looking for a new digital camera

[94XJ4x4]

right now I'm using a powershot A70 and I'm sick of out of focus pictures and not being able to take pictures at night (of the moon and stars and such) I don't know much about cameras but I like to take pictures. I remember reading a thread where you all were talking about cameras and why u like this one and why that ones better so i kno a couple ppl here kno their cameras. can anyone help me out. right now im looking at the kodak Easyshare Z760.

 

[Yucca-Man]

Check out www.dpreview.com

 

[BrettM]

if you're unhappy with the A70, the Kodak won't be any better. the only cameras that are a real step up from the A70 are the digital SLRs. the Nikon D50, D70 and D70s as well as the Canon Digital Rebel 350d would all be worth looking into. get a tripod for those night pictures.

 

[JeepXJSB]

Canon Digital Rebel is Awesome.

 

[Lucas]

www.steves-digicams.com

 

[Root Moose]

Canon Digital Rebel is Awesome.

What he said.

I hear good things about the Nikon D70 also, but I use the Canon.

 

[GSequoia]

The Minolta DiMage 7 is a great camera as well, I'm not sure exactly what they have out there right now, I bought that a few years ago...

The DiMage is a SLR style camera, it has a very versatile lens (the only drawback is that it is a fixed lens) and gives you five megapixels.

Here's a night shot:

More shots I've taken with mine can be found here: www.sequoiasite.com

Sequoia

 

[Foto4x4]

I use the Nikon D100 and love it. The D70 is the same thing but with fewer additional options. A friend uses the Canon Rebel and she loves that one too, I've used it a few times and it is a very nice camera for the price. Speaking of price that is always the key question. How much are you willing to spend? Most of these digital SLRs are nearing $1000 for the body and a lense. Since you mentioned looking at the Kodak, it seems you may not be looking in this price range.

Check out www.dpreview.com

x2
Look around for something 5+ megapixil, the higher the better. For night shots though, you need to be able to manually set the exposure time, and SLRs are the best way to do that.

 

[DrMoab]

Might want to look at the Pentax *ist DS. Its another digital SLR body that uses K mount pentax lenses. Its a little cheaper then the Cannon.

Quality wise you can't go wrong with Nikon but...you pay for it!

 

[Jes]

Here's a night shot:

Wow, nice shot.
S.F./Oakland Bay Bridge from Treasure Island?

 

[Reindeer]

I use the Nikon D100 and love it. The D70 is the same thing but with fewer additional options. ...

Allow me to add to the recommendations for Nikon.
I have a Coolpix 950, and it's amazing.
I have a friend who has the Nikon Coolpix 970, and he loves it.
I wish I had a D100. I may trade up at some point.

A tripod is crucial to taking long exposure shots.
I have found that digital cameras don't perform as well as silver halide in low light situations.
A high number of pixels per image may help with that.
Look for 5 million pixels and higher, and purchase a large card to store your photos so that you can take shots at the highest resolution.

 

[ROBZ95Xj]

My moms Kodak sh*t the bed right after i took the picture of black stallion stuck. Now i cant get my vid clips till i find another kodak.

 

[Foto4x4]

I wish I had a D100. I may trade up at some point.

Save up for the D1x. At the spring Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C., 2 years ago, I set up next to a guy with one and got so jealous. During the Big Air comp I'm going click...click...click... he was just Clllllllllllllllllllrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccck. 40 fps, man was I drooling.

GSequoia- Very sweet photo.

Reindeer- Costco had 512mb flash cards for $50 a little while back.

The Ipod is also great because if you run out of space you can just upload the card to the Ipod and then keep on going.

 

[GSequoia]

Wow, nice shot.
S.F./Oakland Bay Bridge from Treasure Island?

Yup.

 

[BrettM]

Save up for the D1x. At the spring Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C., 2 years ago, I set up next to a guy with one and got so jealous. During the Big Air comp I'm going click...click...click... he was just Clllllllllllllllllllrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccck. 40 fps, man was I drooling.

GSequoia- Very sweet photo.

Reindeer- Costco had 512mb flash cards for $50 a little while back.

The Ipod is also great because if you run out of space you can just upload the card to the Ipod and then keep on going.

even the D2x doesn't do 40fps, more like 8. still extremely impressive though.


don't get to absorbed in megapixels, more megapixels will not help you get better night shots at all. for night shots you want a tripod and the ability to manually control shutter speed. high ISO numbers help as well, there is a Fuji point and shoot that is somehow claiming 1600, crazy, but it does seem to work.

 

[casm]

The Minolta DiMage 7 is a great camera as well, I'm not sure exactly what they have out there right now, I bought that a few years ago...

I'll second this... A friend of mine has one, and it still kicks ass.

I've got a similar-era Canon D110, and while the image quality is acceptable it's not as good as the Minolta's. Further, I've noticed that virtually all Canons right up to the present day seem to not do well in low-light environments. I like it despite its flaws, but the next one's probably going to be the Minolta.

 

[Foto4x4]

even the D2x doesn't do 40fps, more like 8. still extremely impressive though.


don't get to absorbed in megapixels, more megapixels will not help you get better night shots at all. for night shots you want a tripod and the ability to manually control shutter speed. high ISO numbers help as well, there is a Fuji point and shoot that is somehow claiming 1600, crazy, but it does seem to work.

D2x actually does 5 fps at the full 12.4 megapixel for 15 RAW shots and 8 fps at 6.8 megapixel for 26 RAW. The D1x has a 40 RAW image buffer at 5 fps, that's where the 40 came in, my apologies for the mix up.

As to the other stuff- Somewhat yes, yes and yes. The problem for him I assume is trying to find an manually controlable camera for $250. The Canon PowerShot S2 IS is probably more reasonable since it has the SLR characteristics and is around $500. I would say the Minolta DiMAGE's are probably the best deal though, around $350 (depending on which one) and does movies.

 

[94XJ4x4]

WOW. thanks everyone for all the info. sounds like im going to have a lot of researching ahead of me.

 

[94XJ4x4]

oh and for the how much are you willing to spend Im hoping to get a camera that i can use for years so Im thinking of it and an investment. I dont need a new camera either, a good remanufactured camera will work too. I probably wont buy anything soon because Im not too knowledgeable at the moment and i want to know everything about what im buying if im going to be spending a lot of money. Again thanks for all the information everyone.

 

[Root Moose]

For research dpreview.com can't be beat. Very unbiased reporting (IMO).

I know that the Digital Rebel [300] (old version, versus current/new Digital Rebel XT / 350) is heavily discounted right now on ebay. I'm sure you can find similar deals on other brands.