Digital Camera Question

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Emibub

Emibub

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Nov 2, 2001
Posts
9,246
Location
Centennial, CO, USA
I am looking at an inexpensive digital camera just for posting pictures on Ebay. One I am looking at puzzles me slightly. Apparently the zoom only operates through the LCD monitor. My old one had the zoom through the viewfinder. Is it going to be a pain to use from the LCD? It seems to me it would be. Just looking for opinions.......
 
Wish I could help, Kathy. Hope you don't mind if I tack on my 2 cents worth onto your inquiry...

Price aside, am looking for a good quality, idiot-proof digital camera (for shooting artwork).

Need camera ... will supply idiot.
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A cheapo camera is all that is needed for web shots.
The difference you describe is most likely a difference between Digital zoom and Optical zoom. Put simply, Digital Zoom is not as good as an Optical Zoom.
Using the LCD all the time will chomp through batteries unnecessarily, my experience shows the majority of Digi cam users shift to using the viewfinders of their cameras within 2 months.
 
Dang Printmaker, I thought that was a lightning fast reply for this late in the night.......nobody here but us camera looky loos. :rolleyes:
 
Oh shoot, Mr. Printmaker, I owe you an apology. I will email you tomorrow morning from work!
 
Dang, another quick reply. Thanks Lance, you are confirming my suspicions. This thing is only $87 is an Olympus and has 3. Megapixels. Brand new, never been opened or refurbished. I figured there had to be one major imperfection. As I was playing with it in the store I got the zoom to work okay but it was harder to aim. I have an AC adapter from my old Olympus and a battery recharger that I was told would work on this model.

So, if I am just shooting stuff for Ebay and am hooked up to the adapter and batteries aren't a concern is it still a pain to use the LCD to shoot with?
 
I am yet to see my staff turn away an Olympus camera, they love em and they customers rarely have issues. If its the 200 (220?) (something like it, different names for the models here) its a goody, at $87 a good deal if it is not a grey import.
 
Thanks Lance, I think it is a 390. I don't know if it could be a grey import since it was at Sam's I was looking. We all know the Walton family has the highest of values and ethics, I can't imagine they would sell a gray market item.
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I guess my thought is I won't have to spend money on a new adapter if I stick with the Olympus. The other Olympus I had only had 1.3 megapixels and I was totally happy with what I needed it for.

So, now I will sleep on it. I really need to get this thing. I'm tired of borrowing others cameras. Thanks for the info......
 
Regarding the LCD vs viewfinder:

If you use the camera out in the daylight, the LCD will likely be useless. You'll either need a traditional viewfinder or one of those black cloths we use with a view camera.

1.3 megapixels is more than adequate for posting to eBay, The Grumble, etc.

I met my next digital camera yesterday. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel. 6.3 megapixels, full automatic or manual control and it'll take all of my autofocus Canon lenses.

I'll be taking up a collection shortly.
 
I don't think using the viewfinder would work for me, but it should be okay if all you are doing is taking snapshots of fixed objects. Your other camera should work fine, but I'm assuming it must be busted.
 
Wow, you people are busy posting while I'm asleep


I think the camera you found will be fine for Ebay use. Keep in mind that you'll probably be cropping the picture with the software anyways, so its ok to step back a bit and get more into the frame. Zoom is great when on vacation and taking distance shots, but won't have much value with close up product pictures.

Andy got me the new Canon A80 for Christmas, and I'm very pleased with it. The new Rebel looks great, but is more powerful than I needed (and big) I have had a couple Kodaks in the past, which were pretty decent. (although they LOVED batteries)
 
I replaced my Olympus 3030 with a 5050. Love them both. As an art gallery, its been one of my best tools.

Several sets of GOOD rechargables keeps me and the camera happy.

I shoot mostly art and objects indoors, with best results shooting in indirect outside light near a window. I don't think I know where my viewfinder is.
 
I had a Sony Mavica for the longest time. I loved it and still do. I loved that the media was 3.5 floppies. It is so easy to operate and download pictures. It also takes great 80 mph shots. But it doesn't have enough resolution to blow anything up. In November we broke down and purchased a Nikon Coolpix 4300. Nice camera, nice pictures. We also got a Nikon D100 for the big stuff. Now that's a nice camera. Bye Bye film!
 
WOW!!! 80 MPH shots!!! That's REALLY fast!!!
 
Kodak is making some changes in their line-up of digital cameras. You might find some good deals out there on the older models. I would recommend that you pick an optical zoom version over a digital zoom version as the quality will be better.
 
Thanks for all the opinions everybody. I continue to do some research and it looks like I can pick up last years model of a Kodak, Fuji or HP with optical zoom for around $125. I'm thinking it would pay to spend a bit more.

Mike, you mentioned I can always zoom in on the image on the computer but will it still be as clear?

I was hoping to stay with an Olympus so I could continue to use the adapter. I really liked the Olympus. It met with an unfortunate accident when I dropped it. It was still usable but then it has gone missing on me.

Thanks for the ideas.
 
As you zoom in(crop), you'll lose resolution/size. If you're using it for the web, that's not a problem because its already WAY too big anyways. (you'd have to shrink it down anyways before posting the picture on EBAY)

Digital zooms are terrible for this same reason.
 
Kathy,

Did you check on eBay yet? Last time I looked there were a ton of Olympus 2Mpx and 3Mpx for under $200. I don't know if you want to go that high but I bought a new Olympus (not reconditioned) C-50 5 Mpx with whatever came in the unopened factory package for $215.00 on eBay.

You should be able to find some bargains now that Christmas is over and things are slow.

Framerguy
 
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