Shopping for a new camera... *Update*

montana_girl · Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:29 pm

and would love to hear about your camera and why you love it!

I am looking to get a new digital camera and my three requirements are that
1) it has a view finder. I take A LOT of outdoor pictures and if the sun is shining trying to line up a shot with sun on the display does not work.

2) that it takes good indoor pictures. The one I have now, the flash washes out the pic and no flash make the pictures blurry and/or fuzzy.

3) not a long delay between pushing the button to take the picture and the camera actually recording the pic. I have two GS and 3 neices that do not stay still for long and I can't tell you how many good pics I have missed because of the delay!

Any recommendations would be welcomed!!

**UPDATE**

After reading all your recommendations, I went online, checked out both the Canons and Nikons, read reviews, and went over the pros and cons. I printed out the info on the two I was most interested, went to Best Buy, tried them, talked to the sales guy and bought the Nikon D3000.

It really helped that everyone here gave me a place to start my research. I've had the camera for 4 days and have taken (literally) hundreds of pictures with it. I'm still learning all the options, but so far I've been very pleased with indoor pictures I've gotten. Thanks for all your help! You guys are awesome!!

GRACEpunches5 · Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:36 pm

canon xsi. it is well worth EVERY penny spent on it!!! i had an older version and now upgraded to a new one with more megapixals.

bellaconsmom · Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:39 pm

Dh gave me a Canon EOS for Christmas and I love it! I'm still getting the hang of it, but the pictures come out great!

Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:40 pm

I have the Rebel xTi... it's incredibly user-friendly :) Good luck!

AnnOminous · Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:49 pm

I hope you have the money for a digital SLR. Those are the only cameras that do not have any lag between pressing the shutter and taking the picture. There are a few non DSLRs that have a very small lag time, but they are almost as pricey (at least $500, probably around $750). I think some of the higher end (ie more $$$) models in the Cannon Powershot series have the really short lag time.

I have a Cannon xTi DSLR and I love it. You usually get the lowest prices buying online at places like amazon, buy.com or tigerdirect.com.

jodcold · Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:53 pm

I have a Canon Power Shot SX110IS that I absolutely am in love with. I carry it everywhere; it has an amazing zoom and even takes fabulous night shots.

We have a Rebel; but to be honest my pix are just as good as my husband's; he was totally shocked about that.

I like it better than the rebel because it is not as bulky; it is not a tiny camera, but not so big that you can't take it everywhere.

I have some sunrise shots of the ocean (when it was dark out) that are incredible. I can't say enough about this camera and recommend it to everyone.

One of the things I love about it is that it has a pop-up flash, so when there are times you don't want the flash you don't have to have it.

The lag time is not bad unless you are using flash; even then it is still as good as my other small camera.

montana_girl · Fri Feb 12, 2010 3:05 pm

Thanks so much for all the recommendations! This gives me a good starting point on researching cameras. Cherries are always so helpful!

PezKat · Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:26 pm

I have a Nikon Coolpix that totally fits the bill for the 1st 2, but there's definitely lag time between shots. I love my photos though!

meteechtap · Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:57 pm

I have a canon power shot too! I absolutly love it! The upload is super easy!

scraptag · Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:08 pm

The Canon Rebels would perfect. If you spend that much on a camera I would go with the x1i, because it has a movie mode. But if you can't go that high, then stick to the model down from that which doesn't take video. If you don't want a big camera, then try the Canon G11. It gives you manual and automatic settings with a fixed lens. It has a viewfinder and a screen, and is still a great camera. jmho

kennabeans · Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:11 pm

I would highly recommend the Nikon D60. Dh did lots and lots of research before he bought it for me. He went to several stores and held cameras and tried them out as well as internet research. One of the things I wanted was a camera with not much lag time and I can take several pics in a minute. It takes excellent inside and outside pics as well as movement pics. Love it!!

sakura-panda · Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:43 pm

Another Nikon girl chiming in -- I have the D80 DSLR.

1. On a DSLR you do not have the option of using the LCD screen to take pictures. You can't look at your picture until after is has been written to memory. I don't like LCD screens anyway -- I find I can hold the camera much steadier up to my face, than held out in space.

2. The onboard flash on my camera is awesome, but I also have an external flash that mounts to the hot shoe. Since it is farther from the lens, it does a much better job with lighting. However, I find that having a lens with a large aperture (I think that's right -- to let in more light) is better than using the flash. That's one nice thing about a DSLR -- I can pick my own lens with the characteristics that are the most important to me!

3. I do not have to deal with shutter lag or delay -- a characteristic of all DSLRs.

Before you buy any camera, make sure you go to the store and pick it up and handle it in your own hands. It makes a difference! I handled both the Canon and the Nikon when I made my purchase and I preferred the feel of the Nikon. It's a very personal choice and no one can tell you what will work for you. Canons and Nikons are both top of the class as far as consumer DSLRs are concerned and you couldn't go wrong with either pick.

SarahA · Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:50 pm

I have a Nikon, too! I started with the D60 (which is discontinued, but replaced with the D3000 I think), but have since upgraded. I found it very easy to use to start with and would recommend them to anyone!

reelynn · Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:58 pm

I have a canon XSI with a tamron 28-75 2.8 (the 2.8 means it is better in low light without a flash) and a 50 mm 1.8 (which is even better with low light situations, but you have to move back and forth, cause the lens doesn't). I really like this camera. Quite a learning curve, but fun.

