Looking for camera under $200. to take pictures of signs, truck's etc.
Any knowledge of the Cannon power shot A510, 3.2 meg pix, optical zoom 4x
$199. at Cir.City, said I could get a wide angle lens for it for $60. sales guy said it would help for good close ups of truck doors, etc.
know nothing about camera's,Any thoughts pro or con?
Thank's...
Posted by Myra Grozinger (Member # 327) on :
My experience with digital cameras has been with Canon power shots. I had one, the specs described are just about right. I utterly loved it. The software with it is excellent. I have now upgraded to a 5 mega pixel power shot.
Photography is my hobby on the side. I would not put up with a camera that slows me down.
The Canon power shots, along with excellent software to catalogue and save your pictures, have been my choice.
Posted by Michael Boone (Member # 308) on :
I have an A70 canon 3.2 It takes excellent photos and its easy to use...
Posted by Santo (Member # 411) on :
Sony Cybershot 4.1 w/ Optical and digital zoom. Nice package, about $250
Posted by Don Coplen (Member # 127) on :
I don't know how you feel about ebay, but you might be able to bump up a step or two, staying in your $200 limit.
I have a sony FD200, which I like. But I would think you couldn't go wrong with Canon. They've been making cameras for a very long time and know what they're doing. Same I'd say about Olympus, Nikon, Minolta, etc.
I got a Sony because I could transfer pics via floppy disks. At the time, my computer didn't have USB. If not for that factor, I would have looked at the established camera companies.
Posted by Artisan Signs (Member # 3146) on :
I have several 35mm SLR's (top notch cameras), and I am not a purist, so here is my limited digital veiw:
I have a Sony Cyber Shot 1.3 megapixel that is about 5 years old. I have literally shot 2500 + photos and I love it.
I have not seen a digital shoot well with a zoom (grainy looking), so if a zoom is important, please shop carefully. There has to be a good one out there.
Personally, I would say, try to buy a camera with a physically large lense (gathers more light).
Anything with a Carl Zeiss lense (Canon's I think) are the best opticts Joe Somebody could buy.
[ February 27, 2005, 08:43 AM: Message edited by: Artisan Signs ]
Posted by rene st-pierre (Member # 4116) on :
i know canon an sony are the 2 great line of product i have 3 kind of canon product an i like the more easy way for take picture an fast still be digital c-ya
[ February 27, 2005, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: rene st-pierre ]
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
I have a Fuji S5000 I think it was around $399 a year ago. I love it. It's big like a regular camera but I like it that way. Those little cameras are hard to hit the correct buttons.
I've taken pictures from it, cut out sections from software at home and had 8.5" x 11" prints made and they looked pretty good with no pixelation. I haven't tried the actual picture itself but I am sure it would be fine.
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
So basically this is like the sign software and plotter recommendations on this board, whatever they own is the one to get. Ask people and they will tell you their totally objective findings and research on the subject. Right.
Show me a camera that doesn't do acceptable work and that would be the exception.
Now I have to go over to Dita Mallon's topic on sign software and weigh in on that. Posted by Catalin Dretcanu (Member # 4136) on :
Good insight, David. I think you're absolutely right, too.
Let's try something different and see if David's idea works better. How about everybody offer all they know about any camera BUT the one they know and have used. No doubt would be more helpful and above all, much more accurate info than the posts here so far.
Posted by Don Coplen (Member # 127) on :
Kent, the most important info you included in your post was that you have a spending limit of $200. You're not going to get much for that.
That being said, I'd look at the most megapixels for under $200. Try to stay with a brand you know, like Canon, Kodak, etc. If you don't recognize the name, best idea to skip it.
If all you want is a digital that will take pictures of storefronts and vehicles to draw designs onto for customer approvals, you'll do fine. If you want a camera that you'd also like to use for taking pics of the kids, vacations or nice sunsets, you'll eventually regret that you didn't up the ante to at least $350 or 400.
Posted by Scott Pagan (Member # 2507) on :
another Canon A70 user here (A75 is current model #). i love it and it's great as an all-purpose use camera. get a good memory card. look for fast speeds to enable you to reduce the delay between shots digital cameras are infamous for. i use a 256mb at 40x.
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Kent, for $200 you can't beat that Canon A510. That's a brand spankin new camera just introduced January 20th of this year, and Canon has a habit of putting nicer features into new cameras than their older, much higher end models have!
You won't need the wide lens to shoot truck doors. Sales dude is just tryin' to upsell, but it's nice to know there are other lenses available if you want more versatility.
3.2 Megapixels is plenty enough to print 8x10's of your work and retain sharp detail.
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