Anybody have a suggestion on a new digital camera?

[moonflower]

my year-old Sony CyberShot appears to be on its way out

the last few batches of pictures have come out unforgiveably hazy compared to previous shots, and when i looked up the reviews on amazon they all seemed to say the same thing: "Great for a year, then it died when it (fill in defect here). Warranty is awful- Sony wanted $140 to look at the camera. Will never buy Sony again."

so i'm currently praying it won't get any worse, but as i'm taking a digital photography course in the fall (and i use this thing ALL THE TIME) i'm going to need something more reliable.

ideally, i'd like:
-under $400 including memory card
-better than 4 mp resolution
-good macro
-will last longer than 14 months!!
-not Sony
-pref. not Canon... unless that whole "E18" thing is overhyped. but still, i don't really want to invest in a camera with a class action suit pending against it.

shutter control would be nice but not necessary.

since we all seem to be intrepid amateur photographers here... any reccomendations? anybody have a particularly bad/good experiences with any models?

thanx

 

[Dyflam]

Here are links to a couple web sites to help you decide... there are lots of choices.

Steve's Digicams, digital camera reviews.

Ken Rockwell's website, this site just has generally good information about photography.

 

[vft guy in SJ]

I use an Olympus Camedia C-4000 Zoom. It is extremely feature rich, has a pretty decent macro-mode, and is very user friendly. The only thing that my camera doesnt offer is ability to use accessory lenses. For the average home photographer, this camera is more than enough.

You can see a review of this model from here: C-4000 Zoom

Cheers
Steve

 

[Gawd_oOo]

I am really happy with my Kodak Z740.
I picked up a cheap macro lens for it on ebay, which help on the macro abilities, but it was still decent with out it.

http://www.kodak.com/eknec....id=8624

 

[Rubra]

Here's a few tips:

>-under $400 including memory card

I assume you're looking for a good all-around camera and don't need semi-pro level equipment. You've got plenty of options.

>-better than 4 mp resolution

You really don't need more than 4 mp unless you plan to make poster-sized prints.

>-will last longer than 14 months!!

That really mostly depends on how you use it

-not Sony
-pref. not Canon...

All right, time to let go of you biases, both these companies make some great products. Every manufacturer has its problems but these two make some really great products, so don't just skip them over. I don't necessarily reccomend Minolta cameras, but then I really like their film scanners.

I reccomend:

Canon Powershot A620 - one of the best cameras in its class, probably perfect for your needs

Sony DSC-S90 - not a lot of manual controls but great otherwise

What you need to do is to visit the local camera shop and mess around with their cameras. See for yourself what you like, what is important to you, etc. And again, forget your bias against certain brands.

Peter