Need help choosing Digital Camera

TOB9595

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Well I'm looking for a digital camera.
This is for work.
There will be three at different plants. The parameters that I have are:
These will be used by folk that will not have an interest in photograhy.
A minimal number of dials and settings to mess with.
The instruction book will likely not be kept with the camera for very long. So a person assigned to take pics will need a very intuitive camera
LIKE a point and click.
Hi resolution is desired
Good light gathering and flash.
Pics will be taken outside and inside under all types of lighting, fluor, hid, merc, etc.
The need for a camera that is easily set up. Back to the point and click need.
Folk will not take pics often and it will not be the same person taking them.
Cost is not a concern.
I would like it to take one of the standard expansion cards.
Battery instead of a charge docking station

All help is appreciated including links to sites /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Tom
 

Charles Bradshaw

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Tom;

I have 2 digital cameras: Kodak EZ200 and Polaroid PDC-640CF. The latter has a flash and uses Compact Flash (CF) cards, plus 4xAA, usb or serial, tft viewer on rear, and tripod mount. The former has a fixed memory and NO flash (Kodak). I think you are looking for something higher in resolution, as these have a max of 640x480 in size. These fit my needs.

Suggestion: browse Ebay's digital camera listings. worth browsing, even if you are not going to buy via ebay. This way you can look at lots of different makes and models, and go to manufacturer websites for more info, etc.
 

doubleganger

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You probably need to resign yourself to using rechargable batteries. Most digital cameras won't work at all with non rechargables and the few that do give very few pictures from a set of alkalines or even lithium batteries.

FYI Ignore any references to 'digital zoom' as that gives up resolution just like cropping and blowing up the picture in say photoshop. If you need zoom capability look only at 'optical zoom'.
 

geepondy

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Many, many fine choices available from Sony, Canon, Nikon and many more manufacturers. 3 megapixel cameras with optical zoom can be had for $300 these days, 5 megapixels with zoom for sometimes less then $500. Most have a everything auto mode that is easy to use. A lot of them though use a proprietary battery so if that is a concern, get one that takes AA's. If so, rechargeable NIMH's are highly desireable, alkalines are near worthless in most digicams and lithium AA's work well and last a long time but are expensive. In the field, I use rechargeable AA's but carry a set of lithiums in the camera bag for backup. If retail price is not an object then I recommend you try out different cameras in your local camera store such as Ritz or Best Buy. Two online sites I visit frequently for reviews and forum opinions are

www.dpreview.com
www.steves-digicams.com

One thing you mentioned was taking pictures under a variety of indoor lighting conditions. Some cameras do better then others in the white balance settings so you might want to pay attention to that capability when reading a camera review.
 

jtice

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I would go with one of the Canon A series.
Even the top model, the Canon A-70 is only about $300.

They take EXCELLENT photos. VERY good color retension and brightness. They are also pretty small, which might be nice to have in a vest or pocket.

They are also very easy to use. The auto settings work very well.
 

alanhuth

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I concur on the Canon A70.

Excellent photos
Excellent ergonomics
Good size
Best of all: it takes 4xAA batteries. You can use Nimh rechargeables and standardize this with your flashlights and other electronic gizmos too.
 

James S

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Sounds like you're already getting some excellent advise here. I just want to chime in and put my vote towards a Canon as well. Most importantly I think that Canon has won various internet things for their optics. Last time I checked they were the only company that still used real glass lenses in even their less expensive digital cameras where everybody else uses plastic now. I can't seem to verify that anymore now, but I sure like mine.
 

Spudman

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Tom,
I can give a personal review on a camera that doesn't get much notice. It's a panasonic lumix. I was looking at the canon G series when I found a deal on this camera that was too good to pass up. Mine is the 4 megapixel version and can be as simple or complex as the user requires. In other words, there is an "A" setting that is full automatic. It also has a large Leica lens that is nice. It does use a rechargeable battery but I think that is pretty standard these days.

The camera can be set to a variety up quality settings. The 16mb SD card that comes with it will only hold one photo at the highest (tiff) setting. I usually use the highest jpeg setting, where photos are about 2mb apiece. The first accessory I bought was a 256mb SD card. I still can't believe that much memory will fit on a postage stamp sized card.
Good luck with the search.
Gary
 

geepondy

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For those considering a Canon A70, the A80 has just been released. $100 more then A70 but 4 megpixel with swiveling LCD among other improvements. Almost like a baby Canon G3 only A series sized. Lots and lots of new cameras released or about to be released. I didn't want to recommend any one particular brand to the poster as there are many fine choices but I too am biased towards Canon. Come tax return time, I will upgrade the digital camera and focus speed and shot to shot time improvements are two of my biggest desires and some of the newer cameras are better at those attributes as well, including some non DSLR digicams.
 

Brock

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I don't know, I really like the Canon. But for ease of use I would recommend a Kodak with the docking station. You never really said who was going to deal with the end photos and x-fer'ing them. With the Kodak you set it in the dock and it charges, and x-fers images and can sit there until you need it again. You can get it in many resolutions. For the in-laws it was the only camera they can figure out how to use on a regular basis. The model they have does use 2 NiMH AA's and a CF card, but they would never know it because they don't touch either. If the batteries get weak I can go swap them out for newer larger ones, if they go on a trip I can swap out to a larger card. No effort on their part. Very point & shoot. The lens also retracts nicely to protect it.
 

geepondy

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I would recommend a S45 over a S400 if you don't need the small size of the S400. Same res but many more features and still not too big. I like Brock's idea. If I can be convinced the Kodak image quality is up to snuff, I'm going to recommend it to a family member exactly for ease of use that Brock pointed out.
 

