Camera as present. Suggestions?

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Vegeta

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I want to buy the GF a digital camera for her birthday hers got stolen by a "friend" :mad: :mad:

Now i dont know JACK about cameras and she just uses it to take pics in general of the dogs and stuff :D The one that got stolen was a SAMSUNG no idea what model but it was around 8megapixel if i remember correctly.

What should i get? Make model? Around R2000 or less if possible(I'm cheap i know) :p
 
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Thx for the input guys. The Canon Ixus appears to be a bit pricey for me, inporting is not an option as her bday is this week :eek:
The Kodak looks great i'm leaning towards that. What brands should i stay away from?
 
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The good thing with Kodaks is you can buy then in any Kodak store - thats one of the reasons I switched to Kodak.

There is no specific brands to avoid, just make sure that whatever camera you buy :
1) it uses standard AA batteries and
2) it uses standard memory formats like SD/SDHC/MMC

Your C-series Kodaks and A-series Canons all allow for this. Some Fuji's also have switched to SD memory. The Fuji A100 (at SAcamera for R1300) seems to be the cheapest non-Kodak option that fits these requirements.
 
bwana said:
The Canon PowerShot A480 seems decent - it uses AA batteries which is always a bonus.

10mp is a bit high but not much you can do about that these days.

EDIT - or maybe something in pink? :D http://www.sacamera.co.za/productdetail/CANE1P/Canon-Powershot-E-1-Pink.html

She might be more comfortable with a samsung - unless she wasnt particularly impressed with her old one. http://www.sacamera.co.za/product/534/Samsung-Compact-Cameras.html
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Why do you say 10mp is a bit high? Isn't it the more the better?
 
Vegeta said:
Why do you say 10mp is a bit high? Isn't it the more the better?
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Sensor size is very important. Higher megapixels on the same size sensor does not really help.

Have a look at the camera specs on DPreview.com for a better understanding of what sensor sizes are used.

EDIT : here is an interesting comparison to illustrate differnent sensort sizes and pixel densities for you : http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/com...,canon_e1,kodak_z1485is,canon_eos50d&show=all

While the last one has a massive sensor I do not recommend buying SLR (ever) - but I doubt that you will in this case any way.
 
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Basically what it means is the more sensor pixels you lay out over the same area the smaller the pixels and the closer they are packed. This means you are likely to get more noise (SNR ratio) and therefore a picture that could look worse. That said, technology also improves to reduce the noise and allow closer packed pixels.

Unless your GF is a pixel peeper, the difference between between 8 or 10 will probably be negligible. Things that you want to look for are ease of use and standard memory & batteries and a camera that is responsive.
 
It means that you will only be able to use it until the internal battery is tired of being recharged. Rather buy a cheak Canon from SAcamera or a C-series Kodak from any Kodak store. At least they run on AA batteries that you can replace as you like. Also, when you are away and do not have your charger with you, you can always pop into the nearest cafe and buy a pack of duracells.
 
Rouxenator said:
It means that you will only be able to use it until the internal battery is tired of being recharged. Rather buy a cheak Canon from SAcamera or a C-series Kodak from any Kodak store. At least they run on AA batteries that you can replace as you like. Also, when you are away and do not have your charger with you, you can always pop into the nearest cafe and buy a pack of duracells.
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I like the kodak ones do they have a online shop?
 
Vegeta said:
Why do you say 10mp is a bit high? Isn't it the more the better?
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Noise is your enemy. Today's point and shoots have such densely packed sensors that you're already fighting a losing battle with image quality (IQ) - cramming more pixels because the [brainwashed] consumer believes higher is better only makes it worse.

No point and shoot can match the IQ of a bottom of the range dSLR with its bigger sensor. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the advocates of P&S cameras) fitting a dSLR into your pocket isnt going to happen. :D
 
bwana said:
Noise is your enemy. Today's point and shoots have such densely packed sensors that you're already fighting a losing battle with image quality (IQ) - cramming more pixels because the [brainwashed] consumer believes higher is better only makes it worse.

No point and shoot can match the IQ of a bottom of the range dSLR with its bigger sensor. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the advocates of P&S cameras) fitting a dSLR into your pocket isnt going to happen. :D
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I've been trying to understand this pixel density, noise, sensor smack-talk and it kinda makes sense. So what you're saying is that a 8mp camera with the same sensor-thingymadgic would be better than a 10mp.
The 10mp will only be betta if this thingymabob is much bigger?:confused:
 
Lol, yeah. Higher megapixels are usually associated with more noise, as eluded to. I think 7.2MP is more than enough... Go for a Canon, Sony or Kodak. They're all good.
 
Very nicely explained bwana.

I have seen some newer point and shoot cameras packing as much as 43 MP/cm²! I wonder what quality images these sensors produce... Maybe I'll check around with the camera finder tool on flickr.

On the other had it seems that some makers do not want to go over the 40 MP/cm² pixel density barrier - for example the new 14MP Kodak Z1485, instead of sticking with a 1/2.3" sensor they opted for a slightly larger 1/1.72" one that results in 34 MP/cm² which is OK for a nonSLR.

I just hope they stick below 40 MP/cm² as even an el-cheapo-fanboi like me feels that things are getting too tight beyond that.
 
Vegeta said:
I've been trying to understand this pixel density, noise, sensor smack-talk and it kinda makes sense. So what you're saying is that a 8mp camera with the same sensor-thingymadgic would be better than a 10mp.
The 10mp will only be betta if this thingymabob is much bigger?:confused:
Click to expand...

Well not really - sensor size is the problem, not the amount of pixels they pack onto it. There is only a limited amount of light that can hit a sensor sized at 1/2.3 " (6.16 x 4.62 mm, 0.28 cm²). This means that if you increase the sensors sensitivity to the light (amplifying the signal you get from it) you will get more noise as well. That's why you will see high ISO images (1600+) from SLR cameras with a lot less noise in them than say a ISO400 shot taken with a compact camera.

Under good light conditions this should not be a problem and you can always shoot at lower resolutions on a 10 MP camera (like 2048x1536 = 3.1 MP)

What would be cool is nonSLR cameras with larger sensors. You have the ease of use and flexibility of a compact/bridge camera with the light sensitivity of an SLR.
 
Thank you for all the help guys. I'm heading out to my nearest(relative, 60-80 or so km) mall today to get a Kodak.

And you know what made me pick a kodak? From all your talk about 1/2.3" sensors, ISO's, light and density blah blah... They come in PINK! :p And i think that will blow her hair back and mine :D
 
:p ! Yeah the M-series comes in pink amongst other colours - and from a girls point of view that's proabably more important the the image quality of 8second exposures on ISO400 at F/5.7 :D

If you are going with the funky styled M-series, try getting on of the IS models (Image Stabilization) this will result in less blurry shots.

EDIT : Just keep in mind the M-series is a bit pricey and runs off a special Li-ion batteries. So you'd probably want a C180 or C140 cause they run on AA batteries, come in red and pink, and are pretty cheap.
 
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