Help Choosing Digital Camera.

[Bravo25]

I am looking for a small digital camera, preferably with viewfinder, that will take good evidence pictures, and portrait mug shots. Optical zoom is probably a definate must, as I am not at all impressed with digital zoom. Hi res, and flash. The lower the price the better.
Thanks for any ideas.
Chuck

 

[Wits' End]

Go with Canon. A75 for less than $200

 

[Wits' End]

For lots of good info go to DPreview.com.
Also search in cafe for digital camera and see the thread there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
digital camera
Never mind here is the link to THE CAFÉ

 

[Skavoovie]

I agree with Wits' End. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif Go with the Canon in your price range. The A-series is great (I have an A40). The newer ones like the A75 are fairly small (smaller than the older ones in the series). The S-series will be smaller for a premium price.

Steve's Digicams is another good review site.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Edit: typos

 

[Nom]

I've been carrying my Canon SD110 when I'm on duty and have had pretty good luck with it. I carry a small tripod and the camera in a spare mag holder in my duty bag. The only issue I've had with this model so far is, I wish it used a traditional set of AA batteries.

Typically I'll shoot a video of the area being processed first, including date, time, case #, you know the drill. Describe a few of the areas of interest, then get down to the photoshoot.
Definitely consider the ability to attach a voice memo to your pictures, tagging a picture with a few seconds of audio is a whole lot easier than fumbling with your notebook between each shot (tho I do use a photo log). I tend to take more pictures than required since there's no film or development costs, and the memo lets me record the difference that I see in that view. I don't know how many photos I've taken in the past and I get back to the PD to write the report and can't for the life of me figure out I was looking at.

I second the Steve's digicam site, great info there and he does a good job of covering the macro aspects of the review cameras.

 

[jtice]

Definately get a Canon.

I have had a A10, S100 and now an A95. My buddy has an A60.

ALL of them have been GREAT cameras with good color retension.

Nom has some good points about video, and attaching voice to the pics.
I am not sure about the other Canons, but my A95 does all that, and VERY well. (about $330)
If you need cheaper, get an A70, 75 or 80.

 

[bucken]

Agreed... For the money, Canon is hard to beat. Especially the "A" series.

 

[LEDmodMan]

C-A-N-O-N

See a trend forming here? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The A series are the best bang for the buck, and ANY of them will do what you want well. Like Wits' End recommended, the A75 is a good all-around bet, but spending a little extra for one of the better models (A80 or A95) is worth it in the long run. The Digital Elphs are also very good, but won't have as many features and are a little bit smaller.

 

[Flying Turtle]

I wish I could convince myself to get a new camera. Recently I've noticed the Sony DSC-V1 is on sale for $299 at various places. This one is 5M, has 4x optical, and has an optical viewfinder. I'd like more zoom, but I'm wary about electronic viewfinders. Just read a review and it sounds like it's a gadget/control nut's dream. I've had a Canon S110 for a few years now, and it's fine, but more zoom and control would sure be nice. Don't know if I want to give up the pocketability, though. One drawback might be that you can only use the Sony battery. Anyway, for what it's worth, if I was in the market I'd check out this one.

 

[Samoan]

SD110 here as well. One bit of advice I usually give is that if you already have a particular type of media, get a camera that will handle it. I went with the SD110 because I also have a Dell Axim and it uses the SD cards as well.

-F

 

[cdf]

I dont know about the Law in your area , you were speaking of evidence pics . I is possible you might need something that shoots raw format as opposed to jpeg for legal admisability . I am advised that for example , in Canada raw is the only admissable format , sort of like a digital " negative " . JEPEG can be photoshopped from here to next friday morning !

 

[Phaserburn]

My Canon S400 rocks, but will be too much $$.

 

[CNTSTPDRMN]

This may be out of range, but it's price has gone down quite a bit, The canon S70 --- check out the reviews--- it also shoots in RAW format the quality of the photos is amazing-- it uses Compact Flash-- which is inexpensive!!

 

[mossyoak]

can not go wrong with Canon or Hasselblad

 

[bj]

There was an article in the current (I think) issue of Popular Photography that discussed a memory card and reader specifically designed to prevent altering the data stored on the card. I believe it was a Canon product. It was directly aimed at gathering photogrpahic evidence and being able to insure later that it had not been tampered with. I recall it was kind of pricey...

If anyone's interested, I'll check the issue and page number tonight.

 

[bhds]

www.dcresource.com has excellent easy to read reviews and best of all links to most of the other sites mentioned in this thread. You cant go wrong with Canon. A bazillion models to choose from and just about every one of them shoots great pictures.

 

[mossyoak]

does any one own a hasselblad h1 digital was it worth the big bucks?

 

[prescottrecorder]

To really verify that a digital photo hasn't been altered, one needs something like the Canon DVK-E2 digital verification kit. Unfortunately, it only works with Canon 20D, 1Ds and 1Ds Mark II SLR cameras which aren't small or particularly inexpensive. Not to mention that the DVK-E2 runs about $700.

 

[snake]

Canon /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif
except battery run faster and weak flash (it may solve by pick up the A-series it use AA and a bit stronger flash).. my IXUS 400 has very good picture quality

 

[Saaby]

I'm late to the party but CANON!

I think that unless you're looking at putting a digital back on a camera (This is really popular for pro photographers that shoot in medium format) then really Canon is the only way to go.

Their PowerShot G series of cameras (G5 I think they're up to) are almost as flexible as the digital SLRs but for a fraction of the cost. If you don't see yourself changing lenses a lot, and you think the ability to just use add-on lenses would be good enough, the G series which shoots in RAW and will take all the add-on flash modules may be the way to go.



Also, I think Canon makes a bigger stink about it than it really is -- but the lens is very important. Doesn't matter how good your CCD is, if a blurry image is falling on it...