Selecting a Digital Camera ... why is it so hard ?

[KiwiTT]

I thought I was pretty certain on my selection of the right digital camera for my needs.

I read countless reviews and comments on various cameras. Often there is positive and negative comments on the quality of various features available.

Is it just me ? or does everyone have a difficulty reading the various reviews (including personally trying them out) and being confident of their preferred selection ?

Should I simply trust my instincts ? ... Knowing that it usually does not fail me.

 

[Shingo183608]

Probably depends on how important this new camera is for you. I can decide on which cell phone to get within 3 minutes after entering the phone store, but I spend days, if not weeks or months, to agonize over which photographic equipment to buy, because photography is much more important to me than the specific ringtones of the cell phone.

--
Shingo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55107853@N00/

 

[KiwiTT]

This is my very first digital camera ... hence at the same time as learning the terms I am evaluating the reviews. This will probably go some way to explaining my current difficulty.

 

[Arglebargle]

Do you want a point and shoot or a DSLR?

 

[Marty4650]

The reason it's hard is because you have so many choices available. If there were only three cameras made, it would really be simple to choose.

Just remember a couple of things....

1. There are a LOT of very good cameras made today

2. This site, and most others doesn't even bother to review bad cameras. By this I mean the cheapie Vivitars and unknown brands you find at discount stores.

Folks like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Fuji, Panasonic, and others ALL make nice cameras. So, how do you pick one?

For the novices, the important questions are:
1. How much do I want to spend?
2. What size camera do I want?
3. Will I need it mostly for indoor or outdoor use?
4. How much zoom do I want?
5. What other features are important for me?
(like taking movies, size of LCD, ability to mount flash, etc)

It really all comes down to finding something that matches your needs, and is within your budget. If you go to "Buying Guide" on the site menu you will see something called "Features Search." This is a pretty useful tool for identifying the cameras that meet your needs.

Then, it is a pretty simple step to scan the reviews, and do some online price shopping.

Good Luck!
--
Marty

I haven't touched my Canons since I got my Lumix FZ20

 

[KiwiTT]

For the novices, the important questions are:
1. How much do I want to spend?

NZ$1,000

2. What size camera do I want?

Compact

3. Will I need it mostly for indoor or outdoor use?

outdoor

4. How much zoom do I want?

Not much 6x should be fine

5. What other features are important for me?
(like taking movies, size of LCD, ability to mount flash, etc)

High Quality Construction

I believed I found all these in my selection. A Canon Powershot G7 if people are interested, but I still look at the Panasonic LZ-50 and wonder should I get a semi-SLR like that, but the size puts me off, but is does look "professional".

 

[Jerry R]

Why do you want to take pictures?

Answer this quesion first. Do you want to take pictures of friends and family, are you considering photography as a hobby or are you considering photography for some professional application.

The right camera is the one that meets your needs. Unless you are considering becoming a serious ameature or professional most of the technical differences won't matter to you.

If you want a camera to take pictures of family. friends and travel try some camears out, compare them and choose the with which you feel most comfortable. Go to several camera stores and compare the opinions of the different sales people. Some are knowlegeable and some are not.

 

[KiwiTT]

Good point about sales people.

An interesting point is that most cameras very good. It is like comparing the difference between 95% or 99%, most people won't notice it.

 

[SelrahCharleS]

and there are not really any cameras that stand out from the crowd.

--



Technical Info: Roseart U.S.A. Gold #2 pencil, Pentel High Polymer eraser, Academie sketch pad drawing paper. Drawn clumsily under relatively poor light.

http://www.geocities.com/wild_tiger_1

http://flickr.com/photos/selrahcharles/

 

[ajay0612]

For the novices, the important questions are:
1. How much do I want to spend?

NZ$1,000

2. What size camera do I want?

Compact

Are u sure? If so then why r u considering FZ50?

3. Will I need it mostly for indoor or outdoor use?

outdoor

And what kind of results u want? Print size, dyanamic range, HIGH ISO etc.

4. How much zoom do I want?

Not much 6x should be fine

Why not 3x then?

5. What other features are important for me?
(like taking movies, size of LCD, ability to mount flash, etc)

Why the last two?

High Quality Construction

Why? and what is exactly meant by this (the expectations)?

I believed I found all these in my selection. A Canon Powershot G7
if people are interested, but I still look at the Panasonic LZ-50
and wonder should I get a semi-SLR like that, but the size puts me
off, but is does look "professional".

Actually "uncertainity leads to anxiety & anxiety leads to fear." First be certain about what u want!

