixel number, I suppose
> around 2.8Mb - 3Mb seems to be necessary for
> decent photos

3 Megapixels would be an absolute minimum.

> I don't know why digital zoom would be important

.... then you have already learned a valuable lesson.

> Optical zoom seem to be the equivalent of the old
> camera zoom lens (?)

OLD???

> I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
> looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?

Buy not from Dixons... idiots, they be. Oh, and despite the MemoryStick
gubbins, the Sony P12 isn't a bad bit o' kit. It retails at around £420, and
is essentially the P10 with a different finish, a case and a free battery;
in my book, considering the cost/non-availability of dedicated cases and the
importance of spare batteries, the extra £40 for the P12 is worth it.
The Pentax Optio S is a fun little camera for £350 (and I mean little)
but limited in control. The Olympus Mju 300 can be found for £300-350 and
feels good- and the Canon A70 has a rather nice P/A/S/M dial to remind
photographers that digicam makers haven't forgotten them. If you can save
up, though, top recommendation goes to the Olympus C5050... 3x Optical zoom
(equiv. 35-105 I believe, with an aperture of f1.8 at the wide end) %
million pixel sensor, hotshoe for Olympus or Metz+SCA (might be wrong about
this; I know you can get the Metz SCA for the E20) flash, manual control,
three (count 'em) media slots, and has image quality that at least one
review (AP) rated better than the Minolta, Nikon or Canon offerings.

There are a helluva lot of cameras out there; most of them are so MOR you
wouldn't believe. Find one you like, find a good price, THEN search Usenet.

--
Martin
http://www.btinternet.com/~mcsalty

On 4/7/03 4:03 pm, "Howard9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
> looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?

Don't forget to allow an extra half an hour to argue with the sales person
about the need for a 75 year extended warranty.


Pat
--
Photos at:
http://www.shuttercity.com/ShowGalle...ll&AcctID=1251

On 5/7/03 12:15 am, "Howard9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Ha yes I had a major shouting match about 2
> years ago with them across the shop over them
> screwing me around about a set of PC speakers.

Some of them only understand a knee in the groin.


Pat
--
Photos at:
http://www.shuttercity.com/ShowGalle...ll&AcctID=1251

(E-Mail Removed) wrote.::. >>
> > I'm looking at around ST250 - ST300 for a budget.
> > The choice is mind numbing.
>
> Not really...

Well it seems lie that and the lists and
lists of functions is also numbing I don't
want the movie and sound capabilities they often
list.

> Yes - digital zoom is a waste of time.

Thanks for the confirmation

> > I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
> > looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?
>
> You need to consider the cost of storage and accessories, too. Sony
> cameras use their Memory Stick technology and this can be more expensive
> than the Compact Flash and SD or MMC card alternatives. And proprietary
> batteries are the other problem.

Hmmmm.... good advice...


--
Howard

(E-Mail Removed) wrote.::. >>
> There are a helluva lot of cameras out there; most of them are so MOR you
> wouldn't believe. Find one you like, find a good price, THEN search Usenet.
>
Thank you for taking the time to advise me.

Much of the advice you offer results
unfortunately in cameras more than my budget of
ST250 - ST300.

However your comments are very helpful and I will
use them to continue my search.

I wish 3x wasn't the max optical zoom of almost
all cameras out there and each camera I find that
I like didn't have features like video and sound
that do not want

Tks again Martin

--
Howard

(E-Mail Removed) wrote.::. >>
> On 4/7/03 4:03 pm, "Howard9" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
> > looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?
>
> Don't forget to allow an extra half an hour to argue with the sales person
> about the need for a 75 year extended warranty.
>

Ha yes I had a major shouting match about 2
years ago with them across the shop over them
screwing me around about a set of PC speakers.

--
Howard

Someone I served today was looking at a Sony P72 (IIRC) in Dixons, and the
moose behind the counter told her effectively to go somewhere else.

So she wisely came to me.

And wisely bought a P10.

:-)

--
Martin
http://www.btinternet.com/~mcsalty

Howard9 <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com:

> Hi guys,
>
> I'm a web designer looking to buy a digicamera
> for family and work. I know I'm asking a lot of
> Q's but I really need some guidance on this and
> would hugely appreciate any help you guys can
> offer
>
> I'm looking at around ST250 - ST300 for a budget.
> The choice is mind numbing.
>
> I'm looking for a decent pixel number, I suppose
> around 2.8Mb - 3Mb seems to be necessary for
> decent photos
>
> I don't know why digital zoom would be important
> to me - I take it this is to do with the mini
> screen on the camera. I would not care about
> that, because I would be downloading to my PC and
> zooming from there. Am I correct in this
> thinking ?
>
> Optical zoom seem to be the equivalent of the old
> camera zoom lens (?) and the most I see around
> this price is 3x zoom. Any idea what this would
> equate to in the old camera language ?
>
> I see a SONY DSCP72 in Dixons for ST220 which
> looks like a good buy for me . . am I right ?
>
> http://www.dixons.co.uk/store/martprd.dll/store/d
> ix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@
> 2020172298.1057328791
> @@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadcijlmkhgjcefecfgmdffgdgho.
> 0&category_oid=-9005&page=Product&sku=846460
>

Why not try a minolta s414 ( link to amazon uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...57404590/sr=2-
2/ref=sr_2_19_2/202-8434448-7765433)

Decent reviews at Steve digicams

--
Remove nyet / block or change dot to .
to reply Thank you