Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tobacco Dreams]

At Costco the other day I saw 6-megapixel cams on sale for 150k won.

Never having owned a digital camera (go ahead and mock, if you must!), but looking to acquire one soon, I'm wondering whether a buy like this would be worth it. Or will I find the sharpness of my images disappointing, prompting me to go out and get something better (in which case I will have more or less wasted 150,000)?

Obviously, I'm not looking to become a professional photographer, though I probably will want to upload some shots onto my blog, and so forth.

Your thoughts? Any advice is welcome!

[blackjack]

mate i have a 3.2mp camera and i can get some amazing photos, just remember the megapixels are what govens how large you can blow the photo up, it is the lens that is important.

Go with a good brand that makes good a lens. I like the canon, their cameras are so easy to use and very good quality. Sony lenses are great (i know sony does not make them but...) but for some reason i just don't like sony (but that is me their lenses are great).

Pretty much any of the old camera makers eg, nikion, pentax etc make good digi cameras. With a compact, it is more about how easy it is for you to use, look at start up time and things like that. If you are posting the photos on the net, then almost any modern camera would do.

And above all remember it is only optical zoom that matters, do not worry about digital zoom at all.

hope this helps, bit rambly i know but it is past 2

[SuperHero]

The average schmuck only needs a 2.0 or 3.1 megapixel camera. Anything more is for the most part unnecessary.

Buy the 6.0 megapixel camera and you'll be happy.

[Demophobe]

Blackjack is right in that image quality will have to do with the lens. The pixels will make a larger photo and more detail (digital information) and there will be some concern over the sensor inside, but the lens is the deal breaker.

What kind of camera is it? Saying "a 6.0 mega pixel" camera really doesn't mean much.

[mnhnhyouh]

I will second the Canon vote as well. I bought my first digital camera just over 12 months ago.

I would recommend you also buy a big storage card. The supplied cards are generally very small capacity (32 or 64 Mb). There are 1 and 2 Gb cards available, these will hold 350 or 700 shots on the camera you are looking at.

And another vote for lens quality as well.

h

[Demophobe]

Third for Canon then. I have an S70 (7.1MP) as a point and click solution, and it has an oustanding lens.

[mindmetoo]

A flat out 6 megapixel photo, you'd have to resize down about 80% to get a photo that fits comfortably on a computer screen. However, more megapixels and a decent lens captures a lot and you can crop interesting parts of the photo without having to reduce it. It's a great way of, say, taking a candid photo of some guy wearing an Engrish tshirt without pointing the camera right at him.

[Demophobe]

Think about printing. A 3.1MP camera will only give a good 6.4 x 8.5 photo, whereas a 7MP will print a nice 9.6 x 12.8, all depending of course on PPI. Resolution is king when printing.

[rocklee]

Resolution is king only if the printer supports it

This has been discussed quite a number of times on just about every forum regarding the "does having more pixels count for anything?". The fact is they do but there are other factors that are equally important and everything depends of how big you will be printing your photos. Firstly, are the lens any good? There are cheapo 8 megapixel cameras out there that are huge in file size and resolution, but the quality is absolute junk. Think of watching a 640x480 iPod movie on a theater projector screen - UGLY. Secondly, certain brands use the same capturing hardware from eons ago, taking photos are still nowhere near as instantaneous as traditional cameras. Thirdly, some cameras still exhibit the dreaded "red-eye" problem especially Canon cameras (this problem occurs when you take pictures of people with fair eyes and you see red instead). You can still use software to solve this problem but that is also another problem.

Anyway, I used to own a Canon IXY50 camera from way back and for its size, features and performance it is one of the best digital camera ever for someone who just wants to take great pictures without carrying around a backpack. I would say that the current models would be even better due to their higher resolutions and more up to date hardware.

[stevenpa]

Digital cameras have matured a lot in the past few years to the point that resolution (i.e. megapixel count) is relatively less important than other features.

In particular, I would look at cameras that offer good high ISO performance. High ISO allows for faster shutter speeds in lower light conditions (think indoors or at night). However, the trade-off is lower quality images; the signal to noise ratio worsens as ISO, i.e. how sensitive the sensor is to light, increases.

A good analogy is turning the volume up on your television. There is a threshold after which the sound gets louder, but the quality gets worse. Fuji is probably tops at higher ISO performance right now for point and shoot cameras.

A good place to look at camera reviews is www.dpreview.com - you could spend months there checking out their highly unbiased reviews.

[mnhnhyouh]

If the lens is good then there is another reason to want a high megapixel count besides for cropping, and that is to futureproof your images. Computer screens are likely to grow....

h

[Tobacco Dreams]

You guys!

You encouraged me to go ahead and spend the 150,000 won on that camera. (It's a Sony Cybershot, BTW, on special NOW at Costco [they should be paying me for the plug!].)

And here, in all its glory, is my FIRST EVER DIGITAL PHOTO:



Yes! A candid still shot of my righteously alcoholic desktop! (Complete with massively nicotine-stained lamp.)

Rock on, dudes!

[safeblad]

i had the sony cybershot 6mp digital camera, it inexplicably died after about 3 months . good luck.

[crazy_arcade]

After having used several canon digicams recently, I would never ever buy one. Overrated.

Sony--I hate those fuckers. Good Lenses though.

Panasonic Lumix--Best Lenses available on compact digital cameras.

Nikon and Fuji--can't really go wrong with either of these.

[Rteacher]

The Sony Cybershots are probably on sale because of the big recall on eight different Cybershot models sold between Jan. 2003 and Jan., 2005 because of LCD problems...