For that get basic knowledge about terminology & what the features mean! e.g. advantages/disadvantages of Sensor Size, Big zoom, speed, shooting modes, camera size, ISO Performance etc.
--
Regards, Ajay
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajay0612

 

[user440]

Read the reviews, but you must decide what properties are important to you. When I started, I had my mind set that I was going to buy a Nikon. After doing a great deal of research, I defined the properties that were specific and important to my needs and requirements. Once I defined the top three important elements of a camera for myself, the answer came into focus very quickly.

--

Pentax K100D

 

[Leejay Wu]

...and many factors are quite subjective, such as whether a camera's interface 'feels' right to you in terms of button layout, balance et cetera, or whether you prefer a particular make's color rendition over another ( ). Ditto the order of importance of various traits.

If you have fairly unusual or specific needs, such as splashproofing, zoom and focusing rings on the lens barrel, a TTL optical viewfinder, an ISO 1600+ mode that isn't completely pointless when printed at 20"x30", the ability to shoot at 5+ FPS, or a burning desire to take detailed shots of wild birds, well, these will limit choices.

It would, however, be fairly odd for a mainstream consumer camera to not be reasonably adequate for posed family pictures in good light or within flash range, with expected print sizes of 4"x6" with the occasional 5"x7" or 8"x10", considering how much of the market that happens to be. White balancing indoor light might be the most obvious place to fall down here, but custom white balance off a neutral object serves as a workaround.

( ) Given raw output in a well-understood format, and some postprocessing software, it's not that hard to tweak this.

 

[Franka T.L.]

the fact is too many consumer fail to recognize that there will always be various choice and each and everyone of them can do things quite well, but none will be an always best. Always choice the one that suite you ( not what excite you )

--

• Franka -

 

[Robotnik12356]

Hi KiwiTT,

This is 'Robotnik123' from the CVR-4 forums.

What are you after in a camera specifically? Something to film the cars going round the track?

I thought I was pretty certain on my selection of the right digital
camera for my needs.

I read countless reviews and comments on various cameras. Often
there is positive and negative comments on the quality of various
features available.

Is it just me ? or does everyone have a difficulty reading the
various reviews (including personally trying them out) and being
confident of their preferred selection ?

Should I simply trust my instincts ? ... Knowing that it usually
does not fail me.

 

[Robotnik12356]

The G7 is a fine camera. It'll probably do what you want. If you need extra zoom or a wider angle you can always get a teleconverter or wide angle adapter for it.

This is 'Robotnik123' from the CVR-4 forums.

What are you after in a camera specifically? Something to film the
cars going round the track?

I thought I was pretty certain on my selection of the right digital
camera for my needs.

I read countless reviews and comments on various cameras. Often
there is positive and negative comments on the quality of various
features available.

Is it just me ? or does everyone have a difficulty reading the
various reviews (including personally trying them out) and being
confident of their preferred selection ?

Should I simply trust my instincts ? ... Knowing that it usually
does not fail me.

 

[KiwiTT]

Yes. I intend to take some car meeting pictures and some night pictures as well. So having the ability of a long exposure time would be good.

The G7 seems to be the one.

 

[JohnTBM]

Hey y'all.

1. I can't find my 20d instillation cd, and I had to get a new hard drive, so I can't upload my pics until I get ahold of a new cd... or can I???

2. I'm shooting indoor sports this weekend. There should be press lights and then a spotlight in the last session. I'm just using the (crappy) zoom that came w/ the camera. What should my settings be?

Thanks.

 

[Marty4650]

If you repost your questions in the Canon EOS 30D/20D/10D/D60/D30 forum, I'll be you get lots of replies.

Your odds of finding 20D users is MUCH greater there.

Good luck!
--
Marty

I haven't touched my Canons since I got my Lumix FZ20

 

[Marty4650]

It's funny, but that is so true.

I can buy a $35,000 car with less effort than picking out my next camera.

Sometimes I think many of us agonize over "which one is better" from a selection of very fine cameras, all of which exceed our needs and our abilities.

Once you exclude the unknown brands, Vivitars, and HP cameras, there really isn't a bad camera made by a major manufacturer. Sure, we can quibble about our preferences, but how many threads have you seen "which is better, the Nikon or the Canon?" when at the same price point they are both very good cameras with very similar features.

Of course, when I say "many of us" I am speaking personally, and not about you pros who actually need all those advanced features.
--
Marty
Panasonic FZ20, Panasonic FZ7, Olympus C7000