In Market for First Digital Camera About This Page:

[CajunKitten72]

Hi everyone, I was wondering something. We are going to WDW for our first trip and going to buy a digital camera. Never got one before, so we wonder how many MegaPixel's to get. I am VERY snap happy and LOVE pictures. I am VERY reluctant to break away from my original 35mm camera, but times have changed. So I thought about asking my fellow "mouse" lovers. Also the brand i am looking at is Kodak. Do I have to buy the "Kodak" brand memory card, or can I buy any brand as long as it is a MMC/SD card? Help! I know nothing!!

[lukeandbrookesmom]

This is the place to ask for sure! We just bought a Nikon D60 last week and LOVE it! It is our first digital camera, too You'll get a lot of great advice here.

[Colexis Mom]

You do not have to buy the "brand" memory card and I'd suggest you don't as you'll pay thru the nose for them Any SD card should work

[travelinsara]

if being able to zoom past objects is something that you will do, and get great shots of details, be sure to get a camera with a great zoom. I have a Canon (I know you want a Kodak) but it has 12X zoom and I have not ever regretted having it! Remember you want optical zoom, not digital. I recommend going to a camera store for info, and if classes are included with your purchase (there are stores that do this here-Indy) they will be your best source of info. The big box stores just want to sell you xyz, and move on. JMO

[janicelovesmickey]

ok you wanna narrow down your search, do you want a point and shoot camera, or SLR type camera?
since you know you may want kodak, go to their website Kodak - Digital Cameras, Camera Accessories, Printers, Ink & more
and do some comparision shopping.
I have always had kodak. no complaints here. even though I may venture out for my next one to like canon or nikon.

[CajunKitten72]

I am not sure about Kodak. I just said that as a starting point. I am open to all brands. I don't know what the difference is in "point and shoot" or SLR. Sorry I am so un-informed. All I know is that the MegaPix is how sarp the image will be if blown up. That is where my knowledge stops. I just know that I want my pictures to just like the 35mm pictures without blurs or "blocks" that I see on some pictures that are blown up to big.

[Cam22]

I'm not familiar with Kodak cameras, but our second digital camera was a point and shoot by Canon and I found the pictures to be very crisp and clear. Our camera is a Canon PowerShot A95 with 5.0 mega pixels and 12X zoom. I just recently purchased a DSLR Sony a100 as photography has become a hobby for me and I want even more pixels and the ability to do a variety of special shots. My Sony has 10.2 mega pixels and the pictures are absolutely gorgeous. There is quite a difference in price between the point and shoot and the DSLR. Our Canon cost around $250 to $300 (I can't actualy remember now). The Sony cost around $700 on sale as it is the old model being replaced by the a200; ours also included a telephoto lens. There is also a newer version of the Canon.

[ilovedisney247]

I love my Sony!

[Tonichelle]

point and shoot = something you point in the general direction of what you want a picture of and then snap and you have a decent picture

SLR = a camera that is more manual and what some people consider 'professional looking.'

[emtpej]

Figure out how much you want to pay.
I suggest 5 Megapixels and up, at the least.
A 10x or better zoom lens, so you don't have to use digital zoom unless you really need to.
Look at Digital cameras; compare digital camera reviews to find the best one for you - CNET for details.
I have a 7.1 megapixel Kodak (for now).

A lot of folks also get photopass...

[lisam.k]

I started with a Sony (6 years ago) and liked it. We bought a Cannon powershot and I don't have a problem with it, nice pictures etc... I think it is A560. I've been looking for a smaller one and I'm hoping to get the Nikon Cool Pix S550. It's small, 10 megapix, takes video and can be found (in RI) for around 200.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by CajunKitten72

Hi everyone, I was wondering something. We are going to WDW for our first trip and going to buy a digital camera. Never got one before, so we wonder how many MegaPixel's to get. I am VERY snap happy and LOVE pictures. I am VERY reluctant to break away from my original 35mm camera, but times have changed. So I thought about asking my fellow "mouse" lovers. Also the brand i am looking at is Kodak. Do I have to buy the "Kodak" brand memory card, or can I buy any brand as long as it is a MMC/SD card? Help! I know nothing!!

I just went through this myself, actually. And while I'm no expert, I'll share my thinking with you anyway.

