GA has its downsides, especially for dumb people like me who misplace digital cameras. So now I am looking to buy a new one. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions about a good digital camera? Any and all suggestions are good.

NOTE: I don't know what my price range is, sorry.

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Rev. Andrew J. Barnes
Husband of Dena
Father of Oliver
Master of Bruce
Pastor of Tchula Presbyterian Church

What can I say, I like blogs!

I bought a simple, beginner level camera pretty cheap. It's Fujifilm Finepix J10, and has so far served me well. You can get them new for around $130.00, and used (as I did) for under $80.00.

Theognome

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Bill Cunningham
Covenant Reformed Church, URC
Kansas City
There are three kinds of people- those who can count, and those who can't.

Someone stole my digital camera a few years ago and I had to buy another. I wish I had waited and asked for opinions like you're doing. I know of two people who can give good advise: Beth and Theoretical. I'm so excited that you get a new one!!

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sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!

Theoretical??? I thought I was the only one...

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____________________________

~Beth Ellen Nagle~
Lakeside Church -Wales, WI (PCA)
Married to John
One wonderful daughter, Chaela Joelle


My work in digital art and photography: http://www.puritanboard.com/members/...ms-images.html

Well, help him, don't just sit there and cry!

My preference is a camera that gives you much for your money. I personally have enjoyed using the Panasonic 12x and 18x zoom cameras. It gives you a nice range of zoom and a good quality Leica lens. Many of the pictures in my gallery were taken with the little Panasonic FZ5 12x zoom camera. I still love that little thing.

Well, I've ended up going through several digital cameras (and everyone in my house has gone through a few) so I have a good idea of them I would say.

Here are a few things to look for that you might not think about:

A high optical zoom (not digital; this reduces quality as you zoom)

Good manual settings (even if you're not into photograpy, these are very useful have when you can't get a shot right. The HP cameras and cheaper Kodak cameras I have used do not have many configurable settings so they can be harder to take good pictures with in some situations)

Now, from my experience, the best cameras that have good features while still being fairly easy to use are Canons and Fujifilms. If you are willing to pay a little more, look at this camera as welll as those in the Fujifilm S series. The nicer Sony cameras are good from what I have used them, but that is not very much.

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Jake; Hold to Original WCF, member of SBC; Greater Atlanta, Georgia Area

The cross does not give us a minor shift or two with regard to a few of our ethical and moral and religious values; the cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self to Christ. —Albert N. Martin

Just go to one of Tchula's Best Buy stores and look at their selection. You will find plenty of options in whatever your price range happens to be. I'd stick with a good brand name like Canon, as even their low models will be really good.

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Daniel
PCA
Memphis, TN

Daniel, you are kidding right? Tchula and Best Buy doesn't mix. We don't even have a restaurant or an okay grocery store. We are blessed to have a bank and a post office.

Once you find the model you want (though shopping there is pretty good, too), I've found good deals at pricegrabber.com

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Clark Brooking
Pastor
Living Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Clarksville, MD

Are you looking for an SLR?

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Casey, Chicagoland, OPC

Nikon D40. It is a lower priced Digital SLR camera, it takes great pics.

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Sean Caouette
Independent Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Memphis, Tennessee

What is an SLR?

Single-lens reflex camera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically, it's the kind of camera that allows you to swap lenses. They cost more but have more flexibility. Rich advised me to get a Canon Digital Rebel XT when I was looking for a camera, and I haven't been disappointed with it. If you're looking to go a less expensive route and aren't interested full control (aka, complexity) in photography, then a point-and-shoot (non-SLR) is your best option.

Either a Canon or Nikon Digital SLR. I don't recommend any other option. "Prosumer" cameras are "cute" but don't allow you to take great pictures or accessorize in a way that can be used for indefinite body upgrades.

Here are some options:

Amazon.com: Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens: Camera & Photo

Amazon

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Rich
PCA, Northern VA
Student, New Geneva Theological Seminary

WebsiteMaven - Web Hosting Reviews, Guides, and Advice to build and promote your web site.
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You may want to consider how the camera is powered. If it uses its own battery, you must be able to plug it back into its own charger when dead, but with a camera that uses AA batteries you can always have a few ready in your case if it dies.

There are also a lot of waterproof cameras on the market now that are worth taking a look at.

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Roger
URC
Lacombe, AB

You know, I've been doing photography for several years now and worked with dozens of cameras. I've taken several photography courses, (even made my own pin-hole camera once).... and I wouldn't consider anything other than Canon! If you're looking for an SLR....the above Canon model mentioned is great! But, if you're looking for something more compact and affordable...... I would suggest the Canon SD1100 IS, its the best compact camera on the market in its class! I have this camera, and it takes excellent photo's! It's very intuitive to use, and produces high resolution images. The nice thing about this model...is that it has a wide range of options to produce SLR quality images....yet without the added bulkiness or cost! Highly recommend it!

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Yvonne
Reformed Presbyterian
Currently seeking a Church

"A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions." -T. Brooks

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Would anyone else like to weigh in on this MAJOR issue that plagues our home?

