Cheap Digital Camera

[uberlad]

Woudl I be entering into a false economy by thinking about buying this:

Painfully cheap '3.3'M Camera

No optical zoom, but incredilby cheap. Doesn't say that the 3.3 is interpolated but still a pretty decent price for a 2MPixel.

Looks like we're on a pay freeze this year so I need something to cheer myself up

Uberlad

[GNEP]

Features
3.3 Mega Pixels
Movie Recording up to 100secs
16Mb Built-in Memory
Optional Compact Flash Memory expansion not included 1.5. TFT LCD Display
4x Digital Zoom
Specification
Image Sensor. CMOS Sensor 1600x1200 pixels - this is 1.92 Mpixels isn't it?
Lens. F3.0, f-8.642mm, View angle 54 0. 5 glasses element Focus Range: 0.6m-
Video Rate: VGA 640x480 pixels 15 fps, QVGA 320x240 pixels 24 fps
Stored Picture: 2048x1536 pixels-19 Pictures, 800x600 pixels-119 pictures Video. JPEG-MJPEG (AVI), NTSC, PAL
Power. 2xAA 1.5V not included
Dimension HxWxD, 68x107x39mm
Package Includes
Camera with wrist strap
Installation CD Win 98, 2K, Me, XP-Linux 8.0-Mac OS 9 Ulead Software: Photo Express 4.0SE, Photo Explorer 7.0 & Cool 360
User Manual USB cable Video Cable

[uberlad]

Aha! That's the kind of thinking that I'm not capable of this afternoon. Thanks for the heads up.

Uberlad

[Gurm]

Not only that, but you'll HATE life without at least SOME optical zoom. Trust me.

- Gurm

[uberlad]

I've got through life up until now without optical zoom. I spose I can move closer to things if I need to see them better but that's as good as it gets

I shall probably be better served by paying a little more for decent one won't I? Curse. I can't afford a camera at the mo then.

Uberlad

[Gurm]

I meant on a CAMERA. Sheesh.

- Gurm

[az]

DON'T EVER get a cheap digicam! DON'T!!!!!

Don't get ANYTHING without an optical zoom. Not only because zoom is SO handy, but because those plastic fixfocus lenses are AWFUL. As is interpolation. As is digital zoom (=interpolation).

No zoom and quoting interpolated resolutions (exception: Fuji SuperCCD) are a sure sign of no quality.

Do yourself a favour and spend a little more. Get a cam from a brand name manufacturer (Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Minolta, Sony, Olympus, casio, Konica, HP, Kyocera...).
Get at least 3mp. 2mp is already a painful compromise, anything below is right out.
If you're low on the money, get one that accepts AA cells (you will need to shell out for quality NIMH AA cells and a charger though, which will still be cheaper than paying for a special pack. Don't even think about using alkalines.)

Of course, what you need depends on what you want to do with it. If you just want to get mediocre shots you can put on the web, get the thing you linked to above, or anything else with an image sensor in it, basically. If you want to take photos, and dump your old point-and-shoot, get 3mp, so you can get papaer printouts in a reasonable quality. If you want to do some amateur photography, be prepared to pay A LOT ("cheapest" and very good option here IMHO is the Minolta Dimage 7i, which I own. It's not actually cheap though.).

Best for your budget, get a used one.

But, before you buy, read the review at www.dpreview.com (that guy is really overly critical, but that's good. You have to decide for yourself which compromise to take, because you WILL always take a compromise, even with the most expensive camera out there.), and take a look at the review sample images.

And ask here

As sad as it is, you cannot get a digital camera for cheap at the moment. You always pay too much. And development is very fast at the moment. If you can wait a year or two, you will be able to get a really good camera fr a relatively low price (not as cheap as the one you linked to, but way better price/performance). If you buy now, you WILL bite yourself in the *ss in a year or two. Of course, I bought now

AZ

[uberlad]

Is there anything terribly electronic in this world that isn't going to be godlike Real Soon Now?

I'm not desperate to grab a camera at the moment - I was kinda hoping that having a camera would drive to want to take pictures of things and people. And of course I need a treat to cheer me up at work.

I'll see if the market is a little nicer at christmas, when I don't have to bear the brunt of the cost

Uberlad

[az]

It MIGHT be nicer AFTER christmas, or after next year's PMA, when you can get last year's models for (relatively) cheap.

But you say you might want to start photographing - you WILL want a camera with optional manual controls, and sadly, cheap cameras DON'T have them (even cheap brand name cameras don't). You won't need an overly expensive digital SLR, but you really should get quality. If it's no problem waiting, wait a little, and (very important) save up, and brace yourself for the prices!

About the constant improvements with electronics: This is especially the case for digicams at the moment, because manufacturers are establishing 3mp as entry-level now, and 3mp is the "sweet spot" - a lot more pixels than 2mp, good enough for printouts and even moderate enlargement. 4mp isn't that of a quantum leap over 3mp. A quality 3mp cam is better than a cheap 4mp. That's why I said waiting makes sense now, because you can keep a good 3mp cam for a few years - anything below won't make you happy.

AZ

[gt40]

Uberlad, I had no real nead for a digital camera, as I prefer film
and I've spent enough on my SLR rig to just let it collect dust.
However, in this new world of exchanging photo's and emailing pics, and creating web pages and the sort, I decided to get one just to have around.
These simple fixed focal length camera are great for the novice just to have for those purposes.Normally you wouldn't post or email pictures any larger than these cameras will allow anyway. If your just taking pics of stuff to sell on ebay, these are great.
Just one thig to be cautious of: many of the cheaper ones require quite alot of exposure to create a proper image, so these means that any camera shake becomes very noticeable
and usually means 5-10 secs between pictures.
If you are happy with the pictures from those throw-away one time use cameras, this this will not dissapoint you.

[Technoid]

as everyone else is already telling you:
Stay away from anything without optical zoom

It sucks not having a Zoom

[az]

BUT you can get an older brand-name model for about the same, or little more. Or a used one, which seems the best option considering the budget.

AZ

[Marshmallowman]

Yeah go for at least some optical zoom, especially on less than 3 MP.

oh and the sensor ...CMOS?, very new tech, main advantage of CMOS is they are very cheap to make....hence the price. The image quality may not be very good....do you have any samples pics to check?

[az]

Marshmellow, that's not quite right. CMOS sensors CAN be VERY VERY good - just look at the Canon EOS D-xx.. they're noise-free! You can take a friggin' 15 minute exposure with those beasts!

That said, the sensor in that cheap cam is of course cheap, cheap, cheap crap.

AZ

[Gurm]

Shops now have the Olympus I own for $425. Not bad considering I paid $699 for it a year and a half ago.

It's an EXCELLENT camera - the site above has almost nothing bad to say about it.

- JIG