Opinions on a digital camera pls aka SP's birthday thread!

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Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

I don't know much about cameras, especially digital ones, apart from what I have been reading up on, would you say this is decent enough?

I only need it for taking some photos whilst out on my rides and photos of family etc, it is heavily reduced in price and from what I've been reading, having 12 megapixels and good zooming, both digital and optical, it shouldbe pretty good, views please, as I might be getting this camera for my birthday tomorrow, but I have not made a final choice yet as there are a couple of others around the same price and less:

Kodak EasyShare Z1275 12MP Digital Camera - Down To £119.99 From £299.99

Quote:

Design/style: High Zoom, Compact.
Body material: Plastic.
12m pixels.
5 x optical zoom.
5 x digital zoom.
2.5in colour LCD screen.
Digital anti-blur.
In-camera red eye fix.
SD memory card compatible.
64MB internal memory.
Movie capture with sound
30 frames/sec video.
Kodak perfect touch and smart scene.
Maximum ISO range: 3200.
9 scene modes.
Pictbridge compatible.
LCD view finder.
Accessories included in box - wrist strap, EasyShare Welcome Kit, USB Cable, Customer Camera Insert for Optional Kodak EasyShare Camera and Printer Docks.
AA batteries supplied.
Weight 161g.
Size (H)8.9, (W)6.4, (D)3.1cm.

HD video output requires TV docking station (not included).

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:04 pm

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134557

Reconditioned, but £50 cheaper. plus a small review on it.

Also Here

Also check this out.

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:08 pm

12 megapixels is kind of a waste.

Unless you are going to often print pics8x10, or larger, 3-5 megapixels is fine

I'd go with a metal body if possible.

My preference is an OK camera with modest features, and a huge storage card. Smile

The kodak uses AA batteries at least, which at least beats hunting strange batteries.

You can find reviews online about the camera, see if there have been any problems.

I've got a cheapo finepix a500 that has been vitually around the world a few times.....

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:10 pm

12 Megapixels is niether here nor there, camera companies know that customers assume the bigger the MP number, the better the camera. In truth, if you're not aiming to blow up huge prints, anything over 6MP is plenty. My small camera for snaps is a HP photosmart R727 and has only 6.5 MP, and that cost £200 a while back. My proper camera is a Canon Eos 400D and "only" has 10.1MP, but has a much more advanced sensor than any compact and hence will take better pictures. As I say, don't get too hung up on MP.

Digital zoom is useless, it just "crops" a picture in effect, rather than getting in any closer. The closer you go in digital zoom, the grainier the picture.

Having said all that, 5X optical zoom is pretty good for a compact, and it's a great price. For what you'll be using it for, it's very probably ideal. It has quite a few features, it's a reputable make, and for a hundred quid plus some small change, I don't think you can go wrong.

What else were you considering?

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:36 pm

In my opinion people are over-sold on the pixel count.

Good lens + reasonable pixels (c. 5-6Mp) + good sensor = great pics if you don't blow them up huge

Crap plastic lens + 12Mp = crap pic, no matter what you do with it.

Rubbish in = rubbish out

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

I have had two Kodak easy share cameras over the past several years. The first was a gift, not my choice and turned out to be ok. But, it became very outdated, cameras have improved so much since then that I decided to get a new one. I ended up with another Kodak because of the battery requirement situation for the camera that was really my first choice. The features for battery/recharging etc. were much more practical/cost effective for the Kodak. (easyshare, not top of the line).

My complaint so far is that switching between modes on this new camera is a round dial on the LCD screen side of the camera that turns easily and juts out past the edge a bit. It constantly gets turned to a setting I don't want it on, so when I go to take a picture, I either have to check to make sure it's on the one I want, or more often, have to try take the picture twice because it was on a setting I didn't want. (like video, or favorites, etc).

Other than that, it's a great everyday camera.

Edit: Happy Birthday Scam Patroller!!!! Very Happy

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:57 pm

Mugatu is right, the lens is critical.

I've got an old Finepix A550 which is wonderful. I've always seen very good pictures from Fuji cameras, so consider these favourably.

Edit: that was Old no.7 said that, sorry. But Mugatu's right about optical zooms, they're useless.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 2:04 am

Old No. 7 wrote:

In my opinion people are over-sold on the pixel count.

