Looking for a new digital camera

[WNY_Whitetailer]

My wife and I are looking into buying our first digital camera because we are expecting our first child in two months.  We have widdled our choices down to Kodak, Olympus and Sony.  We are looking for a 5.0 megapixel camera or at least a 4.0.  We are not sure if we are going to be blowing up pictures to anything bigger than a 5x7 but we want to have enough mp's in case we do.  

Do you guys and gals have any suggestions along these lines...So far, the Kodak is the cheapest but I am not sure about the battery life.  Olympus seems to be a little more expensive than the Sony for comparable features but if you add a Carl Zeiss lens to the Sony then they are even.

[Thomas Krupinski]

I have a couple of the Olympus models that we got a few years ago.  Very dependable.  Here are some things to consider

- Although the Olympus cameras we have use their propietary lithium battery packs, they also use AA's and that all we have been using in them.  I can buy them in bulk and it is an inexpensive alternative.

-  Get as much resolution as you can.  It will help when you compose, crop and edit the picture the second time on your computer prior to printing.  It is important to get as much detail as possible, if it ain't there when you take it, you can't get it later.

-  Check out the different types of media that the different brands use.  We like the SmartMedia cards, but there are other good solutions.

-  Our larger camera is a 2.8 megapixel model (high quality for it's day) but it has a threaded lens housing that allows us to use a protective filter.  Our smaller ones are the clamshell designs and offer adequate protection, especially in pack.

- Optical as well as mechanical zooms with macro features make it very handy to get in very close to read serial numbers and other stuff in out of the way places if you photograph them.  It is often easier to get the camera in the space to see them that are impractical to get your head.

Hope these considerations are of some help.

[Jack Crevalle]

All good advice from Thomas.

If you get a camera that uses AA format batteries you can get a cheap set of NiMH battteries and a fast charger at Walmart. With a couple of sets you can keep a set charging while using the other. You can extend battery life a great deal by using the viewfinder rather than the screen if it has a viewfinder.

There isn't that much difference between a 4 and 5 Mp camera. Remember that it takes four times the number of pixels to double the resolution so going from 4 to 5 isn't that much of a leap.

Sony has, IMHO, the best LCD view screen around. We have them at work and their custodian uses the camera like binoculars. He points it out the window and zooms in on wo..., er, distant objects.

The media is, as Thomas points out another area where you want to look out for compatibility. I use Compact Flash, I can get cards up to 512 MB
and even ones with built in hard drives for 1GB. Pay for the faster cards. They're worth it when you are trying to take multiple shots back-to-back.
You can also get a media reader to hook to the USB port of your computer to read the pictures from directly rather than downloading them through your camera.

[WNY_Whitetailer]

Thanks for the tips guys...We did look at a card reader at Stereo Advantage here in the Buffalo area...It is an option that we will probably pursue.

Thanks again...I'll keep these things in mind.

[Jack Crevalle]

Just remember you probaby don't have to buy the camera maker's reader. These things are in the $30 range now and will read multiple media types so if you have/get another camera with different media, an MP3 player, etc. you can use the same one. 99.9% of all cameras out there store their images on the card in FAT format.

[TCAS]

Can't go wrong with Sony, I actuall saw some of the Cybershot series 3.2 meg for under $199 thats a good price for that camera.  DSC P71 or 70???

Tom