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Basic digital camera for MOM?

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Newbomb Turk

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Looking to purchase a very basic, entry level digital camera for my Mom for Christmas. Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated. By the way, I'm looking at buying a Fuji 2800 for myself. Good choice? Thanks. NT
 
Hi there,

Not sure about one for mom - is zoom needed? What's your budget? Is 1Mp enough? Will she be happier with 2Mp?

For the one that you are considering though... I happen to have some thoughts to share:

If you don't need the huge optical zoom of the Fuji, you may wish to consider a 3 MP camera. For slightly more money, you get (in my opinion) a lot more camera. The 2900 didn't get such a sterling review here, so I'd be concerned that the 2800 would be all too comparable, and have more distortion problems from such an extended focal length with only 2Mp.

The Minolta S304 is on special right now for $400 at B&H in NYC (very reputable store). A great deal on a 3MP model with 3x optical zoom. This is about $50 more than the Fuji. Check out the review here, and the sample pictures.

Good luck!

Jeff
Newbomb Turk said:
Looking to purchase a very basic, entry level digital camera for my
Mom for Christmas. Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.
By the way, I'm looking at buying a Fuji 2800 for myself. Good
choice? Thanks. NT
Click to expand...
 
Jeff Kling said:
Not sure about one for mom - is zoom needed? What's your budget?
Is 1Mp enough? Will she be happier with 2Mp?

For the one that you are considering though... I happen to have
some thoughts to share:

If you don't need the huge optical zoom of the Fuji, you may wish
to consider a 3 MP camera. For slightly more money, you get (in
my opinion) a lot more camera. The 2900 didn't get such a sterling
review here, so I'd be concerned that the 2800 would be all too
comparable, and have more distortion problems from such an extended
focal length with only 2Mp.

The Minolta S304 is on special right now for $400 at B&H in NYC
(very reputable store). A great deal on a 3MP model with 3x
optical zoom. This is about $50 more than the Fuji. Check out the
review here, and the sample pictures.

Good luck!

Jeff
Jeff Kling said:
Looking to purchase a very basic, entry level digital camera for my
Mom for Christmas. Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.
By the way, I'm looking at buying a Fuji 2800 for myself. Good
choice? Thanks. NT
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Hey Jeff - As for Mom - She's using a compact 35mm right now. Basically takes family pics so nothing too fancy or difficult to use. She has very limited computer use too so I'm looking for simple and not alot of money.
NT
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Jeff Kling said:
Not sure about one for mom - is zoom needed? What's your budget?
Is 1Mp enough? Will she be happier with 2Mp?

For the one that you are considering though... I happen to have
some thoughts to share:

If you don't need the huge optical zoom of the Fuji, you may wish
to consider a 3 MP camera. For slightly more money, you get (in
my opinion) a lot more camera. The 2900 didn't get such a sterling
review here, so I'd be concerned that the 2800 would be all too
comparable, and have more distortion problems from such an extended
focal length with only 2Mp.

The Minolta S304 is on special right now for $400 at B&H in NYC
(very reputable store). A great deal on a 3MP model with 3x
optical zoom. This is about $50 more than the Fuji. Check out the
review here, and the sample pictures.

Good luck!

Jeff
Newbomb Turk said:
Looking to purchase a very basic, entry level digital camera for my
Mom for Christmas. Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.
By the way, I'm looking at buying a Fuji 2800 for myself. Good
choice? Thanks. NT
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Hey Jeff - As for Mom - She's using a compact 35mm right now.
Basically takes family pics so nothing too fancy or difficult to
use. She has very limited computer use too so I'm looking for
simple and not alot of money.
NT
Click to expand...
I don't think that Sony is a deal - that's a lot of money for not much camera. IMO, Sony's can be overpriced since they have a lot of the market and so don't discount as much.

It's difficult to find a gem in the lower price range. Certainly look through some of the reviews - Fuji, Olympus, Toshiba, Minolta may have a model that's a good fit - not really sure about your budget. Also, call up the good people at B&H Photo in NYC. The Digital team is extension 5. They will help steer you toward a reasonable fit for your needs.

Sorry I'm chickening out - I'm not much help at the lower end. :-(

Jeff
 
Remember floppies don't hold much and are very slow. Also she is going to want more than 640x480 to print anything.
Rodger Carter said:
Mom wants, in fact insists on, a Sony Mavica FD75 which Sony has on
sale now for $349 with free overnight shipping. Other Internet
sites may even be cheaper. The FD75 uses standard floppy disks and
has a 10X optical zoom. Lots of fun and easiest camera on the
market to use. http://www.sonystyle.com/digitalimaging/Promo01.shtml

Rodger
Click to expand...
 
Not if she's like my mom. She wants something ultra simple that's fun to use. Print photos? That mean having a printer and knowing how to use it and spending money for cartridges and paper, etc. Does mom really want al that? Get the wrong thing and it will gather dust!

