Looking for good digital cam

[Ling Nightsky]

I'm very new to this.... and i'm in need of help as soon as possible coz i might buy one tommorrow...
I need a good digital camera that is within the price range of $400 to $500 with at least 2 megapixel, 3x zoom ( more if possible ) and can take good nightime shots, I'm currently a student in Digital Media Design thus i need a good camera that allows me to take better quality shots for assignments and projects.
So far, Minolta DiMAGE X, FujiFilm FinePix 2600Z, Olympus C-2, Sony DSC-P51 and P71.
By the way, i live in Singapore, so any singaporeans know of any good place to get a good deal?

 

[Tweek]

Hi, welcome to clubsnap

First of all, I'm afraid that none of the cameras you listed is within your requirement. They all exceed your budget, and also, all of them are PnS cameras with longest shutter speed between 1/2s to 2s. That is quite limiting for night shots.

It's hard to find a camera that can take good night shots within your budget. The closest will be Casio 2900UX (lots of forumners here use it) and Olympus C-2040Z. They allow you to have manual controls and has long exposure ability. Both are about $600+ though, out of your budget.

You can check out Alan Photo at Sim Lim Square, Cathay Photo at Peninsula Plaza, John 3:16 at Funan Centre. One good one that I'm not familiar with is MSColor at Ang Mo Kio. The shops I listed are in ascending prices they offer (typically), and thus correspondingly, in ascending level of service as well. In my opinion at least.

 

[Ling Nightsky]

if it's like comparing the photo quality of 2.0 megapixel and 1.3 megapixel..... will it be a big difference? or is it not noticable?
if there's not much difference in quality, is there any cam that is lesser than 2.0megapixel ( i'll sacrifice the night shots anyway ) that is within my budget?

 

[mpenza]

another way of looking at resolution is how big you can print the photo. higher resolution doesn't mean higher quality, it just means you can print bigger photos without loss in details.

 

[La|n]

AP selling Fujiflm 2600Z for $500....

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
if it's like comparing the photo quality of 2.0 megapixel and 1.3 megapixel..... will it be a big difference? or is it not noticable?
if there's not much difference in quality, is there any cam that is lesser than 2.0megapixel ( i'll sacrifice the night shots anyway ) that is within my budget?

 

[Ling Nightsky]

great.... you mean that's the price that most shops offer? or just one specific shop?

 

[xdivider]

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
great.... you mean that's the price that most shops offer? or just one specific shop?

AP is usu one of the cheapest.

 

[hong]

wait for A40, the prize should be low

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by mpenza
another way of looking at resolution is how big you can print the photo. higher resolution doesn't mean higher quality, it just means you can print bigger photos without loss in details.

Higher resolution is not only useful for printing, it can actually help to bring out the details of the object, it will help u later if u want to magnify your object...

eg. when i use the max zoom already and still find that the object is too small, i will use max resolution so that i can crop out the object and enlarge it later with photoshop

 

[Ling Nightsky]

ok, i get the idea now..... gotta research more so that i will not be cheated by some sellers.... lol
anyway, what's the usual storage space for most digicam? Which type of cam have a longer battery life?

 

[Ling Nightsky]

Got a Fuji Finepix 40i! Looks like i'm totally out of budget anyway... got it for $700 at Alan Photo ( with 64 Meg upgrade ).... But i think i have problem with the Smartmedia card coz it says card error when i tried to use it...
Is it coz i haven't recharge the batteries? or because the card is dirtied or something? what cloth should i use to wipe it? Sigh, so sian, don't feel like going back to SMS... so far away....

 

[xdivider]

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
Got a Fuji Finepix 40i! Looks like i'm totally out of budget anyway... got it for $700 at Alan Photo ( with 64 Meg upgrade ).... But i think i have problem with the Smartmedia card coz it says card error when i tried to use it...
Is it coz i haven't recharge the batteries? or because the card is dirtied or something? what cloth should i use to wipe it? Sigh, so sian, don't feel like going back to SMS... so far away....

Go to the display mode, choose format media

 

[Ling Nightsky]

why format? what will that do?
and should i format it after i fully charge the batteries?

 

[megaweb]

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
Got a Fuji Finepix 40i!

 

[Ling Nightsky]

hmmm?
is that bad?
by the way, there's a format smartmedia option in the cam? didn't see that in the manual....

 

[megaweb]

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
hmmm?
is that bad?
by the way, there's a format smartmedia option in the cam? didn't see that in the manual....

To me , yes it is ... the only feature that attract me is the mp3 player feature .. the camera feature is really bad ... this camera is a BATT sucker ... moreover it is discontinued ..

good luck to you !

 

[Tweek]

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
hmmm?
is that bad?
by the way, there's a format smartmedia option in the cam? didn't see that in the manual....

wah...sorry man, but that is one camera I will never buy. With that money, you could have gotten something much better, tho without that MP3 function. THis 40i has got no optical zoom you know!

But it's just my opinion lah, maybe the mp3 function is useful to you, and maybe you'll like the camera. Since you bought it already, make the full out of it lah.

Should try formatting the SMC if it says card error. Formatting the SMC is akin to formatting a diskette before it can be recognised by the OS. If the error persists after formatting, then ask for an exchange, the card is probably spoilt.

 

[Ling Nightsky]

gah, well good luck to me.... at first i want to buy other camera without the mp3 thingy but mom loves this one too much.... oh well....

 

[xdivider]

Originally posted by Tweek


wah...sorry man, but that is one camera I will never buy. With that money, you could have gotten something much better, tho without that MP3 function. THis 40i has got no optical zoom you know!

But it's just my opinion lah, maybe the mp3 function is useful to you, and maybe you'll like the camera. Since you bought it already, make the full out of it lah.

Should try formatting the SMC if it says card error. Formatting the SMC is akin to formatting a diskette before it can be recognised by the OS. If the error persists after formatting, then ask for an exchange, the card is probably spoilt.

If u checked out what those taiwanese did, they added a 6x zoom to the 40i

 

[xdivider]

Originally posted by Ling Nightsky
gah, well good luck to me.... at first i want to buy other camera without the mp3 thingy but mom loves this one too much.... oh well....

Ur mom intends to bring it ard to listen to mp3?