Suggest a camera?

[Zahboo]

I am wanting a camera and since I am getting a job this summer I am goign to buy myself one. Was wanting suggestions and sample work from it if possible. I'm not that savvy at taking pictures, but I want more than the walmart digital camera. I want to be able to take close ups and being able to focus. Any help? Prefer under 300 dollars but know that's not going to happen.

 

[JoJo 95]

My three favorite cameras are

Nikon Coolpix- $170 They are touch screem and take very high res pictures
Kodak Easyshare - $120 They connect to a printer without a computer, and have very good zoom and high res.
Sony Cybershot- $137 They connect to a printer without a computer and are very high res.

These three cameras fit your needs and your budget. Hope this helps

 

[Zahboo]

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So which do you suggest more? I've heard of the Kodak easy share, everyones opinions on it?

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

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This is what I have.

 

[JoJo 95]

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So which do you suggest more? I've heard of the Kodak easy share, everyones opinions on it?

They are all good cameras. I'd say just pick the one you like best

 

[AnastasiaY]

Are you looking for a point and shoot or a DSLR? They have pretty good DSLR's that are a little over your price range, but worth the extra money...

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I love the one I got for Christmas. Cannon PowerShot A1100IS I saw my sisters' when we were on vacation last year. It's got everything I need for taking pics on vacation, around the house, etc..

The only thing you won't like is, Mom got it at Walmart. She also got a certificate the will replace the camera no questions asked if it fails in the next 2 years.

 

[Zahboo]

I don't know what I want. The most high tech camera I ever had was one with a little knob you turned if you wanted auto, portrait, or some other type of picture. (It even had flash GASP) It was like 70 at walmart. I like the cameras with the twisty part that you use to focus

Yes, this is how unknowledgable I am. Not stupid, just ignorant. I want high megapixed right?

 

[Whispering Winds]

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So which do you suggest more? I've heard of the Kodak easy share, everyones opinions on it?

I have a KODAK Easy Share Z730 and its a great little camera. Has 4x zoom, which I wish was a little better, want to upgrade this year if I can sell more houses. I had the dock to it for printing, but to be honest, take the money that would cost for the camera and printing dock as a set and upgrade for a little bit better Kodak camera. The cartridges are $35 for the one i have, they don't make that many prints, and if you watch the specials at WalGreens and CVS and even WM, you can print them off for less. The SD cards are reasonable for this camera too; take out the little battery and snap it in the charger and in an hour or so you are ready to go again. I really like the quality of the pics too.

 

[Gelky]

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Sorry in advance for a book and I am by no way a pro. I just like cameras.

From the sounds of a "twisty part", you must be talking about a DSLR. Entry price for something like a D40 kit runs about $500+. It's the base level Nikon but it's a nice entry level camera to learn on. If you get into it, cameras and lenses will become a very expensive hobby. You will find yourself wanting faster glass because of two components, the lens in my opinion is the more important of the two. But I digress.

If you have the stomach for it, try Craigslist, hunt around for an old Nikon D70 with lens. A used D70+lens should fall into your $300 price range just fine if not below it. You just have to make sure the camera has low actuation counts (how many times the shutter has been used), Anything over 20,000 is bad because the D70 has an average life expectancy is 25,000 - 35,000 actuations (see link below for actuation data for a slew of cameras). On a D70, you can just have seller take a picture and email it you. You then get a Exif reader to get all the juicy camera data.

http://www.olegkikin.com/shutterlife/

Also, high megapixel is nice, but if the camera is mediocre then it wont matter how high your megapixel is, it will take not so extra ordinary pictures.

Lastly, the point and shoots now a days are getting pretty nice. I have taken some pretty decent pictures with a point and shoot. But if you want to have real fun (with a huge learning curve and some frustration) a DSLR is the way to go. DSLR will give you the ability to measure white balance, something most point-and-shoot can't do. And if your camera can't measure the right white balance then your results maybe disappointing.

Here's a picture I recently took at Monterey Bay Aquarium, hand held shot with a f1.8 lens (fast lens). It's not the best composition wise but I am still learning... painfully.