Digital cameras - any suggestions?

[Alarra]

I'm looking to buy a good digital camera hopefully around Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so that I can have it when I go on vacation to Ireland in May.

My last camera was a cheap Kodak EasyShare CD82 that I got at Walmart at a Black Friday several years ago, and a a couple months ago my dad gave me the Samsung ST72 that he'd gotten free as an anniversary gift from work. In both cases, these are ~$100 cameras, and they don't seem to handle light and color as well as I'd like, no matter what I change the settings to; my ipod takes better pictures aside from it being really low resolution.


What I'm looking for, with a price limit of about $500:

• I don't want to deal with lenses and so forth. I want a nice point-and-shoot that has presets (landscape, sport, fireworks, etc) that you can optionally use; my mom has an Olympus from about 2005 that we really like that does that. (Not sure what model. I'd borrow it for my trip, except that it takes Olympus memory cards, which are a non-standard size and only go up to 2GB, and it records videos in a weird format that seems to have compatibility issues with things.)
• Either SD or SD Micro cards. The card I want to use right now is a 32GB micro SD and I have an SD adapter for it so it can fit into either size.
• The ability to use standard batteries, not specially-sized rechargeable ones. That's one downside to the Samsung from my dad: it has a rectangle-shaped rechargable lithium-ion battery specially made for the camera/brand. That's great for just being around home and maybe using the camera for an hour or two; I can just plug it in and recharge it for a while afterward and not have to keep buying batteries. Not so great for being on vacation, using the camera all day, not being around an outlet to charger it, and needing to put in new batteries NOW.

I don't know much about what's out there, or what to look for in a camera. Any tips on camera-buying, and any brands/models you'd recommend?

[Musicman247]

The two brands people I know swear by is Canon and Nikon. Both of them have great optics and great picture quality/color reproduction/etc.

Judging by your description you don't want a DSLR, which take the best quality pictures, but you have to deal with lenses (well you don't have to. You can just use one) and they're a little bulky. So you'll probably be happy with a simple point-and-shoot.

There are several form factors when it comes to point-and-shoot cameras. Some, like this Canon Powershot, are slim, light and pocketable. Others have a slightly larger body with a grip and a pop-out flash like this Nikon Coolpix. I'm sure you know all this, but deciding which form factor you would prefer would help narrow your options.

Optical zoom is always better than digital zoom, as optical uses the lenses to focus the light, while digital just zooms into the image, which will make it less clear (ENHANCE!). So get as high an optical zoom number as you can so you can capture far-away objects clearly.

I'm sure there are others on here who can provide more advice, but this is about all I've got as I'm not anywhere close to even an amateur photographer.

[Alarra]

I actually didn't realize that you can keep just one lens in a camera. Are there any downsides to that? Are you limited to certain types of photos that way?

[Musicman247]

Most DSLRs come with a basic lens that will let you shoot normal shots pretty well. To get really good macro or far-off shots you would want a different lens. Again, I only know the basics, but I think you can get a small general purpose lens and not have to change it.

[Wolfborn]

You can definitely get away with using only a single lens on a DSLR camera. What type of lens you need depends on what type(s) of photos you want to take, how flexible you need the lens to be, and how important image quality is to you.

If you don't want to change lenses or carry a whole bunch of different ones around with you, your best bet would be to get a zoom lens. These lenses have variable focal lengths which provide you with the ability to take everything from wide-angle to telephoto shots without having to switch lenses. A good-quality zoom lens on a good-quality DSLR body will most likely do everything you want to do.

As far as tips for camera-buying go, I would suggest two things:

1. If at all possible, go to a good, reputable photography store (NOT a department or big-box general merchandise retailer, but a store that specializes exclusively in photography). The people who work in these stores are usually photographers themselves and will be happy to answer your questions and recommend the system that works best for what you need within your budget. You can try out and compare different camera makes and models side-by-side and get a feel for what they can and can't do. You don't necessarily need to make your final purchase there, but if you're going to drop $500 on a camera, this is one of the best ways to get the information you need to get something you won't regret spending the money on later.

2. Read everything you can. Look around online for photography magazines and read their articles and reviews to get a better idea of what's available out there and how it performs.

Hope this helps.

[VirtualWeasel]

I actually didn't realize that you can keep just one lens in a camera. Are there any downsides to that? Are you limited to certain types of photos that way?

No, no downsides. For your needs, owning a kit lens and keeping it in the camera is just fine.

I know you're probably aiming more toward small point-and-shoot, but I'd like to offer up a few user-friendly DSLRs that I think would work great for what you need, as well as some point-and-shoots:

Canon
Canon is often called the "best camera" in the market. I call [&@%!] on that, because there is no best camera company—there's only what works for your needs, and what doesn't. Canon performs well and is very user friendly, and that's a plus for you if you do just want a point-and-shoot setup. Canon is also more expensive than Nikon, so take that into consideration.

• Canon EOS Rebel SL1 - Yes, Canon's entry-level DSLR is 500 [&@%!] dollars. I'm just as surprised as you are. But I've heard good things about the camera, and it should be great for what you need.
• Canon PowerShot G16 - Good MP for the money, and is a real point-and-shoot camera. Seems like it's pretty good, but I'm personally not a fan of any price like that on a point-and-shoot camera.
• Canon PowerShot SX530 - This camera has a disturbing lack of details that accompany it. Given the very general info provided, it seems decent.

Nikon
I'm a fan of Nikon because I've used their cameras in the past, but I won't say that they're the only good camera on the planet. Canon has models just as good and many that are better—it's all a matter of what you want out of a camera. I recommend Nikon cameras if you plan to get into more involved photography in the future, as they're a great starting point and can give you a good deal of freedom if you want it.

• Nikon D3200 - My first camera was a D3100, and this is an upgraded version of that. Solid build, good performance, great entry-level DSLR.
• Nikon Coolpix P610 - A nice, quality point and shoot. I would recommend it, though their failure to mention any specifics aside from megapixels and zoom always makes me suspicious. Should be fine, though.
• I'd like to give the Coolpix A and honorable mention as well. It's a great camera if you're willing to go up to 600, only problem is yes, its price, and, it doesn't have a zooming lens.

Those are only to name a few, you can find plenty of other good ones out there.
And also, as a final note: DO NOT buy from American Camera Company. They are scammers and thieves, and will take your money in any conniving way they can.

[Alarra]

Thanks for your tips, guys! That gives me some great starting points for researching them.

Yeah, unfortunately there's no photography stores within at least an hour of here; I'm going to have to order online.