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Registered:
May 2002
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 Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Fri, 28 June 2002 06:48
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Need your opinions on digital cameras. If you have one, can you tell me what is decent/above average.
I wanna spend bout $300+ on it.
I want flash, and charger (ie no batteries!!!) and about 1.3 megapix. (is that above average or not?)
Any opinions valuable thanks ! 
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Location:
Sydney, Australia
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Sydney, Australia
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Fri, 28 June 2002 07:36
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Seriously tho I think the 1 megapixel cameras are at the bottom end of the market now.
I have a Kodak 1Mpixel camera I bought a few years ago and it's ok for general snaps, but is absolutely hopeless in low light. It takes 4 x AA's and I just bought some NiMh rechargables for it.
The newer cameras go up to 4 MegaPixels which have awesome quality, but cost as well (around the $2K mark).
I would probably aim for around the 2 megapixel mark which is probably a good compromise between price and quality.
I'm sure someone with newer cameras than mine will respond tho.
HTH
sam.
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I supported Toymods
Toymods Club Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Fri, 28 June 2002 08:50
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I bought my digital camera a bit over a year and a half ago. It's a 1.3 megapixel, which at the time was kinda at the top of the budget, off-the-shelf type models (about $650 from memory). These days, something with the same specs would be about $300 or so (even less in some cases) and would be pretty much the standard lower range model.
I find that it's perfectly good enough for what i use it for (ie - taking happy snaps at cruises and parties etc..).
-BUT-
Like Sam said, point it at something in low-light conditions, and the results are pretty ordinary. Also, i find that a limitation of mine is that it isn't very good at picking up detail in distant shots..
Anyway - have a look at http://www.luc1d.net for some examples of pics that it's taken. chances are if you're happy with what you see, you'll be happy with a 1.3 MegaPixel camera 
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth WA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Fri, 28 June 2002 12:31
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It depends on whether you want to print your photos or just post them on the net/view them on screen. Even a 1.3 megapixel model is perfectly adequate for viewing on screen.
For me, what matters is how portable it is on holiday:
1. size+weight
2. Batteries - I feel using AA batteries is more convenient when travelling. If you run out, you can just buy them at the shop, or use your own rechargables. A bit more bulky than battery packs though (but cheaper).
3. Cost of cards - useful if you don't bring a laptop on holiday
Also less resolution = more pictures per card.
4. Cost of camera. A camera that is not megabucks will not attract undesirable attention, and you are more likely to bring it about.
5. Optical zoom = better quality = bulky
6. I've found that my camera (a 1.3 megapixel Fuji) like others is not very good in low light conditions without a tripod (which is no good really). This is a real regret as half the action is after dark.
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Location:
Sutherland, Sydney
Registered:
June 2002
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 Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Fri, 28 June 2002 14:14
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We have just purchased the Nikon D1X at work because we were having trouble shooting the fashion and cover shots with a much more expensive camera (40K)with a name that is hard to pronounce let alone spell ;)
The Nikon seemed to capture the colour in a way that better suited our print requirements. Only probs would be moire' patterns but are minimal and only noticeable really on blonde hair and fabrics. This is unfortunately a hardware drawback of digital cameras that cannot be avoided :(
I've personally owned and used a Canon Powershot 350 (which I took to Hawaii to compliment my film camera!) and a Canon S10.
The PS350 was about a 1.3 and the S10 was 2.1
The diffence between the two is incredible and would not recommend ANYTHING below 2 megapixels capture. Even for net stuff, it helps to have a better image quality to avoid losing fine detail especially on panel lines :) Having the extra pixels allows you to crop it down and still have a fine image to show.
2 MP will still allow you to do a fair printout at normal photograph size.
I would also recommend any camera that uses smart media or comact flash cards. Compact flash card readers are very cheap these days and are quite fast. I have a dual slot one and if I had a big enough flash card I could use it as an external harddrive for my home x collection :)
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Location:
Colac, Victoria
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Sat, 29 June 2002 03:32
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save up the extras and get somethign with at least 2 megtapixels , and optcal zoom
My Kodak DC3400 is fantastic for what i do - its as good and as practical as any 35 mill film camera ive used - but came at a hefty price tag - 800 bux
ive taken close to 1000 pictures with it in just over a year - and love it - only downfall is uyou cant use it also as a film capture device
Stuart
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Registered:
May 2002
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 Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Sat, 29 June 2002 14:33
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Guys did you see my budget ?!?!
