I need help w/ digital camera basics...i'm about to order one
 

http://www.infinitycameras.com/viewi...efTag=dealtime

Canon S400...best price i found so far? i never ownerd a digi-cam before...do i need to buy extra accessories? i can't tell what is included (battery, charger, etc...) i think i need a "compact flash card", is this the same thing as a memory stick? I think all I need beside the camera is the battery, battery recharger, and the disk....I'm just not sure if those things are included in the above link...can someone help me out? know any better places to buy from?

p.s. I called, but they're closed, i wanted to order it tonight, so I might be able to have it by the weekend w/out having to pay the expensive ass shipping!

i just ordered a canon a70 and the best prices i found were on ebay, you should check it out. i got the camera (brand new, factory sealed) and a 256MB flash card for about the same price as just the camera anyplace else online.

just make you're getting it from a seller with near perfect feedback.

The camera comes with basically everything you need to get started, including a rechargeable battery, battery charger and 32 MB compact flash card. The only other thing you might want to think about purchasing up front is another 128 or 256 MB card...the 32 MB card will hold about 32 images at the highest resolution and "normal" quality. Of course, depending on your expected usage for your pics, you don't necessarily need to shoot everything at the highest resolution (2048 x 1536). But you can never have too much memory. It's always nice to have a good case with a digicam as well because it helps to carry the charger and the USB and video cables and extra memory cards and stuff.

As far as where to buy from, I would be wary of buying through a cheap internet outfit if time is of the essence. You can really get the runaround sometimes...many will swear on the bible that they have the item in stock but you won't see it for two weeks. Your best bet if you really want it for this weekend is to shop your local Best Buy, Circuit City etc. and find the cheapest price there. From what I've seen they run $50-$100 more than the cheapest internet deals.

You could save $50 right off the bat and get the Nikon Coolpix 4300...a camera I highly recommend. It's not quite as tiny as the Canon, but it's still very small and very comfortable in one hand. Resolution is slightly higher (2272 x 1704) than the Canon even though it's a 4 MP camera as well, and battery life is longer. Biggest thing going for it is the Nikkor optics, which are universally recognized as the best in the business. In reality, either of these cameras (along with similar models from Olympus and Sony) will more than suit your needs if this is your first digital. Best advice is to go take a look and hold them and see which one feels best.

tbcz has given good advice. The only thing I can see to correct is that the Canon S400 takes pictures at a high resolution of 2272x1704 (which isn't going to be much different from 2048x1536).

As an owner of an S400, I can agree that battery life isn't the greatest. Shots where you leave the lens open for long periods of time can really put a drain on life, and I haven't been able to find a long-life battery for this camera (the one listed on the site you linked [durobred] is simply a stock battery). I can't speak about the Nikon cameras, having never used them, but I have heard they are pretty comparable in features and such.

Other than that, I also recommend a high-capacity memory card; the 32MB that comes with it will not be enough if you start taking lots of photos, especially at high resolutions.

If you're interested in seeing what the Canon S400 can do, check out some of these pictures. There are only two full-res shots in there that have been reduced in quality considerably, but you get the idea.

Good luck with your purchase.

I figured as much...it didn't make sense to me that they would be different because they have exactly the same effective pixel rating. That's what I get for quoting Best Buy's website... :rolleyes:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_.../z3_inhand.jpg
I just picked up the Casio Exilim Z3

And they have a win a 350Z contest to boot!

here is my thread about it

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=35488


Major Exilim EX-Z3 Features:

3.2-Megapixel effective CCD imager
Credit card-size stainless steel body, only 23mm thick
Still Image: 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480
Movie capture, 320x240 @ 12fps up to 30 seconds with audio
Pentax 3x optical zoom (35-105mm equiv) with 4x digital zoom
Less two second startup time
Fast shot to shot time - even with flash
10 Megabytes of internal memory
Automatic 1 to 1/2000 sec. shutter speeds
Built-in flash with Red Eye Reduction
2" TFT color LCD with 354x240 (84,960 pixels) resolution
4X playback zoom magnification
USB 1.1 data transfer to PC or Mac computers
Lithium rechargeable battery and charging cradle included
Secure Digital/MMC card slot for memory expansion
DPOF, PRINT Image Matching II, Exif Print and Epson USB Direct-Print compatible

Some pics taken with the Nikon Coolpix...

and...

Last one (some of you might recognize these from my storm chasing thread on 350zfrenzy)...

Very, very nice pictures tbcz!!!;)

I'll second that. :)

Good advice here.

I would also invest in a compact flash card reader (they are about $25.00). This saves you from having to connect the camera to the computer to download images, it is much easier and saves the camera battery and is faster.

I just bought a Nikon coolpix 5700 and love it!

Silverstone Performance
Phoenix AZ