Santas List: Digital Camera

[wetaline]

OK folks - I know theres been discussions and i've put the most recent links to them below... but as w/ all technology new stuff is always coming out and new peeps are joining the board w/ different opinions.

I'm looking for a quality digital camera that will take the abuse of many days on the river and in the field, something that is compact enough to keep in a jacket pocket, I'd like high speed transfer rate usb or usb 2.0, something w/ plenty of memory for those week long trips... and again something that can take some fishing abuse.

PS: Parker has some great info posted in the first thread i've linked below.

From July 7 2002
http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013502

From February 2002
http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=010462

[Unskunked]

I have a Canon S-30 w/ 128mb memory chip. Pretty rugged and will fit in a pocket. When fishing I keep mine in a Ziploc bag. The optional 128mb memory chip will probably let you save 100+ pics. Also will let you take 30 seconds or so of video, but I haven't tried that. USB download is very fast. Paid about $500 last February at Camera World.

[skrimmy]

The Nikon Coolpix 885 is a very compact 3.2 mega pixel camera and can be found for under $400. It's a very highly rated camera......I'd suggest it for it's size.

[TheTexan]

Check out Fujifilm M603 it is only 3.1 megapixel, but the video is unreal. It takes full VGA video, compared to 1/4 VGA in most cameras. They also offset the pixels to trick the eye into thinking the photo quality is better than it is. Kind of expensive, but I believe it is worth the money. The best thing is it is a little bigger than a pack of cigarettes.

[The Fishing Geek]

Maybe I just have a week constitution but I'd be scared to death to take a $200 camera out wading the rivers. Sure, you can pack it in a Ziploc bag or five but still...

If you want something to take streamside Overstock.com has the Kodak DC3200 1.0 megapixel for under $100. It takes Compact Flash cards, and for $20 you can get a USB reader for it to avoid the slow serial interface.

Then, if you want something that takes good home pics look at the Canon A40 over at Office Depot. $250 for a quality camera with a good optical zoom is hard to beat. You can get something with a higher megapixel count but why?

[edit]I's don't rite the langwaj well when I's have a cold.

[ 11-26-2002, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: The Fishing Geek ]

[Uglygreen]

Im pretty happy with the Minolta Dimage X. I just got one about 2 weeks ago, you have seen some pics here on the board already.

The really cook thing is the camera is about the size of a pack of cigaretts, Fits easy in a shirt pocket.

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/105616329.gif

UG

[ 11-26-2002, 04:57 PM: Message edited by: Uglygreen ]

[Jennie@ifish]

I second the motion for any Nikon.
I just see a difference in the pics.

Yeah, it's a risk to take it out. I'm really careful and always put mine in a ziplock bag.

The thing is, when you catch that beautiful fish, you don't want bad pictures... The best! You want the best pics!!!

Click and release the natives!
Jen

[Pete]

I picked up an Olympus C-700 on Ebay for a very reasonable price. The C-720 and C-730 are nice, too, but cost more. The key feature is a long zoom ... 10X optical, which gives a lot of flexibility. There are other cameras with better optics and better electronics. My advice; shop diligently for features, then shop diligently for price.

Water protection is critical. Since I didn't want to wash my investment, I picked up a dry bag made by Seattle Sports and available at a Portland fishing supply store for about $20.

[ 11-26-2002, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: Pete ]

[Drachir]

I'll second the Canon S-30. We've had ours for 6 months, and just love this camera. My wife doesn't like cameras, until this one!! She is so in love with this camera it's not funny. The camera is very easy to use, is 3.2 megapixels, small and compact, and best of all takes fabulous pictures!! We have 4 friends with the same camera, and their opinion is just the same as ours, Fantastic Camera!!! It just had a price decrease as well, most places sell it for about $449 right now, worth every penny!! :grin:

[Born to Fish]

Getting my own digital camera was something I agonized over for quite some time.

In my work I and my coworkers have been using digital cameras for many years - used primarily in our work managing forest fires. Obviously need something that is sturdy, dependable and will perform to your level of expectation. We've used several different brands over the years and have been quite satisfied, for the most part with all of them but an underlying element that made my personal selection more difficult was that there was a limit to what I was willing to pay for my own personal camera.

To get to the point, I did a lot of research on the internet and what ever other material I could find. Went to the local stores to see what they had. Ended up buying a FujiFilm Fine Pix 2600 from a local CompUSA store. Paid under $200 and have been very happy with my selection. Compact, not complicated, good memory and resolution, and has served my needs to a "T".

Other folks will have many positive things to say about their cameras, and there's no denying their observations and bias. What it comes down to is that you need to decide the range of specs that are important to you, take into consideration what folks on this thread and others have to say, then do your research and make a selection.

Good luck. :wink:

[Silver Hilton]

We've got the Nikon coolpix 775. Works great. We paid something like $350, if I recall, and they're probably cheaper now, a year later.

