Digital Camera Help....

[JohnXDoe]

Hello.

I need help choosing a digital camera. It's a gift for my mom for Christmas. She is pretty much tech retarded and uses disposable cameras, so I'm not going all out on this thing. It's more a stocking stuffer then anything else. Still, I'm going to spend up to $100 on it and would like to get the most for my money, of course.

I need help because I don't have one myself. My idea of a digital camera is one that comes on a cell phone. And while I have used them to take shots, my question is more on the technical side so far as features and picture quality. In all honesty since it is for my mom, ease of use and picture quality is my main concern. For $100 I don't expect a whole lot, but I don't want it to be junk, either. I've narrowed it down to three:

One (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830170028)
Two (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830187617)
Three (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830187616)

The second one is a 5 mega pixel camera. But I have read depending on other features and factors mega pixels are not the only thing to be considered when buying a digital camera. So for those of you with experiance, which do you think is the best buy and the best choice based on the features you see? Again, though, ease of use and fairly good pic quality combined would be best. It doesn't have to do anything special. Just a good point and shoot job would do. Any opinions and info you could give me on the cameras based on your own expertise would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Lionheart1827]

Hello.

I need help choosing a digital camera. It's a gift for my mom for Christmas. She is pretty much tech retarded and uses disposable cameras, so I'm not going all out on this thing. It's more a stocking stuffer then anything else. Still, I'm going to spend up to $100 on it and would like to get the most for my money, of course.

I need help because I don't have one myself. My idea of a digital camera is one that comes on a cell phone. And while I have used them to take shots, my question is more on the technical side so far as features and picture quality. In all honesty since it is for my mom, ease of use and picture quality is my main concern. For $100 I don't expect a whole lot, but I don't want it to be junk, either. I've narrowed it down to three:

One (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830170028)
Two (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830187617)
Three (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830187616)

The second one is a 5 mega pixel camera. But I have read depending on other features and factors mega pixels are not the only thing to be considered when buying a digital camera. So for those of you with experiance, which do you think is the best buy and the best choice based on the features you see? Again, though, ease of use and fairly good pic quality combined would be best. It doesn't have to do anything special. Just a good point and shoot job would do. Any opinions and info you could give me on the cameras based on your own expertise would be appreciated. Thanks.

Before I say anything, check out http://www.dpreview.com and see if they have those cameras there for review.

Other than that, I would probably go for the Kodak since they are a bit more reputable than Vivitar.

I'd also like you to check out http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ since they usually have great deals on cameras.

[JohnXDoe]

Before I say anything, check out http://www.dpreview.com and see if they have those cameras there for review.

Other than that, I would probably go for the Kodak since they are a bit more reputable than Vivitar.

I'd also like you to check out http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ since they usually have great deals on cameras.
Meh, the first link only has two user reviews on the Kodak. Both are negative. Some were very negative on newegg, as well. But I'm going to check out other sources, too. Plus the EasyShare 300 line does move upward, but $100 is my price limit as of now. They don't even have any Vivitars listed. Not a good sign, perhaps. I'm gonna see if I can find more reviews and check out your second link. Thanks a lot.

[Klown]

I would personally go with the first one.

It has 3.2MP, which is easily enough for most people, Kodak is a decent make of camera and it also comes with a decent software package.

Aside from that, there isn't much difference between the cameras, none of them have an optical zoom which isn't so good, digital zooms just focus on the center of the image and crop the sides off, so if you zoom in a lot the picture quality will degrade quite some bit, however if you're not planning on taking pictures for the front cover of National Geographic, it'll be fine.

[Phill]

I would personally go with the first one.

It has 3.2MP, which is easily enough for most people, Kodak is a decent make of camera and it also comes with a decent software package.

Aside from that, there isn't much difference between the cameras, none of them have an optical zoom which isn't so good, digital zooms just focus on the center of the image and crop the sides off, so if you zoom in a lot the picture quality will degrade quite some bit, however if you're not planning on taking pictures for the front cover of National Geographic, it'll be fine.

I agree, Plus Kodak is a pretty big make of cameras so if anything were to go wrong with the camera or whatever it will be pretty easy to sort.
It looks like a pretty simple camera to work.

[JohnXDoe]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. The Kodak also has 330 and 340 Easyshare models available with more features. So perhaps I'll look at those for a little more money. Some of the user reviews on the 300 have been dismal, though. Yet others are good, on the other hand. And I'm sure some people are just too picky, as well. So the 5 mega pixel camera (the second one) doesn't pose an adavantage in anyway?

[Klown]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. The Kodak also has 330 and 340 Easyshare models available with more features. So perhaps I'll look at those for a little more money. Some of the user reviews on the 300 have been dismal, though. Yet others are good, on the other hand. And I'm sure some people are just too picky, as well. So the 5 mega pixel camera (the second one) doesn't pose an adavantage in anyway?
As long as it has over 3 mega pixels, it'll have pretty damn good image quality, certainly much better than the disposable cameras that your mum has been using up until now so it's best to look at the other features when making your descision.

[JohnXDoe]

As long as it has over 3 mega pixels, it'll have pretty damn good image quality, certainly much better than the disposable cameras that your mum has been using up until now so it's best to look at the other features when making your descision.
Great. I'm learning fast and hope to order today. I found this for $45 more. It has optical zoom. Would you say for someone like my mom it would hold any clear adavantage, or would I be just as well to save the money and go with the Kodak? Which I am leaning towards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830111161

Thanks once again.....

