Best Overall Camera Under $500 Today?

And lo, King Sardon emerged from the ether
and spake thus:
On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:52:12 -0700, wrote:


Hi. I'm looking to buy this weekend. I know nothing about cameras.
What model should I pick up? Thanks a bunch.

Buy the Canon Powershot A710.

It is compact, takes good pictures, has image stabilization, and is
not too expensive.

KS

It looks like the PowerShot SD800 IS is down to $400. Absolutely
fantastic P&S.

--
Aaron
http://www.fisheyegallery.com
http://www.singleservingphoto.com

On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:42:39 -0500, Doug McDonald wrote:

If you know nothing about cameras and photography then any even
simple configuration or setting option would be of no use to you.


Not necessarily. He may want to actually learn about cameras.

Then the first useful lesson is that asking "What is the best
overall camera under $500 today" in a newsgroup is equivalent to
asking "What is your favorite under $500 camera?", and the answers
won't necessarily reflect what would be the best camera for a person
who has said "I know nothing about cameras" and who hasn't said what
type of photography he/she would use it for. Depending on the OP's
needs or preferences (which probably haven't yet completely formed)
the 'best' camera could be one that easily fits in a shirt pocket, a
medium sized P&S with a hotshoe or even a used Rebel XT.

On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:14:19 -0400, ASAAR wrote:
: On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:42:39 -0500, Doug McDonald wrote:
:
: If you know nothing about cameras and photography then any even
: simple configuration or setting option would be of no use to you.
:
:
: Not necessarily. He may want to actually learn about cameras.
:
: Then the first useful lesson is that asking "What is the best
: overall camera under $500 today" in a newsgroup is equivalent to
: asking "What is your favorite under $500 camera?", and the answers
: won't necessarily reflect what would be the best camera for a person
: who has said "I know nothing about cameras" and who hasn't said what
: type of photography he/she would use it for. Depending on the OP's
: needs or preferences (which probably haven't yet completely formed)
: the 'best' camera could be one that easily fits in a shirt pocket, a
: medium sized P&S with a hotshoe or even a used Rebel XT.

That sneering response is out of place, IMO. If you're a clueless newbie ready
to learn, to start by asking a group of more experienced photographers to name
their favorite camera at the price you can afford sounds perfectly sensible to
me.

Bob

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:01:42 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:

: If you know nothing about cameras and photography then any even
: simple configuration or setting option would be of no use to you.
:
:
: Not necessarily. He may want to actually learn about cameras.
:
: Then the first useful lesson is that asking "What is the best
: overall camera under $500 today" in a newsgroup is equivalent to
: asking "What is your favorite under $500 camera?", and the answers
: won't necessarily reflect what would be the best camera for a person
: who has said "I know nothing about cameras" and who hasn't said what
: type of photography he/she would use it for. Depending on the OP's
: needs or preferences (which probably haven't yet completely formed)
: the 'best' camera could be one that easily fits in a shirt pocket, a
: medium sized P&S with a hotshoe or even a used Rebel XT.

That sneering response is out of place, IMO. If you're a clueless newbie ready
to learn, to start by asking a group of more experienced photographers to name
their favorite camera at the price you can afford sounds perfectly sensible to
me.

If you think that my response was in any way sneering, then you
may be the one suffering from cluelessness. If anything, I was
trying to help the "newbie" to understand why some of the replies
might not be very helpful to *him*, because at this point it's
impossible for anyone to recommend any camera that would really suit
him. The best they could do would be to recommend several different
types, pointing out strengths and weaknesses, as well as which types
of cameras would be better for some types of photography, and which
types would be better for others. There was one very brief reply of
this type (repeated), but others, only one of which could possibly
have been the right answer, and only with a lot of luck and
serendipity :

Canon PowerShot G7

Buy the Canon Powershot A710.

. . . PowerShot SD800 IS is down to $400. Absolutely fantastic P&S.

