Need advice on digital camera

Hi all. Just had my camcorder and 5 years of tapes of my kids stolen. All those memories gone, got to stop crying. Anyway I have Australian $300 and would like some advice on what sort of camera (digital) I should buy. I have no idea what is good value. All help will be appreciated. I am so fed up with people’s lack of respect for others property, shit they could have taken the camera but left the tapes. Bastards burnt them in the bin over the road. Sorry I am rambling, shit all those memories gone. Anyway if any one has any suggestion. Thanks for reading.

 

Thanks

 

anytime

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/camcorder/


I found those sites googling a bit, but I don't know how good they are though.

 

Thanks Pyrate for the reply. I’m really lost as there is so much out there, and every shop I have been to swears this is the camera for me.

 

I'm really no expert on digital cameras, but as with any piece of electronics the general procedure should be as follows: Go into your preferred electronics stores and write down the models of digital video cameras they carry that fit your price range. Then you go home and look up reviews of the relevant models. This should tell you which one fits your requirements best, and should teach you a thing or two about them in the process.

Sorry about your tapes getting stolen. People can be real bastards sometimes.

 

Are you looking for a digital camera or a camcorder?

The advice I had recently was that digital camera's still aren't that great for taking video (mine manages only 20 minutes 640x480 resolution @ 30 frames per second before it runs out of memory). Also, digital camcorders are still generally not that great.

If you are looking for a digital camera then I was consistantly told that the Canon IXUS range are great, particularly the IXUS 40 and 50 and that Fuji and Pentax make great camera's (although Pentax ones have fewer multimedia features so are no good at all for video clips). I bought a Fuji S5500 (5100 in the US) and I'm really impressed.

If you are looking for a camcorder then I don't no alot but from what I know I'd say get one that records to DVD if you can. Easy to store and you get a lot of minutes.

Hope this helps you out. Burning the tapes was just plane nasty, I'll never understand that attitude..

 

ok so heres what i kno about digital cameras...provided youre looking for a camera and not a camcorder. i agree with orbital57 on cameras not providing good quality video much less the length of the video that is decent. but as for cameras here you go...
megapixels-higher the MP the bigger the picture can be blown up without getting pixelated. so for basic pictures around the 3x5, 4x6 size 3.2 MP is good enough. if you wanna get bigger like 8x10 or a little bigger size then go with at least 5 MP.
seeing as cameras are getting cheaper...i would just go with at least a 5 MP you can get a decent one for under $300

User friendly menus-as far as being user friendly, sony menu navigation is pretty easy. fuji is also good. olympus has one of the more complicated menu systems.

if you just want a point and shoot camera that fits in your pocket or bag then dont pay more than $400 for fancy ones with all kinds of features like long professional looking lenses. go for ones with a good memory system. you dont want to get a camera with compact flash since those cards are huge. i would go with a sony since they have common memory cards, if you decide to get a sony camcorder, they most likely take the same memory stick. xD picture cards are also of good quality.

i recommend canon power shots, sony cybershots or olympus stylus series. they are well known brands and use common memory sticks.

if you message me with a price range i can make exact recommendations as well as pros and cons

hope this helped

 

Canon Ixus 50 is a recommended "best-buy" in PC Authority, but it retails for AUS$415.

When looking for a camera, ignore digital zoom, which is a gimmick.

More important is optical zoom, and the more the better, however, the price increases.

You also have to factor in the cost of rechargeable batteries if they aren't included, as alkaline ones don't last long in digital devices.

 

This is a good place for information and reviews, http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Steve