Digital Camera Advice

[LavCat]

I make digital cameras for a living but I have to say I prefer the feel of my old Leica M4. No batteries for one thing.

(Shadow, I've had an amateur radio license for decades, but I have not been active since the 1970's -- maybe sometime I could get reinterested.)

[Zippyy]

Too bad there wasn't someone else filming that going on.

Our guide did get a photo of me with the monkey on my head. I'll see if I can get in touch with him and post it.

Can't you get something like rabies or monkeypox from a bite like that?

Yeah.

[Tharbad]

This is my favorite general-coverage digicam review site:

http://www.dpreview.com/

However, since Phil Askey has been somewhat picky in his choice of cameras to review, coverage of entry level models is somewhat scanty. This is changing now that Simon Joinson seems to be covering consumer-grade cameras for dpreview. dpreview is good because their reviews are more critical than most other sites and optical comparisons are made to rival cameras in the same class. The next three sites have much broader coverage of cameras, and for that reason might be of interest to you. Steve's Digicams publishes "standard" shots from review cameras, as an aid to comparing the quality of their output.

http://www.dcresource.com/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

The following site is a nice one for learning the technical aspects of digital picture making -- post-production tools and techniques, using histograms, and so forth. It also has very nice photos! Michael Reichmann is very opinionated, and his emphasis on camera handling as well as ultimate photo quality sometimes puts him at odds with dpreview's Phil Askey, who very much puts photo quality first.

http://luminous-landscape.com/

For an entry-level camera, I'd take a look at Canon's A-series. The recently announced A95 looks very attractive to me as a carry-anytime/anywhere camera, as much for the swing out LCD as for the upgrade in resolution. But the older models in the series (A80, A75, A70) as also fine values, especially since they are usually discounted now (if you can find them) and more in line with your budget. The A-series isn't as compact and sexy as the Elphs and Minolta X cameras, but optically they tend to be a bit better.

In general, look for a camera with an optical viewfinder (using LCDs for picture composing consumes battery power like crazy, and being able to brace a camera against your face helps steady it, especially when you're using very small and light cameras). In any case, you'll also have to factor in the cost of rechargeable batteries (you should have two sets if you're more than a casual shooter) and larger capacity memory card(s).

Then too, if you want hard copies of your pictures, you'll have to think about photo ink-jet or dye-sub printers, but that's a whole nudder issue...