Camera help

[baseballdude]

I am TiggersPal's son, and as you may know, we are going to WDW on the 22nd. I can't find my digital camera (I've looked everywhere!) and I thought about using a multi-use film camera. I don't want to spend too much (over $20 or so), but I want one that will work pretty well. I'd rather not buy one at Disney, because I vividly remember paying at least twice as much as a Wal-Mart price for one there before. What would you recommend, if any at all? Thanks!:boyears:

[Photographer]

35mm cameras have come down in price a little. Our Canons have dropped about $10-20. You may want to check your local camera shop and ask what's on clearance. We have a Pentax for around $40 on clearance.

If you're looking for a disposable, they're pretty much all the same. Just buy one that either has Fuji or Kodak film inside, preferably 400 ISO.

[cshore]

Sending some PD that your camera will be found!

Chris

[AuroraNJ29]

I've had to use disposable cameras before in a pinch and they actually don't come out to bad! I remember going to CVS and asking the photo area people to recommend one to me. I think I ended up with a Fuji one with some special flash thingie and the pics were just fine.

[Robin]

It's so hard to recommend a camera, because there are so many to chose from. So many styles and good brands.

I recently when through this with my sister when she was visiting. I finally walked away and left her with the salesman when she kept asking, 'but which one is better'? The problem is they are all (most of them) good. It's a matter of what you want.

We ended up with an iffy choice. She picked a Nikon Coolpix and while setting it up for her, is stopped working. A quick trip to Google and I found the "lens error" problem is a known issue for Coolpix series. With so many other good brands, I'd scratch the Coolpix off my list until the problem is resolved.

My next question would be what are your 'must have' features?

1. A zoom and how strong? (3x, 10x, etc.)

2. What size camera? Some prefer a camera that fits in the shirt pocket, while others like a bit more substance to hold onto. The middle size, is probably about the size of a individual juice box.

3. How many pixels do you want? It used to be the higher the pixels the better the quality of the photo. I think (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the higher numbers today (over 4) don't really give you much advantage unless you plan to blow up the photo.

4. Do you have a favorite brand now? If you are really happy and comfortable with a certain brand (quality, easy handling, features) you might want to limit your search to another one in the same line.

Here's my favorite site for digital camera advice. To narrow my search, I've learned to start on their 'best bets' page. If I see a camera on sale I like, I'll check for a review on it.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html

(I'm going to ask one of the mods for this forum, to move this thread down to the spankin' new photography forum. :peri: )

[MargaretJ]

Not much help on the camera but just wanted to say welcome Baseballdude!

[WillCAD]

I am TiggersPal's son, and as you may know, we are going to WDW on the 22nd. I can't find my digital camera (I've looked everywhere!) and I thought about using a multi-use film camera. I don't want to spend too much (over $20 or so), but I want one that will work pretty well. I'd rather not buy one at Disney, because I vividly remember paying at least twice as much as a Wal-Mart price for one there before. What would you recommend, if any at all? Thanks!:boyears:

Well, for $20 or less you are not going to get any camera that does a better job than the disposables, and you're really not going to find any camera in the $20 range that is better than any other camera in the $20 range.

So basically, go to WalMart or Sams Club and pick out a cheap camera, and there you go. Brand names like Olympus or Kodak will always be better than no-name brands, but aside from that, one $20 camera is pretty much the same as every other $20 camera.

I can make a recomendation for your film choice, however - Fuji. I have tried a half-dozen different brands of consumer grade film over the years, and Fuji leave them all in the dust for WDW pics, even Kodak. Fuji is balanced for sharper, more vivid color; it makes the blues of a Florida sky POP, and the yellows and reds of Pooh Bear jump off the print at you. Kodak, on the other hand, is balanced more neutral, in order to soften skin tones in pictures of people, and it washes out the bright colors of WDW.

Fuji also has the bennefit of being substantially cheaper than Kodak.

Go with 400ISO Fuji; it's only about $6 for 4 rolls of 24 at WalMart, and is the best compromise between the 100-200ISO whtich are better for bright, outdoor pics, and the 800-1600ISO which are better for low light indoor pics (but way granier).

Since you are going to be flying with film, I also recommend that you read my page on how to safely fly with film and follow the procedures:
http://willcad.org/image_film_tips.html

P.S. I'm also going to have this thread moved into our brand-new photography board!

[cshore]

I moved this thread to this forum since it is a camera question. Now all the photography wizards can do their thing. I have already learned an awful lot by reading through this thread. There are times when i don't want to cart around my good camera for one reason or another, now I can make a better choice of a disposable for the type of picture I want.

Chris

[Cruiser]

ETA: I have started a new thread with this question.

I have been blown away by many of the night photos I have seen through this thread. For the past three or four years I have been trying to get some good night shots and fireworks shots with my Olympus C750 UltraZoom. I have not been happy with the results. The camera does not permit you to override the automatic shutter speed or aperture settings.

I have been reading a bit about the new Olympus SP550 UltraZoom and it seems to have some very attractive features, 18X optical zoom, ISO settings up to 5000 and fully flexible shutter speed and aperture settings. It's reasonably priced at $499 ($599 here in Canada)

Does anyone have any comments on this camera or any suggestions for other reasonably priced cameras which give good results in low-light or night settings.

I would really like to take some good fireworks shots!

Gary