Need a new digital camera.

[ant1532]

Hey, well I never owned a digital camera but I have borrowed many and use then often. Now I need my own since me and a couple of friends are going on a summer trip and I'll need it for my trip to Japan in '08. I need a camera that will take very good quality pictures especially of far enviroments.(lets say I want to take a pic of a mountain in Japan or shrine, ect.) But the problem with it all is I like compact camera's and love sony's cybershot lineup.

Somethings i really like are
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...digital_camera
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...digital_camera
(anything in ulta compact section )

But im not really sure how these cameras are. Any help please?

[ken1953]

Hi ant and welcome to PR. I am not sure about this particular camera, but want to offer a few things to think about. First thing you should do is read all the reviews you can find. I looked this camera up on our site and it doesn't have any reviews as of yet. However, check dpreview.com and stevesdigicam.com for good reviews. Second, go try many cameras at your local Walmart, KMart, Best Buy etc. or camera store. There is nothing like knowing the camera feels good in your hands.
Another thing to think about is what are you going to take a picture of. You mentioned mountains and shrines. 3x zoom is not a lot of zoom therefore you're going to have to get in fairly close for some pictures. And the wide angle is something else to consider. How far back do you want to have to be to get the whole shrine in one picture. Just about any of the cameras you purchase in the price range of the Sony will do you wonderful. Consider something with a little longer zoom and a little wider lens. As for the zoom, don't worry about "digital" zoom. You need to be more interested in the "OPTICAL" zoom.
Once you've narrowed it down to a couple of cameras, please come back with your choices and we will be glad to give you some opinions on those. As for the Sony DSC-N1...it's a nice camera and I think you would probably be happy with it, from what I've read about sony's. Of course now Sony has bought the Konica-Minolta line of cameras, who have been some of the finest cameras in the world.
Hope this helps you to make a good decision.
Ken

[greghalliday]

You mentioned you like compact cameras. That is great. Compact cameras are small, easy to use, not as conspicuous for theives, etc. The question is: How important is your trip to Japan? Do you want to have images that you can enlarge to make big prints? Are you going to be inside structures where you aren't allowed to use flash and you need high ISOs? Do you need a large zoom range?

You need to ask yourself these and other very important questions. Having just returned from a trip to Europe, I feel that I may be able to give you some decent advice.

I had the choice of bringing my compact Canon digicam, or my new EOS 20D. I waffled for a while because I didn't want my new EOS to get stolen, I didn't want to look like a "tourist" etc... But in the end, I decided to bring it anyway (actually, I brought both). I can't tell you how much better the images turned out with the big camera over the compact. High ISO performance alone made it worth lugging around the extra weight.

Now, I'm not saying you should go out and buy a new SLR for your trip, but I definitely would say to buy the best camera you can afford for a potentially once in a lifetime trip. The N1 is a good camera. But given it's limited zoom capability, very small sensor and questionable performance at high ISO equivalents, it may not be the best camera to take on vacation. At the very least, I would get one with a larger zoom range, such as the Canon S3 IS with it's 12x optical zoom or more expensively, the Sony R1. It has a larger APS size sensor and will give you better image quality than a compact. Particularly if there will be a need to enlarge the image in Photoshop to achieve the desired print size. Don't get too concerned about megapixel numbers. There are too many other factors involved that determine end image quality. Anything above 6MP should suit your needs.

These are just my recommendations. You must decide how big you may want to print your trip pictures, and how much digital noise you are willing to accept. Ken's advice to read the reviews posted here is excellent. There are many and you can wade through them to find what you need.

Good luck with your purchase.

Greg

[Greggie Boy]

I would suggest the Fugi S 5200. The 10 X optical zoom will meet your needs and not break your pocketbook.
Here is a good,honest review. This camera does what it says it can.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S5200/S52A.HTM