digital camera opinions (1 Viewer)

[Rahul]

i might be getting this guy: http://h50025.www5.hp.com/hpcom/au_en/16_61_205_1820_Q3731A.html

the specs are there. anyone can point out some good/bad things about it.

basically looking for a camera to take 'normal' pictures [parties, home pics, etc]. so not looking for anything flashy.

thanks.

 

[hipsta_jess]

unless you want to blow up the pics to A3+, then the pixels and all is fine

dont really know anything about the rest.

 

[Rahul]

cool thanks.
less than A3 is fine.

 

[Rahul]

any other opinions?

 

[Fosweb]

I think that camera is decieving you in how big it can take images... It appears only to have two sizes, a 3 MP image and a 640x480 image. This might be a problem, it might not be.
Even though I have a 4MP camera, I still take most pics at 1600x1200 because I havent bought another card yet.
It is also a fixed focus camera... Which may cause problems depending on what type of pictures you are taking.
I would be careful buying a HP digital camera. Its much safer to go with a Canon/Kodak/Nikon/Olympus etc...

Kodak has a few cheaper cameras now which look pretty good: (Such as)
For $399 you can get a 3.1 MP with 3X optical zoom. This one looks a better option than the HP, but its a little bigger.

I think the Olympus MJU cameras are nice and small and they are waterproof. This is the most stylish camera i think, but lacks manual features, but you said you dont need this anyway. It also costs more.

For one that looks similar to the HP above, Canon A300. This also doesnt have optical zoom, but its 3MP, and about the same price as the HP ( A300 is $399).
This camera would kick the pants off the HP as well.
It takes 640x480 movies with sound, where as the HP doesnt do movies.

The flash on the Olympus MJU is a 'little' more powerful than the other two, and may be better for 'parties', but its also more expensive, but the flash on teh HP is limited.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp
This site is helpful, it lets you compare different cameras specs side-by-side.

 

[Generator]

BTW, Digital zoom is basically pointless. I'd go for a camera with 3x optical zoom at least, but that is just me. But then again, for 'normal' pics you might not need a zoom at all, and I am sure that a 2mp camera would be fine for those events that you mentioned up above.

At least with that camera you don't have to rely solely on regular AA style batteries, though

 

[copious]

yeah just to re-inforce what gen mentioned, digital is quite useless. i turn mine off on my camera and only use the 3x optical zoom which is more than enough for what i use the camera for.

 

[Rahul]

Originally posted by Fosweb
I think that camera is decieving you in how big it can take images... It appears only to have two sizes, a 3 MP image and a 640x480 image.

sorry for my stupidity, but what are they? the 3 MP for quality and 640x480 for size?

it says that the resolution is 2048 x 1536 pixels, you say 640x480? how are the decieving us?

 

[inasero]

sorry for my stupidity, but what are they? the 3 MP for quality and 640x480 for size?

nope..theyre the same thing at the end of the day when u take the media to a photo shop to have them printed out...

things to look for: zoom---->optical = good and digital = bad
lens quality----> even if u find a cheap 4 MP camera dont buy it cos u get what u pay for in terms of quality (kodak and sony are excellent)
dont worry about filters and fancy whatnot cos u can do that in adobe fotoshop anyhows

umm to print normal fotos i think the minimum resolution you'd be looking at is 2 MP, and thats the BARE resolution...

hmm lets see...movie recording is also important...make sure that the one u are getting doesnt pout a cap on how long u can recors for

also make sure you can manually adjust the shutter speed to account for light variations...

mmmm battery life is also an important comsideration....go for lithium ion batteries cos they last for longer...

that sall from me,....

 

[Rahul]

thanks insanero

 

[Fosweb]

What I was saying Rahul, is that this camera only gives you two options for choosing which res you want to use. You can only take pics at 3MP, or at 640x480 (whatever that is... about 1/2 MP)

Whilst mine lets you select:
640x480, 1024x768, 1200x1600, then a 2272 x 1704 size.

Check out the latest (there's so many now) digital camera thread... for $600 even you can do so much better than this.

 

[anti]

What sort of price range are you looking at? For under $600 you have quite a bit of choice for an average camera.

HP isn't really renowned for their digital cameras so I would be a bit wary. As the others have said too, a digital zoom only is quite poor - look for a camera with optical zoom. If you don't know the difference, digital zoom makes each pixel larger rather than actually zooming IN on the subject. It means your camera can be smaller, but the quality is diminished somewhat.

I'd always prefer a rechargable Li-ion battery because they last longer, although they're more expensive to replace..

Think about whether you're actually gonna be using it to take video clips, macro stuff (close ups) or just point + shoot - cause if it's point + shoot you don't need a lot of the features of more advanced cameras.

Other thing to consider is size, I do believe most of the HP cameras are pretty bulky (might just be me tho)