Markus

Ok, before xmas there was talk of what digital camera to get and someone mentioned some excellent deal on some rather nifty camera. with the search being down I can't find the thread or who posted about the deal.

do remember that the camera mentioned did have optical zoom and the comment was "this is what you really want" when talking about the zoom.

ring any bells?

if so then what was the camera and how much, and where from, and is it still available.

brothers friend is looking for digital cam and I said I'd find some stuff out for him.

Wheelman

I think you are on about the Minolta S304 deals from www.internetcamerasdirect.co.uk, the offer is still on although the camera is currently out of stock until early next week.

Wheelman

I think you are on about the Minolta S304 deals from www.internetcamerasdirect.co.uk, the offer is still on although the camera is currently out of stock until early next week.

howardb

Instead of buying lots of compact flash cards, its also worth considering something like http://www.mindsatwork.net/ digital wallet.

ChrisB

Have you been reading PC Pro as well Howard?

howardb

ChrisB,
No, but I'm seriously thinking about a Canon Powershot G2. Most people I've spoken too recommend the IBM 1GB Microdrive, but recently the Digital Wallet has been recommended, in conjunction with smaller Flash Cards. The MindStor looks even better with Firewire access. More expense!

Markus

Minolta, hmmm, sounds familiar, looks good though.

do like the finepix 40i that suzy has though, very small, light, and pretty good.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The IBM 1GB Microdrive is great (IMHO, of course) if you want to be able to go out for a day and take loads of pictures without having to stop to download to a laptop or digital wallet. Obviously it depends on how big the files your camera creates are - my Canon D30 can produce RAW files which are 3.5MBytes each, so even the MD can fill up in a busy day.

If you're looking for your first digital camera, be prepared to take far more pictures than you ever did with film - each shot is free, remember. For example, last summer I took about 200 pictures (on film) over the course of a 2 week holiday in the Canadian Rockies, and thought that was a lot at the time. Last Tuesday I took 200 shots on a day trip to Warwick Castle

I'll certainly be getting a mass storage device before this summer; the Minds@Work units are generally well received (check out the reviews and forums at www.dpreview.com), and it's also worth looking at the Nixvue Digital Album which is very similar.

Andy.

ChrisB

Jon Honeyball covers the Digital Wallets in his column in the new issue - I'd thought you'd seen them there. Certainly looks good - I don't think I'll be buying any more CF cards now.

Chris.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Further tips:
- make sure your intended camera specifically supports the Microdrive if you want to use it. It's not a Compact Flash type I card like most CF memory cards, it's a Compact Flash Plus type II, which means it's thicker and has a high power mode that has to be explicitly supported.

- cheapest CF cards I've found are on www.ebuyer.com, although they've gone up a bit recently.

- whichever model you device to go for, please don't get sucked into the argument that more pixels automatically means a better image. Above about 3MP, optical quality dominates, and that's much harder to measure and quantify. I'm happy to send sample images to anyone who claims otherwise. A good 3MP image makes a professional quality 6x8, and a still excellent 8x10 if re-sized properly.

Andy.

Madman

Just bought a new digital camera today from - now don't shout - PC World.

Went on the net and found the camera I (er....the missus) wanted which included lots of goodies with it, I always a bit unsure ordering over the net from a company I don't know, so I printed the info of, went to PC World who matched the deal, saved £60 on what they would have charged me.

They still tried to sell it to me dearer until I pointed to their big sign "We won't be beaten on price".

howardb

Speaking of memory. Theres an interesting comparison at http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

http://www.dpreview.com also deserves mention for its forums, rather like scoobynet with regard to knowledge sharing.

I'm rather hooked on the idea of using a digital wallet, just got to find the best one. The camera I'm looking at is a 4M pixel, so has potential for generating large raw files.

Kosy

iTrader: (2)

I wanted a nice digital camera but couldn't really justify paying more than £300.
I was worried that i would not be able to get a decent one for that money as it seemed that most of the peeps on Scoobynet had top of the range Fuji Finepix 6800s etc ie more than £500!
I also checked in T3 mag etc and most of the cameras they were looking at were more than £700!!

Anyway after searching the internet for the best one i think i can afford, i plumped for the Kodak DX3600.
Needless to say im over the moon with it!
The picture quality is amazing, here's my first pics i took with it (i reduced em by 50% for uploading)... http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...threadid=61878

Its 2.2 megapixel, 2x Optical zoom and 3x Digital and has a cool video mode. It also comes with a really handy docking station for your PC. Plus u get tv out so u can watch slideshows on your tv . Only crappy thing is that it doesn't come with a case.... i got the guy to chuck one in along with a 32mb card for £300 total anyway.

