Ok........I know this isn't 4x4 related..........yes it is .....,.I want to buy a digital camera so I can post pictures of my 4x4 JUNK.......but I don't know what one to get:confused: :confused:......just courious what people on the BB use ????????? What is a good camera to get so I can take pictures of rock crawling events like the one at donner this weekend and post them for all of you that can't make it??What do you use and what are the pros and cons


How many megapixel do I need?????

Digital zoom or optical zoom???????

I have had it with SEARCHING the web:mad: :mad:

I just want a good camera for under $400.........is that possible???HELP

well, you could just call up best buy, goodguys, or your local electronics store and ask them. You could also go to the Consumer Reports website and see what they recommend.

Originally posted by soopatoy
well, you could just call up best buy, goodguys, or your local electronics store and ask them. You could also go to the Consumer Reports website and see what they recommend.


I live in the STICKS:D :D .....The only thing within a 170 mile radius is Walmart:mad:

Well most any camera over $100 will give you enough quality for posting what you have on a BBS. Digital or optical zoom will work, but the optical zoom will be much higher quality. Spending more money for two sets of rechargable batteries and a larger digital storage card will allow you to take lots of pics when your on the trails (we all like to see good trip pics). The better the camera, the beter the photo quality will be.

I use a Nikon 990, but thats pretty expensive and I do alot of webdesign work so I need it. But if youre not worried about print quality you dont have to spring for somethign as expensive. Might want to read some reviews on amazon and see if you can try out ant friends. :D

Just go to wally world and get a camera for around $400, it should work well enough. Good luck.

Wes

I got a ripping deal on mine at www.ubid.com

best to do your own research and shop at the same time:
http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/search/0,10126,0-6613935-1302-0,00.html?tag=dir&pn=1&ob=1&qt=&qn=&F1=1&F2=0&F5=0&F6=0&F7=0&F8=0

get a sony... should be able to get like a dcp-70 or something like that... takes awesome pics... easy to use... right in that price range... i believe that wal-mart carries'em too...

Originally posted by JParuBob
get a sony... should be able to get like a dcp-70 or something like that... takes awesome pics... easy to use... right in that price range... i believe that wal-mart carries'em too... Sony has this nasty little problem. They always try to corner the market with "Sony only" technology. Problem is, it has a history of blowing up in their face. Remember the Beta? They overcharge for sometimes better often times not items. Just my 6 pence's worth.

Have any of you guys tried the Olympus C-700???????10x optical zoom, 2.7 digital zoom, and 2.1 megapixal:eek: :eek:

I have the Olympus D510. 3x optical, like 9x digital, 2.1 megapixel. Was only $400, much cheaper now.

The only clear advice I can give you, is get the metal hydride batteries (I think they're called that, you can pick a set up for $25 with charger.) They're not the nickel-cadmium. With those batteries I can take about 150-200 flash pictures, zooming and turning it on and off, using the LCD screen.

I love my camera, perfect for me.

*edit* I'm surprised no one gave the poor guy the WRONG FORUM picture :laughing:

I use a Kodak DX-3500. 2.1 megapixel camera, and cheap enough that if I FAWK it up wheelin, I wont be heartbroken.

Nearly a year old and still tickin.

Picked it up @ Target, with a 64MB Compact Flash card, and rechargeable NiMH batteries for ~$300-325.

Follow this link, the pics were taken with that cam.
http://www.trailseeker.com/4x4/moabzuV/k-gs/images/DCP_2078.jpg
Moab (http://www.trailseeker.com/4x4/moabzuV/k-gs/index.htm)

Originally posted by rusted
I have the Olympus D510. 3x optical, like 9x digital, 2.1 megapixel. Was only $400, much cheaper now.

The only clear advice I can give you, is get the metal hydride batteries (I think they're called that, you can pick a set up for $25 with charger.) They're not the nickel-cadmium. With those batteries I can take about 150-200 flash pictures, zooming and turning it on and off, using the LCD screen.

I love my camera, perfect for me.

*edit* I'm surprised no one gave the poor guy the WRONG FORUM picture :laughing:

Do you like the optical zoom or the digtal zoom?????I was playing with one in the store and the digital zoom was kind of hard to figure out. I think that the optical zoom would be easyer to operate but they say the digital zoom gives you better pictures:confused:

Originally posted by TOY 2


Do you like the optical zoom or the digtal zoom?????I was playing with one in the store and the digital zoom was kind of hard to figure out. I think that the optical zoom would be easyer to operate but they say the digital zoom gives you better pictures:confused: No, the digital zoom sucks much ass. An optical zoom is a true glass lens zoom. Digital is strictly picture enhancement.

