What are some new suggestions for an entry-level compact digital camera?
I“m looking for ease of use and no need to go to graduate school in order to read the manual. I have large hands and long fingers.
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you can never go wrong with canon cameras.
I have a casio exilim, kind of like this one
that I love. I had never used casio before, and the first time I used it, I found it very intuitive.
Actually it’s so easy to use that I don’t think I ever read the manual…
There are 2 things that I think are very important one is that the camera have a view finder. The screen is too hard to see on a sunny day and it is hard to hold a camera steady when you have it out at arms length to see the screen instead of braced against your face. The other is the battery, lithium batts keep their charge longer and you only have 1 to deal with instead of 2 or more double AA’s.
One other not as important, Sony, Compact Flash and XD memory cards are more expensive than SD cards so I prefer SD. Canon Ixus is a good choice.
Rooeytoo makes good points!
The camera I suggested does use a lithium battery and comes with a charger. (AA batteries are a pain in the butt!) And it uses an SD card.
It doesn’t have a view-finder, but it does have a super-big screen that’s pretty bright, and I don’t usually trouble seeing it.
I have a Canon Powershot A560. Here is a pic I took with it. You could probably get one for under a 100$ now.
edit :: I should add that was taken in automatic mode. I just pressed the button and iPhoto pulled it in when I plugged it into my iMac.
Good start, guys, but be more specific. What are memory cards and what are SD cards? I like the idea of a view finder because of my bifocals. What is automatic mode? As opposed to manual mode? I grew up with a Brownie box.
Rooey, give me a name.
I have been researching the Canon line but there are so many that I throw up my hands in despair.
@jp: That was a beautiful picture. I guess I should pay attention to the iPhoto app, which I have been ignoring.
I have 2 Canon cameras, one is a powershot with 12x zoom and I love it but it is too big to fit into my pocket. So I almost always carry a Canon Ixus, that is the model name. I have 8.1 megapixels with a 3 or 4x zoom, I forget which. The higher the megapixel the larger the photo you can print from it so unless you plan on going wallsize with your prints it is not overly relevant. And I have found that the higher the megapixel the more important it is to be able to hold the camera steady.
I would suggest you look at Ixus models.
The SD card is the memory card, it is slightly larger than a postage stamp and usually fits into the camera beside the battery. It holds the files of the pics you take. Usually when you buy the camera it comes with a card of maybe 512 m but today you can buy a card of 1 or 2 or more gigs for a couple of dollars and with the larger card you will probably fill your card in one outing.
Most all cameras come with an auto mode and that is what I use unless it is a specific shot that the camera may also allow for such as “twilight shot” “fireworks” “beach” and so on.
iPhoto is good but most cameras come with a photo editing program included and that is something to play with as you progress and come to enjoy the tweaking of photos.
Hope that helps.
@rooeytoo: Thank you for the clarification. Will a photo editing program allow me to dress Milo in a tutu and satin ballet slippers?
Yes, and if you send me his pic I will do it for you immediately!
The memory card is where the pictures are stored. It’s kind of like the digital camera version of the “film” but you can erase pictures off of it, and take new ones ones, over and over again. My laptop even has a special slot for a memory card, so that I can just pop it out of my camera, into my laptop, and presto, i’m looking at my pictures.
XD and SD cards are just different types.
I have a Canon PowerShot SX110 IS and i love it.
Here are the Canon PS xxx IS that I have researched; I can’t tell the difference. Do any of them have a view finder?
Canon PS SD780 IS; SD 790; A590
PS 880 IS; SD 800
***SD990 IS
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