What would you consider a "High Optical Zoom"? What would be the minimum on that?

It's as much as you want. It's how far it lets you zoom in. If you can afford, it I would go for at least an 8x. The smaller cameras with 1x-3x can be much cheaper, but they can also be limiting in many situations. DSLR cameras as recommended are great, but they are out of the budget for me and maybe you. They also require more learning and practice to get good pictures, but once you have it, the pictures are excellent... you can adjust the settings for many different things, there is manual focus, etc.

The Canon I showed you is a cheaper camera that still has some (not as quick and easy) manual focus features and such and a good zoom. Another camera with less features and a bigger body, but great pictures, is this:

Yes, I was kidding. I'm familiar with Tchula.

I second this one.

__________________
Ian Kemmerer
Trinity Bible Fellowship, Blandon, PA
Fleetwood, PA

"Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart, And all is darkened in the vale of tears, Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears. Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay From His own fullness all He takes away."

"Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee."

I have a Nikon D40x and I absolutely love it. Don't bother with the more expensive D60-D80. And unless you want to go professional, I wouldn't bother with the D90 either. The ability to change lenses is a fantastic thing. The other really nice thing about the Nikon D40 is that they have made vibration reduction lenses, which means that you can take a lot of pics without a tripod that you would otherwise need a tripod for. Yes, your outlay will be more than a point and shoot. But you will also have the ability to get a flash that doesn't give you red-eye (because you can bounce the light off the ceiling instead of directly in people's eyes). Furthermore, you will have the ability to change the white balance (basically the color) and the exposure. It's really easy to get really great photos with the Nikon series.

By the way, for basic help on getting good photographs, I strongly recommend Ken Rockwell's website. You will learn a lot about how to get really good photographs without a huge amount of trouble.

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Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com
Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Do you want a small I can take every where camera, if so go with the compact models. If that is not an issue then go with the DSLR. Go to www.dpreview.com. I have recommended the Canon Powershot A series for individuals who are concerned about size, but want some performance. When it comes to SLRs I am prejudiced, since I started with Canon AE-1 back when I was in JR. High, then upgraded to EOS models when they were first released. Thus, because of the lenses I have, I have stayed with the D Rebel, then purchased the D40. Both Canon and Nikon make good DSLRs, and either would be great.

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James N. Walling
Center Grove Presbyterian Church (PCA)
IL

κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς

View some of my photography at http://www.puritanboard.com/members/...s-my-life.html

I absolutely love my Kodak EasyShare V1003 which I have had for two years; it runs rings around the former two I had.

I also got sick and tired of my Dell and HP all-in-one printers and love the cheap Kodak all-in-one I brought at Wal-mart with its cheaper and excellent print cartridges.

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Carol
Plant City, Florida


That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
Philippians 3:8,9

http://gettingoffthenicenesstreadmill.blogspot.com/

Regarding Zoom, good photos are all about good optics and good lighting. Forget Digital Zoom and also forget about small cameras with tons of megapixels. Cramming more pixels into the small sensors that the small cameras have lead to artifacts and poor image quality.

As noted by Lane, the great thing about an SLR is that you can buy the lens you need for the situation you need. Once you've purchased a lens for an SLR body then you can upgrade to another camera in the future and you take your lenses with you. I have a 17-85mm lens that I leave on my Canon EOS-30D for nearly all situations and I bring my 70-300mm lens with me when I'm doing sports photography. The lenses of the cameras I mentioned above equate to about a 3x zoom. You can pick up another lens in the future if you find yourself needing the zoom.

The problem with built in lenses is that if you scratch the lens on the camera then fixing that scratch is about as expensive as replacing the entire camera.

Regarding lighting, I don't care how nice the camera is but everything looks terrible indoors with built in flash. Again, an advantage to an SLR is a hotshoe for a speedlite that will allow for bounce flash. Getting an external flash and getting good lighting indoors literally makes the difference between the snapshot look and something that looks great.

You don't have to necessarily worry about being sophisticated right now but the bottom line is that a SLR will be better out of the box than the prosumer, built in lens, cameras. It will work better in ambient light because the sensor is bigger and the lens is bigger allowing for faster photography.

Was thinking about the Nikon D40x, I read a review that said of the hundreds of different lenses, it will only take 20 or so. Is this true?

Besides this, I really want to get a SLR camera, and I was seriously looking at the Nikon's (D40x) to be exact.

My wife on the other hand doesn't want to get an SLR. (Not that this is causing any problems between us), she is worried about three things on the SLR.

1) Don't most SLR's come with Wide angle lenses? Does the D40x?
2) As recommended above, there doesn't appear to be Optical Zoom on these cameras. I thought this was good? Don't we need it?
3) Batteries - SLR's use Double A batteries, instead of the rechargeable stick kind of batteries

Not an expert on Nikon, but friends who have used Nikon's have stated that a lot of the lenses work, but depending on the lense certain features might not work. Truthfully that is why I have stuck with Canon for sooo long. The lenses I bought back in the early 90s still work with full functionality with the new cameras of today. Nikon's track history in that regard is not as good. Plus Nikon keeps changing the format of their RAW files, making earlier versions of their software outdated, in addition last I heard, but could have changed, their RAW developing software was not free.

