Lets talk Digital Cameras!

[427TJ]

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I am desperately in need of a new digital Camera.

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Hey, you read my mind! My Sony has developed "spots" on its lenses, I think it's lint from the carrying case that got inside the camera? I can no longer zoom-in because it magnifies the lint blob on the lens. I noticed that a few of Kwhizz'z Power Tour shots had the same blobs in some of the photos. Is it worth having the camera cleaned or just go buy a new one?

[ANDY M]

Better off buying a new one. Nobody offers service on these things, and if they did, you could buy a new one for what they would charge.
I have an older Olympus C-5500, 5.1mp, 5x zoom. It has the sport setting and all of the other options, but what I like is the ability to turn off the screen and just use the viewfinder. Call me old school, (I am), but it saves a lot of battery life and the ambiant light conditions don't effect your framing a shot. Bright sunlight or darker indoor situations are hard for me to see on that little screen.
Don't worry about mega pixels, anything over 4mp will do the job. All the rest is marketing. The Cannon or Nikon SLR digital units go for $500/600. They weigh a little more, and won't fit in your pocket, but they take great pics. Buy an extra set of batteries, some cameras will just lock up without warning when they die. The NiCad ones make for a good back up plan, but the Lithium ones will last longer.
Print making is all about the printer and how much you want to spend on ink. I have a new HP all-in-one, and I can put my media card into the printer and print from there, or download to my hard drive from the printer.
All of the major brands are rated high by Consumers Report, so it's mostly personal preference. Best tip for good photos: Be a little more patient in setting up the shot, and keep the sun at your back whenever possible.
Good luck.

[nuch_ss396]

If you plan to taking any images of small detail ( like part
numbers on a carburetor ), I'd suggest bringing a US dime
with you to the camera shop and taking a few images of it
for compartive level of detail. Many digital cameras tend
to shake and blur on max zoom settings so you should use
some do-diligence here. Most any digital camera can handle
standard car shots with ease. When you start talking about
mirco detail, well let's just say that this separates the
men from the boys.

As others have already suggested, anything over 5 m-pix will
probably suffice for your needs. Remember, the higher the
resolution, the bigger the images ( file size ).

Let us know what you end up with. I'll be in the market
soon myself........

Steve

[J_D]

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We use a Cannon Digital Rebel XT and XTi on a daily basis at work and they are awesome cameras. We added the battery pack, which makes the camera body slightly larger (like the old motor drives did) and we can shoot hundreds of photos on one charge of the batteries. Having interchangable lenses makes them 'handle' like the old 35mms with great flexibility. The XTi sells for under a grand with one lens.

Good luck, BCD.

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I recently purchased the Canon Rebel XTi 10.2 megapixel SLR type camera. Bought it in November of 2006. Am pretty much satisfied with it except that all my photos seem to come out darker than what I think they should be. The file size with a 10.2 megapixel camera is huge.

I also have a 3.2 megapixel Canon S1IS digital camera. This camera I have been very satified with. It has a larger body than the really small digital cameras so like Bruce said above, you have something to hold on to yet small enough that you can pick it up and take it with you just about anywhere you would go. It takes high quality pictures and D.C. (OrigLS6) has blown up some of my pictures to as big as 11X14 with very good results. (Now I have gone and done it.........given D.C. a big head........probably won't be able to get through the door at work now ). Below are a couple of pictures that I took with it at SCR8. The picture of Kenny Barnhardt D.C. blew up to 11X14 for me and I had it framed and it now graces a wall in my home shop. The S1IS I don't believe is made by Canon anymore and has now been replaced by the S3IS which is a 5.1 megapixel camera as I remember. Like some other folks mentioned here.........both of the cameras I own have both a screen that you can use to compose your shots or a viewfinder which I like best (old school). The viewfinder is the best way to go in bright sunshine as the screen is just to hard to use. Even inside in the house, I still use the viewfinder instead of the screen (like I said above......old school). I have no experience with the S3IS but if it is like the S1IS, I believe it would be a good camera for you. I almost purchased it but opted to go to the XTi as I wanted to maybe someday have the option of blowing up prints to larger than 11X14 and wanted good quality. I am still learning with the Rebel XTi and hope to figure out why my photographs seem somewhat darker with the XTi compared to the S1IS.

Anyway................as I mentioned above, here are a couple of pics I took with the S1IS at SCR8. Like I said above too, D.C. enlarged the one of Kenny Barnhardt for me to 11X14 and it turned out very good and I had it professionally framed and it hangs on the wall in my home shop. If you know Kenny Barnhardt, you'll understand why this pic graces my wall in my home shop . The first picture is Frank Radke coming off the line at SCR8.

A question to Big Chevy Daddy...........I am considering the 70-300 compact Canon zoom lens. Have you used it yet and if you have it.........where would you recommend buying it at. Every where I have looked.........it is anywhere from $1,000 to $1,200.

[bigchevydaddy]

We got our setup through B&H photo; decent prices and good service -- super quick shipping. We haven't sprung for the big-dog lens yet, but instead use the lower-priced 75-300mm lens (f1:4-5.6). Works well except in low-light situations.

Good luck, BCD.