Skip to navigation | Skip to content

Share your knowledge. Make a difference.

Buying a Digital Camera

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 1 person)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Ranked #5506 in Tech & Geek, #122866 overall

Rated G. (Control what you see)

Buying a Digital Camera - serious Advice

 

You should seriously think about what you want to do with your new camera and how much you want to spend on it ! Buying a digital camera is a big decision and can involve hundreds of dollars - and you really want to get the most useful one when you are buying a new digital camera. Its easy to fall for an all singing all dancing model but you want a reliable workhorse that's not outside your price range.

What sort of camera do you really need ? 

The Right Camera for you - Basic Digital Cameras

Most people only actually NEED a basic digital camera - a sort of point and shoot model is just fine. Look for something with a file size of around 4 or 5 Megapixels (Mb) and that will produce perfectly good photos of similar quality to regular film cameras. The price will certainly be under $100 and you'll have lots to choose from.
Lately,phones are increasingly supplied with good built-in cameras and one of these is well worth considering for personal use.
There are 2 kinds of viewfinders on basic camera - an eyepiece (like a standard 35mm camera) and the viewing screen at the back. I personally find the viewing screen models a little clumsy to use and they really run through batteries fast ! The quality of the viewing screens can be awful and impossible to use in sunlight as the screen cannot be seen.
Be quite sure you get all the cables and software with any camera you buy or you'll be stuck.
This is particularly true of grey import cameras which often have only the body and no cables or software.
A good choice is a single lens reflex digital camera with a zoom lens with a macro ability.This will cover 90% of most people's needs. You can get a good digital slr for under $300
A good investment is a Card Reader - this just plugs into your USB port on your computer and the speed of transferring your photos to your hard drive is about 5 times faster (at least) - at around $10 it's a good buy.
Cards fill up really quickly with photos and you need to change batteries about every 400/500 photos.
rechargeable batteries and a fast charger are a must or you'll be shelling out for new battereies every week.
I advise you to buy several memory cards so as not to run out of pictures. The huge temptation with digital cameras is to take lots of similar pictures (everyone does it !) and then your cards get full.
The other simple solution is to go to a local internet shop and they will usually burn a cd from your memory card for around $5.
You'll also need an external flashgun as the tiny flashguns built into cameras really aren't strong enough to photograph anything more than 5 or 6 feet away ! I have seen many people photographing buildings or fireworks displays at night and all they suceeded in doing was running down their camera batteries. The power of an in camera flash is minute.

Canon Digital Cameras on eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New Guestbook 

flowski

Thanks for the helpful camera buying tips. Nice Flickr gallery too, I love your pictures!

Posted December 05, 2007

Digital Picture Frames 

Pictures on your Desk !

See your favourite photos of your family or vacation or pets on your desk all the time !

Kodak EasyShare SV-710 7-Inch Digital Picture Frame

Amazon Price: $79.99 (as of 10/11/2008)

Kodak EasyShare SV811 8-inch Digital Picture Frame

Amazon Price: $99.90 (as of 10/11/2008)

Philips 6.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame (Clear & Black)

Amazon Price: $94.99 (as of 10/11/2008)

Matsunichi Photoblitz 5.6-Inch 4:3 Digital Picture Frame

Amazon Price: $39.99 (as of 10/11/2008)

Matsunichi Photoblitz 7-Inch Digital Picture Frame

Amazon Price: $61.94 (as of 10/11/2008)

Canon Digital Cameras on Amazon.com 

Canon are the most popular Digital Cameras and offer good value.

Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

* 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor captures enough detail for photo-quality poster-size prints
* Large 3.0-inch LCD display with enhanced Live View and broadened color gamut
* 6.5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability (for bursts of up to 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17 RAW images)
* sRAW mode; 35-zone metering system; integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit
* Powered by BP-511A, BP-511, or BP-512 lithium-ion battery pack; stores images on CF cards

Amazon Price: $919.00 (as of 10/11/2008)

Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens

Canon's new EOS 30D brings proven EOS technology to a new level, giving photographers an unbeatable photographic experience. The EOS 30D incorporates a host of new features with Canon's highly acclaimed 8.2 megapixel CMOS sensor and DIGIC II Image Processor. The EOS 30D includes enhanced operational features such as a new 2.5 inch LCD monitor, true spot metering, a durable new shutter mechanism and Canon's Picture Style feature, all in an sturdy, magnesium-clad body. With all these new features the EOS 30D is truly perfection, refined.

Amazon Price: $999.95 (as of 10/11/2008)

Canon EOS 1D Mark III 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

* 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor captures enough detail for photo-quality 18 x 24-inch prints
* Shoot up to 10fps; burst rate up to 110 full-resolution JPEG images
* High-precision AF system with 19 user-selectable AF points
* New DIGIC III Image Processor provides fast, accurate image processing
* Large 3.0-inch LCD display

Amazon Price: $4,048.88 (as of 10/11/2008)

New Digital Photography Books 

Get a good grounding in Digital Photography with one of these recommended books -

The Digital Photography Book

Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 10/11/2008)
List Price: $19.99

Usually ships in 24 hours

Mastering Digital SLR Photography (Mastering)

Amazon Price: $26.39 (as of 10/11/2008)
List Price: $39.99

Usually ships in 24 hours

Exposure and Lighting for Digital Photographers Only (For Only)

Amazon Price: $23.09 (as of 10/11/2008)
List Price: $34.99

Usually ships in 24 hours

Digital Photography For Dummies (Digital Photography for Dummies)

Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 10/11/2008)
List Price: $24.99

Usually ships in 24 hours

Digital Portrait Photography and Lighting: Take Memorable Shots Every Time

Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 10/11/2008)
List Price: $29.99

Usually ships in 24 hours

Digital Photography Books 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

Blog Posts from Google 

Photography Blogs
Secret Widgets can get your site banned...
Widgets sound good don't they ? Or are they .... Free Web Counters are really useful - but why are t...
Update to Great Gold Coins website
I have just added a link to my Squidoo site on how to photograph coins and other small objects to my...
New articles on Mickey Mouse
I've just added a number of new articles on Mickey Mouse and Disney Theme Parks to my BEST VINTAGE M...
Homer is actually a VIRUS ! not a movie
There's a virus floating around that purports to be a Homer simpson movie. It is actually a virus an...

New Flickr Photos from Fotos4web 

New YouTube Plexo 

Digital Photography Lesson - Fall Foliage 4 of 4

Digital Photography... 0 points

Photography Tutorials - Commercial Photography

Photography Tutorial... 0 points

Digital Photography 101 with TigerTV Host Logan!

Digital Photography... 0 points

The Portrait Photography Masterclass

The Portrait Photogr... 0 points

Beautiful Photos of Western USA

Beautiful Photos of... 0 points

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

New eBay 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay
X
fotos4web

About fotos4web

Hello world. I'm a Photographer and Artist ....


Hope you like my lens !

fotos4web's Pages

See all of fotos4web's pages

X

Gold Star

This is a certified gold star lens, which means it's the best of its kind on Squidoo (or shows some serious potential for getting there!)

Read more about gold stars »

X

fotos4web is a Giant Squid!

Giants are distinguished by their exceptional skill for making top-notch lenses, and lots of them. Whenever you land on a Giant Squid's lens, you know the person behind it is passionate about the topic and is hard at work making the lens worthy of your time and attention.

Learn more about what it takes to be a Giant »