I am looking at getting a digital camera.

What I would like to know is.

What models have people bought for around the $500 mark and find the camera to be really easy to use and have all of the more necessary features.

I have seen a couple of friends with $1200 camera's, and they are fantastic, but out of my price range.

The sort of features I will find usefull/ neccesary are

3 megapixel
1.5" or bigger screen
about 10x zoom with 3x optical included
10-15 frame p/s movie capability

What size card will hold a good number of pics (150) and still have quality good enough to print on A4 paper?

check this site out helbus http://www.digitalcams.com.au/ 

a nickon S Q these are very small and take a good photo .You can wright it off for work ( tax ) .I was so impressed with mine work purchased two . the head rotates so for work it is good .
There is a new kodak on the market ( i find the number ect and let you know ) this is thje next one I getting around $835.00 on ebay ( new ) seagull

I have 3 cannon digital cameras.
i started off with a powershot a20, then an a40 and now an a70.
it has 3.2mp, 9.6 digital and optical zoom combined, and has 13 shootoing modes. I bought mine on a very good deal from ebay.co.uk, and it came with a 256mb flash card, 2100ma batteries, charger, and a case. It was £235 including delivery anywhere (inc international.)
on the 256mb card, i can hold ovedr 1500photos (and it was only £15.99!!!)
zac

Pete, forget about the digital zoom; get the best optical zoom you can afford. That said, most entry-level cameras have only 3x optical zoom. Better optical zoom is usually only found on cameras closer to the $1000 mark. I don't use digital zoom for taking pictures at all. Ever.

With the video, make sure the camera you buy can do continuous video. The Canon Powershot A40's we have at work (about 2 years old now) can do video, but only up to 3.5Mb per video. Newer cameras have the ability to keep going until the memory card is full.

Another thing to keep in mind is batteries. Avoid cameras that use a special battery or need the battery to be in the camera to be recharged. The A40's use 4 AA batteries. I bought lots of Nickel Metal Hydride rechargables, and just keep some charged-up spares on me all the time. Ni-MH are equivalent to Alkalines, which are more effective for the short-burst high current draw of digital camera flashes. Our cameras at work get use fairly intensively, and our 18 month old rechargables have only just died, making them MUCH more cost effective than normal batteries. They're also a lot easier and cheaper to replace than specific one-model-only camera batteries.

How many photos you can hold on a card depends on the resolution of the camera, and the quality you set it at for taking pictures. Our A40's can hold up to 1000 photos on a 512Mb card at 1600x1200 resolution. That may seem like overkill, but video will chew memory a LOT faster. The big card is also great for holidays... I took 908 photos on my 3 week trip to Qld without needing to download them!

ditto that re the digital zoom. If you can use an image editing package to cut and paste a section of your pic there's no point paying for the same thing effectively in camera and its much better to not be tempted to use it! Get the best optical lense and zoom you can.

Nikon have a new model out, the 3700, which offers a very good movie function for a camera in this range (up to 30fps and 640*480 resolution - though it'll gobble memory obvioulsy) and I think its not far iver the $500 area if you shop around.

Yeah I checked out that site, and it was definitley the most help, and I wanted to get some other views as well.

From what information you guys have given me so far I have definitley gotten a little wiser. We have Sony Mavica cameras at work, pretty robust with a 10 optical zoom, but they are not clear enough for personal shots, they are not even 1 megapixel and they have the dedicated battery.

Keep it coming, I am sure others will be helped by it.

I use a Sony Cybershot 2 Megapixel with a 2X optical zoom and 2 AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (and another 2 fully charged in the bag.). Bought early '03 for $500 with a 64 MB stick.

The software and operation of this camera is intuitive in the same way that the software on a Nokia 'phone is intuitive; I previously used a Kodak and hated it.

I only use this camera for on-screen, i.e. web-publishing, sending photos to friends etc. so 2 Meg is tons; I don't even use the camera at its highest resolution; at 640 X 480, I can store hundreds of photos on the stick. No plans to upgrade.

hth

I sell digital cameras for a living and in my opinion you cant go past fujifilm cameras (followed closely by canon).

In the $500 arena there is the fujifilm S3000 we sell at $575
- 3.2 mp
- 6X optical zoom
- SLR like design
- 320x240 15fps silent movie- cont. till card is full

or there is the Canon A70 (men. above) also at $575
-3.2mp
- 3x opt zoom
- manual modes eg shutter speed, apeture etc
-320 x240 movies with sound- limit on size
- good shutter range 1/2000 to 15 seconds

maybe even the fujifilm S7000 (bit dearer at $799)
- 10X optical (37-370mm)
- full manual overides
- 240x320 30fps with sound and no limit other than card
hope this helps a bit

[Edited on 29-3-2004 by Mad Manx]

hehehehee

Hey Helbus!

my dad has a great digi cam... but the best thing after you get your digi cam is to purchase, if you can, your memory cards from Ebay! I KNOW UR SAYING "omg Kat you're just totally and utterly addicted to that bloody ebay!" but we've found that the cards can b at least half price! QUITE A SAVING!... but wait theres more!
nah just kidden!

So check it out if you get a chance!....

ciao
Kat

check this site out, it's got heaps of digi cam reviews

http://www.dpreview.com/ 

get someone who will be going to Hong Kong or Singapore to get one for you, you can get em at least 20% cheaper!
you can always get internation warranties

I have a Fuji s3000. Excellent and easy to use.:P

[Edited on 29-3-2004 by Mick H]

Hi

I have an old Cannon Powershot A10, it was dropped a few years ago and was fixed very reasonably by Cannon, if you can go and spend some time at big camera store and have a fiddle. When I bought my camera I did a lot of searching on the net for camera reviews, most said my camera was easy to use. The abiltty to use standard batteries if you get stuck is good feature.

I have bought form these people http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/ and have found them to have good prices and be very reliable.

1302Steve

Got a FujiFilm FinePix S5000 with 3.2 Mega Pixel, Max 6.0 Mega Pixel.
Retail over $900 in box full set. I am looking to sell it, let me know if you're interested! Price at $550.
I took these shots from the S5000 camera at the Jamboree last Weekend with "Auto" function on, and turn out to be pretty good.

http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=20816 

ikube@ikubestop.com

i second the fuji fine pix s3000.
that is what i have and it takes great pictures.
theye go for about $500 now.
they are a 6 x optical and 3.2 mega pixel.

Got a camera. I used all the info and the parts of what you guys like about certain features on certain camera's and what my requirements were. I munched it all up and with some research on the web including prices etc.

I input it all into Dexter the robot. He came out with a compatability rating.

I got a Ricoh g4 wide

Has all the features exactly as required and after playing with it for a few days now, am very happy with it.

Got 2 x 128mb SD cards with it.

It has a lithium battery, but you can take it out and put two AA batteries in the same hole.

Thanks for your help guys.