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The Kitchen Table

Camera suggestions?

13 years ago

I know this gets asked every now and then... but I'm in the market for a camera and was wondering if I could get suggestions as to what kind to get. I want to use if for taking pics of flowers and other ordinary stuff, and pics and videos of birds and my dogs. I'm not a professional, by any means, but I can manage something better than entry level. Any suggestions?

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Comments (11)

nicole__
13 years ago
We own 3 cameras. All are over 3 years old. My Canon A460 has a 4X zoom, has a macro setting for flowers and can take an hour of video with sound. Having said THAT....it's only 5mp, which is too low for what you can get now adays. :0) I also got mine "free" for opening a bank account.....so the price was right!!!! :0) So I would get all those features plus at least 8mp.
wanda_va
13 years ago
I have a Kodak Easyshare V1073 that I got a year ago. It has 10 MP, 3x zoom, 3" LCD screen, and is a audio/video recorder. I love it because it is easy to use, takes great pictures, and is small enough to carry in my pocket or purse.

I got it on sale for $100.
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lydia1959
13 years ago
Consumer Reports new issue has ratings of cameras in it. Does your local library have CR magazines?
roseluver
13 years ago
I have 2 cameras. One is an Olympus SP-500UZ with a 10X optical zoom. I also have an Olympus fe that is so small I carry it in my purse in the event I see something I want to snap a picture of. It has a 5X optical lens. Both of them make wonderful pictures.
oldgardener_2009
13 years ago
I have the Olympus SP-510UZ, love the big zoom for wildlife shots.
kathy_
13 years ago
I am an Olympus fan too. Note though that you cannot use your old camera cards with them - you need the special XD card.
Steve's Cameras has ratings for them. It drives me nuts trying to buy electronics - I want it all!!
alisande
13 years ago
Not all Olympus cameras require the XD cards; mine uses XD or Compact Flash. My Lumix FZ35 uses SD cards.

Susan, when you've got a small list of possibilities, here's a couple of suggestions: Look each one up on Amazon, checking the customer ratings and looking at the images people have posted. Bear in mind that many of these pictures were taken by a limited number of people--i.e., most customers don't upload images to Amazon. But they're still worth looking at.

Go to Flickr.com and do a search on each camera model. Many members assign the model as a tag on their photos. Again, you're likely to see the same people posting over and over. But not as few as on Amazon.

If you're interested in video, do the same thing on YouTube. I'm not a video person at all, but I discovered on YouTube that my Lumix takes beautiful ones. :-)
susan_on
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, those are great ideas! Thanks, Susan!

Btw... what did you post on You Tube?
alisande
13 years ago
Oh, noÂI didn't post anything on YouTube. I just did a YouTube search for FZ35 and found some beautiful videos other people had taken. (I still haven't used a video camera I was given as a gift several years ago. I feel guilty about that!)
monica_pa Grieves
13 years ago
What I asked for, for my birthday next month:
Nikon Coolpix S4000 12 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 3.0-Inch Touch-Panel LCD

Amazon has it for $155...a friend got one a couple of months ago, and it is a very good camera....takes great pictures.
susan_on
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh, I see, good idea, Susan.

Thanks for your input everyone. I will be checking out all these ideas and suggestions.

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