Originally posted by TOY 2


Do you like the optical zoom or the digtal zoom?????I was playing with one in the store and the digital zoom was kind of hard to figure out. I think that the optical zoom would be easyer to operate but they say the digital zoom gives you better pictures:confused:

Yes, the optical zoom on the Olympus is always enabled, and is what changes when you use the zoom button.

The digital zoom is NOT enabled by default, so you have to dink around with it on most cameras. Also, like the guy said, all the digital zoom does is makes the pixels bigger, so you loose quality, but it's there if you need it. I haven't yet.

A 'little' bit of digital zoom is barely noticeable.

Originally posted by Buddha's Ghost
No, the digital zoom sucks much ass. An optical zoom is a true glass lense zoom. Digital is strictly picture enhancement.


I agree with you on that one:D :D ...............What about refurbished ones:confused: .......or should I spend the money and buy NEW

Here is the difference. You can see the same pixels in both pics, but one is bigger, the digital zoom one.


Optical

http://chartermi.net/~trailrig/optical.jpg



Digital

http://chartermi.net/~trailrig/digi.jpg

What's your budget?

Originally posted by Buddha's Ghost
What's your budget?


I don't want to spend more than $400...............If I could get a good camera for $250 to $310 I would be happy.........that would keep the wife off my back:D :D

Refurbished would be fine if they carry a decent warranty. I picked up my Toshiba PDR-M71 for around $400 and it's a 3.2 MegaPix. Check out digi cam web sites to see reviews and prices on various ones. I love my cam and I know Olympus also makes some fine equipment. I did steer clear of Olympus, because their comparable cams had pop up flashes that I know would be too easy to break for me.

I have a Fuji that my wife bought for the B-day. I liked it so much that when my daughter asked for a camera I knew that she had to have one too. Anyway I bought my daughter a 1 megapixel Fuji with a 32 MB smartcard and the battery charger and batteries on E-bay for about $130. She loves it and has used the hell out of it. It takes pretty good pics too-here's a sample

TOY 2--- If pic quality is important to you then you must consider how many mega-pixel resolution it has and how many megs of memory.....since everything I do is internet and tech write-ups then all I want is the good stuff...like 10x optical zoom....and get up close macro capability of 1/2" close if I want....and no software required to download onto the computer. It's called the Mavica 75 and Wallyworld has it for 348,,,,,do a search and tell me it's not the perfect camera for the wheeler.

TOY---I went to CNET and found some user opinions of the 75...check it out http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6613935-1318-5087649.html?tag=st.ce.6613935-1317-5087649.dir.6613935-1318-5087649

10x OPTICAL Zoom.

Digital zoom is a joke, it is not a selling point at all. Basically you can have any level of digital zoom with photoshop so not need to pay for it on the camera (I don't think there are any cameras with no digital zoom but just don't look at it as a selling point).

3 megapixel or more, really 2 is okay but it will limit your other features.

For an offroad camera if I was choosing between a 2 megapix with 10x OPTICAL zoom, or a 5 megapixel with 3x OPTICAL zoom. I would pic the 10x and smaller image size, anything posted on the web is usually less then 1 megapixel but for offroading events it is really hard to get close to every subject.


I use a Fuji Finepics 2400z and I am satisfied but I would really like more OPTICAL zoom. If you would like me to post an example image just ask, typically I resize them before posting them but I have a few that are originals.


(Did I stress OPTICAL zoom enough? )

Originally posted by JEEP_TJ_FREAK
10x OPTICAL Zoom.

3 megapixel or more, really 2 is okay but it will limit your other features.


I don't know much about digital cameras, but I have a 1.3 megapixel, and I am very happy with it for wheelin pics. Best thing is I have about $300 into the camera, case, batteries charger, flash cards, and the flash card reader.

I think the pics look good full size, or dropped down for the interweb

Originally posted by JEEP_TJ_FREAK
10x OPTICAL Zoom.

Digital zoom is a joke, it is not a selling point at all. Basically you can have any level of digital zoom with photoshop so not need to pay for it on the camera (I don't think there are any cameras with no digital zoom but just don't look at it as a selling point).

3 megapixel or more, really 2 is okay but it will limit your other features.

For an offroad camera if I was choosing between a 2 megapix with 10x OPTICAL zoom, or a 5 megapixel with 3x OPTICAL zoom. I would pic the 10x and smaller image size, anything posted on the web is usually less then 1 megapixel but for offroading events it is really hard to get close to every subject.


I use a Fuji Finepics 2400z and I am satisfied but I would really like more OPTICAL zoom. If you would like me to post an example image just ask, typically I resize them before posting them but I have a few that are originals.