Good lens + reasonable pixels (c. 5-6Mp) + good sensor = great pics if you don't blow them up huge

Crap plastic lens + 12Mp = crap pic, no matter what you do with it.

Rubbish in = rubbish out

Quote:

35-175 mm (35 mm equiv.), f/2.8-5.1 SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON Lens

Kodak uses top lenses, and larger than normal sensors..

The downside is the AA batteries.. That will kill you over time.

Many newest cameras carry a lithium ion rechargeable battery..

The best thing you can do, is find out the shutter lag time.. A slow to shoot camera is maddening..

My .02

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 3:48 am

Good points by all. There are lots of cameras out there right now. If there is a weakness of the Kodak, its the plastic construction and the docking port if you use it. Some scouts in our troop use the Kodak as its very cost effective and takes good photos but silliness at the port is the failure mode. I would think that if you pull out the SD card and transfer files that way, it really is not a problem. The LiOn batteries have a greater charge density, higher voltage, more current and much greater replacement cost. AA's run less. For the last 8 years I just been buying the AAs by the "brick" at the big box store. To be greener, I now use only NiMH batteries. If you keep them charged up, its possible to get hundreds of cycles out of them and if you can get them for a dollar each, their use becomes extremely inexpensive.

BTW, I bought a 2 Gig SD card for my HDD camcorder for $7.99 at "Fried" Electronics on Friday. SD memory must be the most inexpensive out there right now.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 3:50 am

To me,aa batteries are a plus for a snapshot or travel camera

Its easy to pack a handful of spares and they're cheap to buy in bulk packages

Since I travel all the time I try to base all my electrical stuff around aa's

Flashlight...radio...camera...even a shaver

You can always find the damn things as opposed to wierd batteries

(Even though the li ion stuff lasts a long time)

Sparing use of the flash and lcd screen helps also

I doubt I go through 4 aa's per 200 pics on my fuji

Now that we have totally confused sp.....

Smile

One last tip...read a bit about proper composition and use of flash

Most modern cameras have capabilities beyond most users

Some are worthwhile

Cool pics are often wasted by trees sprouting from heads or not paying attention to lighting

You can google 'rule of thirds' and get a basic composition rule of thumb that is easy and improves your pics a lot

Smile

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:10 am

I don't think we've confused SP. Used to be I bought cameras that only ran on AA's. My last two Nikon SLRs ran off of primary batteries that are no longer in production. Really sucks as the salesman on my very last Nikon SLR answered "Yes" when I asked if it ran on AAs. The Kodak runs off of AAs. We would have to say something along the lines of "Camera flashes that work of of LiON batteries instead of AAs recharge quicker between shots" to confuse him.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Hmmm, that's a lot to think about, I though having more megapixels meant better photos, but that appears to be only if you are intending to print them, which is not something I will personally be doing, my mother probably will when I send her photos of my kid, though.

Of the other things mentioned above, as for the plastic casing on it, I would prefer a metal casing, but the other ones I'm looking at with metal casings might not have as good a lens as this Kodak camera, which is pretty good by all accounts, plus Kodak is a name associated with photography, whereas some of the others makes are Samsung and Hitachi etc.

AA batteries, again, I would prefer lithium batteries, but I'm not too fussed about that, AA batteries will always be available and I would get rechargable NiMH batteries and already have a charger, plus I will only be taking maybe about 6 photos when I'm out riding, if that, so battery usage is not really a problem.

I wont be using the docking port/pict bridge, so shouldn't encounter any of those potential problems Connie mentioned.

This camera has a 3200 ISO, and from what I read, the higher the ISO, the better the camera is in dim lighting conditions, that was another plus point as I usually go out on the bike later afternoon and early evenings.

Decisions, decisions, get a lower megapixel, lower optical zoom, not as good a lens, with a metal case and a lithium battery, save a few quid and use the saving to buy a 1GB memory card to go with it, or srtick with this one, hmmm, hmmm.

