Budget (and acceptable) Camera

[sascoordinator]

Guys,

needs advice on a camera that's worth 10k or lower but good enough to use. My mom is going to spain and needs a camera with an expandable memory and a rechargeable batt. Unfortunately, she's going to ugrade her phone and a new camera.

My mom's a bit stingy and only allotted 15k for both. She's giving me heck of a trouble of finding one.

thanks in advance!

~carlo

[penmanila]

will you take a good used one? do megapixels matter to her?

[ransom]

You'd be surprised what you can find for under 10k nowadays. If it's just basic tourist snapshots you're mom is gonna take a 2 megapixel cam is good enough. I think Kodak carries 3.1 megapix models for around 10k. they wont win you any photo contests, but they'll serve the purpose of recording a trip.

[zedd]

yah, she should buy at least 2.0 megapix, printable in 3R.
But for travel, i think it should be a 3megapix one. you cant be again in the same place at the same time

[maitani]

See why Megapixels matter less than you think. There is practically no difference between 2MP and 3MP or 4MP for that matter. A 2MP camera from the majors that meet the price budget should be enough.

[Tarkuz]

That's a nice article, "The Megapixel Myth", by Ken Rockwell, however, he was talking more about acceptable print sizes only and I dont quite agree with his statement "the number of megapixels (MP) a camera has has very little to do with how the image looks."

For those who are picky with image quality, I believe that more pixels = larger sensor = lower noise level = better image quality.

Please read A Basic Beginner's Guide to Digital Camera Technology and Effects of Sensor Size on Image Quality by Bob Atkins.

[maitani]

Originally posted by Tarkuz
For those who are picky with image quality, I believe that more pixels = larger sensor = lower noise level = better image quality.

But more pixels do not always mean larger sensors. The new Canon Powershot S70 has 1/1.8" (or 0.556 in) CCD and 7.1 million effective pixels. The older Olympus E-1 DSLR has a larger 4/3" (or 1.33 in) CCD but only 5 million pixels.

[Edited on 3-29-2005 by maitani]

[sascoordinator]

@penmanila
sir, megapixels doesn't matter as long as the pics are fine. i think a good used one will always be good option.

@ransom, zedd, maitani, tarkuz
thanks for the advice...

anyways, any specific model you'd probably recommend?

[Gomi]

just got a olympus camedia c370 last week, it was on sale for 9.5k... 3.2 megapixel with 3x optical zoom... pretty spiffy for the price and the quality is above consumer grade... im very happy with it.

[Edited on 3-29-2005 by HAL9000]

[marcus]

U might want to check out villman's installment madness, it's extended until the 31st for canon digicams. you can get an a400 for a little over than 1k for 12 months at zero interest. i think the a400 will be just right for your mom

[Edited on 3-29-2005 by marcus]