I know people have asked about this before, but now I need it! Our Kodak (about 4 yrs. old) is about to completely die. I'm thinking we'll be hunting for a new digital in the next couple of days. I have really loved my Kodak, but we used my parents new Kodak today for Natalie's birthday party, and I thought everyone was very dark. I wasn't as happy with the pics as I know I would have been with my old Kodak.

It must have sound video on it, and 5mp. My parents is a 6mp or 7mp and honestly I see no picture difference. If anything, I prefer my current 5mp.

What camera do you love and why? I'm thinking $300 range, but I haven't looked at them in so long so I'm not sure we can get a good one for that price or not. Ours was $350 on sale 4 years ago. TIA

By Karen~admin on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 09:52 am:

Well, for about $300, you can get an Olympus Stylus. We bought the waterproof one (720) last year and it takes GREAT pics both underwater and on land, and we bought Jen the 730 for Christmas, her first digital, and the pics are absolutely beautiful.

It offers a large number of shooting modes, it's small/compact so it fits easily into a pocket or small purse.

I have owned 7 digital cameras, and we currently still have the Olympus Stylus 720, a Sony 717, a Canon 20D DSLR and a Nikon D200 DSLR. The Olympus is small, compact, and takes pics that are comparable to the DSLRs, so that one gets my vote! My first digital was a Kodak, and honestly, I hate the Kodak digitals. Just my personal preference.

We bought ours online because we found the best price that way. I believe the XD picture card was extra though, & I'd suggest getting the largest XD card you can afford (they now offer a 2 GB card).

By Tarable on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 10:49 am:

I have had a few different digitals and I prefer Olympus to most others. I personally have never had any issues with a Sony except the memory sticks are expensive, but my mom has had a lot of trouble with a couple of Sony cameras getting really blurry pictures and for no reason.

I have an Olympus and love it and am thinking about getting the Stylus for a second because it is a lot more compact than the one I have currently.

If you look in adds for electronics stores you can find the XD cards on sale for not too much.

By Reds9298 on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 01:16 pm:

I have only owned a Kodak and loved it, but I have nothing to compare it to! Except my parents' new one (Kodak) and I don't like the pics at all. My old one takes way better pics than theirs.

I've never had an Olympus camera, or an XD card. I just bought a new 1GB San Disk card for vacation. So that's not the same card that Olympus uses I take it?

Thanks for the responses so far! I appreciate it.

By Reds9298 on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 01:25 pm:

I just did some research and realized the x-D card is different than what we have currently. They are having good deals on Olympus at Best Buy right now, so we're checking them out.

By Yjja123 on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 02:04 pm:

My vote is Olympus. I have had Olympus cameras all my life. They last forever and take great pictures. I love my olympus Stylus!

By Karen~admin on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 05:45 pm:

I've owned a Minolta manual SLR, which I still have from the 70's, several auto focus SLR's (Olympus, Minolta, Canon), and a number of digitals: Kodak, 3 different Sony's (no problems with ANY of the Sony's BTW, I just kept upgrading and still have the 717), and now the Canon, Nikon and the Olympus waterproof one. We love the Olympus for vacations, specifically when snorkeling and going to beaches, which is actually what we purchased it for in the first place.

And Jen, who never operated a digital camera at all prior to receiving the Stylus we gave her for Christmas, absolutely loves it, and takes it with her practically everywhere. She has taken some beautiful pics with it.

I've been recommending the Olympus to a lot of people recently.

By Andi on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 12:13 am:

We have the Cannon Power Shot SD600 Digital ELPH and I LOVE IT! It's small enough to tke just bout anywhere and it takes excellent pictures and video. All the pctures and Video you have sen on our DropShot since October have been with that camera.

By Brandy on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 04:55 am:

Deanna we have a bunch of cameras and i do actually have a kodak it's the v610 i think but the battery life charge stinks and to charge the battery you have to actually plug the camera into the wall...but the pictures are pretty good. It's a 6 megapixel.I honestly should have gotten the olympus stylus 720? the one where it can go underwater because i have been wanting something like that.But for some reason decided to get it later on down the road.

By Conni on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 11:33 am:

I wish I had the waterproof camera they recommended here, yesterday!!! My friend and I took the kids on a white water rafting trip and I couldn't take my camera since it wasnt waterproof!

I am on my 3rd Nikon digital camera. (1st one I took to the beach and got saltwater in it- ruined it, 2nd one we still have and use often, 3rd one has the video with sound, which I love) I have no complaints other than it isn't waterproof. However, I do not have anything to compare it too, as I have not owned another brand of digital camera.

Now I am curious about the Olympus. I must go shop now.

By Karen~admin on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 03:32 pm:

Conni, the Olympus is waterproof to a depth of 10'. Obviously for *above water* activities and snorkeling, it's the perfect camera, and it takes beautiful pictures. However, if you're a scuba person, you obviously need a different waterproof camera.

By Tsa on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 10:25 pm:

I LOVE my Nikon. Both the digital and the old fashion 35mm.

By Breann on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 12:00 am:

We just ordered our 2nd Nikon over the weekend. Love how the pictures turn out.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 12:56 am:

We have an Olympus Stylus Zoom film camera, that is waterproof, that we took to Niagara Falls. We used it on the Maid of the Mist and the Journey Behind the Falls and it worked well! We were glad to have a waterproof camera, since Niagara Falls is very wet! LOL! Of course a digital, waterproof camera would have been even better!

We have a Canon S3 IS, Canon Powershot A510, Canon Powershot A70, and a Canon Powershot G3! LOL! The A70 is a hand-me-down from a friend, who thought it didn't work anymore, but all Gary did was put in a set of fresh batteries! LOL! Anyway, she decided she wanted a new camera and she got a Nikon Coolpix L11. It seemed like a pretty cool camera.
Nikon Cameras Click on coolpix and then L11.

For us, it's probably better that Mary gets herself a new camera, because it's less time that we have to spend helping her with it! LOL!

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 10:12 am:

I really appreciate the suggestions. We've considered both the Olympus and the Canon Elph and will have to go get one this week. I can't live without my camera! I just want the one that takes the best pictures and I won't know that until I get home with it. I like the waterproof feature of the Olympus, even if it wouldn't be used all-weather that often. It would still be handy.

Thank you for the input! I'll let you know what we get.