amy0807 Posted November 19, 2004 Posted November 19, 2004 The reason why digital zoom is important rather than the digital zoom is because the digital zoom will result in a lot of low quality, grainy pictures that you cant print or anything. I know this to be true because I borrowed my mother in law's digital with 3.1 MP and 3x digital zoom and no optical and used it on vacation in September. They looked good on the lcd screen and when I uploaded them to my computer the thumbs looked great, but as soon as you open them up it's grainy and fuzzy. You might be able to print a decent wallet on about half of them. I have been searching for a good digital camera as well. My friend has a Kodak 5 MP with 3x optical and 4x digital but only half of her pics could be printed above a 4x6 and not be terribly distorted. So I am eyeing Walmart's Minolta with the 8x optical zoom for a bit over $300.
RossMAN Posted November 19, 2004 Posted November 19, 2004 venerdinero is correct as usual, look for at least 3x optical zoom not digital zoom. natasha1120 also has an excellent suggestion, on Black Friday Sears should have a Digitrex 3.2MP digital camera for $49.99 which is a steal!
motoXmom Posted November 19, 2004 Author Posted November 19, 2004 motoXmom - sorry to report there is apparently no Meijer within 50 miles of Mentor (according to mapquest). You will have to check the Meijer web site to see where the closest store is, since the store locator lists the stores instead of showing a map. OH man Thanks for letting me know! I didn't think I had ever heard of one around here but ya never know. I appreciate you taking the time to check for me
Snoodles Posted November 19, 2004 Posted November 19, 2004 natasha1120 also has an excellent suggestion, on Black Friday Sears should have a Digitrex 3.2MP digital camera for $49.99 which is a steal! Video/Audio Clip 15 fps @ QVGA....what is this? I plan to buy my DH a digital for CMas but I also need to make sure the card is compatible with my photo printer. I personally have a Fuji FinePix A210 and it seems to work fine. I don't print anything bigger than 4X6 though. I don't know what things would like that big. Any help is appreciated! THANK YOU Erika
back2schoolmommy Posted November 20, 2004 Posted November 20, 2004 Of the digital cameras that are on sale for BF, which one would you say would be the most durable? We just saw our 2nd camera die, so I am looking to replace it... We've had an HP, and our most recent was a Fuji Finepix. The HP shorted out on us, and as for the Fuji...those woes came courtesy of our 2yr old daughter. She someone messed up the lens cover- so now, the lens will not come out and is permanently "open" (the lens cover is stuck inside the camera). It was a nice little camera (before she got ahold of it!)... How are the Kodak EasyShares? Are they pretty reliable and durable? andrea
outnumbered Posted November 20, 2004 Posted November 20, 2004 I have a Kodak Easyshare cx4300...not a top-of-the-line model but it works very well for my needs (emailing pics and quick printouts for the kids). It has been dropped on the floor (tile, not carpet) countless times, thanks to our 3 young children...and it still works fine, thank goodness! I certainly wouldn't recommend being careless with it, but it's held up well. This one has a lens cover that is outside--you put a little cap over it. And, someone posted only the Fuji has an all glass lens...that is not true. The Kodak says right on it, "Kodak Retinar All Glass Lens." I got this camera two years ago at Christmas, and it's been wonderful for our family. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to turn the flash off, but that hasn't posed a huge problem. It just makes taking a picture of a picture difficult (we don't have a scanner, so the only way to get printed pics online is to take a digital pic of them).
motoXmom Posted November 20, 2004 Author Posted November 20, 2004 ok I went to Wal Mart today and seen some of the cameras say digital/optical zoom. What is that? I was lookng for ones that had optical zoom of at least 3x. I told you guys I don't understand any of this!! LOL
venerdinero Posted November 21, 2004 Posted November 21, 2004 ok I went to Wal Mart today and seen some of the cameras say digital/optical zoom. What is that? I was lookng for ones that had optical zoom of at least 3x. I told you guys I don't understand any of this!! LOLNo problem! You will!! or else! I am not the expert, but in essence, there are two types of "zoom". There is "optical zoom" which uses the lens to magnify the object being photographed before it captures it. A "digital zoom", as I understand it, essentially just electronically blows up the distant image after capturing it and crops or cuts off the outer edges -this can lead to distortion or problems with the image in some instances. Think of "digital zoom" as what might happen if you blew up a normal 4x6 image into an 8x10 - then cut off the outer parts to make the center of the 8x10 fit into a 4x6 frame. OK the abridged story - I've been told by people far more knowledgeable than I in these matters that digital zoom is basically useless. As RossMAN noted, you want an optical zoom of 3x or better (higer number). I have been told that using the composite number of optical + digital is also useless. Common sense tells you that if you combine good with garbage, the result is at least part garbage. I suggest you ignore the digital or any combined zoom number and focus on the optical zoom number!! almost forgot - the camera should also have a minimum of 3.1 megapixels (essentially how many dots or pixels in each picture - the more mps, generally the better the image detail and by extension, image quality.
