Re: [ot] digital camera

[Jim Noble <yahoo-groups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Stephen wrote:

> Hi
>
> Please can anyone recommend a good digital camera. What number of
> megapixels is best: as many as you can afford? Do smaller MP produce
> noticably poorer pictures?


How about mine? (Ebay auction 3842521409  ;-)

Seriously though, anything above 2 Megapixels is fine for "snaps"
(6x4"
prints). eg. I have one of the first Canon Ixus
Digital cameras (2Mpixels - also going on ebay soon ;-) which I've taken
lots of decent snaps with, and quite a few "proper" photographs.

Others have covered most things already with good advice. I'd add - if
it's for use while travelling, consider a camera that runs off a battery
that can be bought locally! ie. AA, or one of those cylindrical lithium
cells at a push. You can always use a stack of NiMH AAs in normal use.

If you're not going to end up a million miles from your charger, you'll
get better mileage out of a Li-ion batteries (and 3rd party ones are
generally really cheap on ebay these days).

I'd previously have said something about choosing a camera based on the
cheapest memory card format, but these days they seem to be commodity
items (ie fairly cheap), so it's less of an issue. Also, whilst it's
nice to have a huge card you can never fill, you'll have to be extra
careful not to lose it/accidentally format it/put it in the washing
machine...! (I came back from 4 weeks in Canada a couple of years back,
with 700 photos on one card and a nervous twitch).

HTH,

Jim