Hi
We are seeking out a new digital "inexpensive good" (is that an oxymoron?)
camera that doesn't require a lot of bells & whistles on our computer, ease
of transfer, no software required to load to transfer/save pictures ....we
have kids and take plenty of pics to preserve the memories, and we have an
eBay side business and we constantly take photos of our stuff....up to now
we had used a Sony Mavica digital, but it is very outdated and heck, our
laptops don't even load floppy disks which is what the Mavica uses...it's
really old fashioned by 2007 standards but it was easy to pop a floppy out
of it and into a PC and just load it , no software was required (you just
clicked on the A-drive and presto there were your photos).....
So we are looking for something that is good, inexpensive, easy to use, and
that we will have "forever" (yeah, sure! but the Mavica lasted us 8 years or
more...)

Suggestions please? We are really clueless and don't want to walk into a
store and get ripped off, and we don't have a lot of extra $$ to spend on a
camera (did I mention we had kids??!!!)...

Your help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Rob & Marie

SPORTSVIDS wrote:
You want a point-and-shoot camera, of which there are many.
You can get detailed info and prices at sites like
dpreview.com.

Get a card reader, instead of downloading from the camera.
Some computers and some printers come with built-in card
readers.

On Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:44:14 -0500, SPORTSVIDS wrote:

If you use a USB card reader for virtually any camera, it is that easy.
Particularly with a modern Linux OS - it detects the presence of the card
reader, mounts the card and starts a file browser. MS should work nearly
that well. Most cameras will work pretty much the same way with Linux -
with MS you usually have to install the maker's drivers in order for it to
talk with the camera directly - that software will be included on a CD
with the camera.

FWIW - I recently bought myself a Kodak P850 refurb from Kodak's online
store - they are $225 right now. I'm very pleased. It has a 12x zoom,
image stabilization, saves jpeg, tiff or raw. Only 5mp - but that's enough
for now.

I am using a Canon SD600 and love it, great pictures easy hook up to the
computer just plug in a USB cable

"SPORTSVIDS" <SPORTSVIDS (AT) COMCAST (DOT) NET> wrote

"SPORTSVIDS" <SPORTSVIDS (AT) COMCAST (DOT) NET> wrote

"inexpensive good" (is that an oxymoron?)
Yes it is.

However there are a lot of inexpensive cameras that will do what you want to
do.
Before you go to a store, decide what features you must have and what
features you can do without.

Digital cameras today for the most part will download the images to a
Windows XP computer with no extra software. Windows XP has a USB Mass
Storage driver built in.

If you do not use Windows XP computers, then you will likely have to
install a driver (Especially Windows 98).

Go to some to the camera review sites and choose what you want in a camera.

Steve's lets you choose based on camera resolution. Generally choose 3
megapixel or greater.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

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

http://www.dpreview.com/

--
CSM1
http://www.carlmcmillan.com
--

"SPORTSVIDS" <SPORTSVIDS (AT) COMCAST (DOT) NET> wrote

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***
Sportvids: Another option or two is to 1. get a floppy drive that is
external with a usb port. If it is cheap it will save you a little and you
can still use the Sony you have. 2. The next option is to buy a video camera
that takes scandisks or lets you transfere your shots some way, and that
should be good enough for ebay sales. However, the best bet is probably an
inexpensive camera with more megapixels. There are a lot of choices out
there. Ric in Wisconsin.

On Feb 18, 2:44 pm, "SPORTSVIDS" <SPORTSV... (AT) COMCAST (DOT) NET> wrote:
You *will* have to get to grips with some sort of software since you
want to use your pictures on Ebay. All modern digital cameras take
images which are far, far too large for most people to want to
download - or, indeed for you to upload. You need to get to grips
with cropping (removing extraneous stuff round the outside) and
resizing (turning an image that is 3000 pixels wide into one that is
800 wide, for example). Whatever you buy might come with suitable
software, or you can download IrfanView for free which will do a good
job for you. Personally I like Canon cameras, I much prefer the
transfer software to the Fuji I also have, and the quality of the
images on my 3yo one are excellent.

Going to a shop and buying there has one big advantage - you can try
the camera first. My new Fuji has an electronic viewfinder, and I hate
it. The optical viewfinder on my older Canon is nicer to use in every
possible way. Also some cameras feel to big, others feel too small
and so on. Check the store prices against the Internet, some will
match Internet prices, but remember that you will need to budget for
an extra memory card for whatever you end up buying. They usually
come with one big enough for 6 images or so! However, Amazon / ebay
are usually happy hunting grounds for such things. Or, you might get
a deal from a shop that includes one.

Trouble is, there are a million cameras out there, and each person will
recommend the one they own.

You can look at the review sites suggested, but you'll have to read a ton of
reviews.

Perhaps it's easier to say what not to buy. This will narrow it down.
They're all about as easy as each other to use. A card reader for £10 will
make downloading much simpler.

Don't buy a Kodak, an Olympus, a Nikon, a Ricoh or a Sony. Ouch, you might
say, but the absolute best cameras are made by other people.

Definitely look at Canon, Panasonic and Fuji. You might even take a peek at
Casio, because their cameras have an ebay mode to make things really easy.
But Casio don't make the best cameras.

Look for optical image stabilisation (OIS or IS). Every Panasonic has it,
Canons with IS in the name have it, like the A710IS for example. Fuji get
round it by taking better photos in dim light.

A few of the nicest cameras available now:

Panasonic FX01 or FX07 or FX30
Panasonic TZ1 or TZ2 or TZ3
Canon A540 or A550 or A710IS
Canon Ixus 800 or 850 (called SD something in the US)
Fuji F30 or F31

Androo