venerdinero Posted November 21, 2004 Posted November 21, 2004 The reason why digital zoom is important rather than the digital zoom is because the digital zoom will result in a lot of low quality, grainy pictures that you cant print or anything.Great points Amy but I think you have a possibly confusing typo you might want to edit. I believe that the 1st time you typed digital you meant to type optical. I think.
motoXmom Posted November 21, 2004 Author Posted November 21, 2004 Venerdinero: Thank You for taking the time to help me clear up all of this! When I went I really thought ...OK I got this now Optical Zoom not Digital and I'm feelin' pretty confident. Then I get up to the cameras and see Digital/Optical zoom on some of them. Thought ahhh cr@p they didn't tell me what to do if the camera says both! I thought ohh forget it and walked away even more confused! LOL Thanks again to you and everyone who has helped me with this!
brynnfromtheblock Posted November 21, 2004 Posted November 21, 2004 Reference the A340 at Office Max, those in the know above said it was a good camera but it sells at Target everyday for the same price (199.99) and sometimes on line for 170.00 another posting had this description on their BF list: Fuji A340 4.1 Megapixel Camera 1.5" LCD screen 3x optical 2.4x digital zoom 16MB xD card and Docking cradle included. 2085-7048 $199.99 also free Lexmark Z816 Color printer after rebates with purchase of this camera. $99.99 -$29.99 coupon -$20 mfg rebate -$50 mail-in 2080-2259 So with the docking cradle (I don't know if that's included at Target) and free printer is the deal looking any better? Also some of the sites I've looked at says it has a 1.7 digital, not 2.4 which is right?
bythebeach Posted November 21, 2004 Posted November 21, 2004 hello, did anyone see that BB has the 3.2 megapiixal cybershot (DSCP2). For 100.00AR, in this weeks ad, does anyone know if that is a good deal, or better than any of the dealson Black friday
venerdinero Posted November 22, 2004 Posted November 22, 2004 Venerdinero: Thank You for taking the time to help me clear up all of this! When I went I really thought ...OK I got this now Optical Zoom not Digital and I'm feelin' pretty confident. Then I get up to the cameras and see Digital/Optical zoom on some of them. Thought ahhh cr@p they didn't tell me what to do if the camera says both! I thought ohh forget it and walked away even more confused! LOL Thanks again to you and everyone who has helped me with this! :) I guess I didn't do too well, if you didn't completely get it yet! but seriously - I'm not sure what store you were looking in - somewhere on a tag or on the box it should list them both (assuming the camera has both) you may see something like "optical/digital zoom 3x/4x" - which would mean that the optical is 3x and the digital is 4x... if it says both digital and optical but gives you only one number, like 5x - then we need to research the specs somewhere. If this did happen - post the model number and we'll try to get the actual numbers for you. OK??
brynnfromtheblock Posted November 22, 2004 Posted November 22, 2004 Don't know if anyone was going for the FUJI at Office Max or the Kodak at Walmart on BF but Walmart has an online sale right now for those same prices with the docking cradles. (Office Max had a free printer though)
tmulk1 Posted November 23, 2004 Posted November 23, 2004 My husband bought me the Fuju Fine Pix A330 for my b-day this weekend. I already had a super nice Sony. But it used the diskette and was big. I LOOOOVVVVEEE this camera. It is the perfect size and takes great pictures. Easy to use.
Becky Posted November 23, 2004 Posted November 23, 2004 I went from a $50.00 digital to a $300 or so digital, I absolutly love my camera, I bought it for our vacation to Canada, I got awesome pictures of Eagles, landscape, also my kids sports, all the pictures I take are awesome, then I download them on my pc, then purchase them thru snapfish, which is about 19 cents a print..way cheap...my camera is a fujifilm S5000. and I don't work for Fuji. I thought I lost it, and I would have purchased a new one just like this one...I bought it on Ebay, for way cheaper than in the store, it came with case, extra memory card, tri-pod, let me know if you want to know the seller...I can email it to ya...Becky ps, I can barely turn on the pc, and was able to figure this one out...
Mike Posted November 23, 2004 Posted November 23, 2004 I would check out this Ritz camera BF thread. For $300, the Sony V1 cannot be beat...and you get a FREE 4 x 6 printer. That is a hot deal IMO... Sony V1 dpreview Sony V1 image resource review Steve's V1 review
RossMAN Posted November 23, 2004 Posted November 23, 2004 I would check out this Ritz camera BF thread. For $300, the Sony V1 cannot be beat...and you get a FREE 4 x 6 printer. That is a hot deal IMO...Very hot. You can take pics and print them at home for the same price that CostCo/Walmart/Walgreens charges.
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