This one of the others I was looking at, 7 megapixels, aluminium case, rechargeable battery, 1600 ISO:

Samsung L735 7MP Digital Camera

Quote:

Design/style: Compact.
Body material: Aluminium.
7m pixels.
3 x optical zoom.
5 x digital zoom.
2.5in LCD screen.
Digital anti blur.
Face detection - 9 faces.
Continuous shooting.
In-camera red eye fix.
16MB internal memory.
Movie capture with sound.
Maximum ISO range: 1600.
Pictbridge compatible.
Accessories included in box - strap, USB cable, AV cable, charging cable, plus, software.
1 x rechargeable battery supplied.
Weight 132.6g.
Size (H)5.9, (W)9.5, (D)2.1cm.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 7:49 am

If i could add my 2p worth.

Last year i had a digital camera pack up on me in Egypt, when i tried changing the batteries, however one of the girls in the party was going through AA batteries like there was no tomorrow, with her digital camera.

Finished up giving her the AA Lithium batteries i had which are the recommended one's for a digital camera, get them from argos.

Now had a new Sony digital camera from my wife and son at christmas has a rechargable Infolithium battery and checking the camera i can take 1253 photo's on one charge.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Right, sod it, been looking at loads more cameras and I'm going round in circles now looking at different reviews, so I'm going to stick with the Kodak camera to save any further messing about, thanks for the input.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:31 am

Just make sure you get a decent card for it and don't use the almost certainly shitty one that comes with it if you're buying it online.

I bought a Fuji 9100 last year and it cost me a fortune. They packaged it with a compact flash card and not knowing how cheap it was, I kept using it. But the one they gave me was so cheap and nasty it didn't have the lip on it that brings it to a halt when you insert it, so I ended up bending the pins on the camera.

Now I have a dead camera that, just to get a quote to get it fixed, will cost me £50. And that's with no guarantee of getting it back in working condition.

Really pissed me off. It was a week out of warranty when it went tits up.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

@ Slightlyoutofit, the camera doesn't come with a memory card, just the 64mb internal memory, so I'm getting the Kodak 1GB SD memory card from Argos to go with it.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 10:01 am

Here's the 2GB version for less

Trophy Videos · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 10:53 am

Well, ok, SP. I have a Canon A540 I bought last year, before the image stabilization feature didn't add so much to the cost, but I love it. Can't see the lcd in bright sunlight, but it has a viewfinder, too, so it doesn't matter too much. It takes great pictures in low light conditions as well.
It has very fast response between pics, and takes 2aa. It also can do 640x480 movies at 30fps, which is nice.

Happy Birthday, too! Enjoy your day. Send us some pics! Very Happy

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:12 am

Happy birthday, SP. Very Happy

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:14 am

@Scam Patroller : your original post, written yesterday evening, mentions you might be getting a camera "for my birthday tomorrow"... in which case : Happy Birthday to you.... and me ! Yep, I have today reached the respectable age of... my (continental!) shoe-size !

Good luck with the camera : I myself have a Nikon D70 but then again, photography is a hobby of mine. If you only use it for holiday snaps and the like, get the cheapest possible !

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:45 am

1: 4 megapixels is probably enough for you. 6 megapixels is probably overkill. Image quality is more important, read some reviews before you buy.
2: Make sure your camera has a stabilizer. You wouldn't believe how many snapshots have been ruined because my camera doesn't have one. No, you won't be lugging a tripod around.
3: Get a big memory card for the camera.
4: Buy a charger and two sets of rechargeable batteries.

Happy birthday!

[Edit: reordered the list]

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:48 am

SP, I have a Kodak EasyShare C653 and I love it. First Camera that I have ever purchased and it was only $150.00.

And...........................

Bobo, Happy B-day to you!

What size shoe do you wear? Laughing

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:54 am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SP happy crowd

I have a kodak for about 2-3 years now and I love it. I use my pentex 35mm for if Im taking high quality pics.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:58 am

@corona : well, if I were to buy shoes in the UK I would have to get a size 8.... but I'm from the continent so my true age is the continental equivalent to UK size 8 (although my wife often comments that I'm acting like an 8 year old... Laughing

)

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:18 pm

Happt Birthday SP and Bobo!

happy crowd

SP, as mentioned above transfer the pics directly to your computer. I have a kodak and am pretty happy with it. DO NOT load the software that comes with it. I did, and it loads a ton of crap you don't need, and hijacks your picture viewer. At least it did on my comp till I removed it, and removing it is a pain. It leaves little tidbits here and there.

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