Need help picking Digital Camera

[Nav]

Hey everybody. For fathers day Im shelling out for a digital camera (for my dad-duh). I found these but am unsure as to which is the better company and which is capable of high quality photos. They are all in CDN prices. Thanks in advance.

Pentax Optio 50 5.0MP Digital Camera
Sony Cyber-shot DSCS40 4.1MP Digital Camera
Canon PowerShot A520 4.0MP Digital Camera
Kodak Easyshare CX7430 4.0MP Digital Camera
Panasonic DSC-LS1 Lumix 4.0MP Digital Camera

[glc]

You do need to go over to the store and look at them and touch them. However, my opinion, for a novice, get the Kodak along with the optional dock and a memory card.

[Cricket]

I'm partial to Olympus digital cameras, but if I had to choose one of those I'd go with the Canon.

Cricket

[Floppyman]

I'm partial to Canon myself, but I agree with glc that it's a good idea to actually see the cameras and try them out. HTH

[Jaggannath]

Interesting you've chosen all high-pixel models... are these pictures just for the memories, or are you planning on printing the pictures?? Also, remember it's only optical zoom that's important, not digital.
As to which one, although I'm with Cricket in that I'd recommend Olympus (last forever) or Fujifilm (I have one), I'd look at the Canon or the Sony. But definitely go down a store, pick one up, feel it's heft and balance, and see which one you think fits the bill.

[kevinf]

i would go with the canon, no reason really but i had recently gotten the sd500 from canon and it is very good

[HAL9000]

And to make it even more confusing.. I'm VERY happy with my Sony

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 And to make it even more confusing.. I'm VERY happy with my Sony

Actually, I think any of those digital cameras will probably take very nice pictures. They all take AA batteries so you don't have to worry about proprietary batteries. They're all "point-n-shoot" type cameras so you don't have to worry about setting the camera up for each shot. Might just come down to features and price...getting the most for your money.

The only brand I really haven't heard too much about (as far as digital cameras go) is Pentax.

Cricket

[Lamilia]

sony cybershot I have an older one and if you want you can it can set up by itself and take pictures on the mode it thinks is best or you can customize and IT's very nice holds a lot of pictures.I have a 16 and a 64mb memory card the 16 comes with it so consider getting more I plan on getting 512 if you plan on using it for the movie feature you may want to get a 512 because with 64mb i get about 3 minutes of video. even when you customize the photos it's easy to operate just make sure to read the manuals and understand all the hidden cool things (well not quite hidden).

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by Cricket Actually, I think any of those digital cameras will probably take very nice pictures. They all take AA batteries so you don't have to worry about proprietary batteries. They're all "point-n-shoot" type cameras so you don't have to worry about setting the camera up for each shot. Might just come down to features and price...getting the most for your money. Cricket

I have to agree with Cricket here.. it comes down to what you feel is the best buy with the features... do you have to purchase anything additional such as batteries, charger, more memory, etc.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Canons cost you an eye and an arm.

I just got the Kodak EasyShare 7530. Gonna do some tests tomorrow. The few pictures I have taken in the darkness of my basement are very well illuminated and even the digital zoom, which we all know sucks, seems to be quite impressive. More feedback tomorrow.

[Hi Ho]

I love my Panasonic camera. I recommend the Panasonic.

[Nav]

So I should avoid the pentax? It is 5 megapixels for a decent price just wondered about the company's reputation. Used Pentax film camera before, very sharp. Bust that was just one day.

[james8547]

I've had luck with Canon's digicams. My mom has a 4MP Canon (can't remember the model right now...I gave it to her in 2002 and she still uses it). Me and my bro both have the SD500.

I just recently received mine so I haven't fully played with it yet. But my 1st impression is that it's small but it does alot and it does it well (it better be considering it retails at $475+ USD). I get some purple fringing (hardly noticeable unless you're very picky) if I try to take a picture of leaves with bright sunshine going through in between them. Canon's Elph series are well-known for compact, point-and-shoot digi-cams.

I got mine from eBay for $480 including S&H. It was new & retail-boxed. It came with an extra 512mb SanDisk card, and Canon OEM accessories (metal neck strap, extra battery, leather case).

My bro got almost the same package from ebay for $465. He got a 256mb card instead of a 512.

[thefultonhow]

The Canon A520 is the top 4MP model according to Steve's Digicams.

[Statica]

First, check out dpreview.com for information about the cameras.
I wasn't able to find info on the Panasonic, and personally, I'd stay away from companies that do not have a history with cameras. Panasonic is essentially an electronics company, not one that has a pedigree in cameras.
Secondly, I'd stay away from Kodak, other than the same issue as Panasonic about the company, Kodak is a pretty old camera .. it was released in 2004. You do not want to go for a camera that is over a year old if there are others in the same feature/price range you can find.
The real comparison, I feel is between the Sony and the Canon, they have very similar features - the Pentax has a better number in terms of MPs but it doesn't seem to have a robust feature set (for example the shutter speed ranges go from 0.5s - 1/1000s .. no good when u compare that the Sony goes from 30s - 1/2000s) .. personally I dont like center weighted metering, the Canons have Evaluative metering while Sony has multi-segmented. These are things that limit your usage.
One of the key reasons to ignore the Sony would be their choice of proprietary storage media. A 512MB MS Pro memory should run you about $70, however Canon's choice of MMC would be about $35 for 512MB.
A camera is not just feature set and memory, I would recommend you at least run down to your local electronics store and try these cameras out if you can find them .. see if they are intuitive in design and weigh as you want them to (canon's are historically slightly heavier), then buy whatever you want online.

