what to look for in a digital camera?

happychikadee

I would like to buy my daughter a digital camera for her 9th birthday. A friend of mine said I should look out for something higher than 4 mega pixels. Does anyone have any advice on what I should be looking out for? Obviously becuase of her age, I don't want to get a really expensive one but as she seems to take endless shots of my feet and the grass :rolleyes: I figured at least with a digital camera we could delete them before paying out pounds for photo's of my feet! :laugh:

Cricri

Megapixels are a scam. If there are many pixels on a tiny sensor, colours bleed, and it doesn't do you a favour at all.
If you are into quality, you need to shell out a lot of cash. Quality comes from the optics and from the sensor, not from the number written in front of the word "megapixels" on the plastic case.
If it's for a kid, I'd definitely go for a cheap one. My parameters to chose a camera:
* I want it to use AAA batteries (so that the camera will still work in 10 years without having to buy expensive proprietary batteries. I use NiMH AAA)
* Memory card format: I used to buy Compact Flash only, but now if I had to buy a new camera, which I won't, I'd buy one which takes Secure Digital (SD). I'd avoid Fuji and Sony cameras because they use their own proprietary cards format.
* And obviously, I'd try to get the best quality for the money. Once you found few models of interest, check reviews.

ormus

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s47534/0/Digital-Compact-Cameras/Vivitar/ViviCam-5105s-Digital-Camera/details.aspx

something like this would be ok for a child. decent make and good megapixels too.

Tetsuko

Cricri wrote: »

I'd buy one which takes Secure Digital (SD). I'd avoid Fuji and Sony cameras because they use their own proprietary cards format.

Definately agree with this. My bf bought me a digital camera and I can only buy the "Fuji" memory cards for it grrrrrrr :mad:

Cricri

Well, I haven't been totally honest: even if you buy a Sony or Fuji camera, there are some third party manufacturers of Memory Stick and XD respectively.
For Fuji, there is at least Olympus and Sandisk:
http://www.valuemedia.co.uk/xd_picture_card.htm

That's one of the cheapest website I know. I ordered once from them, and their service and support is top notch. Or you can get cheaper on eBay of course

I like SD because I can use them in many devices, not just the camera, and they are cheaper per GB. The gripe I have with SD is that cards bigger than 2GB are SD-HC, and they need a compatible card reader. I had to buy yet another card reader few months back because the one I bought 2 years ago wouldn't read it That's at least my 7th card reader since around 1999

xio

Just to echo comments about megapixels being a farse. Once you get >5MP (which is equivalent to A4+ sized print outs) it becomes irrelavent on a point and shoot.

Higher megapixel ratings do make a slight difference but only on certain SLRs and since its a kids camera, that's a big no no

SD is also the format I'd be looking at for memory cards - definately cheaper than the rest and can be used in many devices.

Be wary of cheap 'too good to be true' ebay cards (all types). They are renound for being fakes (ie, don't hold as much as quoted, are slower and prone to corrupting data and failing - I speak from experience here lol)

Tetsuko

happychikadee wrote: »

You are only as old as the man you feel

Heheh Thanks, that's just knocked ten years off me :rotfl:

donny-gal

Make sure it has an optical zoom. Aldi have a 6mp with 3x optical zoom + 4 x Digital zoom, coming in next week(ish), 3 AA rechargeable battterys, charger, case, and 512mb SD card, and of course the picture editing software, etc. £69.99
But as you know you have to be there before 9 as they only have around 5 a store.

N9eav

Look for the quality of the lens. That's what takes the pictures really. FUJI have some great lens' I have a 3mp camera Fuji 5000. Best pics ever, but it's thanks to the lens. Look at this USA site for example. Great user guides, although you may find the UK camera model under a slightly different model number.
http://www.nextag.com/Digital-Cameras--zz500001zB4z5---html

DuggyMak

As previously mentioned by others don't be misled purely by megapixels and go for optical zoom rather than digital zoom.

There is an excellent American website (most of the models are identical to those available here) at:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/

On the left-hand side of the home page there are several great sections and I would recommend looking at "Dave's Picks" and "Find the Best Camera For You".

There are also lots of helpful tutorials, especially for beginners.

ormus

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

this is the site for digital camera advice. huge amount of reviews etc...