digital camera recommendations?

[diamondgirl4382]

I am in the market for a new digital camera, I love my Canon Powershot A520 but it is about 5 years old and I would like to upgrade to something with higher MP. Well, I just made a mistake and bought the Kodak easyshare Z1285. 12 mp...but a lot of the pics I have taken look very grainy, especially those in anything less than bright-light conditions. The pics from my old Canon look much better. I''m not keeping the Kodak, and am probably going to buy a newer Canon instead. Anybody own one or have any recommendations? Basically I am a point and shoot photographer, but I do take a lot of pics and want them to be high quality.

 

[AmberGretchen]

If you can find one, I adore my Canon 850IS - IMO, it beats anything they''ve come out with since...

 

[omieluv]

Date: 1/29/2009 9:34:40 PM
Author:diamondgirl4382
I am in the market for a new digital camera, I love my Canon Powershot A520 but it is about 5 years old and I would like to upgrade to something with higher MP. Well, I just made a mistake and bought the Kodak easyshare Z1285. 12 mp...but a lot of the pics I have taken look very grainy, especially those in anything less than bright-light conditions. The pics from my old Canon look much better. I'm not keeping the Kodak, and am probably going to buy a newer Canon instead. Anybody own one or have any recommendations? Basically I am a point and shoot photographer, but I do take a lot of pics and want them to be high quality.

Unfortunately, P&S (point and shoot) cameras really do not do well in low light situations and images can look grainy or "off" in color. I do not know too much about the Kodak you bought, but it sounds like they might have stuffed it with too many mp's for its sensor to handle. Cameras have sensors in them and if sensors are not increased to handle higher amounts of mp's it can adversely impact the image quality (at least that is what I understand). However, companies know that mp's sell, so that is why they add more, but to keep prices down, they do not enhance the sensor. I should not over generalize, because they do not all do this. My new camera has 10mp's and it just hit the market like 5 months ago.

I did much research before buying my digicam and here is a list of the "best" cameras from the forum I visited: http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html . What is nice about this list, is that he breaks down each camera by size/type, so it makes it easy to zero in on your needs. He has several models by Canon on the list, so you might want to look at those because you seem to be comfortable with the controls of your A520.

I also found your Kodak on that site and the reviewer said the same thing about its images being grainy in low light (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/kodak_z1275_pg5.html ; last sentence - 2nd paragraph).

ETA: Depending on what you are using the camera for, do not let MPs completely drive your decision. The amount of MPs will determine the size of the photo that can be printed at a decent quality and they will also determine to the extent at which you can edit your photos. However, if there are more than the camera can handle, that is not good.

 

[diamondgirl4382]

Thank you so much for the replies. Omieluv, your explanation of why the Kodak''s pics look grainy makes perfect sense--there''s lots of hype about MP now, but I am realizing that they aren''t as important as I first thought. Thanks for the link, I''ll be reading lots of reviews before I make my decision.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Also check out the reviews on CNET - they have both editorial and consumer reviews, which I think are both really helpful, for different reasons.

 

[omieluv]

Date: 2/3/2009 4:05:22 PM
Author: diamondgirl4382
Thank you so much for the replies. Omieluv, your explanation of why the Kodak's pics look grainy makes perfect sense--there's lots of hype about MP now, but I am realizing that they aren't as important as I first thought. Thanks for the link, I'll be reading lots of reviews before I make my decision.

You are quite welcome. Remember, MPs are important, depending on what you are doing. If you are really into photo editing and blowing up pictures larger than 5x7, then you might want to consider a more sophisticated camera, like a DSLR or a "prosumer" camera (e.g., Canon G9/10). If you really want a camera that performs well in lower light situations, then you really almost have to go with a DSLR. Entry level DSLRs are more user friendly for newbies and picture quality is heads and tails better than P&S cameras. The Nikon D40 & D60 are "compact" for DSLRs in terms of size/weight. Though, if you want something just to toss into your purse, then a DSLR is not for you

Also, I just discovered the wonders of a converter drive, you might want to buy one of those if you do not have one. You just take your memory chip out of your camera and pop it into your smart drive and plug into your USB drive. It is nice because you can put the camera away while working on your photos, plus it is portable. They are inexpensive, like $10-15. I had to buy one because my laptop was having difficulties with pulling pictures from my camera and this did the trick!

AG is correct, CNet is also a nice site for checking out cameras, as there will be video's demonstrating the camera. DPreview is also another respected camera forum.