Digital Camera Question(s)

[Intrepid]

I might be in the market soon for a new digital camera, but am not looking to spend an arm and a leg.

My primary reason for getting a new one is...well...ok..I don't have one. I just want new technology.

What I'm really looking for is something with a good zoom feature. Some I can use while sitting in the 300s section at a Hornets game and still get decent close pictures, or while in upper seats of the South End Zone at OU football games. I don't need to zoom in close enough to see the beads of sweat on the guys heads, just something that won't make them look like ants.

For those who know, what is the minimum zoom I should be looking for - 3x, 4x, 5x or more? Also, what does it mean when it says "3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom" (this is just an example I saw)

I'm partial to the Kodak Easyshare cameras as I have had nothing but good luck with the one I have now.

I appreciate any input.

(Try to keep it as non-technical as possible please. I'm just a boring, A-Team watchin', type of guy )

[MadMonk]

Budget?

[Intrepid]

Budget?

Somewhere in the $225-$275 range.

[Karried]

You've seen the pics I took with my 'crappy camera' which I named it after taking a series of disappointing pictures - namely blurry pics of Chris Paul and PJ Brown at a meet and greet --ggrrrrrrrrrr!

Anyway, I'm looking into the Casio Exilim EX-P700 series - nothing but rave reviews.. it's important to me to have a quick response time between shots. I've read that this series is the best - also Sony Cybershots came in close with fast shutter times.

Price is the issue though - Casio is about $400+ but I feel it is worth it - kids are only young once and who knows how long the Hornets will be here LOL!

I found one on Egghead ( I think that's it ) best price:


Product Description
Outwardly it shows cool understatement, but inside it hides a real power package: CASIO's new digital camera EXILIM Pro EX-P700. The new generation from the EXILIM Pro category totally meets the high technical demands that the ambitious photographer puts on his equipment. With 7.2 megapixels picture definition and light-intense Canon lens with 4x optical zoom, the EX-P700 goes far beyond the usual standards. A whole host of extras pave the photographer's way to professional pictures of excellent quality. In addition, with its black, matt-shiny body the camera will appeal to everyone who attaches importance to how his equipment looks. Whether you're at a fashion show or a premiere party: poor light conditions and the dynamics of the event are a challenge to any professional. The EXILIM EX-P700 masters such situations thanks to its light-intense lens and reliable SUPER LIFE-battery. The camera is ready to use after approx. 2 seconds): focus on your motif, press the shutter release and voila - the stars of the evening appear in the large, high-definition 2-inch TFT color display. The camera captures the spectacular performances of the premiere guests with the EXILIM Engine with shutter release time lag of only approx. 0.01 seconds). The high-speed hybrid auto focus system with the new Auto Macro function, which switches independently from auto focus into macro mode and back if required, enables fast and extremely variable focusing to give you a crystal clear picture of the unusual robes and beaming faces. In addition to the spot auto focus, the user can also operate the multi field auto focus, which automatically sights the nearest object through seven different measuring points. Additionally, the focus area is freely selectable via the free auto focus area. The Multi Bracketing function also gives the owner of the EXILIM Pro EX-P700 a lot of design leeway. It allows him to produce pictures with different parameters within a series of exposures (e.g. b/w, sepia or color). And if a picture has turned out too dark due to poor lighting conditions, the innovative Flash Assist function automatically lightens up the picture where necessary. Users who are keen to experiment appreciate having fast access to the basic settings with the EX-Key such as the camera's white balance or ISO settings

[Karried]

LOL- It's not Egghead - it's NewEgg (whatever)


Here you go:

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/...82E16830124116

[Patrick]

Intrepid, optical zoom uses the lens itself to actually increase or decrease the image....the lens adjusts focal length. Digital Zoom is the camera itself zooming in on certain parts of the the image, similar to zooming in using your computer to crop an image.

[MadMonk]

I personally value optical zoom more than digital - in fact I've disabled the digital zoom on mine. I've found it effects the quality and is generally useless for me. I like Kodaks too as I've had two now and have had great luck with them. A quick check on newegg and I found this in your price range ($254.99 + 5.99 3-day shipping). 5 Megapixel and 10x optical zoom too. Comes with 32MB internal memory and a slot for an external SD/MMC memory card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830170030
Hmmm....at that price it may be time for me to upgrade from my current camera.

[Intrepid]

I personally value optical zoom more than digital - in fact I've disabled the digital zoom on mine. I've found it effects the quality and is generally useless for me. I like Kodaks too as I've had two now and have had great luck with them. A quick check on newegg and I found this in your price range ($254.99 + 5.99 3-day shipping). 5 Megapixel and 10x optical zoom too. Comes with 32MB internal memory and a slot for an external SD/MMC memory card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830170030
Hmmm....at that price it may be time for me to upgrade from my current camera.

Thanks Monk (and to Patrick and Karried as well). All the information was very helpful!

The camera you pictured is one of the main one's I've been looking at. It's priced at $279.99 on Amazon with free shipping and no tax. Does newegg charge taxes?

Thanks again!

[Karried]

madmonk is right - optical is much more important... that camera should do well for you.. I'm going to hold out for the Casio - I'll let you know when I get it..

[Intrepid]

Thanks Monk (and to Patrick and Karried as well). All the information was very helpful!

