Recommendations for a digital camera?

[Michael Georges]

I have an Olympus C-3040Zoom. It is a 3.34 Mega Pixel camera with a Zeis Optical Lens. Great camera, wonderful camera! Got it online for about $560. With a 128mb memory card I can take 168 shots at regular compression, 55 at low compression, and 8 non-compressed Tiff pics.

Highly Recommended...

[Jim Riley]

The following comments were posted as part of the scanning thread but apply here as well.

My paintings are all on slides that look pretty good but prints from those slides and scans from those prints are less then satisfactory. Based on some of William Whitaker's comment's I am going to try shooting new work with my digital camera and print from those files.

Previously I had access to a Nikon 950 and agree with him on the quality of Nikons. I just purchased, however, a Minolta DiMage 5/ 3.3 megapixel with all the features of a single lens reflex and super controls. ($499.00 at www.thecamerazone.com when I bought it three weeks ago) Prints are outstanding and I really love to be able to leave the "photo shoot" knowing that I have what I need and avoid the pain caused days later to find that what I shot was mostly useless.

Those considering a digital camera should be aware that storage media and batteries usually supplied with new cameras are not adequate and should budget for long life rechargable batteries (digitals eat batteries) and no less than 32 MB of storage media.

[Andrea Evans]

Dear Jim,
I just read your post regarding digital cameras. You have had experience with a Nikon 950 as have I. Do you think the Minolta that you purchased produces as good as or better quality pictures than the Nikon? Is the Minolta "user friendly"? I was particularly impressed with the Nikon in that I could take images of my paintings indoors without a flash.
I still love my old 35-mm for taking reference photos, but the slides are the biggest pain in the world and as you say do not always make good prints.

[Jim Riley]

Andrea.

I have nothing to use as a direct comparison of the Nikon with the Minolta and have not seen examples of the Nikon 995 which gets fine reviews. Shots with available light look good but the advice to use a tripod hold true for existing or low light condidtions.
The Minolta DiMage 5 lacks only a few of the features of the DiMage 7/ 5.4MP and from what I understand the sacrifice is only evident if you wish to see/print larger sizes. 2056x1544, for example, is 5 times what you can post on this web site.
The camera has setting options very much like,or more than, conventional cameras but allows us nongifted photophiles the option to use auto settings. Film camera terms are still used for digital cameras with settings for film speed (ISO) and the like. It was also dramatic for me to switch from auto set to any one of the options: daylight,tungsten, flourescent, cloudy or custom and find the best color results. Often, in the past, I have had the wrong film and speed for the occassion and could not go from indoor to outdoor or flash with conventional film and have good results. In other words you can change the "film" to fit the situation.

I also recommend the web site provided earlier by a forum participant at: http://www.dpreview.com Also recommend the magazine Digital Photography
< http://www.paragon.co.uk > a UK publication that wrote good reviews for the Fujifilm FinePix 4800, 6900z, and Olympus C-4040. I nearly bought the Fuji (FA Porche design) until I discovered that they are not Mac compatable.

Also be aware that some companys like Fuji may use different methods to arrive a MegaPixel counts. The Olmpus is doing the same and therefore their 7.68 mp is based on interpolation and is really 4.13