Digital Camera

Over the past 10 years I have bought about 20 digital cameras and none of them produce great pictures. Some can’t handle the somewhat direct sunlight other are horrible in the attic…any camera you like that is a good, durable all around digital camera?

Me and my old Sony Mactiva are buddies. Have been for years. Low resolution is good for e-mailing pictures. Customers always say what good pictures that camera takes. They always want to know where to get one. Heck, the floppy drive still works. Somewhat bulky, but reliable.

Sony T70 or T300

Cheers

Best camera I’ve ever owned is the Pentax Optio. Waterproof…bring it out of the crawl space, and wash it off. (That will amaze your clients.) It has a optical and digital zoom, but the mechanism is internal. No external moving parts to get damaged by dust and dirt. Small size fits your pocket easily. I think they cost about $275.

Sounds nice… I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3. It’s mechanism is external, so I go out of my way to keep it clean. But Great battery life (upwards of 500 pics). Quick turnaround when taking multiple pics with flash (~2 or 3 seconds). Had it for about a year an a half, no problems. I paid about $100 on sale. Unfortunately I haven’t seem them at that price since.

Dang, your brutal on your cameras.

A Kodak Z710 and a Canon 40D (just bought last winter) is what I use. I used to have the Pentax Optio but sold it on eBay last year. I do like the Sony T300 that Bob mentioned in some other thread. That will probably be my next camera when the time arises.

If you want a camera that is going to last, you need to spend a little $$. The cheapos are cheapos for a reason.

Nikon Coolpix L 10. I paid $ 70 at Adorama.

Rockway Home Inspection
http://www.SanAntonioTexasHomeInspector.com
San Antonio Texas, San Antonio based home inspection company offering services throughout San Antonio and surrounding counties.

Another great camera is canon Power Shot A560. The only problem it is much bigger then Nikon Coolpix L 10.

[FONT=Arial]Rockway Home Inspection
http://www.SanAntonioTexasHomeInspector.com
San Antonio Texas, San Antonio based home inspection company offering services throughout San Antonio and surrounding counties.[/FONT]

I use a Cannon S2 with a 12x optical zoom.

It’s a little big but takes great pics and it’s hard to give up all it’s versatility.

Awesome and thank you for the responses. I appreciate the you taking the time out of your weekend to enlighten me…amazing what happens when good people come together

Mine lasted 3 months before the external telescopic lens failed. They replaced it with no argument and I gave the replacement to my mother.
I have a Sony DSC H5 which is OK. It was about $300.

  • macro for extreme closeups (will clearly show breaker labels)
  • flash usually OK
  • 12x zoom with electronic image stabilization
  • 2- AA rechargable batteries
  • Requires a case (not compact)

I use a GE camera, (80 dollar cheepie, 2AA batteries, a 2 gig SD card, and a over the shoulder padded Velcro case for dragging it through crawl spaces. I personally did not see the point of buying a good one, if I was taking pictures of sump pumps and attic insulation. Total investment about $110.

My .02 cents: very commonly, my bad pictures are due to me not knowing the camera. My cheepie camera is capable of more than I can possibly absorb in an afternoon. I have learned to use the close up feature for pictures of wires on breakers. I intend to take a Digital Camera course offered by a professional photographer to learn more.

Post script: Use energizer lithium batteries in your camera. They really do last 4 times longer, and they better, because they cost 4 times as much!

T300 is great.
Touchscreen and paint built in for notes.
Also switches to video with a touch.
What ever you get , buy memory and an extra battery.

Canon a590 good battery life

Olympus Stylus. Takes great pictures, is compact & all weather.

This will be my next camera.

Last time at Menard’s I noticed they have a rugged model out to.

I think Ryobi.

Olympus D580 with a 1GB High speed memory card. Good for 1000+ 2288x1712 photos. Uses 2 AA batteries. Takes great pictures. But it is much slower if you don’t have the high speed memory card.

I usually find them for about $30-70 used or refurbished on ebay or craigslist. I have 1 in my bag, 1 in the car and 1 at home.

Everyone has their own pet cameras. For me the key features in my must have list include:

  • True wide angle to super telephoto zoom (10x optical or higher with digital overzoom) - My camera can out zoom my 8x binoculars
  • Excellent image stabilization for extreme zoom ranges
  • Rugged construction (i.e., metal case)
  • Easy access to on/off and shutter release (some have itty bitty buttons that are a pain in the *** to manipulate)
  • Quick time to first photo at boot-up (minimizes waiting for the camera to start up)
  • Support for SDHC memory (class 4 or higher speed)
  • Sturdy and reliable battery/memory door (not one that falls open when manipulating the camera, or off after a few thousand cycles)
  • Easy access to exposure and mode controls (e.g., macro)
  • Strong flash with low light focus assist
  • Li quick swap battery with long life
  • Voice annotation and video ability with audio playback)
  • Large hi-rez screen

I have yet to find a compact camera that is the best at everything or gives the best picture quality under all conditions. However, my current favorite is the Panasonic DMC-TZ3, which has since been superseded by the TZ5 which is replaced by the ZS3 as the latest iteration.

My work cameras lead a rough life and I expect to get at least 50,000 photos before I upgrade and relegate them to crawlspace duty. My current TZ3 is well past that number (case has lots of paint wear and some drop marks, but it still works great).

KODAK POINT AND SHOOT. I use what ever model I can find at a good price ( under $50.) and usually end up with an 8 - 10 Mega pixel which gives good detail. My last Kodak took over 27,000 pictures before it gave up the ghost. I had used the flash so often that the clear plastic cover over the flash tube has turned yellow from all the UV produced by the flash. My current Kodak is up to about 10,000 photos and climbing.

Most important to me is how fast between shots and how fast is the focus.
Need good Macro and speed between video/picture changeover from one to the other…