The camera you pictured is one of the main one's I've been looking at. It's priced at $279.99 on Amazon with free shipping and no tax. Does newegg charge taxes?

Thanks again!

I also forgot to mention that Amazon is also offering a free 256MB SD memory card with the purchase of this camera, or you could apply the price of that card $22.99 towards the purchase of a 512 MB or 1 GB card.

[MadMonk]

Nope, no taxes on NewEgg purchases. The Amazon deal might be a better one if you are getting the free memory. With a 5MP camera, I'd get as much memory as you can get due to the large file sizes for every image. 256 is a good amount of space, but go for the 512 if you can afford it. Mine's a 3.1MP and I have a 64MB card and I can get about 40-ish pics on it at max quality/resolution. Combined with the on-board 16MB I can cram about 52 images. You'll be amazed at how you take pictures of everything once you realize you aren't wasting film for the bad shots.

Also, depending on what you have now, plan on buying a new hard drive soon to store all those images on. They add up fast.

[Intrepid]

I have a 128 MB SD Card that I use now with my CX4300. I really think that I would take my camera to more places and take more pics if I had once that had a better zoom.

I'm really leaning to purchasing the camera we've been talking about. Everything I've read on it has been great. My one concern however, is that it doesn't come with a rechargeable battery, just a lithium. Yes, I know lithiums are long-lasting, but eventually it will wear out. So that's just extra money I'll have to spend.

Thanks again for the input Monk....I do appreciate it.

[TStheThird]

I just purchased a 5 MP camera. I bought a 512 MB card. It holds about 200 pics. I would check Best Buy... they always have a special going. I paid 20 bucks for the card. I am going to buy a 1 GB before I go to the world cup this summer.

[Oki_Man5]

Not meaning to put a damperr on this conversation as I am looking for a new digital camera too---the old Kodak DC3400 we have is really a good camera for its vintage, but I want new too.

The main reason tho I am making this post is cause sales taxes were mentioned. Just to let you know---if you file an Oklahoma Income Tax Form, you might want to take a look at the instructions for the use tax---They added the block last year (2004 tax return).

I am still interested in buying a camera.

Thanks, Pete

[MadMonk]

Since I'm too lazy to go research this, can you be specific? What are you saying? We have to pay taxes on the usage of the camera?

[Oki_Man5]

No, I am not saying it the way it sounds like you are asking it.

I am saying the use tax---previously touted by politicos as a sort of sales taxes that businesses would pay on items they buy from somewhere that does not charge a tax and generally consumed it in their business, but in actuality, it was always a sort of a way that individuals were charged a sales tax; although it was for the most part ignored without impunity over many many years, it still remained the law---you were supposed to report not-taxed purchases and pay an equivalent of the sales taxes on them: use tax)---is just another form of sales tax.

They now have come up with a way for people to be "required" to report the purchase of an item from someone who did not charge the tax.

If you got your Form 511 year 2005 tax booklet, turn to page 10 and find: OKLAHOMA USE TAX

"Every state with a sales tax has a companion tax for purchases made outside the state. In Oklahoma, that tax is called the "use tax." If you have purchased items for use in Oklahoma from retailers who do not collect Oklahoma sales tax, you owe Oklahoma use tax on those items. Use tax is paid by the buyer when the Oklahoma sales tax has not been collected by the seller. Individuals in Oklahoma are responsible for paying use tax on their out-of-state purchases."

The above is paragraph one of the Use Tax instructions.

Line 25 of the tax form says: "Use Tax (See Instructions on page 10)" A box to be checked if you do not owe use tax and a line for the dollars are also on that line.

Can you remember the Oklahoma City Council after the Maps for Kids sales tax was approved by the voters also approving a sales tax on their own based on the additional sales tax---it was a couple years or so ago---they said they could use the use-tax income for any purpose (not necessarily for the kids) since it was a use tax and did not need voter approval.

I agree this part of the thread is outside the realm of buying a digital camera, but when I posted about the tax, I felt that was pertinent to this thread. Not sure I know how to move it over to politics tho, so I am replying here.

Another note: I think the US Supreme Court upheld some time back that if a business has a presence (in-state store or such) in a state, it must collect sales taxes and remit the money to the state. That gets tricky; if one does not watch, like I live in Pott County (sales tax for the state 4.5% plus 1% county equals 5.5% that I legitimately owe, but retailers from out of state charge on the zip code. The zip code of the town nearby would require another 3% for the town---I do not owe that 3%, but to make out of state purchases from businesses that charge the tax, charge me the 3%.

Make sense?

Thanks, Pete

[Karried]

Intrepid - another thing to consider is rechargeable batteries - a must have for digital cameras - they go through them so quickly.. I like the Sony but it looks a little large ( maybe it 's the picture ) I like the sleekness of the Casio but not the price! Anyway, you can get a battery charger that has an adapter for the car... plug it in and charge the batteries while you drive - pretty nifty.

[MadMonk]

Oki_Man5, thanks for the clarification. I can see that the tax issue might be a concern for a business that routinely purchases non-taxed, out-of-state items, but for individuals I think its a non-issue. It's completely unenforceable.

[Oki_Man5]

For the most part, I agree with you about the unenforceability, and a couple of years ago, I said the same thing up till they put the line on the tax form.

When one signs that form....