Three quite dissimilar cameras. If one of these actually would be
the best for a complete newbie, how would he choose? And why didn't
you consider the following to be a "sneering response"? It is, in a
way, but it also provides some wisdom and may also help the newbie
more than the other, more 'positive' responses :

If you know nothing about cameras and photography then any
even simple configuration or setting option would be of no use
to you. I suggest you get the most simple camera you can find.
Interestingly enough they also tend to be the cheapest, starting
at just over 100$ US. Anything more expensive would be a waste
of money. If you really want to get rid of the 350$ balance then
just send it to me.

Does the newbie really want to put some effort into learning how
to take great pictures, or does he think that by spending up to $500
that the camera will do all of his work for him? Another point to
consider that may put this into better perspective. There have been
some people that have asked similar questions and have returned to
answer followups. Others have agonized for months over which camera
to get. s_valmont on the other hand, simply wants a quick response,
since as he/she said, in addition to knowing "nothing about cameras"

I'm looking to buy this weekend.

From the little we know so far about s_valmont, do you think that
any of the three Canon models mentioned above would be more suitable
than any number of under $150 cameras from Canon, Kodak, Nikon,
Fuji, etc., etc.? By the time he/she learns how to use a decent,
inexpensive model effectively, as well as what's involved in making
decent large prints (or will they all be 4x6 snapshots?), s_valmont
might, just might know whether a better camera is needed, and from
his current model's limitations, what that camera might be.

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 02:13:11 GMT, Aaron
wrote:

And lo, King Sardon emerged from the ether
and spake thus:
On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:52:12 -0700, wrote:


Hi. I'm looking to buy this weekend. I know nothing about cameras.
What model should I pick up? Thanks a bunch.

Buy the Canon Powershot A710.

It is compact, takes good pictures, has image stabilization, and is
not too expensive.

KS

It looks like the PowerShot SD800 IS is down to $400. Absolutely
fantastic P&S.

Excellent features, but the corners are not sharp. Best to wait for
the SD850, which does not have wide angle but may (dunno, but MAY) be
sharper.

KS

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:51:39 -0400, ASAAR wrote:

If you think that my response was in any way sneering, then you
may be the one suffering from cluelessness. If anything, I was
trying to help the "newbie" to understand why some of the replies
might not be very helpful to *him*, because at this point it's
impossible for anyone to recommend any camera that would really suit
him. The best they could do would be to recommend several different
types, pointing out strengths and weaknesses, as well as which types
of cameras would be better for some types of photography, and which
types would be better for others. There was one very brief reply of
this type (repeated), but others, only one of which could possibly
have been the right answer, and only with a lot of luck and
serendipity :

Yeah yeah.... yadda yadda....

Just buy the A710 or the SD800.

Newbies don't know what camera they want because they have no
photographic experience. You don't get that from newsgroup responses.
You get it from shooting. And you need a camera to do shooting. So
just get one of those....

How far wrong could the guy go???

KS

On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 02:06:06 GMT, Knave Sardon wrote:

Yeah yeah.... yadda yadda....

Just buy the A710 or the SD800.

Newbies don't know what camera they want because they have no
photographic experience. You don't get that from newsgroup responses.
You get it from shooting. And you need a camera to do shooting. So
just get one of those....

How far wrong could the guy go???

I'll bet that *you* don't know. But then neither does anyone
else. Just a few answered questions could save a couple of hundred
dollars and much wasted time, but your facile response won't waste
any of *your* money or time. If the OP has more money than he knows
what to do with, it might not matter what camera he gets. But as I
indicated earlier, some of the responses would simply be a camera
that the replier prefers. If it struck a nerve, good. Maybe next
time you'll ask some questions to find out if your favorite cameras
really would make the best choices. It might not matter anyway, as
the OP indicated that he wanted to buy this weekend, and it's now
Sunday, so the OP :

a. May not return, or
b. May already have bought a camera.

