Is digital quality as good as 35mm?

[barb_48]

I seen Angel's pics, and the color is good. Now if you were to print them out, would it look the same?
The other thing is, white balance. What do I need to really know about this?
How important is digital zoom, most cameras I see are only 3x digital zoom. I have noticed some cameras with 10x zoom. Do I sacrifice getting a 4mp to get 10x zoom or stick with 5mp with 3x zoom? Confusing world of digital cameras!
I am on my way to talk to the experts again and see if I understand anything. Not! LOL
I am still looking at 35mm slr cameras.
Well I'm off!
Thanks

[Photo-John]

Barb-
There's no simple answer to your question. At the high end, I think digital has far surpassed most film quality. With compact digital cameras, there's larger crossover area. If you're talking about printing normal, 4x6 prints, I think digital will be just as good as 35mm. If you want to print 8x10 or larger, sometimes film will look better and sometimes digital will look better. And it depends on the image, the print technology, and the printer.

I take it you're shopping for a new camera and trying to decide between digital and film. Isit a choice between a 35mm SLR and a compact digital camera? And what do you plan to be taking pictures of? What kind of printing do you plan to do? What's your budget? Let us know what you need and we can help you decide what's best for you.

[barb_48]

Barb-
There's no simple answer to your question. At the high end, I think digital has far surpassed most film quality. With compact digital cameras, there's larger crossover area. If you're talking about printing normal, 4x6 prints, I think digital will be just as good as 35mm. If you want to print 8x10 or larger, sometimes film will look better and sometimes digital will look better. And it depends on the image, the print technology, and the printer.

I take it you're shopping for a new camera and trying to decide between digital and film. Isit a choice between a 35mm SLR and a compact digital camera? And what do you plan to be taking pictures of? What kind of printing do you plan to do? What's your budget? Let us know what you need and we can help you decide what's best for you.

I plan to take pics of landscape, maybe my teens if they let me, my cat, if I am ever lucky enough to go on vacation. Sometimes when I take a drive in the country, I see a Falcon . It would be nice to have the zoom to take the picture. I do want the option of 8x10 if I happen to take a good picture.
My airmiles magazine has some pretty nice cameras, that's the only way I can afford one right now.
I will most likely print out the pictures by using Walmart or Coscto, or maybe try the higher end camera stores.

[Photo-John]

Sounds like a compact digital might be the way to go. It will do pretty much everything you want except get that falcon. Bird photographers probably spend as much or more money on long, pro lenses than any other kind of photographer. You aren't going to be able to buy a compact camera with a lens that will get you close enough to take high quality photos of a falcon. You're just gonna need to sneak up on that bird! But as far as the cat, the kids, the landscapes - a 4-5 megapixel digital from a respected camera manufacturer will serve you well.

Now, if you let us know what models you have to choose from, we can probably help you some more.

[barb_48]

Sounds like a compact digital might be the way to go. It will do pretty much everything you want except get that falcon. Bird photographers probably spend as much or more money on long, pro lenses than any other kind of photographer. You aren't going to be able to buy a compact camera with a lens that will get you close enough to take high quality photos of a falcon. You're just gonna need to sneak up on that bird! But as far as the cat, the kids, the landscapes - a 4-5 megapixel digital from a respected camera manufacturer will serve you well.

Now, if you let us know what models you have to choose from, we can probably help you some more.

I was looking at the Olympus C-5000., Dimage Z2, Canon A80 (not sure if I want a camera that takes batteries), Olympus C765, and the C-50. Some of these cameras do have 10x zoom. I did review these cameras, but not quiet sure yet.
Minolta has a new Maxxum 50QD, but that's going back to 35mm.
Thanks