Digital Camera-yet again!!

Posted by: Don Atkinson on 18 January 2004

Digital Camera-yet again!!

Mrs Don would like to replace her aging 35mm "snappy" Ixos with a "modern" ie digital camera.

Most of the time it will snap family and friends around the dinner table, at weddings, in the garden, on holiday - sometimes with magnificant scenery in the background. Print-out will normally be 7x5 from one of the high street chains. But she is incredibly critical of skin tone, detail and accurate colour rendition.

Every now and then, one of her pictures will be "super" and expected to be blown up to A4 size. Anything less than perfection at this size and the camera will be on its way back to Jessops (or whichever poor retailer was unfortunate enough to have recommended it and sold it). I will be expected to produce whatever she wants, from time to time, on my Epson Stylus 950 or 800.......

At present she is hovering between a Canon Powershot A80 and a Nikon Coolpix 4300, both hovering around the £300 mark and neither being "too big" for the old hand-bag!!!!!!

I noticed that the Nikon produces TIFF files as well as JPEG. I am not sure about the Canon. Is it helpful to have TIFF files, bearing in mind that that everytime you massage JPEG you lose some quality (I believe).

Your advice and recommendations gratefully received

Cheers

Don
Posted on: 27 January 2004 by Don Atkinson
one guesses there must be a compromise somewhere.

perhaps its just the name is not PENTAX ?

Cheers

Don

PS or they use up the Pentax reject components?
Posted on: 28 January 2004 by Tarquin Maynard - Portly
I bought an IXUS v3 at the weekend, as I have some kit to sell on the web. Pretty pleased with it, the pictures look good and I am trying ( without success ) to post some pictures of my kit on the Forum. The reason I went for it is partly Cannons' good name, but also that it felt rather more substantial than the other digital cameras available.

Don if you are still OK for the 20th, have a play then.

Regards

Mike

On the Yellow Brick Road and Happy
Posted on: 28 January 2004 by jason.g
i,m no photography expert and with all the different modes and settings of the CENTON it will take me some time to get to grips with it.on first charge the battery seemed to run low really quick (lith-ion) but i did have the lcd screen on and was fiddling a lot.this seems common to most cameras.where is the cheapest supplier of sd cards?

what were barn owls called before barns were invented?
Posted on: 28 January 2004 by Phil Sparks
Last time I bought the cheapest place I could find for digi-cam memory was www.7dayshop.com

Have a good surf around and (keep notes) and you'll soon settle on the going rate - remember to factor in the postage though - the difference between 95p and £5 can outweigh the price difference in in the cards.

Worth also giving all the pc usual suspects a try as well - www.dabs.com www.amazon.co.uk www.cclcomputers.co.uk etc althought their minimum P&P is generally a bit higher.

Phil
Posted on: 28 January 2004 by docstocker
I have been very pleased with my canon Ixus 400. Small but robust. Would advise a second battery if your pictures are critical as it sudenly runs out. Would also advise two largeish compact flash or other storage devices rather than one enormous one in case the one goes tits up, takes all your pictures with it and leaves you with an expensive paperweight until you can get to the shops again. I wish the optical zoom was bigger too but it is a camera you can always carry in your pocket.
Best wishes
John