Looking for camera advice/opinions please

[Bushbow]

OK - I have just begun researching digital cameras for my own use - the features that I know I want are:
1. Zoom capable of taking photos of animals from my treestand w/o them looking like dots on the wall. How much zoom do I need? What is the difference in Optical vs. Digital zoom?

2. Enough mega pixles to have clear shots - How much do I need?

3. Afordability - I do not want to spend more than 500.00 and would like to stay under 300.00 if possible.

4. Portability - small and light is nice as this will be traveling with me in my hunting pack.

5. Durability - I am pretty careful with my stuff but this will see the inside of a fanny or backpack and will log some miles.

6. user friendliness - I am not the most computer savey guy and I have a PC - I want to load the photos onto my computer and email them to friends or attach them into a site like this.

Any other advice opinions you all might have is appreciated.

My email is: robert.urban@abnamro.com.com

Thanks you - Bob Urban

 

[gil850]

Ok, for starters, don't even pay attention to digital zoom - it's worthless. Optical is what you need to be concerned with. Anywhere around 10X Optical zoom is good.

As far as MP, anywhere from 5 MP up is sufficient. Even a 1.3 MP camera will take a clear picture - you just can't zoom in or blow it up bigger than 3X5. Higher MP allows you to blow up the image larger and zoom in and crop without losing resolution. So don't break the bank for an extra couple MP - there's a lot more specs on a camera that account for a good picture.

Try to pick one with IS (Image Stabilization). The camera actually compensates for the movement of you hands and eliminates blurry pictures - this feature alone will make so many better pictures than higher MP's. It's extremely helpful in low-light (like in your treestand early and late in the day).

Here's a search page that wil compare cameras.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

Use the following search criteria

Format: Compact
Price (street): US$ 600 or less
Release Status: Not discontinued (current or upcoming)
Zoom tele (T): 320 mm or more
Image stabilization: Yes
Manual Focus: Yes


Format: SLR-like
Price (street): US$ 600 or less
Release Status: Not discontinued (current or upcoming)
Zoom tele (T): 320 mm or more
Image stabilization: Yes
Manual Focus: Yes


The Panasonic Lumix series and the Canon PowerShot series are some of the best.


There's tons of information on the rest of that site too.

Gil

 

[Bushbow]

Thank you Gil - great imformation - I have been looking at both of those cameras - Should I buy online? Any suggestions on where?

Bob Urban

 

[Lan-Lord]

I like the panasonic cams too. Ive never owned one, but just from reading the vitals and seeing some examples, I think it carries a pretty nice feature set. Also, I have seen some guys add a 1.7x telephoto to the 12x zoom.. which gives about 20x optical (definitely need a pod at that magnification). One thing that gil mentioned is IS. I would not get one without it if you want to shoot wildlife and will have a big zoom (10x +).

here is a test down with one of the older panasonics (fz20 I think??)

There are several respectable places online.. but there are also some sketchy operations also. I would reccomend 100% www.bhphoto.com or adorama.com . they wont be bottom dollar, but they also are not top dollar, and will be cheaper than a bestbuy, circuit city or other large chain.

Good luck in your decision and give us a heads up on what you decide on.

 

[NORCALBLACKTAIL]

Just make sure you get a Canon.