$300 ish !!! dammm...
do you guys that have trouble with the low light have cams without flash ?? or is that with flash ??
and would you be able to tell me how long your batteries last, how many u use and AA or AAA ? if I could, I would really prefer one that can recharge
Paul - Luc1D... ur pics look FINE to me !
Can u gimme some more info on your cam ?
price, model number, where from ? flash etc BUT yeh, those pics look fine to me... I already have a kickarse 35mm.. dont wanna spend too much on a digicam !
thanks crew !
oh yeh, and is LOGITECH a good brand ?
and what shops should I look for a digicam froom ? a specialist camera shop or just dick smith etc
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I supported Toymods
Toymods Club Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Sun, 30 June 2002 05:07
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Les - My Camera is a Fuji MX-1200.
From memory, this particular one isn't actually made anymore, as I'm pretty sure they were selling them out at the time I bought mine. Because I can't be bothered typing out the stats, here's a picture of the specs on the back of the box (I took the photo using the Macro feature on the camera, which is used for focusing on close-up objects )
As for the poor quality pictures in low-light conditions, I think I may have found a "little" bit of a solution. I've always been using the Auto mode on the camera, but I had a little play with the Manual settings at a rally yesterday, and that seems to help a bit with longer exposures, and different flash settings. In the past i've simply adjusted the brightness and contrast of night-time pics once I've had it on the PC, and that has left me with some weird looking pictures. (I've still got to read up and play around a bit more, but I think once i get the hang of it, I'll be a fair bit happier with the results )
As for batteries, it takes 4xAA batteries, and i use NiMH rechargeables. I'd definitely recommend budgeting a little extra for some of these and a battery charger. The battery life (according to the manual) with NiMH batteries is approx 200 photos with the LCD screen on, and approx 500 photos with the LCD off. (I rarely take anywhere near this many photos in succession, so i can't really say whether it's true or not, but I'm quite happy with the battery life). Battery life will also depend on flash usage of course..
With the 32Mb Smartmedia card that I use, I can get up to 99 photos at 1280x960 resolution, and up to 330 photos at 640x480 resolution. (I also have a spare 16Mb card). The camera only came with a 2Mb card, so I needed to purchase the bigger cards sperately. These were pretty expensive at the time, but have come down HEAPS now in price.. (makes me sad when i think about how much i had to pay  )
Something else you might want to make sure you look for, is a camera that uses a USB connection to transfer the photos to the PC. Mine only has a serial connection, which was horrendously slow, so I also bought a USB Smartmedia card reader that is HEAPS faster.
All in all these extra little accessories cost me about an extra $350 on top of the original camera purchase, however I've found them very worthwhile. With the improvements in camera features these days though, I think that USB connectivity is pretty much the standard, and like I said before Smartmedia is also much more affordable now.
So yeah - I think that's all! Hope i've been able to answer all your questions..
btw - IMO, Logitech makes web-cams, and they should probably leave it at that..
[Updated on: Sun, 30 June 2002 05:08]
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Location:
Colac, Victoria
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Sun, 30 June 2002 05:35
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well with digital cameras you get what you pay for - anything under 450-500 dollars is fine - but you might as well use a disposable camera for pic quality ..
IMHO - if your budgets 300 bux - try and buy a better camera second hand - or wait a bit - save a few more credits - and get better quality
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Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Sun, 30 June 2002 23:06
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Luc1d
thanks for the reply man........ that looks fine for my use... something similar to that !!
Thanks a lot !!
I think I am going to get this Canon 1.2 Mp and a friend is going to thow in a memory stick for me !
Thanks again dood !
See you at dyno day (7th) if you go !!
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I supported Toymods
Toymods Club Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Mon, 01 July 2002 09:47
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Yep mate, I'll be there on Sunday.
Will have my camera along with me on the day (hehheh.. as usual  ) so you can check it out then if you like.
Later dude.
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Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Mon, 01 July 2002 11:50
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Don't know how much this camera is, but it has a Leica len so would be something I'd investigate.
Panasonic Lumix
http://www.panasonic.com.au/lumix/range/lc20.cfm
You can also check out the Sony cameras with Carl Zeiss lens.
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Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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 Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Mon, 01 July 2002 13:49
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"LEICA" and "$300" don't go together....
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Registered:
May 2002
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 Re: Digital Cameras - Opinions please
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Mon, 01 July 2002 22:46
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U guys !!!!!
i reckon Max ..... i am looking for something around 3-350 and here are u guys trying to upsell me some $1000 camera !! hahah
u are all bad salesmen ! 
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