[Phill]

My brother has that olympus, Its a pretty good camera, However for your mum I would just stick with the kodak as its a decent camera and she wont notice a major difference in picture quality.

[Klown]

Great. I'm learning fast and hope to order today. I found this for $45 more. It has optical zoom. Would you say for someone like my mom it would hold any clear adavantage, or would I be just as well to save the money and go with the Kodak? Which I am leaning towards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830111161

Thanks once again.....
Well, it has a good bit of extra internal memory which is good, aside from that, the only real thing that makes it different from the other cameras is the fact that it has an optical zoom on it.

If you're only looking to zoom in a little bit to bring whatever it is that you're taking the picture of a little closer, the digital zooms on the other cameras would be suit that fine, the optical zoom will give you a bit extra whilst keeping the image quality the same, it all depends on whether you want to dish out the extra 45 bucks, it has an advantage, but not a huge advantage. It still comes with the software package included like the Kodak

Olympus are another big name in photography.

[lil_drummer_girl]

I'm sure you've probably made up you're mind, but i'd go for the first one as well. Since shes obviously not going to be using it for anything more than just fun, 3.2 MP is just fine, and it has 5x zoom which is higher than the other two. If you're still shopping around though, Fuji has some pretty good cameras that aren't really expensive. My first camera was a Fuji 3.2 MP camera and I would definitely recommend it. Good luck though. :)

[JohnXDoe]

I'm sure you've probably made up you're mind, but i'd go for the first one as well. Since shes obviously not going to be using it for anything more than just fun, 3.2 MP is just fine, and it has 5x zoom which is higher than the other two. If you're still shopping around though, Fuji has some pretty good cameras that aren't really expensive. My first camera was a Fuji 3.2 MP camera and I would definitely recommend it. Good luck though. :)
Thank you, ldg. I am still shopping around as a matter of fact. So the input is appreciated. Now that I understand a little more about them the choices are vast. I've been looking at some lesser known brands too, as they offer more features for the same amount of money. But with my mom the less features the better might be the smart way to go.

I visited the Wal-Mart website and they have a newer version of the Kodak on sale called the C40 (or CD40) that is actually 4 MP. That's only $98. So I figure that and a flash card would do her well. I can get a 512mb mem card from newegg for $24. The only thing holding me back really is the digital zoom. Optical zoom would be nice. So that's sort of what I'm considering most right now.

[zookpr]

Whats up

[lil_drummer_girl]

Thank you, ldg. I am still shopping around as a matter of fact. So the input is appreciated. Now that I understand a little more about them the choices are vast. I've been looking at some lesser known brands too, as they offer more features for the same amount of money. But with my mom the less features the better might be the smart way to go.

I visited the Wal-Mart website and they have a newer version of the Kodak on sale called the C40 (or CD40) that is actually 4 MP. That's only $98. So I figure that and a flash card would do her well. I can get a 512mb mem card from newegg for $24. The only thing holding me back really is the digital zoom. Optical zoom would be nice. So that's sort of what I'm considering most right now.

Thats a really good price for a memory card! I agree with you, she doesn't need a lot of features for what she'll probably be using it for, and they can get really confusing/frustrating if you've never used to a digital camera before, so i'd just stick with something simple and easy to use. :thumb: I wouldn't worry a lot about the MP of the camera, as theres really not a big difference from 3 to 4 MP.

[JohnXDoe]

^^^Thanks for all the help, everyone. I ended up ordering THIS (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?cpncode=12-3033688-2&dest=9999999997&product_id=4245653&sourceid=1500000000000002543950&srccode=cii_13736960).

Looks like a pretty good buy and comes with a similar software/accessory bundle as the Kodak. It's an HP and they are pretty much in the photography business these days, so I figure it's probably a good product. And the reviews on it were nice. It's less barebones then the Kodak but seems just as simple. So I'm happy. Plus it says it will hold 125 lower res pics on it's internal storage. So that will be good for Christmas day if mom wants to take pics. Then she won't have to fuss with flash cards and what not. She can just start snapping away. The only thing I didn't notice is it doesn't have a view finder. Which is odd I think for even a lower priced camera. So you have to use the viewing screen to frame your subject. Which apparently uses up battery life :-\ But it takes three different kinds of batts, so the long lasting ones should do fine. Oh, and I got her the little Samsonite case, too. So that tidy's things up rather nicely.

Thanks once again....:)

[lil_drummer_girl]

Nice choice. I have a friend who has an HP camera similar to that one (its 5 MP too) and its really nice. They have come way down in prices lately for those, it was more than twice that much when she bought hers about a year ago!

I hope she likes it. :)

[mooseyfate]

Kodak's pretty easy to use. Haven't used a Vivitar yet.
Have you checked any of the Casio's and Canon?

But wait, you've already ordered and HP's a pretty good buy especially since the software that comes with it is easy to use as well.

[JohnXDoe]

Hello once again.

Now that I have the camera I want to buy some memory for it. It takes SD cards as well as MMC cards. Is there a significant difference? Can someone tell me which is preferred and for what reason? Or is it pretty much the same? Thanks.....


EDIT: Is THIS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820160023R) what I'm looking for? It's for the HP camera I linked a few posts up.

[PutsTheFunInFuneral]

Both the MMC and SD cards are interchangeable, but I think SD cards have pretty much replaced them. MMC cards are cheaper, but are not as abundant as SD cards. The only difference between the two is that the SD cards have a little slider on the side that can lock the card so you don't accidentally erase data.

The HP cameras are some of the better starter cameras. The Kodaks are a terrible waste of money.