What is best camera for $500 or less?

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What is the best digital camera I can buy for $500 or less? I will be simply taking family pictures and e-mailing the pictures to friends and placing pictures on our web page. Many of the cameras that I have seen in the stores seem so flimsy and cheap. Please tell me what I should buy. Thanks.

-- Chris Kilen (chriskilen@worldnet.att.net), August 09, 1999

Answers

That's a tough one. Between the features and the pricepoint there are a number of good choices. The other thing that makes it tough is that for not a lot more you can find a number of models with higher resolution. To make it worse, if you consider at $500 you're already in for good deal of money, it's not a difficult leap to say "in for a penny, in for a pound" and spend another $200-$300 to get the best of both worlds. Look at the choices below and you'll see what I mean:

Zoom is mentioned only for true optical zoom, not digital zooms. Resolution is stated in terms of true optical res., not interpolated.

Fuji MX500/Toshiba PDR-M1 1280x1024res. no zoom about $350 Fuji MX600/Toshiba PDR-M1 1280x1024res. 3X zoom about $450

Nikon 700 1600x1200res. no zoom under $500 Fuji MX2700 1800x1200res. no zoom under $550 Toshiba PDR-M4 1600x1200res. no zoom under $600 Epson 750Z 1280x1024res. 3X zoom under $600 Check the Epson out carefully, it's only 1280x1024 optically, but is set up to interpolate to 1600x1200 through software. You have to judge for yourself if it really should be considered as 1600x1200 or merely 1280x1024. Epson must think so, considering it's pricepoint. Personally, I'll compare based on true optical res. since you can't create information even if you can create pixels. Olympus 2000Z 1600x1200res. 3X zoom under $800 Nikon 950 1600x1200res. 3x zoom under $825 I grant you it's a good jump from $500 to $800, but you also get a lot of other features beyond just adding the zoom & the higher resolution. The choices are tough when you consider that those extra features really make the digicam perform a lot more like a conventional camera. They give you fast "winder" type burst speeds and more creative control. If it were me I'd consider one of two paths. 1. Buy a cheaper model with 1280x1024 & zoom now and make due. The res. is pretty good so it's not a bad solution. 2. Wait a month or two and save a few more dollars while letting those feature rich cameras on the high end cool off a bit. The price can only come down now that other manufacturers like Toshiba & Fuji are making entries in the 1600x1200 with 3X zoom market. Look for the PDR-M5, for instance. I have a catalog here listing it at $800. It's sure to go for $100 or more less online considering the price differentials between this catalog and similar models sold online.

The other choice, valid only if you can live without a zoom lens, is to spend just a bit over $500 and get a 2.1MP or 2.3MP unit with just a standard lens. It sounds like a good deal, but I'd "kill" for a decent add-on lens or just the ability to add a good one to my otherwise happily owned PDR-M1.

By the way, all prices were pulled off www.computershopper.com Before anybody starts yelling at me, "Yes! I left out a lot of models. I was just illustrating a point." By all means check out the Ricohs, the Agfa's, the Sanyo's, etc. :-)

Good Luck.

-- Gerald Payne (gmp@francorp.francomm.com), August 10, 1999.


Sorry for the messy price comparison table, the forum foramtting software got me. But you get the idea.

-- Gerald Payne (gmp@francorp.francomm.com), August 10, 1999.

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