any suggestions on a user friendly digital camera? 4 mega pic would work. I bought a 5 mega pic olympus, but it took like 5 seconds to take the picture after pushing the button. I took it back, the lady in the camera department said they all take like 3-5 second, to take the pic. I wanted something more close to a regular camera that takes an instant picture.Do all digital cameras behave this way?, or was she having me on

 

I have no suggestions for you as I am still looking into getting a new digital camera.

All digital cameras have a time between pressing the button and getting the picture. There is a term for this but I can't thing of it right now. "Shutter lag" maybe? I hope the 3-5 seconds was an exaggeration. If not that is indeed bad. Most manufacturers don't list the lag time. One of them do but then you have nothing to compare it to. I'm thinking Olyumpus or cannon is the one but I'm not sure.

I would maybe reccomend going to a big chain store where they have the cameras on display and give them a try. Some newer cameras have a small amount of memory built in so you can snap some shots with no memory stick. Compare the lag times of these. It may help.

 

Most digital cameras do have some shutter lag.

Digital cameras fall into two general categories, point&shoot (sometimes referred to as digicams) and dSLR's. If it absolutely necessary for you to not have shutter lag, you would need to look into a dSLR. But, with digicams, the shutter lag varies quite a bit by model.


To greatly simplify things, digicams are what most people think of when they think of a digital camera. They are generally compact, have one (zoom) lens
and have a LCD screen (sometimes in addition to a manual) that you use as a viewfinder.

dSLR cameras are much more like traditional film cameras. They are larger in size, have interchangeable lenses, use a traditional viewfinder (instant pictures) and are expensive. The quality of dSLR's are unmatched by digicams, but at the expense of portability, ease of use, price.

I won't go into much more detail about the differences between the two, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask or you can check Fred Miranda's web site (the forums there are great), and dpreview does a great job of explaining technical things, as well as reviews. If you want to know about things such as shutter lag about a particular model, the forums on either of those sites can be very helpful.

Hope this helps.

 

why is there shutter lag on digital cameras?

 

I have a Canon A520 and I love it!!! It's a great all-purpose camera. It's 4mp. I saw it in a number of camera stores and electronics stores for a variety of prices. I ended up buying from Blacks Camera Centre for $249 plus tax plus 512mb memory card.

 

I'm not sure about that one...
let me tell you what I DO know and see if that helps you any.
more megapixels=better. you'll be able to print larger without it looking so "digital".
Digital zoom does not matter! you can do it on your computer, and that is what causes pics to look digital.
Optical zoom is what your lens can do, higher optical zoom means better pictures.
There is a powerup time lapse that you want to watch out for. some cameras take up to 30 seconds!
Having some way to adjust the shutter speed is helpful, sport mode is fast shutter speed-faster speed =less blurry, slower speed=more light and a better pic with a steady hand and still object.
Go to a local camera shop (if you have a Ritz photo shop, that will work fine) and ask to test cameras. Talk to the head guy, because he will know more. Tell him what you want out of your camera, and he will match you up well.

 

I did forget to mention in my previous post that with most P&S cameras you can decrease the shutter lag by pressing the shutter button halfway so the camera will have the autofocus ready.

Here is a page that does a good job of explaining shutter lag and lists some models and their specs.

 

This is not entirely true. While the megapixel does make a difference on how large a print you can make, it does not necessarily make it better. For most people, a (quality) 3MP camera will be enough for 99% of the prints they will be making.

The megapixel of a camera is referring to pixel count, but has nothing to do with the quality of the sensor build, how the camera records the colors accurately nor some other things that you must have for good pictures, such as a nice lens.

To compare it to something easy for us to understand, we can compare them to our trucks. The size of the motor doesn't make a more powerful truck, as we can see by comparing the older 7.3L diesels to the new 6.0's.

 

Unless you're a pro photographer and need to print posters 5mp or larger is unnecessary. My Canon can be run in full auto mode or full manual. It's a great camera.