AlwaysHappy · Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:17 am

I have a Cannon Power Shot and absolutely love it. I paid over $400.00 for it 5 years ago and it's still a great camera. It has both a view finder and a screen. You choose which one you want to use. My camera does anything you could want a camera to do except clean house and wash dishes. LOL One draw back with the Cannon brand is it comes with special software you must install in order to be able to download your pics to your computer. I thought all cameras required this, but found out different a few weeks ago. I bought a new laptop and was surprised that I couldnt download any pics without that original software. I dug around in my desk and finally found it, but it had me in a tizzy for awhile. The older software that came with my camera isn't avaialbe any longer, not even from the Cannon website. There is one other brand that also requires it's own software, but I can't remember what the brand is. It would be my suggetion that you make sure you buy a camera that will download pics to your computer without a brand software requirement. You should checkout the website of the brand you plan to buy and make sure there won't be a download issue if you change computers a few years from now. Other than that, I love my Cannon. If you do buy a Cannon, just don't ever loose the original software that came with it or you will be up the creek without a paddle.

AlwaysHappy · Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:24 am

AlwaysHappy wrote:I have a Cannon Power Shot and absolutely love it. I paid over $400.00 for it 5 years ago and it's still a great camera. It has both a view finder and a screen. You choose which one you want to use. My camera does anything you could want a camera to do except clean house and wash dishes. LOL One draw back with the Cannon brand is it comes with special software you must install in order to be able to download your pics to your computer. I thought all cameras required this, but found out different a few weeks ago. I bought a new laptop and was surprised that I couldnt download any pics without that original software. I dug around in my desk and finally found it, but it had me in a tizzy for awhile. The older software that came with my camera isn't avaialbe any longer, not even from the Cannon website. There is one other brand that also requires it's own software, but I can't remember what the brand is. It would be my suggetion that you make sure you buy a camera that will download pics to your computer without a brand software requirement. You should checkout the website of the brand you plan to buy and make sure there won't be a download issue if you change computers a few years from now. Other than that, I love my Cannon. If you do buy a Cannon, just don't ever loose the original software that came with it or you will be up the creek without a paddle.

PS: I forgot to add, make sure it has image stabilization so your pics won't blur when you are shooting with the long range digital zoom. This is a must have. My camera will even let you shoot night shots without a flash, like for shooting pics of wild life in the dark. Cannon makes their own lense, but I've heard the best lense available is a German lense. I guess it just depends how much you want to spend.

AnnOminous · Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:30 am

That is strange. I have both the Canon XTi and one of the cheaper Powershot models. I always download by putting the cards in a card reader, but last fall I did plug the XTi directly into an Epson printer and it worked just fine (once I figured out which buttons to push lol).

You got me curious... I just tried plugging in the Powershot directly to my computer. Nothing happened.

milmomma · Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:47 am

I too recommend the Canon Rebels. I have the oldschool XT and it still works like a dream! I also have a Canon Power shot for my purse. Its not as great but its better than nothing!
I plug in all my cameras to my computer with the usb cord. You can use the card if you want, but personal experience of using the card has made my cards unreadable and losing the data. Both the Rebel and Power shot can be hooked up with same usb cord so that is awesome.

scraptag · Sat Feb 13, 2010 3:24 am

AlwaysHappy wrote:I have a Cannon Power Shot and absolutely love it. I paid over $400.00 for it 5 years ago and it's still a great camera. It has both a view finder and a screen. You choose which one you want to use. My camera does anything you could want a camera to do except clean house and wash dishes. LOL One draw back with the Cannon brand is it comes with special software you must install in order to be able to download your pics to your computer. I thought all cameras required this, but found out different a few weeks ago. I bought a new laptop and was surprised that I couldnt download any pics without that original software. I dug around in my desk and finally found it, but it had me in a tizzy for awhile. The older software that came with my camera isn't avaialbe any longer, not even from the Cannon website. There is one other brand that also requires it's own software, but I can't remember what the brand is. It would be my suggetion that you make sure you buy a camera that will download pics to your computer without a brand software requirement. You should checkout the website of the brand you plan to buy and make sure there won't be a download issue if you change computers a few years from now. Other than that, I love my Cannon. If you do buy a Cannon, just don't ever loose the original software that came with it or you will be up the creek without a paddle.

I have to disagree. You don't need Canon software, just software to download. Most camera's now a days come with software to download your camera info, in case you don't already have something like Photoshop or iphoto, (of which I have both). On my Dell I used the Canon software, but when I got my Mac I had no problem downloading using the iphoto or photoshop programs that I have on it. I hope this info helps.

4peasinourpod · Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:20 am

AlwaysHappy wrote:I have a Cannon Power Shot and absolutely love it. I paid over $400.00 for it 5 years ago and it's still a great camera. It has both a view finder and a screen. You choose which one you want to use. My camera does anything you could want a camera to do except clean house and wash dishes. LOL One draw back with the Cannon brand is it comes with special software you must install in order to be able to download your pics to your computer. I thought all cameras required this, but found out different a few weeks ago. I bought a new laptop and was surprised that I couldnt download any pics without that original software. I dug around in my desk and finally found it, but it had me in a tizzy for awhile. The older software that came with my camera isn't avaialbe any longer, not even from the Cannon website. There is one other brand that also requires it's own software, but I can't remember what the brand is. It would be my suggetion that you make sure you buy a camera that will download pics to your computer without a brand software requirement. You should checkout the website of the brand you plan to buy and make sure there won't be a download issue if you change computers a few years from now. Other than that, I love my Cannon. If you do buy a Cannon, just don't ever loose the original software that came with it or you will be up the creek without a paddle.

I never use the Canon software....always a card reader. I have owned many Canon cameras.

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