I need to buy a new digital camera in the next month or so, and I was wanting some recommendations from uze guys.
(I dropped my old one on a concrete floor and it's for sale cheap!)

A couple of questions for you experts...

I noticed the high end digi cameras are about the same price as a digital camcorder.
These digital camcorders also have the ability to take still photos too, don't they?

I guess what I'm getting at is if a fancy schmancy digital camcorder can also take photos, wouldnt I be better off getting one of those instead?

My old camera was a pos, it was a HP 210 or something, after taking 8 photos, the batteries would be dead, it really sucked.

The other reason why I'm thinking of getting a camcorder instead is because I thought I could use it to record my lectures at school.
They are 3 hours in legth - can a digital camcorder record that long on one disc and without a battery change?

Thanks
Habibi

 

When I was buying a digital camera, I thought the same thing.
why not get a digital video camera that takes digital pictures as well?

It works, but the pics aren't as good as a digital camera. they are passable, but not as good as I wanted.

My friend just bought a sony DVD camcorder.. It is very nice!!!
He is going to buy another battery pack for it so he can record longer.
If you are wanting to record for 3 hours, why don't you just plug it in to the wall outlet?

 

I see Gateway running a commercial advertising a 5 mega pixel camera with optical and digital zoom including a color printer for $299.00 Might be worth checking out.

 

That would work! Do you have any idea how long these things can record on a single disc?
The last time I owned a camcorder it was as big as a breadbox and required 2 people to lift it.

Remember back when the VCR first came out? The thing was Huugggeeee! Then the first mobile phone, it was like carrying 3 bricks around, and then the microwave, also another gigantic item, haha, and we thought we were on the cutting edge back then.

 

honestly you dont really need more than 3 mega pixel unless you plan on printing out huge pictures i have a kodak 2 mega pixel it it is perfect for me that camcorder does not take very good pictures but the video is great as it is digital as shown below

with sony mini dv camcorder


with kodak 4230

 

yes unfortunately i do remember the first vcr's, camcorders, and cell phones.. :o


looks like the sony DVD camcorders only record 30 minutes on each disc.. maybe they will make higher density discs soon?

 

I like the sony Products. Anything over 3.0 is good. Mine is a 4.2mp and its worked great so far.


the pic in my sig was taken with it, and most of the photo's on this page were with the camera. (if not my camera, all were over 3.0 mp)

This one is with my Sony DSC-S85 It looks better when it fits your screen. http://www.fearsomefour.com/whitegallery/whiteF4pic.jpg



www.fearsomefour.com

 

You can usually take stills with a camcorder, but the quality is usually somewhere in the range of horrible to crappy (or maybe decent if you spend enough).

I personally like Canon's for digital cameras. We have a PowerShot G2 (4MP), and a PowerShot A80 (I think it is also 4MP, might be 3.x)
All the pics in my gallery or taken with the G2.
I think the A80 is about $345-ish.


But in any case, here's a good site for reviews and just general info:
http://www.dpreview.com
I dont think they have camcorders, just cameras.
This looks like a nice camcorder review site:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

 

We bought an HP camera and printer for $150.00 at Office Max during the hilidays and it takes phenominal pictures and the printer is just as good.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, appreciate it/

Habibi

 

Hey Habibi -

It all depends on what you are looking for (and as usual how much money you want to spend)

I'll give you some examples:

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC40 still camera that is at 4.0 Mega Pixels. It has a Lecia Lens

I also have a Canon Optura xi Digital Video Camera. It takes still pix to SD card and is rated at 2.0 mega pixels.

Here is a pic from each that I just pointed at one of the shelves in my bookcas behind my computer. Both photos were reduced to 640 x 480 for comparission purposes...no retouching was done.

First the Panaxonic at 4 megapixels:




and here's the cannon video cam in still mode:




now I will post details of each in the next post......

 

OK...now, here's the deatil of the Panasonic still camera




and here's the cannon video camera's still




as you can see, the still has more detail, but quite frankly, the video cam does take decent stills. If you're taking a lot of wide shots where fine detail isn't necessary, then something like the optura xi may suit you and it's easier to carry one one camera...If detail is important, then the video camera stills still do not match up to a dedicated still camera...

My friend has the new Canon 5 mega pixel on an slr that he can change lenses with and quite frankly it has the best pictures I have ever seen in a digital still and better than a lot of film cameras I have seen. Quite expensive though.

 

Thanks Kobi,

my last cam was a pos, so after careful research and review I think I will go with the Canon Powershot G5.
It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but the features are impressive.

Regards
Habibi

 

Cannon Powershot A70

http://www.x-ploited.net/bigd/shifter.jpg

 

My sony DSC-P92 @ 5mp:

http://www.superlightning.com/albums.../warren009.jpg




same camera @ 2.1mp

http://www.superlightning.com/albums/album36/Mar080.jpg