 

I have a Canon A-610 and love it. The shutter lag is no more that my 35mm, which cost more than the digital did. Excellent pictures in all types of light, the swivel LCD view finder is great for taking pictures at angles that you can't look at the rear of the camera. I have taken over 150 pictures since early November with the same cheap 4 AA factory batteries that came with it.

I have never read the manual, but was taking pictures as soon as I opened it up it is so simple. Good zoom too. The only negative I can think of is I get quite a bit of red eye, even with the red eye reduction. I just edit it out with the editing software that is with the downloading CD.

If you don't need the amount of megapixels that the A-610 has, go with the A-520, basicially the same camera, just less megapixels and cheaper.

My son has a 7.2 megapixel Sony. It eats the battery up, will not take pictures in low light, and is a pain to use.

I got it on E-bay. Below is a link to what I purchased. This is the same kit, but the price has came down since last fall, as electronics usually do. The company shipped immediately and was good to work with. I am leary about giving my CC number out, so I got a temp number for the single purchase from my credit card company.

I saved around $100.00 over what Best Buy wanted for the same setup.

Camera Kit Link:http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-PowerShot-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Casio Exilim cameras are touted to have the fastest times from 'button push' to picture captured.


I bought the 4MP version a year ago. This camera is tiny. Physically about the size of a credit card, only a lot thicker.

Slip it into a pocket and you won't even know it's there.

Fantastic photos.

$200 or so.

 

I'm sorry for being unclear... I meant that if you were going to be blowing anything up a lot MPs will make it look better.

I guess what I was saying was not enough MP's can hurt you, while too many can;t. (performance wise)

Kinda like engines (good analogy). a 2.0L 4 banger w/ single overhead cam in a Neon will get ya from place to place, but not with a trailer behind it. You WILL save money because of MPGs tho. (but quality wise, it might cost ya)
A 460 will pull whatever you want it to... but will burn a hole in your pocket gettin 12 or less MPGs.

I also forgot to mention that digicams also will have lags inbetween pictures... i think up to 6+ seconds... but that may also be something to watch out for.
the length of time you have to wait before you can take the next picture.

 

I have a Kodak EasyShare with 4MP that's about two years old and I really like it. The time it takes to push the button until the green light blinks to show it's focused to push the button further is hardly noticable. There's a position on the dial for sporting scenes that takes a faster picture though I've never used it. Downloading from the camera to the computer is a one button deal on the camera dock. The lense accidently extended in the carry case and jambed. Kodak fixed it and upgraded the switch, no charge. I chose the Kodak because it was bigger than some others. I have trouble with the itty bitty buttons....

 

After having many great snorkeling pics from Hawaii lost by exray at the airports, I finally decided on a Pentax Optio WP (completely waterproof to 5'), 5mp (now offering 6mp), quite compact and works great. I got mine from Cord Camera on Ebay for $430 with all kinds of accessories.... 2 batts, charger, card reader, case, 1G memory. I take it everywhere. You can get the 6 mp for about $320. Took a few months to get the hang of all the settings, but really don't need to know that much.

 

Check out this URL for a good explanation of the difference between "point and shoot" and DSLR cameras:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2dig.htm

As previously posted, DSLR cameras can take pictures as soon as you turn them on, and there is virtually no shutter lag. The picture quality with a DSLR
is also better, due to the physical size of the photo sensor, not the number of
pixels. You can also get much higher quality lenses with a DSLR, which determines sharpness, contrast, and color quality.

I have had a Nikon D70 for a little over a year now, and have bought 2 very
good lenses for it: 1) Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8, and 2) Nikon 85mm f/1.4
I have been extremely happy with this camera!

You can check out some of my pictures from this photo sharing website,
once you select a category (Photography, Travel, or Cars), then pick a
photo gallery. Once you select a gallery, click on "slideshow" in the upper
right, and it will go through the pictures full screen. I'm sure the "Cars"
category will be your favorite!!

http://bob-ayers.smugmug.com/