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:01:42 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:

On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:14:19 -0400, ASAAR wrote:
: On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:42:39 -0500, Doug McDonald wrote:
:
: If you know nothing about cameras and photography then any even
: simple configuration or setting option would be of no use to you.
:
:
: Not necessarily. He may want to actually learn about cameras.
:
: Then the first useful lesson is that asking "What is the best
: overall camera under $500 today" in a newsgroup is equivalent to
: asking "What is your favorite under $500 camera?", and the answers
: won't necessarily reflect what would be the best camera for a person
: who has said "I know nothing about cameras" and who hasn't said what
: type of photography he/she would use it for. Depending on the OP's
: needs or preferences (which probably haven't yet completely formed)
: the 'best' camera could be one that easily fits in a shirt pocket, a
: medium sized P&S with a hotshoe or even a used Rebel XT.

That sneering response is out of place, IMO. If you're a clueless newbie ready
to learn, to start by asking a group of more experienced photographers to name
their favorite camera at the price you can afford sounds perfectly sensible to
me.

Bob

You don't know what's "best", especially when the person asking gives
you no clue about what they want.
It's like asking, "What's the best car for me?", when you know nothing
about the person asking.
Usually, in such a case, the answers given represent what the answerer
likes, which usually has no relation to what the questioner actually
wants.

--
THIS IS A SIG LINE; NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!

Bill and Hillary Clinton shot a commercial in
a diner spoofing the last scene of The Sopranos.
It's not the first time they acted like mobsters.
They spent so much time in front of grand juries,
the Sons of Italy granted them honorary membership.

On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:15:15 -0400, ASAAR wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 02:06:06 GMT, Knave Sardon wrote:

Yeah yeah.... yadda yadda....

Just buy the A710 or the SD800.

Newbies don't know what camera they want because they have no
photographic experience. You don't get that from newsgroup responses.
You get it from shooting. And you need a camera to do shooting. So
just get one of those....

How far wrong could the guy go???

I'll bet that *you* don't know. But then neither does anyone
else. Just a few answered questions could save a couple of hundred
dollars and much wasted time, but your facile response won't waste
any of *your* money or time. If the OP has more money than he knows
what to do with, it might not matter what camera he gets. But as I
indicated earlier, some of the responses would simply be a camera
that the replier prefers. If it struck a nerve, good. Maybe next
time you'll ask some questions to find out if your favorite cameras
really would make the best choices. It might not matter anyway, as
the OP indicated that he wanted to buy this weekend, and it's now
Sunday, so the OP :

a. May not return, or
b. May already have bought a camera.

He didn't give much notice, did he?

Anyway, what if he said he's going on safari and wants to take
pictures of lions? Would you recommend this newbie get a 30D with a
500mm lens?

What if he said he always wanted to take sports pix? Would you tell
him to buy the Mark III?

Or if he wanted to do portraits? You would sugest the full frame with
the 85mm/f1.8??

Just because it's the right tool does not mean it's appropriate for a
newbie. Take off your pro hat and think like a beginner again.

The A710 is what I'd recommend right now to any newbie or his mother.

KS

On 24 Jun, 22:16, King Sardon wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:15:15 -0400, ASAAR wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 02:06:06 GMT, Knave Sardon wrote:

Yeah yeah.... yadda yadda....

Just buy the A710 or the SD800.

Newbies don't know what camera they want because they have no
photographic experience. You don't get that from newsgroup responses.
You get it from shooting. And you need a camera to do shooting. So
just get one of those....

How far wrong could the guy go???

I'll bet that *you* don't know. But then neither does anyone
else. Just a few answered questions could save a couple of hundred
dollars and much wasted time, but your facile response won't waste
any of *your* money or time. If the OP has more money than he knows
what to do with, it might not matter what camera he gets. But as I
indicated earlier, some of the responses would simply be a camera
that the replier prefers. If it struck a nerve, good. Maybe next
time you'll ask some questions to find out if your favorite cameras
really would make the best choices. It might not matter anyway, as
the OP indicated that he wanted to buy this weekend, and it's now
Sunday, so the OP :

a. May not return, or
b. May already have bought a camera.

He didn't give much notice, did he?

Anyway, what if he said he's going on safari and wants to take
pictures of lions? Would you recommend this newbie get a 30D with a
500mm lens?

an Olympus sp550uz, 28-504mm.