You have a 35mm camera - is it one that has changable llenses? If so, to get the same experience and functionality, you will possibly want an SLR (Single-Lense Reflex). If it had just the one lense, then you probably want a Bridge camera, but may be willing to go with a nicer Point-and-shoot camera.

The differences, as I (inexpertly) understand them:

Point-and-shoot cameras work exactly as the name implies; almost everything is automated, the camera analyses what it's being pointed at and adjusts accordingly. Nicer ones may still give you some degree of control, and some even come with a small amount of optical zoom (typically 3x, but maybe as much as 5x).

Bridge cameras are mostly the same as a Point-and-shoot, but offer more settings, and more direct control over how the camera takes an image - possibly all the way up to full manual control of everything. Optical zoom is common for these, generally in the 7x to 12x range.

SLR cameras are the kind you see the pro's, and the serious hobbyists, using. Different lenses for different shots, plus filters and more. They mgiht have some automated settings, but I believe they're generally marketed to people who'd PREFER to handle things manually.

The other consideration with a digital camera is the resolution, or "how many megapixels". You definitely want at least 5 megapixels, and may want 10 or more; it depends how serious you are about enlarging small elements of a single picture, above and beyond what the zoom lense does for you.

Just for reference, according to my camera's manual:

7Mp ... printing at sizes up to 10R / A4 size (25.4cm x 30.5cm, or 10" x 12")
4Mp ... printing up to 6R / A5 size (15.2cm x 20.3cm, or 6" x 8")
2Mp ... printing at up to 4R / A6 (10.2cm x 15.2cm, or 4" x 6")

Beyond those print sizes, you'd likely begin to see graininess or .JPEG compression artifacts. So if you plan on any 10-by-12 prints? I'd go with 7Mp. If you plan on 10x12 prints of images you're cropped? 10Mp or more. ^_^



...

Myself, I bought a "Bridge" camera, the 7.1Mp Fujifilm Finepix S5700 (which set me back $179 for the camera itself, plus accoutrements like memory cards, rechargable batteries, and so on). Somewhat low-end for a Bridge camera, but, it's what I could afford.

It offers me the option to manually control ... well, as far as I can tell, everything, if I want to. OTOH, it also has a fully-automatic mode, and two adjustable preset modes. (I've set mine to "Night-time" and "fireworks", respectively, in anticipation of the shots I'll want at WDW.) It has 10x zoom, optical only, which is nice; it takes either "xD Pciture Cards" (which I bought two of), or ordinary SD cards. Oh, and it can take Video, too; about 36 minutes on a 2GB xD card, at 640x400 resolution. With sound, even! ^_^

But I don't ever have to change lenses or futz with filters, which at this point, is a plus to me ... I'm JUST getting into photography as a hobby (all hail the cheapness that is digital media - only keep the pictures you want, and feel free to take SCORES of pictures without thinking of the expensive film you'd be using in an ordinary camera). Thus, some level of simplification is a big bonus, because it lets me focus on learnign the camera, rather than the lenses, for now.

My next step is likely to be an SLR ... but that's not going to happen for several years yet.

[modisney]

Digital photography is great and with a little research, you'll find a camera that you love. I have an older Canon Powershot which I really liked but went to a digital SLR a year and a half ago. Loveit!!! To get some of the lingo and options down, you might want to pick up at digital photography book. I have "The Kodak Most Basic Book of Digital Photography" and really like it. It's in pretty plain english, not a lot of technical lingo. Try to make your purchase at a camera shop. You'll get knowledgeable sales help. The shop may even offer a short workshop on digital photography or better yet one that's specific to your camera.

[Chikabowa]

Anything with 6 megapixels or more should be a great little buy. I highly suggest picking up a copy of consumer reports this month as they have really details explanations of digital cameras, pricing and features.

I personally think the little Nikon ones are great (I think those are around 10 mega pixels) and I've always had little Canon Powershots. I think you'd probably get the most for your money with the Canon Powershot AS750 IS.

[Carousel96]

Can't help you with the technical stuff but I can tell you the feature I wish we had on ours -- an old fashioned viewfinder window. In the bright sun outside, it's really hard to see what's in the screen. We bought a pop-up shade for it, but sometimes it still doesn't help. I'd like a viewer so I can frame the shot and see what I'm taking a picture of.