[wdwfanatic]

We are going to WDW in Sept and want to take a digital camera...any recommendations on which brands are best to buy?We have never owned one!

[DisneyTeacher]

Consumer Reports just did a whole review of the latest digital cameras. I don't have it any longer, I passed it on, but I think it was the May or June issue. I know I had it a couple of weeks before school was out at the end of May.

CR had all the info you would need. The most helpful to me was the battery life, it can range from 55 pictures to 300 pictures, that's huge! I took the report with me when I bought our new digital camera a couple of weeks ago and it really helped to knock a few cameras out of the running.

BTW, we got a Nikon camera and are happy with it so far. It's easy to use and takes a good picture.

[MerlinMatt]

I have an Olympus D-500 Zoom (2.0 megapixels, 3x optical zoom) that I bought refurbished last Spring (2003) before my trip in May 2003. I love it. It's a great entry camera. I paid about $200 for the camera, a camera bag, battery charger, batteries, extra storage card (64MB) and accessories. The zoom motor broke last fall, and I got it fixed for less than $100. It takes great pics and I'm very pleased with the software that came with it.

Olympus has a bunch of great entry-level digital cameras and many you can get refurbished at a better price. Take a look at Mysimon.com for more info: http://www.mysimon.com/4007-6501_8-0...6id=&500409id=

[MickeyMamma]

I would recommend one of the Kodak Easy Share cameras. They are really easy to use, take a great picture, and are easy to download to your comupter. The prices are pretty good too. We have one that takes 3MP pictures (had it for almost 3 years now) and I LOVE it!!!

[geeman]

Another vote for Kodak. All of mine before May were taken on a 2.2 Kodak Easyshare Camera, which was a lot back in 2001, when I bought it. I just bought a replacement - for about 100 dollars on sale -- the Kodak ES 7300, which took all of my recent pix from the May trip. Only problem is it doesn't have a zoom, but I was able to crop the picture later at little to no loss of quality. I'm opting for a zoom function next time.
I looked at many digital cameras before choosing the one I got, and for some reason kept coming back to Kodak Easyshares. For the record, I have also had good experience using Olympus.
My advice - go to a store where you can try them and handle them. And take your time. It took me three tries before I finally decided on the one I wanted. Try them, ask questions, and make sure they are comfortable enough to use.
Also - don't forget to buy a case!

[vantonni]

i am a bit of a photographer and own a wide variety of film and digital equipment. if you want to take photos you can print out later you'll want at least 4 megapixels. Anything by the camera companies (olympus, nikon, canon) will be well made and designed. kodak might make a good camera but they are neither a camera, lens nor software maker the main ingredients in digital cameras. sony makes good but expensive cameras relative to others with the same feature. if you're willingly to spend $500 you can't go wrong.

canon g5
canon a80
nikon coolpix 4200
olympus digital stylus
(all basic models and less than $400 dollars)

avoid the software makers cameras (hp, dell, casio ect...)

2. get optical zoom. digital zoom is meaningless b/c its not really a zoom its only a crop of the picture.

3. get extra batteries, memory of at least 512mb (about 300 pictures at 4 megapixels) and i personally like having a video mode b/c i don't want to have to take a video camera. my panasonic fz10 does that very well.

4. remember that its nice to have the immediate photo right there, for 150$ you can get a fantastic top of the line point and shoot film camera. and despite digitals advances its still not as good as film which is cheap.

for 300$ you can get an entry model slr camera and a few low end lenses. for the 500$ you'll spend on a decent (but not great by anymeans) digital camera you can get an impressive slr and two or three good lenses. its heavier for cure but the quality will be far better.

[CoastieMom]

I have to agree with Vantonni that film cameras are still the best, but I am the worlds worst about not getting rolls of film developed..I have two different digital cameras my first was a Kodak Instant Share and the second is an Olympas (I can't remember the model and it is sitting on my desk at work). I love both of them for different reasons. The Kodak uses SD cards which are easy to find and tend to be cheaper (plus it is the same card as my Palm and the kids MP3 use). It does eat batteries up pretty fast so make sure you have plenty of rechargables. The Olympas is great because it has a rechargable lithium battery that last longer and to download the photo's you don't need to install any software. When you plug it into the USB port it sees it as an external hard drive and you can just move the files over. (Which is why that camera is at work because I don't have to bug the IT's to install software on their network). The cards for it tend to be a little more expensive and harder to find. I hope this helps....

[MerlinMatt]

Originally Posted by vantonni

if you're willingly to spend $500 you can't go wrong.

2. get optical zoom.
3. get extra batteries, memory of at least 512mb
4. remember that its nice to have the immediate photo right there, for 150$ you can get a fantastic top of the line point and shoot film camera. and despite digitals advances its still not as good as film which is cheap.

Now that's a terrific summary.

The one thing I'll add is my perspective on why I prefer a digital camera over a film camera, even if it means sacrificing on photo quality.

Scanners.

I hate having to deal with scanners and it's so much easier to share "favorite photos" using digitized photographs. I like being able to crop pictures after the fact and I like storing a small library of old pics (10-20) on my camera to show people when I'm taking new pictures.

[DisneyFreak]

Originally Posted by vantonni

i am a bit of a photographer and own a wide variety of film and digital equipment. if you want to take photos you can print out later you'll want at least 4 megapixels. Anything by the camera companies (olympus, nikon, canon) will be well made and designed. kodak might make a good camera but they are neither a camera, lens nor software maker the main ingredients in digital cameras. sony makes good but expensive cameras relative to others with the same feature. if you're willingly to spend $500 you can't go wrong.

canon g5
canon a80
nikon coolpix 4200
olympus digital stylus
(all basic models and less than $400 dollars)

avoid the software makers cameras (hp, dell, casio ect...)

2. get optical zoom. digital zoom is meaningless b/c its not really a zoom its only a crop of the picture.

3. get extra batteries, memory of at least 512mb (about 300 pictures at 4 megapixels) and i personally like having a video mode b/c i don't want to have to take a video camera. my panasonic fz10 does that very well.

4. remember that its nice to have the immediate photo right there, for 150$ you can get a fantastic top of the line point and shoot film camera. and despite digitals advances its still not as good as film which is cheap.

for 300$ you can get an entry model slr camera and a few low end lenses. for the 500$ you'll spend on a decent (but not great by anymeans) digital camera you can get an impressive slr and two or three good lenses. its heavier for cure but the quality will be far better.

Thank for the info Van since we are starting to look into digital. Another question for you though. My wife and I love photography and all of the pictures on the walls in our home our photo's we have taken on vacation and blown up. What is the best digital camera for enlarging photos? From what I can tell it's going to cost us around $700-$1,000 and we would need a least a 6 megapixel.

[queensmama]

I am a proud owner of a kodak Easy Share DX4530. It is a 5.0 Mega Pixel camera that is very user friendly. It has all the necessary features, but it's best feature is the easy share printer dock that has a charger(sold seperately). I never have to worry about losing my battery charge, (you can buy just a charger, if you dont want the print dock.)and it is so easy to download or print pictures. On the down side you have to take to dock ( about size of a text book, charger alone is smaller.)with you when you travel or you will have the same battery hassels as all the other cameras. We took it in our carry on, plugged it in at the hotel and never thought about it again and never had to worry about our battery running out.
On a side note I have realized that since I bought an digital camera, I no longer get a ton of pictures, because I shoot until I get the pic I want. Delete the rest. That leaves me without funny pictures of god only knows what to share with others. I am quite upset that I cant find one to post on the worst picture thread . Just a thought I am throwing out there.
Happy hunting.