(Did I stress OPTICAL zoom enough? ) My Toshiba has adapters to add standard camera lenses on it. Several cams have this feature. Keep this in mind also.

I use a Kodak DX3600, small, tough, light, takes good pics, and short video clips. They sell it at WalMart, but get a bigger memory card, it sucks having to swap cards or download in the middle of a trip, I just bought a 128MB flash card and use my old 32MB for backup, that's well over 200 pics. The rechargeable batteries that came with my Camera/Camera Dock package suck, but the regular battery that came with the camera lasted forever, just wish I would have had a spare when it finally ran out, now I carry two.

Originally posted by Buddha's Ghost
My Toshiba has adapters to add standard camera lenses on it. Several cams have this feature. Keep this in mind also.

Oh yeah thats true but barely in his budget. What do they call those? SLRs???

Very nice option if you can get it but the lenes are not cheap either. Basically you are using professional equipment from a few years ago if you get one for $400.

They will also be 4+ megapixel too, or at least I have never seen one with less.

Optical Zoom
Optical Zoom
Optical Zoom

My Olympus D310 is almost 4 years old now - 16 meg smartmedia card holds over 240 pics at 640x480. Digital zoom only and I've NEVER used it, since it requires you to use the screen on the back....battery killer. Mine was $300 new and it does photo-quality .tif images. I've used it for catalogs, brochures, and advertisements in my job, it's great for smaller product shots.

Upgrade one step and another $100 and it added Optical Zoom Optical Zoom Optical zoom. I purchased this model (D400 I think) for my dad and he loves it. Same features as mine but the optical zoom is a breeze to use.

The SmartMedia cards are cheap and with an adapter they plug into your 3.5" floppy drive to transfer photos. With three 16 meg cards and the original 8 meg card I have nearly 1000 pics available at the base resolution....base is 640x480, 2nd is 1280 x 960, 3rd is 1280x960 but with less .jpg compression for higher quality, final is 1280x920 .tif quality with no compression. A 16 meg card only fits four of the top quality pics tho....

Here is mine for what it's worth....


I have a Sony MVC-FD95.

What everyone is saying about the digital vs. optical zoom is really something to keep in mind. My Sony has a 10x optical soom and a 2x digital zoom for a total of 20x zoom although I usually keep the ditital zoom disabled to retain pic quality.

It is 2.1 mpix which I think is fine. I have shot some really nice shots at 1600x1200 and then shrunk them down to 8"x10" to print and they come out great.

It will also take movie clips. The thing that I love the most about it is it will accept floppys or memory sticks. They floppys are great because you don't need any extra cables, software, or anything like that. It also has the ability to copy the disks so if someone wants copies of the pics you just took you can make them a disk right there and then.


I paid $399 and I'm extremely happy with it.

Most everyone has already hit the high points (optical instead of digital, yada yada yada).

So here is a pretty good search engine for you to compare cameras with:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

Plug your requirements in (<$400, etc) and have a go at it.

They also have reviews.

Enjoy!

I second dpreview.com. The Fuji's seem to be the best price/performance. I haven't used them myself but I've heard a lot of good things. Nikons are great, it's what I use, but it sucks for action shots as every shot has a 2-3 second delay. Olympus is good as well. If it's just for wheeling shots, then a 2.1 would be fine. also check out www.techbargains.com for coupons and the best pricing. www.pricegrabber.com is another price comparison site that actually includes shipping so you don't get screwed.

I just bought this one.... http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/showcase/productdetail.asp?vendor=Sony&product_id=289517

Work's good for still's or movies. A bit spendy however.

Bud

I'm about 20 pics away from taking my 5000 th picture with my Kodak DC280.

optical zzom, 2.1 megapixel, Came with an 8mb card, I bought an extra 20 mb card - can take 230+ snapshot pics. Definately get 2 sets of Ni-MH rechargeables.

Only thing I don;t love is that it takes a while between pics - so you can sometimes miss the action shots....don't know if later cameras are better now???

I also have a Panasonic that is similar to that. 120 MB 1.3 mega pixel. It's a super disc and will shoot up to 1500 pic's on a card.
But, it is as you daid yours was to dammed slow to pick up any in succession shots. Which is why I got the Sony. It has sticks for single shot's. I bought a 64 meg stick that will take like 500 shots plus another battery pack. I'm hoping it will get me many goos shots and movies at the event's.

Bud

Sony FD-75 here. Just take out the floppy disk and into you computer. 2.5 hrs of battery life. I took 123 pics at the races last weekend on one battery charge. 10x opticle zoom. three flash levels, Much more too. Under $400.

