DATYdude said:
This is a really good step-by-step advisor based on what is important to you, from a very good unbiased review site (OK they seem to really like almost every Canon):
http://www.myproductadvisor.com/mpa/camera/inputSummary.do
Good luck.
Intersting site DATY! It does offer more of the Canon in the selection process, the problem is..Canon has some pretty good consumer P&S. Sony makes a great camera, but it's all money after that for cards and cords etc.. Panasonic is a good supplier as is Fuji and Olympus.
The concept of buying the "first" digital camera is quite daunting. People really do have to rely on the sales persons advice.
The true test comes later once they've used it! The review sites are excellent for tech spec's but not a lot of them get into the head space of a new consumer. DATY provided a really good link for suggestions on what to look at.
In my previous post I tried to stay away from the really tech stuff as it's quite confusing and people tend to stand in front on a sales person and nod their head approvingly..because they don't want to seem stupid! Seriously...it happens every day. I have friends that have worked in BOX STORE situations and they've made up stuff on the fly and people have nodded and said yes..they heard about that! No one wants to look stupid when buying.
There's a lot of other considerations when buying digital...but I stayed away from mentioning it as the original poster wanted a beginning point and I felt some other people might find it useful as well.
BTW..if a sales person starts taking RESOLUTION....make them explain it!! Most cannot. Resolution is the same as your computer monitor and your video card. You can set your monitor for various resolutions, the higer the numbers the smaller the info on the screen becomes. Same with photo's...but different. The higher resolution applies to maniplulating the image in post processing software. Obviously the higher the resolution, the more you can do. The average person wants to get rid of red eye...and crop off someones nose who walked into a shot..so they don't need top end resolution! Sales people will always play the resolution card..because they know from their training..most people DO NOT understand what it is. Hence they can say anything and people nod and agree!
If it's your first digital...make sure you understand the camera completely before leaving the store...ask every and any question...a good camera store will spend a lot of time with you..even if it's a 299.00 camera...they want you to come back!
Henrys, Aden and Downtown Camera are excellent starting points...they will not usually upsell unless you force them to. And, that is a really important point. If the salesperson who really knows the camera's says..THIS is the right model for you...don't try and convince them you're better than you actually are...you will not be happy with your camera. It will quite simply be beyond your knowledge and there is an assumption you HAVE the knowledge. You won't get good shots with it 80% of the time.
That is your goal. 80% good shots with a point and shoot. It's not hard to get that. That 80% btw is very hard for pro's to get on a consistent basis in different situations without pre scouting the location. But you can let the camera make most, if not all, of the decisions and get some great shots.
What I like to see is creativity.
To give you an example...a good friend is in Turin right now on assignment for a national paper in the USA. His first front page shot was not the snowboarder in the air...but the shadow of the snowboarder in the bottom of the pipe. Everyone else got the guy captured in mid air...all 700 of them. My friend got the art shot that made the front page! He knew everyone else would cover the basic beauty shot, but thats not the one that people look at and go WOW!
So go make some WOW shots...it's not hard...just stop taking vacation pics and have some fun. It's digital...you can erase if you don't like it!
M2