Looking for a camera

Hey guys wondering which brand/model carmeas have worked out the best for you. Looking to pic up my first one on a budget, more or less to play around with, The Nikons look to be a pretty good deal, any suggestions??

That question can be like asking which pickup brand is best, lots of opinions & lots of good ones out there either way. Are you looking for a point-and-shoot or a DSLR? In point-and-shoots I've used several brands, mainly look for LOTS of optical zoom if your trying to do anything with wildlife. If your looking at DSLR, I shoot a Canon, but Nikon makes excellent cameras as well. Reviews on cnet.com, adorama.com, or bhphoto.com can be helpful. Good luck and use it a lot to get used to all the functions before you get a chance at an awesome wildlife shot that may only last a few seconds at best.

Right now I'm looking for a point and shoot, my cousin has a nice DSLR that we use for good pics, id just like to get my own to play with for now and upgrade to a nicer one down the road

Look into the Olympus Stylus SW models. The SW stands for Shock and Waterproof. You're supposed to be able to drop it onto a hard surface from six feet up, but I haven't tested that... Mine is rated waterproof to ten feet for an hour, and while I've never had it underwater for that long, I do go swimming with it in my pocket during the summer. You can take underwater photos with it if the water is clear enough. Mostly I like it because I can take it out in any weather without having to worry about ruining it. The zoom on mine isn't so great, but it was one of the cheapest of this type, and purchased several years ago, so there might be other options now.

The Canon Powershot G series is a good point & shoot. I have a G-9, but shoot mostly Olympus E series SLRs. I'm going to take an Olympus PEN E-P3 deer hunting because it also has HD video capability and my E series lenses will work on it with an adapter.

I'm a fan of the Panasonic Lumix line of point & shoot cameras.
The fact is, any of the name brand cameras are quality items that will preform.
Nikon
Cannon
Olympus
Panasonic
Pentex
More important perhaps than brand is features.

#1 Megapixles, get as many as you can afford. My Lumix has 14.1, don't look at anything with less then 10.

#2 Zoom, optical zoom ( not digital zoom) the more the better. The only limit to zoom is the size of camera. My small, pocket size camera has 8X, my larger camera has 18X. These days, there are a number of cameras that will fit in a small fanny pack with upwards of 24X zoom.

#3 Size, depending on your intended use, it can be important.

When my larger camera goes afield with me, it rides in a fanny pack. I can't tell you how many quick chance photos I have missed while trying to get it out. That is why I bought a small "pocket size" camera. About the size of a deck of playing cards. It rides in my shirt pocket. Boots up in about 3 seconds. I can be hiking, still hunting or whatever when I see something I think would make a good photo. I reach in my pocket with one hand and get the shot without ever breaking stride.

I took this photo while deer hunting a few weeks ago. Just looked through the trees and liked what I saw, shifted my rifle to my left hand, grabbed the camera and snapped a shot.


This camera is a Lumix FH 20, I got last year on sale for $175.

Figure on spending between $130 and $200 for a good camera.
If you have a Costco near by, they have some great deals.
On line/mail order, check with cameraland NY.

Whatever you buy, the best thing to do afield is shoot boatloads of images. Cheap memory will let you take lots of photos per card

Any on have or used a nikon coolpix?? been looking at several models wording if anyone has any imput as to the quality, the reviews I've seen online have been pretty good for all of them just minor things that melted down to personal preferance.

A have also had good luck with the Panasonic Lumix series. IMO, megapixels are over-rated. I know of a few covershots that have been taken with a 6mp Nikon. I can't tell you the Panasonic is better than any other point and shoots, since I don't have the experience with others. Get a camera and start shooting lots of pics. Good luck.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q311TravelZoomGroupTest/page17.asp

I've also got the Panasonic Lumix, mine a ZS7.
I can't really compare to anything else, but I've been very happy with mine. The thing that really surprises me is the quality of video it takes.

klenke91 said:

Any on have or used a nikon coolpix?? been looking at several models wording if anyone has any imput as to the quality, the reviews I've seen online have been pretty good for all of them just minor things that melted down to personal preferance.

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On the third Coolpix. One didn't make it when we turtled our canoe four years ago. The last two have been freebies through work. The last camera ended up being Fuji FinePix AX at 12mp. This one is mine and the wife doesn't get it. Whatever you get make sure you try all the functions before you take out in the field. You will always want to take a shot in different conditions/light that you are used to.