OT Digital Cameras

[Quartlow]

Ok I'm a man on a mission. I've decided that once and for all I'm going to own a decent to good Digital Camera. Any of you guys ever used or own the Nikon D50. I had one in my hands at the local camera shop the other day, has a pretty nice feel to it. I'm just looking to see if anyone has first hand experiance with it?

[DanG]

Can't tell ya squat about the Nikon D50, but I can tell ya a few general things to look for.

Unless you're gonna do some really hi-tech, super-duper photography, ignore the mega-pixels.  Any decent camera will have enough resolution to suit your needs.  Go for features, instead.  My Dimage Z-10 has an eight to one zoom lens that really adds to my enjoyment.  That's 8 to 1 OPTICAL zoom.  Pay no attention to digital zoom, as it is useless.  Another feature I enjoy is the viewfinder.  It has the little LCD screen on the back, but you can flip a little switch and the LCD image shows up in the viewfinder, just like on a conventional SLR.  On many cameras you have to go to a menu on the screen to change functions, such as turning the flash on and off, etc.  On mine, there is a button for that, and you select some other modes via a knob on the top, something us old farts can understand.

I paid about $300 for mine, and the price came down right after that, of course.  Corley5 bought one on Ebay for about $150, I think.

I hope this helps with your decision.

[logwalker]

For once I can agree with DanG.  :D    I have the (Konica Minolta) Dimage Z6 with 12 power zoom and anti-shake stabilization. All I can say is wow. Fast to first shot, compact size, lots of usable features and 6.0 megapixel ccd. I got it at a Costco about 4 months ago for $380. Panasonic was one I was considering also. Every model they make has anti-shake. Kodak makes a comparable model also. Don't consider a big telephoto without anti-shake. Bigger than 8 to 1. Have fun and lets see some pics. LW

[mikeandike]

I got the fever and got myself a Canon eos 20D.

I have never had an easier camera to operate. On auto it just takes
great pictures and there is enough pixels to blow it up if you want
and still be clear.

I mean your not only taking pictures for the internet. Your taking
pictures that your kids and grandkids and great grandkids will be
looking at for decades.

Anyway its pricey but I love it.

[IMERC]

Any of you guys ever used or own the Nikon D50. I had one in my hands at the local camera shop the other day, has a pretty nice feel to it. I'm just looking to see if anyone has first hand experiance with it?

yup... up graded to the 70... it's okay though

[Bill]

Quartlow

I got the "bug" last year. The "company" had bought me a DSLR camera - Olympus 2500 -  back in 1999 to document some construction and they finally wanted it back. It was my first digital after 25 yrs of film.

I relied on magazines (reviews and such ) and the local photo shop to show me the ropes. They had a salesman that spent alot of time explaining the features of different cameras. I even ended up buying from them last March/April even though it cost a wee bit more because they went a wee bit further to make sure I'd be happy once I got it home. One of the things they did was let me take the "short list" cameras outside for some pics on my own CF card. Once I got the CF card home, I found the pictures from one camera were clearly the best. ( Sorry it wasn't the Nikon - d70 back then though I have heard/read good things about them ).

If I were doing it all over - and in the price range the d50/70's are in - I'd spend some time checking out the reviews in the mag's and then go with one of the top 3 or 4 that's comfortable for you ( eg the controls work the way you think and are where they can be reached without accidently being tripped ) and don't forget to add in all the extras - lenses ( did you say that was a "brown" bear in the next county ? ), cases ( padded for travel in the 4x4 ? ), batteries ( spares if going on trips ), extra memory ( no excuse for missing the grandkids pic ) , etc  can add up real quick.

DanG is right about the optical zoom - if you buy a fixed lens camera ( like a canon s2-is or nikon coolpix 8800 ) you want an optical zoom of 10 or 12X and lens stabilization is almost a requirement for long telephoto shots ( and they also help big time for no flash night shots ).

I'm also a little old fashioned and insist on a clear filter over the lens - better to replace a scratched $12 piece of glass than hundreds of dollars of dslr.

Good Luck

PS   I ended up with an eos 350xt but any of the major mfg's should be fine - just my 0.02

[isassi]

I have a Fuji...sometheing or other...To me, it all comes down to user friendly. I have large hands, and small buttons and gadgets frustrate me  >:(

Only thing i will add is get a BIG memory card...nothing sucks worse then taking 8 or ten pics and getting the "card full" message in the window.

[Slabs]

My experience was with waiting and shopping.  I had been looking at the Nikon 5400 for almost a year from the original list price of $799 that could be beaten by almost half by shopping and ordering on line.  The trick is to find the more reliable vendors and steer clear of the ones that have a bad reputation.  All that information is available on line.

After several months of waiting and drooling my final vendor's price got right and Nikon offered a $200 rebate so I got the camera for $233.  another item was the cost of accessories from the different vendors.  I chose mine mostly on that feature.  The prices most vendors quote may be only with the sale of the camera so beware of shopping different places for camera and accessories.

Good luck

[Corley5]

My DiMage did come from E-bay as a reconditioned model.  I couldn't tell it wasn't new 8)  We liked it so much we bought Mom one for her birthday from the same place.  Couldn't tell it wasn't brand new either.  Glad I took DanG's advice ;D