Take a Jpeg, it'll last longer

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Thu 28 Dec, 2006 5:53 pm

I got this gift card for Christmas (actually more of an IOU on a 8Ã‚Â½x11 sheet

) for a digital camera. The only provision is it has to be less than $130 give or take. The resolution on my current $11 minicam is a sight for eyesores, so I figure I can't lose especially with Christmas overstocking.

Basically, I'm looking for a decent model with a price tag that won't make me shutter. What kind of features should I bring into focus? Megapixels is a big one, but what about other stuff (mem size, optics, etc). A USB cam is preferred (no firewire on my pc).

Jim e · Post by **Jim e** » Thu 28 Dec, 2006 7:18 pm

I had to get camera on a budget a while back. I picked Vivitar ViviCam 5386. 3x optical zoom, 2.5 inch lcd, 5 megapixels, uses SD cards, AA batteries and Records video with audio. Its decent, my only grief was in low lighting w/o flash it may blur if not perfectly stationary. If using the flash in low lighting you need to be somewhat close. But i've had the same problem with every camera I've used.

Its about $130, its good and does what it should. But thats my opinion of purely what I have. You should still look around.

anykey · Post by **anykey** » Thu 28 Dec, 2006 7:50 pm

I'm not sure about prices, but my family recently purchased a canon PowerShot SD800. It's really small, but it has 7.1 megapixels, 3.8x optical zoom, that no blur stuff, and other crazy stuff. It uses usb, but you can also pull the photos off the SD card easily. It even has this cool mode which lets you choosea color to accent and it makes the rest of the picture b&w.
There's no way it's less than $130, though. It's one of the better models out on the market right now.

KermMartian · Post by **KermMartian** » Thu 28 Dec, 2006 11:24 pm

DigiTan: the two insanely bad puns in that first post prevent me from reading the rest of the thread.

I've had good luck with Sony's CyberShot line.

Post by **kv83** » Thu 28 Dec, 2006 11:51 pm

Despite what everyone says, the megapixel is not as important as the type of lens used. Sony uses Carl Zeiss for example, which is a very good brand. Stick with the big names, and you can't do much wrong I guess

Homestar · Post by **Homestar** » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 12:31 am

Before I begin my post I would like to warn all dial up users; because of me, this thread is probably not for you.
I suggest you go back the way you came, and read text; while me, and everyone with highspeed internet enjoy
rediculiously large photos that would eat your windows 95 alive.

In addition, the formatting of this thread is now messed upped. but I think pretty pictures will help digitan better
than formatting, if not, I appoligize before hand.

--------------------------------

megapixels is important, but don't get way more than you need. large Megapixels are ofter overrated.

Here's my go at showing rather than describing what a megapixel is... Because who really can concieve what
a million pixels is without seeing them anyway? Just to put things into perspective I have posted these following
pictures.

If quality is your only goal, film is much much better for cheap quality, as the resolution of a digita camera equal
to an average film shot is 11-12 megapixels. The largest photo I post here is 7.08. I assume you want
a digital camera for hosting and computer whereas quality isn't that important anyway, and sucks up memory.

The first batch is of my wonderful 86 volvo

, and the second is a random group of pictures in my garage of a workbench.

_Megapixels: 0.3 Megapixels
_-Resolution: 640x480
Memory size: 0.216MB (disk)
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q205 ... 40x480.jpg

_Megapixels:1.92 Megapixels
_-Resolution:1600x1200
Memory size: (disk) 1.15MB
http://img1.imagefuse.com/upload/homest ... 0x1200.JPG

_Megapixels: 3.14 Megapixels
_-Resolution: 2048x1536
Memory size: (disk) 1.74MB
http://img1.imagefuse.com/upload/homest ... 8x1536.JPG

_Megapixels:5.03 Megapixels
_-Resolution:2592x1944
Memory size: (disk) 2.32MB
http://img1.imagefuse.com/upload/homest ... 2x1944.JPG

_Megapixels: 7.08
_-Resolution:3072x2304
Memory size: (disk) 3.43MB
http://img1.imagefuse.com/upload/homest ... 2x2304.JPG

_Megapixels:1.92 Megapixels
_-Resolution:1600x1200
Memory size: (disk) 1.09MB
http://img1.imagefuse.com/upload/homest ... 0x1200.JPG

_Megapixels: 7.08
_-Resolution:3072x2304
Memory size: (disk)
http://img1.imagefuse.com/upload/homest ... 2x2304.JPG

Notice the differences in quality, and see which quality would fit you best.

It all depends on what you want to get in to. Yes, granted some of these pictures are really big, but now that
you're thinking about how big they are, you can see many times having a 7 Megapixel camera is a little overrated,
as you could easily get by with a 2 megapixel and still have quality.

Shutter speed is very important for a digital camera. The first one I got took about 0.5 seconds for an exposure.
Basically without a tripod, natural hand photography was impossible if a I wanted a clear picture. Nowadays
shutter speed is lightening fast, but even still be on the lookout for it. $130 is plenty for a nice digital camera.
I would recommend shopping amazon, as they do a very good job in reviews and giving the best prices.

Just look around, you'd be suprised what's out there

EDIT - Dont break threads with massive pictures please.

KevinJB · Post by **KevinJB** » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 5:15 am

I really, REALLY don't get why people don't use the [url ] tag. Especially when they *know* they are breaking the forum for most users. What is so difficult about it?

hop · Post by **hop** » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 10:55 am

Where those pictures taken at optimal settings? (I don't understand your sentence about the tripod, did you use one or not?) They are a bit blurry. If that's inherent to the camera then I suggest getting a different camera with, if nessecary, less pixels but more lens (etc) quality.

Megapixels is just a buzzword for the sales department. Once you know what resolution you want to work with stick with that and get the best on all the other (actual camera-mechanism-specific) fronts for the price you're aiming at.

You can work better with a crystal clear picture shot at 2MP than a blurry picture shot at 7MP.

leofox · Post by **leofox** » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 11:33 am

I actually prefer 2MP over 5MP on my camera, it takes a lot less space, and with high JPEG quality it's not that bad at all.
And perfect for putting on imageshack, 5MP is just too hueg for screens.

My advice is that you get a good canon, the powershot A series isn't that expensive at all (mine was 200Ã¢â€šÂ¬, but that's a few number higher than the cheapest).

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 6:02 pm

Well, it looks like I have some good input to go off of. (And my 56k modem appreciates the IMG->URL Conversion). Interestingly, I found that newegg.com carrier digital cameras--plus they have a good review & rating system. If the walk-in stores don't turn anything up, I could put my neweggs in one basket.

What about storage types? Should I be looking at microdrives, xD cards, or memory sticks. I really don't know the properties of either type; but I'm needing one that's inexpensive and probably lasts a long time.

Post by **kv83** » Fri 29 Dec, 2006 6:11 pm

SD cards are inexpensive, most-common and last a long time

Post by **Dwedit** » Sat 30 Dec, 2006 1:37 am

But compactflash is a mini IDE hard drive!

leofox · Post by **leofox** » Sat 30 Dec, 2006 9:26 am

OMG dweditpost. Legendary.

Most camera's use SD cards, don't get a sucky sony with Memstick produo.

SD cards are good because the wii eats them too

yay fotochan.