Good Questions: Choosing a Digital Camera?

Dear Home Tech,
I'm in the market for a new digital camera... and would like to upgrade a bit! Any cameras that you recommend? Also, would you buy a refurbished camera to save some money? What should I be looking for?

Sincerely,
Clueless in Maryland.

(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first. Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to: hometech(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com)

Dear Clueless,

We get the sense you're wanting to upgrade from a "point and click" digital camera. If you want great pics, we whole-heartedly recommend upgrading to a digital SLR (Single-Lens Reflex), like our fave, the Canon Rebel XT. The Digital Rebel XT is a great camera to learn on and upgrade with different lenses after you've gotten some experience. And prices on those have dropped over the past few years to around $600. However, what type of camera you buy really depends on your usage and expertise. There are a ton of resources out there that can help you choose what would work best for you, including:
• Photo.net Guide
• Imaging-Resource.com

And don't be deterred from thinking a SLR camera is too complicated for you. You can take a class at your local community center or university to help you become more comfortable. We also highly recommend this book.

Readers, any advice or other resources? Does anyone have experience with buying a refurbished camera?

(Thanks Drift Words for the photo!)

Hey clueless,
I highly recommend the website www.dpreview.com to get tons of information about what digital cameras are out there.

Also, you should really sit down and think about where and how you envision using your camera. If you want to learn about lenses and manual settings and take your technical knowledge of photography for the next level, I agree with the recommendation of an SLR. I have an older model Canon Digital Rebel, which I love. But if you want a camera that you'll carry around with you everywhere, an SLR might not be the best bet. They're large and don't exactly slip into a purse or pocket.

Good luck with your search and hope you have fun!

posted by Andrea(amk) on April 20th 2007 at 5:42am
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I am a fan of David Pogue's columns in the NYT. He tackles issues in lay terms, like "the mega pixel myth". Here's a search:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/david_pogue/index.html?match=any&query=camera&submit.x=19&submit.y=11&submit=Search

posted by Craig on April 20th 2007 at 6:06am
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I've had really good experiences with Canon and Minolta, so I guess I'm thirding Canon? I don't know if I'd suggest jumping to an SLR since to me that still seems like it isn't necessarily needed for the "average user".

And as for buying refurbushed anything, I generally base my decision on the quality of the product and the length of the warranty.

posted by Mat on April 20th 2007 at 6:44am
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For small portable cameras, I recommend any of the recent additions to the Canon Elph line. Intuitive menus and decent indoor snapshot results for a good price. Newegg.com has the SD1000 with a 2gig SD card for $250 right now.

Imaging-resource.com (mentioned above) is an amazing resource because of the exhaustive reviews and test images, but it's overkill for point-and-shoot shoppers. Just get a good price online for an Elph and you won't regret it.

posted by boze on April 20th 2007 at 10:40am
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Let me join in recommending the SD line from Canon. I have SD500 as my point and shoot, my mom has SD600, a few of my photographer friends also have SD-line cameras as their point and shoots. They are small, well built, the quality is excellent ( here's an example of a photograph that I took off a kayak in New Zealand - no way I was taking my DSLR on rough waters and under a waterfall!)

High praise for this camera.

posted by olya on April 21st 2007 at 10:59am
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Love my canon A95 and my canon printer, the pro9000. It's my third canon camera and I highly reccomend them. Flickr has a way to search their site by camera model, which is helpful if you can narrow your choices to a few models to see what kind of images its users are taking.

posted by pelicolina on April 21st 2007 at 11:31am
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I will go along with checking out www.dpreview.com! They have tons of info on the various cameras. Another great D-SLR option is the Nikon D40x. This was just released last month, and offers a 10 megapixel camera for a really good price.

posted by Devyn on April 23rd 2007 at 9:28am
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I LOVE my Sanyo Xacti--it's a tiny video camera that records to SD cards and takes stills too. It's light and sturdy and takes great pictures. Here's the Steve's Digicams review: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/c6.html

posted by Shannon on April 24th 2007 at 3:29am
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