you need the anti-shake at 12x-
I've done my own testing on these digi cams and anything over 4mp is a waste of money for a point and shoot/vacation camera. (My business has a $35,000 digital camera @22MP and a couple of Canon $8000.00 @16mp cameras and we all have 3.2 to 4.0 MP personal cameras)
I've discussed this with a lot of friends because they all know we have the high end stuff for business but we have the somewhat low end personal cameras and they're always surprised "really, that camera but it's only 3.2mp etc etc.)
This only applies to point and shoot candids-if you are looking into photography as a hobby then you will need a different camera with interchangeable lenses and that's another opinion.
1. The physical size- you want a camera that you can have with you at all times because the whole point of having a camera is to capture the moments.
1a. The display screen: 1.5 is a little small but now they have 1.8 and it does make a difference between 1.5 and 1.8
2nd- are you really going to be making 8x10 prints of your vacation/drunken stuper in cabo, Thanksgiving Day drunken stuper, Christmas Holiday drunken stuper? Most likely not (but you can if you want to, even with a 3.2mp sshh no wants you to know) You will be printing 4x6, hey they fit in those fancy things ... called, uh um oh yea Photo Albums
the real trick is actualy making prints from your library of digital images- they tend to want to stay on the hard drive and not quite make it to paper.
3. The printing- as mentioned in another post it is actually cheaper to take the memory card to a retailer and have the prints made rather than printing at home. Most PC photo hosting sites allow you to order prints as well. I have not done any print testing from these sites because I'm a Mac person and use Mac's .MAC account to do my printing from and they'll warn me if a file size is small (because I had the camera set for capturing a small file) and the print quality is going to be poor. Others with PC based online photo accounts will have to chime in on their experience. I love the online **** because I order the prints and have them sent directly to family and friends.
You are not going to see any seeable difference in a print from a 3.2 to a 5.0 mp camera at 4x6 up to 5x7. Even your "photo" quality printer at home is not going to make up the difference in the extra cost of the 5.0 camera and the printer.
We have a $2,000.00 printer and printed from our little cameras and compared them to an 8mp and a 5mp camera. 4x6 prints were damn near the same. The best were from the online account because all i had to do was clickity click
4. see #1
5. A home printer is never a bad thing to have but it's not cheaper than printing from a retailer. They lost millions when they didn't quite see the future in digital printing and were not up to speed to handle memory card printing. Oh they learned all right so now it's just like dropping off an old fashioned roll of film but better! You can get prints and a CD, heck you can get a CD from that old fashioned roll of film as well. Most places offer self service so you can make a print right there on the spot, but the drop off is cheaper. Faster is always more exspensive-just like cars
6. Back that sh*t up!!! and I don't mean your arse. With my .Mac account I have automatic back up set up so all my info is on their hard drive/server so when my puter' craps I'll have the info still there. I also have cd back ups of my images.
This is the drawback of digital pictures- no negatives to make more prints if the original is lost or destroyed. (but really who has the negatives from that last trip/ vacation anyway?)
If you lose the file, the picture/moment is GONE.
Always make double prints.
7. See #1
I say this again because most people don't enjoy the camera they purchased because it's too bulky and a pain to carry around over the shoulder so they end up with zero pics or very few from the event they just attended or the vacation they just got back from.
It's digital shoot, shoot, shoot- you are only paying for what you want printed so shoot from the hip, shoot people from the side so you actually get a candid and not that "deer in the headlights" look from your friends or that person that turns way every friggin time you raise the camera to your eye. Really, shoot from the hip- with the camera at the wide setting the angle of view will cover what you want captured just as you would if you had it up to your eye. Heck if it's a bad shot just delete it, presto bango el magico you can take another.
Anywhooos that's my take on the point & shoot digi cams.
Ed
