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General discussion

Making 1st Camera Purchase

Sep 30, 2004 7:26AM PDT

I'm going to be purchasing my first digital camera and after researching, I've narrowed my list down to 3 and would like anyone's recommendation and/or opinions.

Although this is my first digital camera, I am generally good w/ electronics and catch on quick.

I plan to use the camera to mainly take family snapshots, although I may at some point dabble in more creative types of picture taking. I don't envision making enlargements greater than 8x10. That being said, I want at least a 4 megapixel camera. Would 5 megapixels be too much?

The camera's I'm leaning toward are:

Canon PowerShot A85 - 4mps, 3x Optical Zoom, 1.8 LCD, optical viewfinder.

Olympus C-765 Ultra Zoom - 4mps, 10x Optical Zoom, 1.8 LCD, electronic viewfinder.

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-V1 - 5mps, 4x Optical Zoom, 1.5 LCD, optical viewfinder.

If anyone has any other models to suggest, I'd appreciate hearing about those as well. Thanks for taking the time to help me decide.

Discussion is locked

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Re: Making 1st Camera Purchase
Sep 30, 2004 9:47AM PDT

You picked out three winners.

You will be happy with any of the three.

.....

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Re: Making 1st Camera Purchase
Oct 3, 2004 12:58AM PDT

My suggestion is the all-new Canon Powershot SD300 which will be released in November. It's powered by Canon's new Digic II processor and is 4-megapixels. Since the original Digic provided excellent image quality for all Canon's cameras, expect this to be even better. It also has a stunning movie mode like the Coolpix but includes a 60fps 320x240 mode to capture fast sports action. This Canon is ultracompact and ultrathin and you will probably be very happy with it. ($399 MSRP)

Steve's Digicams and DCRP are in-depth user review sites that include sample photos. Using Google, type the name of a camera and add "review" at the end, and the first two results should be those reviews.

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Re: Making 1st Camera Purchase
Oct 3, 2004 10:54PM PDT

I just purchased a Kodak EZ Share 5.0MP 7530 and from my brief time with it as well as reading some very positive reviews, it's a great choice. I'd advise looking at it.