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Photo Forum / General Photo Topics / UK Photography / March 2006Help choosing first digital camera
Looking to get my first digital camera. Need advice please. Requirements:- 1. photos of family, pets, home interior, garden shots, country landscapes 2. uploading to web, max size 800x800 pixels, max 300dpi 3. not likely to be printing images 4. compact, e.g. pocket size 5. budget < 100 GBP, or thereabouts Not sure how dpi resolution on a TFT monitor corresponds to stated camera megapixel specs, so could do with some pointers please? What should I be looking for as a minimum megapixel res? I thought maybe the Kodak C330 4MP, or the Canon A410 3MP - any others? It looks like the list of five requirements are written in ascending order of importance. If this is so, I'd simply toddle off to PC world / currys / argos etc and find the one that fits best within budget (as the most important criterion). I don't think you'll find much difference between models costing between say 90 and 99 quid. Good luck. David > Looking to get my first digital camera. Need advice please. > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > I thought maybe the Kodak C330 4MP, or the Canon A410 3MP - any others? Thanks for the reply. I'm still not sure about the megapixel ratings. I thought 3 megapixels would be enough for pictures that will be used on the web, but now I'm leaning towards 4 megapixels - or would that be over-kill? G. >It looks like the list of five requirements are written in ascending order >of importance. If this is so, I'd simply toddle off to PC world / currys / [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >> >> I thought maybe the Kodak C330 4MP, or the Canon A410 3MP - any others? > Thanks for the reply. > > I'm still not sure about the megapixel ratings. I thought 3 megapixels > would > be enough for pictures that will be used on the web, but now I'm leaning > towards 4 megapixels - or would that be over-kill? 1 would be enough for the web or display on a screen 3mp is just enough for an A4 Print with a border around it. 4 mp is better incase you need to crop a bit of (photo term for cutting of unwanted bits). If your need's are only 6 x 4 inch's then 3 Mp will suffice. PPI (not dpi ) is just a factor for setting a print size. it has no baring on images displayed on screen be it a web page or TV screen. A 800 x 600 pixel image will always be a 800 x 600 image On a 1024 x 798 pixel screen their will be space around it, on a TV it will be reduced to 720 x 540 to make it fit > I'm still not sure about the megapixel ratings. I thought 3 megapixels would > be enough for pictures that will be used on the web, but now I'm leaning > towards 4 megapixels - or would that be over-kill? Well, pictures I post on the web tend to be 720 maximum width and 640 maximum height. They fit quite neatly on my (large) monitor. Anything larger I think would start falling off screens. That's less than 0.5 megapixels. But... let's say you'd like to take a 1280x1024 desktop wallpaper. That's 1.3 megapixels. So double it so you can crop some from the edges if you didn't frame correctly, that gives 2.6 megapixels. I believe that the quality of the optics, speed and ease of operation and other factors are far more important than megapixels once you get into the 4+ MPix range (unless you're printing large prints, or using 100% crop as a digital zoom, of course) Just some thoughts. Cheers, Stu >I believe that the quality of the optics, speed and ease of operation and >other factors are far more important than megapixels once you get into the >4+ MPix range (unless you're printing large prints, or using 100% crop as >a digital zoom, of course) Thanks for the info. I'm starting to think it might be worthwhile to look at camcorders instead, as most seem to be able to take still shots too. I now camcorders are generally bulkier and heavier, but prices have come down a lot for the commonly available ones, such as the Canon MV790 Mini DV Camcorder. Why pay £100 for a digital camera when I could get a camcorder for about double? I realise there are many other factors, but for my needs it makes sense to kill two birds with one stone (so to speak). > I'm starting to think it might be worthwhile to look at camcorders instead, as > most seem to be able to take still shots too. The problem with that is, in my experience, still shots from digital camcorders leave a lot to be desired when compared to even a modest digital still camera. I would echo the advice of other to visit a local retailer and take a look at whats on offer in your price range. I would personally look for recognised makes (eg. Kodak, Canon etc) however - some lesser-known brands will offer the earth (8 megapixels at £79 for example) for a cheap price, but let you down with performance. HTH >>I believe that the quality of the optics, speed and ease of operation and >>other factors are far more important than megapixels once you get into the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >bulkier and heavier, but prices have come down a lot for the commonly >available ones, such as the Canon MV790 Mini DV Camcorder. I have a sony digital 8 trv110e camcorder which takes stills. I also have a fuji finepix A303 3.2 megapixel digital camera which is a small/compact camera with a zoom lens. The stills from the sony are nowhere near as good as the finepix. The finepix takes brilliant digital photos. Its a couple of years old now so the newer models will be even better. I had considered buying a new nikon D50 this year but then i didnt think the trade off was worth it as the finepix takes great pictures and is ideal for travel as its so small,portable and easy to use whereas lugging a D50 or similar around is more of an issue. Remove antispam and add 670 after bra to email > Thanks for the reply. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > G. You can generally change the number of megapixels in a camera by changing an item in the menu, when I post pictures to Yahoo groups, I use the 1 megapixel setting. I'm sure that you will be ok with 4 megapixels. Regards Mike. |
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