[GutshotApe]

I've been a photographer for many years - still use my Nikkormat SLR & Nikon lenses I've had for 25 years or more. Have ignored digital cameras, etc, but now I am thinking about getting one.

What can you do with them besides posting pics on ifish? And how hard is it to do that? Can prints be made? Are they any good? ETc.

Thx, GSA

[big n bright]

wetaline,

You now have many opinions on Digital cameras, my only recommendation is hurry and make a decision cause you'll find the best deals on the day after thanksgiving.
LOTS OF GOOD DEALS

For those of you who just purchased a camera with in a month, Keep an eye out on the ads cause I believe you can get some money back if your model drops in price.

by the way I went w/the SONY DSC P71 it's a 3.2 mega pixel, 3x optical zoom/6xdigital zoom
it has a ton of cool features, I didn't let the memory play a factor in my decision since they are so cheap these day's although what did close the deal was the Infolithium battery which last forever and you don't need to ever mess buying batteries and believe me these cameras can suck up alkaline batteries.
I'm sure you'll make the right choice, have fun

BnB
I love buying electronics, next to fishing of course :grin: :grin:

[Pete]

GSA, if $ is no object, you can pick up a Nikon digital body that will use your Nikkormat lenses and yeild prints as good as you get with film. The key to good prints is a good printer. You can get a photo quality dye sublimation or bubble jet printer that will do 1200 dpi or better for $150, but you need photo paper which will cost about 20 cents for a 5 x 7 print. You can also do prints through a service like Ofoto.com by e-mailing the files and getting prints by mail. But that sort of takes the immediate gratification out of it. The other expense is a good photo editor program ... kind of a digital darkroom ... to fine tune, crop and enhance your images. Adobe Photo Shop is the gold standard ... Adobe Elements is a consumer version for under $100.

Bottom line, for an SLR film photographer, there are now cameras on the market that will feel familiar and yeild satisfying results. But as I said before, take the time to fully research the products on the market and find the camera you want, then shop for price ... there's a big range. A good place to research features and compare products is Digital Photography Review. (http://www.dpreview.com/)

[Flatfish]

I want one too. But my track record speaks for itself.
This year I have dropped 2 cell phones, 1 leadmaster pliars, 1 box of shotgun shells, a half dozen pipps dispensers, and 2 cameras into the depths. Until they make one that floats and is waterproof, I gotta stick with the disposables.
It aint easy being me. But it aint real tough either. graemlins/stupid.gif
Mark and the on the mend dog.

[crabbait]

All the pictures I have posted on ifish were talen with a Canon A40. Right now you can get one for $250 ($50 less than I paid). You can get a 128mg memory card for $50 and a 256mg for $90! I have a 128mg and can take a bunch of pictures without running out of memory. Another great feature is that you can hold the shutter half down and when the fish jumps, press it and catch the fish in mid-air. Many of the higher priced cameras can't do this (right, Sony owners?)

Two of my friends have picked up A40s based on my recommendation and they both love them. Why take a $500+ camera out in the boat/bank when you can get great shots for half that?

This was taken with my Canon A40 on auto by my brother, his first time with the camera.

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/193520229.jpg

[ 11-26-2002, 09:29 PM: Message edited by: crabbait ]

[Doc Spratley]

FLATFISH, remind me not to stand next to you when the lightening starts flashing! You could be dangerous :shocked:

[Miss B Haven]

Hey crabbait - There are NO FISH by that dang bridge. It's also dangerous. Stay away from that bridge! All the fish are by the big red bouy in the middle. :grin: :wink: :tongue: :cheers:
Man - Is it almost Summer yet? :whazzup:

[crabbait]

Uh........yeah....what Mel said. We were way down by the red can when it hit and it towed us all the way to the bridge. Barely had enough gas to get back to the good fishing. :grin:

[WaterDog]

I've been looking at getting a digital cam for some time. If your on a budget the fuji finepix 2650 may be worth looking into. 2.0mp with a 16mb xd card, 3x optical zoom,$200. The xd card is supposed to be the best in memory card tech and is only a few dollars more. A couple of the Canon's like the S40 are on my short list as wel. There are a ton of good cameras out there.

[Flatfish]

Doc, I have never been struck by lightening. But there was that one time at Crane Prarie when the thunderheads were rolling in and the fish were in a frenzy and a tree about 100 yards away from us was hit. We broke off 2 hog trout so we could leave right then....
Mark and the dog.