Originally posted by TOY 2
Have any of you guys tried the Olympus C-700???????10x optical zoom, 2.7 digital zoom, and 2.1 megapixal:eek: :eek:

I've got that one too... awesome camera! Full auto "dumbshit" mode, or like a quality 35mm film camera you get shutter OR apperature preferred manual settings, a portrait mode, a panoramic mode. I comes with digital viewfinder or color screen on back, plus you can shoot mpg's as well. Compact flash media card gives you all sorts of range for media storage. Battery life is great... all for about $400....

Originally posted by GonPostal


I've got that one too... awesome camera! Full auto "dumbshit" mode, or like a quality 35mm film camera you get shutter OR apperature preferred manual settings, a portrait mode, a panoramic mode. I comes with digital viewfinder or color screen on back, plus you can shoot mpg's as well. Compact flash media card gives you all sorts of range for media storage. Battery life is great... all for about $400....


How tough is it to down load pictures on your computer.........Where did you get yours at..........and how long have you had it........last ? how far can you zoom in things???????

Originally posted by pokey
I just bought this one.... http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/showcase/productdetail.asp?vendor=Sony&product_id=289517

Work's good for still's or movies. A bit spendy however.

Bud


Your right on the SPENDY part:eek: :eek:

My hp 318 does a super job and was under 200...so easy to use also....The new PC mag also had a report on digis and the hp for that price was one of the best...

Guys---Almost all of you are missing the point-----for just posting rockcrawling evenjt stuff and 4x4 build-ups all you ever need at max...at max is 640x480 jpegs......some off you fellows have 5 meg res cameras yet the pictures you posted above are like only 64k. Web camera= Mavica 75......those 5 meg cameras are for the serious .....web=Mavica75.

Originally posted by TOY 2



Your right on the SPENDY part:eek: :eek:

Yeah well, I went to one of the sites above and it was two hundy less than I pd. Ha! Before today I couldn't get a better price. I would be looking at that site for the best proce if your thinking of buying now.

Bud

I just wanted to thank everone that helped me figure out the good and bad about digital cameras........I think I'm going to get one with 2+ megapixel , 10x optical zoom , and I could care less about the digital zoom:D ........Again Thanks for all you HELP

Originally posted by ZUK
Guys---Almost all of you are missing the point-----for just posting rockcrawling evenjt stuff and 4x4 build-ups all you ever need at max...at max is 640x480 jpegs......some off you fellows have 5 meg res cameras yet the pictures you posted above are like only 64k. Web camera= Mavica 75......those 5 meg cameras are for the serious .....web=Mavica75.

No joke, since Toy has his info I guess I will lay one down in original format so Toy can get an idea of what these images are really like right out of the cam.

http://jeepwrangler.info/images/Swinks_Sticker_Broadband_Red_Blk_closeup.jpg

Now when was the last time you saw one of those in a thread?
(thank goodness, cause the dialup people would be hating life)

Originally posted by TOY 2
I just wanted to thank everone that helped me figure out the good and bad about digital cameras........I think I'm going to get one with 2+ megapixel , 10x optical zoom , and I could care less about the digital zoom:D ........Again Thanks for all you HELP

Hey man I think that is a great camera, you will have some serious fun with it.

Until it dies a shattered death by TSL like mine did. :(

Oh well I like my new Fuji too. :)

one other thing to keep in mind, especially if you want to use it for an event is that some cameras are very slow in taking pictures. I have a HP 618, and I like it alot, but the ~1-1.5 sec delay to take the picture from when you press the button can be a pain. Most of that time is in the autofocus, so if you focus on the object and move with it, pressing the button when you want, it will greatly reduce the delay. My personal preference for cameras is Olympus and Nikon...and some HPs, depending on who makes the camera for them as they don't make them in house anymore. Most of the more expensive ones are made by Nikon or Pentax. I'm not sure who makes the fuji cameras, but I would doubt they area made in-house.

Originally posted by JEEP_TJ_FREAK


No joke, since Toy has his info I guess I will lay one down in original format so Toy can get an idea of what these images are really like right out of the cam.

http://jeepwrangler.info/images/Swinks_Sticker_Broadband_Red_Blk_closeup.jpg

Now when was the last time you saw one of those in a thread?
(thank goodness, cause the dialup people would be hating life)



:eek: :eek: :eek: ........THATS FREAKEN HUGE:eek: ........I want a camera with a good optical zoom(10x) to get this the megapixals comes with it If I don't use all the pixals...oh well....... I know I will use all of that zoom:D