HTH

Addendum: I'm not very into sites that recommend a camera as the top 4MP camera etc. I know there are sites that are pretty gung ho about points like that. It depends on the individual to be very honest. There are cameras being released every month .. so its hard to call a camera the top in its class. The best idea is to compare features .. more importantly usable features. For example, I could tell you about some obscure feature till the cows come home, but you'd buy the lighter camera

[SonicVanguard]

I'm with Statica - the Sony and the Canon are the two to really consider. Sony's use the Zeiss sonar-vario lenses which are top notch, but Canon's lenses have always been at the top of the mountain for quality. I'm also a fan of Canon's CCD Dig!c chip, but the Sony's SuperHAD CCD imager is on par with Canon's Dig!c CCD. The Canon does have the better optical zoom and better overall zoom. And as Statica pointed out, comparable media is half the cost for the Canon.

Personally, I've owned nothing but Canon digital cameras and video cameras and have never been disapointed in their quality.

[glc]

The Kodak may be old, but there's no easier camera for a novice to use - and the quality is actually pretty decent. The dock makes it even easier, it comes with a rechargeable battery pack for the camera. To transfer pictures, you drop the camera in the dock, push the button, and get a battery charge at the same time. If your dad is not a novice, then get the Canon.

[Tin]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 And to make it even more confusing.. I'm VERY happy with my Sony

you and me both .

[David M]

I own the Canon 5 megapixel. 5 mega pixels is just enough so that if you choose to blow it up a little you still have enough pixels to avoid a grainy image. It does not use proprietary batterys. It takes excellent pictures as well which is the bottom line for a camera.

[Hi Ho]

If you follow the "electronic company" logic than I'd say Sony would be out too. If you read the reviews on the Panasonic cameras they get very high marks. Most use Lecia optics. I have used some of the newer models. I particularly like the one with the 16x zoom and image stabilizer. It's amazing. You don't need a tripod at all.

[mountainking]

canon... they've been making cameras the longest as well so they know what their doing... they have excelent lenses as well.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by mountainking canon... they've been making cameras the longest

Not true, Kodak has been around much, much longer (remember the "Brownie"? First sold in February 1900). Canon has only been around since 1934. And Kodak came out with one of the first consumer level digital cameras...the Kodak DC40 was released in March 1995 after the Apple QuickTake 100 that was released in February 1994. Canon's comsumer level digital camera came out in May 1996.

Cricket

[z3frog]

personally, i like nikons. seems like nobody mentioned them....

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally Posted by Nav So I should avoid the pentax? It is 5 megapixels for a decent price just wondered about the company's reputation. Used Pentax film camera before, very sharp. Bust that was just one day.

I would. The review I read for that camera wasn't very good.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

[Statica]

Hi Ho, its not an absolute rule, but it depends on what you want the strength of the camera in .. mine is in preferring good optics .. the Panasonic being compared doesn't have a Leica lens in them (My apologies if I am mistaken). By the same token, I could say that Pentax has historically got the best lens in the world, because my K1000's lens was handcrafted as was the norm before. I cannot expect Pentax to come through with their low end models, as seen from personal experience with bad bodies. Again, its a personal preference of shying away from such cameras. Which is also the same reason why I would prefer a Sony Handycam over a Canon (if I ever caught dead owning one of those!), because now the optics takes secondary preference to the electronics and the connectivity.

Another reason to avoid the Panasonic, I was wondering why I couldnt get info about the DSC-LS1 in too many places .. well its a Canada only, or possibly Futureshop only model #. I would highly recommend you stay away from those. The US/global equivalent of the camera is the DMC-LS1, for whatever reason they are rebadged with unique model numbers out here.

z3frog: Nikons make great cameras, however I've found that their higher end models are vastly superior to the competition but their low end models fare poorly at times. Of course, I prefer Canons because, my Digital Rebel uses the same line of EOS lens' that I used with my Canon film SLRs .. I would of course have gone with Nikons had I invested in the Nikkor range.

Lastly, avoid Futureshop like the plague .. get it from the US you'd get better bang for your buck!!

[mountainking]

I have a kodak 4.0 megapixel and i hate the thing. Cant use regular AA batteries so u gotta buy special ones that cost like 10 bucks. And the thing blurs when there is ANY movement. Its just not a very good camera... my wifes canon on the other hand takes amazing shots and its only a 3.0 megapixel. The lighting and contrast just looks so much better on my wifes camera. hers was a lot less than mine too.

[raftero]

i buught my wife a nicon, don't remember the exact camera but it was in the $130 range, for just family pictures , email to kids etc it takes great pictures and the batteries last forever it seems .

[Hi Ho]

Well my camera is only a 2.0 MP (it's a couple years old). I got it for $120 at Wal-Mart. It takes some amazing pictures. HERE are some examples. Hit "Next" to see more. Click "Full Size" to see full resolution.

[OoOoOo]

http://canadacomputers.com/index.php...d=pl&id=DC.651

Fujifilm FinePix S3100 4.0M CCD with RGB Filter, 6x Opt Zoom $295.00