[parthur]

WaterDog,
Beware of a FujiFilm product ! Why you ask? I just found out the hard way just today. I've had a Fuji 2600 for just shy of a year. Never a problem, paid $299 last year, (now they're down to $199). Here's the problem....Fished T-Bay Thanksgiving Day 65 degrees, 3 nice chinook in the boat in 1-1/2 hours. Took pictures of the 3 nice fish. Got home Sunday to post pics on Ifish but camera wont power on ? Changed batteries,plugged into DC power, still no power . Contacted FujiFilm corp about repair, they said to ship to them (still under warranty for about 1 more month). Just received today an estimate for repairs for $91.00 :shocked: I called them and they said there was a problem with corrosion near the AC/USB port :whazzup: They said it was a red colored corrosion ? Now I start thinking to myself :whazzup: it hasn't rained here for nearly 2 months, and I haven't got the camera wet graemlins/idea.gif all of a sudden it dawns on me "Red colored corrosion :sick: This was a small drop of blood from my fish graemlins/stupid.gif After going round and round with them the bottom line is that they will not repair the camera which was still under warranty. I told them to ship it back to me un-repaired, that I'd rather spend the $91.00 to buy magnetic signs for my car & truck that say "Don't buy FujiFilm products :hoboy: " I will buy another digital camera but it won't be a FujiFilm camera:berry: ! If your going to use it for fishing/outdoor/camping/etc I'd suggest buying from a company that stands behind their products and is concerned about customer service after the sale. Just my .02

[dampainter]

what? no kodak easyshare people around here?? the wife is gonna be happy...thanks santa!! :grin:

[ 12-17-2002, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: dampainter ]

[wetaline]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I decided to wait till post-christmas sales to buy my camera and went with the Canon Powershot S30 ... very happy with it so far. Much larger pics (data) than i was use to w/ my old camera which was actually a video cam that took stills.

Heres some of the first pics i took w/ my friends new pup out sturgeon fishing monday
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid46/p6c1a89b7611ccdc91079f4b728dd4560/fccf6e41.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid46/p7697d96a5bde38b88a2459f48d8312e3/fccf6e72.jpg

[garyk]

Based on the recomendations here, I also purchased a Canon Powershot S30, and we've been extremely pleased with it - especially once we upgraded to the 128M card.

We've been having some fun with it, transferring the images to cd and then displaying them on tv via a dvd player. There's a thread about how to do this over on the "Life in General" forum.

[6wapiti6]

If you guys don't mind me asking, what was the price range you found these in?

[Lepper]

you want a digital camera? you want it for fishing ect??? The fuji 2600 is a nice camera and works well, the flash is a little weak but for around 200$ something has to give.. as for the 2650, Even though the price is still around 200$ I would still shy away from it because of the new memory format it is using.. that will cost you a bit more money..

What I would recommened. Is a Cannon A40, why? You can get a water proof case for it and even use it under water.. You can get different lenses for it. it is a good bang for your buck. And if you do some looking and are willing to wait you can find the camera for 200$ including a 128mb memory stick with it... A good place to monitor for that is www.anandtech.com (http://www.anandtech.com) go to the forums (community) and m onitor the HOT DEALS forum.. Here is an older thread about the Cannon ANAND THREAD LINK (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=935811&highlight_key=y&keyword1=digital%20camera)

also here is a link to the specs Specs (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a40.asp)

Hope this helps more then hinders.
dave

[Rubber Robin]

I also just got the Canon S-30 w/128 mb card.

I have two friends that researched and bought this same camera. I went to look at it based on their recommendations and was convinced that it was one of the better ones.

$399 at Best Buy.

Now I have to learn how to use it! :grin:

[Play'n Snooky]

The canon S-30 is a great camera. We got ours in October for $499. After lots of research I feel like I got something that won't be obsolete really soon! Plus it makes a non-camera person into a pro in time :cheers:

[Mojo]

Santa brought me the Cannon Powershot A-40. I love it. It takes great pics and is Idiot proof. I've proven that!

[Drachir]

Canon S-30, what a great camera!!!! graemlins/applause.gif

[Trick]

Santa brought me a Canon Power Shot A200. I haven't even played with it yet. Going to figure it out tonight and try a few outdoor pics in the next few days.

Hopefully it works as good as Wetaline's....nice pics!

[wetaline]

6wapiti6 -

your able to get them at bestbuy for $399 which is a $50 drop that started last week. I beleive Cameraworld.com - which is a portland based company - has them at that price as well. Most all other retailers sell it at $450.

I was able to get mine at bestbuy last week for $399 w/ a 64 meg card.

[Jeremy]

If you want the latest and greatest the powershot S45 just came out for a little more $$$ than the S30 you get a 4mega pixel camera with great cretivity modes as well as point and shoot mode, one of the better low end digital cameras out there under $600 much improved quality over the S30 as well

[Unskunked]

I STRONGLY recommend that you look into the extended warranty for a digital camera. As you may have read on this board I dropped my S-30 into the Clack on Christmas day. I had bought it at Camera World in Portland last February, but being immersed in water is not the kind of damage that is covered under the regular warranty. The repair estimate was in excess of $300. I decided to buy a new camera rather that get the old one repaired and also bought the extended warranty for $210 for a 3 year period - $70 per year. The extended warranty covers everything except theft of the camera and loss in a fire. Full repair or replacement is provided. Interestingly, the 128mb card was fine and even some images that were on it prior to the dousing were still there.