Double_A

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geepondy-

I agree the S45 is a much better camera and has manual modes, which is why I like the A-70.

But more and more people I talk to like the auto only S400 personally I'd go for the A-80 you were talking about.

The S400 uses lithium batteries which are propritary, which I really don't care for. What if you can't get that special battery in 10 years.

GregR
 

geepondy

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I agree that people like my S230 (bought one month before the S400 was released, sigh) and it is handy in that you will have it with you a good deal of the time versus the better but bulkier digicam that gets left at home. However the S230 does a much better job with outside scenery shots then it does with inside shots. Lots of red eye and with no manual settings, cannot do flashlight beamshots very well. Here is a newly posted review of the A80. From what I read, it's probably worth the extra hundred bucks over the A70.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a80-review/index.shtml
 

TOB9595

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As always this is excellent info.
Thanks and keep em coming :0

So far I think my rec will be the Canon S400.
The only downside is the proprietary battery.
I'll rec that they get spares and of course larger Compactflash.

This will be used in an industrial environment where the pic taker may have no knowledge or desire to take pics.
Point & shoot is needed.

The problem with being asked at work to advise on this:

NOW I WANT A NEW DIG CAMERA /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Tom
 

geepondy

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Before Tom purchases the camera, could an S400 owner report on the macro capabilities of the camera and also the effectivity of the auto white balance setting? He said pictures would be taken under a variety of indoor lighting conditions and the picture takers certainly will not be taking manual white balance settings.

This definitely would not be my choice for a company camera for industry use. The biggest asset and selling point of the camera is it's small size. I assume in this application a slightly bigger camera is OK. I'm not saying it doesn't take great pictures which I know it does but with the small size comes tradeoffs.
If the S400 is like my S230, the flash is weak and the tiny proprietary batteries do not last long at all. I would think an A70, A80, S45 or S50 would all be much better choices. Just leave the default settings on auto and you'll still get the point and shoot functionality. Generally even the most complicated digicams have an all auto default setting.

Please Tom read some of the reviews before making a final decision. Also Tom regardless of the camera you recommend, I also recommend a flash card reader which runs off the computer's USB port and acts like a separate drive so the user can just remove the card from the camera and insert into the reader (similar to a floppy) rather then having to tether the camera to the PC to download the pics.
 

TOB9595

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Hi GP..These are excellent points and I thank you.
That's why I'm here to have guys like you save me from myself /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
The folk taking the pics will be totally ignorant in pic taking, for the most part.
Last friday I was doing a job and pics were desired. We were given a top of the line Olympus modelx?
We didn't have the time or inclination to figure out how to operate this.
In this environment the manual is 98% of the time in some file cabinet.
There were too many settings that were not intuitive. I'm no slouch and I didn't want to spend the time figuring out the operation of this, obviously, cool camera.

The pics we wanted to take were of the internals of boilers. Yes the boiler is several stories high, (watertube if anyone has an inkling). We just did a yearly inspection and wanted to take pics. Lighting source was halogen lamps and the camera flash.
Other types of pics we would likely take is new construction in sunlight, inside of poorly lit new equipment, excavation projects, plant layout under merc vap, sodium vap, lighting.
It's important to me to have a good flash and long batt life.
The camera will sit someplace till desired and the batts will not be charged with anything like we would do here @ CPF. The charging of the camera is an afterthought when a pic is desired and whoops no batt strength.

I have a couple of 7 in 1 card readers and they're great.
Whatever I choose will have generic memory. I like compactflash cause that's what I have /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yeah, I've been tossing around cause of the batt. That's a BIG downside.
I do read the links that you guys have so nicely posted and the reviews are most illuminating.
The size is not that important. I think I liked the S4000 cause I like to carry a small camera. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
BUT, you are correct in that a larger camera is not a negative.
Flash operation is an important aspect in this choice. As much of the pics would be in poorly lit, or inappropriately lit environments.
You can take it to the bank that there will be NO white balancing done.

Thanks for the additional thoughts. Off to see those that you mentioned.
Tom
 

Double_A

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geepondy

Thanks for the heads up on the A80. As soon as I can scrape some money together I'm going to get one. I was going to get the A70, but from what I've seen this is much better.


GregR
 

zorba

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Whatever you choose though, be very careful of super low prices on line. Their downside is that they strip the camera of all the accessories such as memory card, cable etc and sell them to yuo as extras at super high prices
 

Ratus

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Tom,

Since these cameras are for reluctant photographers, Keep It Super Simple.

The only thing I would have them do is maybe change the batteries, if they have to swap cards, there is a chance of loss, damage, or theft. You want this to be as "Turn-Key" as possible.

So, why not get the camera docks?

They come with a NiMH battery pack that recharges in the camera. They also simplify picture transfer.

I would recommend one of the Kodak Easyshare models like the CX6330 it's a 3.3MP, with a 3x optical/3.3 digital zoom, MMC/SD card, and it uses just two AA batteries (NiMH, Lithium, Alkaline) or a Lithium CR-V3

The main reason is the menu is easy to use and in plain English, you turn the dial on top and it displays a description of its function.

And while the Cannon models mentioned are good, even great cameras, they all have a very confusing menu for anyone not familiar with cameras or computers.
 
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