Help me shop for a digi cam
 

I was told at the beginning of the semester that we're going on a field trip this weekend and I need to take some pics while I'm there. I'm looking to spend around $200, maybe more if it's really worth it. I have always used my works camera which is an old bulky sony 1.6mp, which looks fine to me, however I can't take it where I'm going. So it's time to buy my own. Do I really need 5 megapixels when 1.6 looked ok to me??? lol
I'd also like to take some good videos with it, you know, for racing of course. Maybe a good night time exposure type?

My experiences so far:
I've heard is that Sony's break a lot and cost too much to fix.
An ex had an Olympus Stylus that was pretty awesome. Cost $350 a year ago.

I have a Canon A70. Cost me like $350 about 6 months ago, but im sure it should be down in price now. Its 3.2 MP and it takes 240 seconds of quality video with sound.

I would look for at least a 3.5 MP. It all depends on how big you want your images to be. 1.6 may have looked allright at 4x6 or 5x7, but if you blew it up to 8X10 size.... ughhh. My best piece of advice is to get a service plan with it. Buy from either Best Buy(Preferred since I work there) or Circuit City. I have seen hundreds of cameras come in that were obviously dropped/abused and they were fixed/replaced for free. It costs a little more for the plan, but it pays out the first time it breaks.

Try looking at ebay..I saw some good cameras go for reasonable prices there...I'm looking for a digital camera myself so thanks for posting this..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MK3Design)</div><div class='quotemain'>I have a Canon A70. Cost me like $350 about 6 months ago, but im sure it should be down in price now. Its 3.2 MP and it takes 240 seconds of quality video with sound.</div>

I second this. Any of canon's products are going to be EXCELLENT.

They just released the A95, and thats closer to $350, so you should be able to find the A70 in your price range.

check these links out: http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html
http://www.dcresource.com/

Good forum for digital photography/cameras: www.photozo.com

You can find them on eBay with extra memory, tripod, bag, cleaning supplies, and other stuff for amazing dealers (cheaper than the camera alone would be at the store).

I'd just recommend looking at what Canon has to offer - they constantly hold the top camera in this range.

If you have more money, Nikon would be another choice, but I'd still prefer a Canon any day.

The A85 and A95 say they only record 30 sec of 640x480 video. Is this typical? Cause its a lot less than what I'd like out of one.

i like my kodak 7330 alot. it's 3.1 mp, and should cost you smile.gif

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JonGTR)</div><div class='quotemain'>The A85 and A95 say they only record 30 sec of 640x480 video. Is this typical? Cause its a lot less than what I'd like out of one.</div>

Only 30 seconds?! I dragonwheels.comwonder why the A70 has 240 ??

my girlfriend just bought a nice Keyocera 3.2 MP camera for $150. Takes nice pictures. I would suggest that you get a video option so you can take videos of cars at the track (or have someone video your car). Her 3.2 MP took this picture
http://home.comcast.net/~majiktib/NewLandB.jpg

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JonGTR)</div><div class='quotemain'>The A85 and A95 say they only record 30 sec of 640x480 video. Is this typical? Cause its a lot less than what I'd like out of one.</div>

That is probably with the 16 Mb memory card that it comes with. You will probably want to expand that to 256Mb or more, in which case you should be able to do at least 10 minutes of video.

I have a Canon A60, and love it. With a 256 Mb card I can take 450+ pictures. I would definitely recommend the Canon Powershot series, and you should be able to find the A75 for under $200. Check out newegg.com, that is where I got mine and they have great customer service.