All of the Nikon lenses will fit all of the Nikon digital SLR cameras, although not all of them will have automatic focusing (the ones made for the old film SLR's may or may not have auto-focus). Personally, I went with the 18-55mm vibration reduction lens (make sure it's marked VR, as they have an almost identical non-VR lens), and the 55-200mm VR lens to start with. My next purchases will be a good wide-angle (probably the 12-24mm), and a really long zoom, up to 1000mm or so. I don't know how many lenses there are available, but you can get from 12mm all the way up to 2-3,000 mm. This ought to be plenty for even the most crazed amateur photographic enthusiast.

SLR's often come in a package with a basic lens (like 18-55mm). That means it has a zoom from 18-55mm. Wide angle lenses are rarely sold as part of the package. Optical zoom is there in an 18-55, and if you buy the 55-200 that gives you lots more zoom. You zoom manually with your hand, though they typically autofocus. The Nikon D40x uses a rechargeable battery that will take about 400-600 pics before needing to be recharged. I should also note that 18mm is pretty wide. Most of the time that will be plenty of wide-angle. Wide angle lenses are not for "getting everything in," as in panorama shots. They are rather for getting way close to a subject and still being able to get it in.

Lane,

I'm probably going to ask more questions, but one thing before I look again at my information...

I am NOT seeking a wide-angle lens right now (maybe later), I am wanting to ensure that the lens that comes with the camera will enable us to take "normal" (non wide-angle) pictures. Am I understanding you that the lens that will come with the D40x will NOT be a wide angle lens, just a regular (if indeed it comes with a lens at all)?

Right. The most common lens package is the normal 18-55mm VR lens. This is not a wide-angle, but a normal lens, although 18mm is close to wide (as you can see, it overlaps some with the 12-24mm lens). For most portraits and nature scenes, this will be the lens of choice. Make sure you get the VR lens, if you go this route, though! The extra money spent on the VR is well worth it.

I should add that there are many different packages out there with many different lenses. The 18-55 VR is the most common. I bought mine from Cameta, and I would recommend them as having good service, and a fair price (definitely the best price for the D40x).

Lane, slightly OT, but what about Minolta? Do they not make digital SLR's anymore? Will the lenses for the "old" Minolta SLR film cameras (MAXXUM 430si RZ) work with full functionality on any new digital bodies? Thanks.

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Norm
IA PCA

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:4-5

I have zero experience with Minolta. I do know, however, that lenses are specific to the camera. Canon and Nikon lenses, for instance, are definitely not compatible. The experts out there agree, however, that Canon and Nikon are definitely the best digital SLR manufacturers out there.

You have a bank?
We don't have sidewalks or a downtown. But we do have two bars (the only public businesses in town).

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Curt Lovelace
Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church (CBA)
Acton, Maine
Director, Lifework Forum
Sermons at SermonAudio.com/CBCActon
Blogging at Coffee with Curt

The 18-55mm kit lens is technically considered a wide angle zoom lens but it takes "normal" shots. It is not super wide angle or fisheye and will not distort the picture.

BTW, there are over 100 lenses that will fit a Nikon D40x: SLR Lenses for Nikon Cameras | B&H Photo Video

There are some lenses that are made specifically for the Nikon DSLR that focus the image directly on the sensor while the full frame lenses still work fine but overlap the sensor a bit.

If you're buying a Digital Camera then stick with Canon or Nikon. Minolta is way behind.

If you're getting an SLR...you really need only two other lenses besides the standard...a zoom lens, and a macro lens. Wide-angle lenses actually distort images, creating a somewhat warped effect....mainly used for magazines, and photographing architecture and other structures. But for the average person....there is no need for a wide-angle lens. You can also buy filters that attach to the lenses themselves, that will give you a variety of options, rather than buying a dozen lenses. I would still highly suggest a Canon over a Nikon, just my

imo, don't go SLR unless you're really interested in photography.

it has the potential to take much better pictures than point and shoot cameras, but only if you spend the time learning at least the basics of photography and digital photography (post-processing the image is often necessary). other big downsides include expense (filters, lenses, flashes, bags, batteries, tripods, remotes, etc) and size (the cameras are much bulkier to carry around than a point and shoot camera which you can often slip into your pocket).

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Alex
Member of Carmel Baptist Church (SBC)
Matthews, NC

Thanks for everyone's help, I hope someone (like my wife and I) learned something. We just bought our camera. My wife, who did not want the SLR at first, has came around having been convinced that she will like this camera better because like me, she is a camera enthusiast (just haven't had much time to be enthused by it since being married, seminary, and now having a child). But we are going to work at being enthused again.

So we just bought the: Nikon D40x Digital SLR with the18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX Nikkor Lens.