Rodger
 
That's why Sony keeps making the miserable FD-series digicams. It's called digicams for dummies. I do respect that fact that there are certain population who would enjoy digital photography without the hassle of hooking up all the wires and editting images.

Harry
Rodger Carter said:
Not if she's like my mom. She wants something ultra simple that's
fun to use. Print photos? That mean having a printer and knowing
how to use it and spending money for cartridges and paper, etc.
Does mom really want al that? Get the wrong thing and it will
gather dust!

Rodger
Click to expand...
--Harry
 
I would have to agree, the Sony is not much of a digital still camera. For the same price, check out the Kodak DX3900. It's a 3.1 mega pixel point and shoot. You'll need 3 MP to make 8 x 10 or bigger enlargements. Very easy to use, and if there's one thing Kodak knows it's getting the color right. It's the cheapest 3MP camera out there, so you give up all the bells and whistles and get a cheap plastic body.

If you want to spend a hundred or so dollars more check out the Nikon 885, Olympus 30xx, or the Sony DSC S75.

I use a Canon D30 digital SLR, but I'm buying my brother the Kodak for his birthday mainly because of price. If I was going to spend more I'ld probably get him the Nikon.
 
Rodger Carter said:
Not if she's like my mom. She wants something ultra simple that's
fun to use. Print photos? That mean having a printer and knowing
how to use it and spending money for cartridges and paper, etc.
Does mom really want al that? Get the wrong thing and it will
gather dust!

Rodger
Click to expand...
What's she planninig to do with the camera? My feeling is that once she gets it, she will want to do more than just send attachments I would think. --Diane B http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleriesB/W lover, but color is seducing me
 
harry said:
That's why Sony keeps making the miserable FD-series digicams.
It's called digicams for dummies. I do respect that fact that
there are certain population who would enjoy digital photography
without the hassle of hooking up all the wires and editting images.

Harry
Click to expand...
Roger--there's nothing easier than a CF card. Get her a card reader too, hook it up and show her how easy it is to pop the card out of the camera and insert into the reader. If she can move the photos from a floppy to where she wants them, then she can easily do the same with the images from a CF card--and not have the frustration of only being able to put a few photos on the disk before uploading. All the cameras will have software to make it easy for her, BTW. I bet she's my age or younger---she can do it smile . BTW, just bought a computer a month ago for my 86 year old mother and she's doing pretty well.

Diane--Diane B http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleriesB/W lover, but color is seducing me
 
Mom deserves better than a cheap Sony floppy camera. Give Mom some credit. She's smarter than you think. Mom will want prints and she doesn't need a printer. She can get her prints at Walmart.com and have real quality prints that will last a lifetime at .26 cents a 4x6. Get her at least a 2mp camera. If she's interested in learning photography get her a camera with manual options. If she just wants snaps of the kids get her a good point and shoot.

Get her anything BUT a Sony floppy camera. Yuck...Bob
Rodger Carter said:
Mom wants, in fact insists on, a Sony Mavica FD75 which Sony has on
sale now for $349 with free overnight shipping. Other Internet
sites may even be cheaper. The FD75 uses standard floppy disks and
has a 10X optical zoom. Lots of fun and easiest camera on the
market to use. http://www.sonystyle.com/digitalimaging/Promo01.shtml

Rodger
Click to expand...
--'Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesteday'
 
Hmmmmmm. Will that camera you have in mind have a 10X optical zoom? No, then in my book its main value would be as a paperweight. How about a Lithium ion battery that has no memory and constantly tells you how much time is remaining? No? Tch, tch, appears that somebody got taken. Incidentally, my first digicam was an FD71 and I have a file of many excellent photos taken by that camera. I’m sure mom would be highly impressed. By the way, the Sony Mavica line of digicams is by far the largest selling model line in the U.S. accounting for 30-40 percent of the market. Of course, all those folks could be wrong and you could be right. Kind of like the proud mom who went to West Point to see her son graduate and said, “Look at that, everyone is out of step except my Johnny!”
 
Rodger Carter said:
Rodger Carter wrote:
By the way, the Sony Mavica line of digicams is by far
the largest selling model line in the U.S. accounting for 30-40
percent of the market. Of course, all those folks could be wrong
and you could be right. Kind of like the proud mom who went to
West Point to see her son graduate and said, “Look at that,
everyone is out of step except my Johnny!”
Click to expand...
In those days they were OK for those who didn't mind heavily compressed low res images. Probably 30 to 40 pecent of the market also falls for digital zoom numbers written boldly on todays digicams. Alot of us know better today. How many decent size images can you fit on a floppy? How many floppy discs do you want to have to carry? People today are more computer literate and prefer quality to the ease of the floppy.

But than again, I could be wrong...Bob

--'Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away, and you have their shoes too.'
 
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