I was thinking of getting a 128mb card for taking long videos with but they are over £100. Oh well student loan instalment comes in on the 10th of January......

Good luck in getting one,

Kosy.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The Kodak DX3600 uses Compact Flash cards; you can buy them from anywhere, not just Kodak. A 128MB card costs about £40 from www.ebuyer.com - I have one and it works fine in both my Canon D30 and a friend's Kodak DC3800.

Andy.

Kosy

iTrader: (2)

Nice 1, cheers Andy!

Kos.

Doc

If you want a cheap deal then how about this. (No optical zoom though)

http://www.kodak.com/GB/en/corp/stor...ID=7354#dx3700

Kosy

iTrader: (2)

That seems very cheap!

adge

iTrader: (22)

Doc,
Thats what I call a bargain, just bought one. Dabs selling them for £269 and not the same accessories!!!!!!!!
Cheers

AllanB

Jeez thats looks like a blinding deal. Too good to be true but I know Kodak have done stuff liek this before. We were selling a bundle of the DC4800 ( about £510) with a full copy of Adobe Phtoshop (about £480) for just £450 !!

I think I mihgt have one of these DX3700s. Anyone else got one ?


AllanB

Kosy

iTrader: (2)

I've got a DX3600 Allan.
Read a post i made on this thread a wee while back.
They must be pretty similar so if u want to know any more just ask.

Cheers,

Kos.

gregh

Sorry to break the bads new re the Kodak deal, but just read this on another website:

Kodak is in the process of calling everyone who placed the order for these cameras. Allegedly some (EX) employee has posted this offer and of course it does not exist. I understand they are willing to offer 10% off other orders.

cheers,

greg

Kosy

iTrader: (2)

I wonder how he became an 'ex' employee then eh!

Markus

The Minolta S304 looks like a winner. one question though, what is the max size compact flash card it can take? 128? 256?

Markus

oh, and can anyone recomend a good case for the minolta? or does it come with one?

cheers

TRIGGER

Where is the cheapest place to buy a 1 gb microdrive ?

Markus

Trigger,
no expert, but I was just looking at the microtech international firewire compact flash reader thingy, and it says it has a 1gb microdrive in it. their website is http://microtechint.com/qs-cmatefw.html and one of thier uk people is http://www.digitalfirst.co.uk/index.html and they sell this thing for aprox 64 quid including delivery.

howardb

On the subject of memory, todays special at scan http://www.scan.co.uk/today.htm has readers and memory units going cheap.

alistair

Optical zoom is all you should worry about - digital zoom is just what you could do afterwards on a PC anyhow.

The other variables are resolution (measured in Megapixels) - more is good, 2 is the absolute minimum you should look at. Finally size / weight - do you want to carry it round in your pocket ?

I've just got a Pentax 330 which I'm pleased with.

Try Price-Guide
and PriceRunner for prices.

You then need extra memory (either Smart Media, Compact Flash or Memory Stick depending on manufacturer) and unless there is a bundled deal, it's usually cheaper to shop around for those, somewhere like Scan (£10 P+P) - 128Mb is something like 80 pictures at 3MP.

[Edited by alistair - 1/4/2002 12:56:04 PM]

Karlos Fandango

I have been playing with my brand new Minolta S304 since getting home from work today. I ordered it from internet cameras direct(ICD) on the 27/12 and got it yesterday (opened it today as i missed yesterdays delivery )

It seems to be the best deal i could find anywhere on the net or highstreet shops. The camera itself is well spec'd and built really well. Everything is very easy to use and surprisingly simple. I done alot of ground work before hand and couldn't find anything else to match it for the price.

Get extra batteries 1600 or 1800 mAh as its quite scary how it eats the power when you start to play around with it. Can't comment on much else as I'm still playing but its looking very good. One problem is that the Minolta supplied program disk has a problem and I can't install the driver or picture viewing program.
I've contacted ICD and am now waiting to see what happens.

Time to go and read the manual I suppose, I've put it off as long as possible!!

Nearly forgot to say that there's a Minolta forum on www.DPReview.com, might be worth a look.

[Edited by Karlos Fandango - 1/4/2002 8:52:41 PM]

adge

iTrader: (22)

Barstewards just cancelled my order and offered 10% discount on any other order!!!! Some discount when you can buy the same camera from dabs for approx 12% less than the kodak shop!!!!!
and Amazon are selling the camera for £219.99 a massive 26% off, just who do Kodak think they are kidding.

[Edited by adge - 1/8/2002 9:48:45 AM]