Originally Posted by Znod' post='261224' date='Mar 28 2006, 07:08 AM

Check my gallery photos. The write-ups note the camera used. You definitely don't need more than 5 megapixels unless you want to print high-quality photos larger than, say, 4 X 6 or 5 X 7. If you don't want to print largish photos, then get a 5 megapixel with the best lens possible. My old Minolta 5 megapixel falls into this category. Check out its web photos versus those from our Rebel. Pixels smixels for the web especially. Go for the lens.

Originally Posted by ImolaRedM' post='261307' date='Mar 28 2006, 02:31 PM

I agree 100% and you can even get good 8x10/8x14's from a good 5mp camera. The glass is what makes the image and in digital cameras you want minial in camera processing and little compression. If you can find a camera that shoots in a RAW mode you're all set. Then use JPG for the snap shots but RAW for the images you may want to print. But shop for the lens. There is a reason pro's spend big money on large glass and it's not because they think they look cool.

Originally Posted by sese' post='261176' date='Mar 28 2006, 12:15 PM

if you want to have a small compact cam that doesn't cost much i'd recommend the

Canon Ixus 55:

Features

* Stylish and slender
* 5.0 MP CCD
* 3x optical zoom with UA lens
* DIGIC II and iSAPS
* 2.5 inch LCD with wide viewing angle
* 15 shooting modes
* VGA movies at 30 fps
* PictBridge and Print/Share button
* USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
* Software and CANON iMAGE GATEWAY

Specifications

* ISO Sensitivity Setting: AUTO, 50, 100, 200, 400
* CCD Pixels: 5.3Megapixels
* Effective Pixel Resolution: 5.0Megapixels
* CCD Filter Array: Primary Colour
* CCD Size: 1/2.5 Inches
* Lens Construction: 6 elements in 5 groups (2 UA elements)
* Lens Focal Length: 5.8 to 17.4mm
* Lens Maximum Aperture: F2.8 to F4.9 f-stop
* Optical Zoom: 3x
* Digital Zoom: 4x
* Focusing Method: TTL ? 9-point AiAF, 1-point AF (Fixed centre)
* Focus Range: 0.03m to infinity
* Height: 5.35cm
* Width: 8.6cm
* Depth: 2.16cm
* Weight: 0.14kg
* White Balance: TTL ? Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
* Viewfinder: Real-image zoom, optical viewfinder
* Built in Monitor: 2.5 inch P-Si TFT, approx. 115,000 pixels, 100% coverage
* Built-in Flash: Auto, Manual Flash On / Off
* Flash Mode: with red eye reduction
* Flash Range: 0.5m to 3.5
* Resolution (Maximum): 2592 x 1944
* Video Capability: Up to 640 x 480 at 30fps with sound
* File Compression Type: AVI (Motion JPEG ) ? WAV
* File Format: JPEG (Exif version 2.2) ? DPOF
* Image Compression: Superfine, Fine, Normal
* Self Timer: Yes (2 or 10 seconds) or Custom
* USB Ports: 1 x USB 2.0
* Audio/Visual Port: 1 x Audio Visual Port (NTSC/PAL)
* Storage Capacity: 16MB SD card supplied
* Storage Type: Secure Digital (SD) ? MultiMediaCard (MMC)
* Software Included: ZoomBrowser EX (PhotoRecord) / ImageBrowser ? PhotoStitch ? TWAIN (Windows 98 / 2000), WIA (Windows Me) ? ArcSoft PhotoStudio
* Operating Systems Supported: Microsoft Windows 98SE / Me / 2000 SP4 / XP / XP SP1-2 ? Mac OS X v10.2 - 10.3
* Power Supply: Rechargeable Li-ion Battery NB-2L (battery and charger supplied)
* Power Options: AC Adaptor kit ACK-DC10 (optional)
* Description: Choose from 15 shooting modes to get that perfect shot. Seven preset Special Scene Modes help achieve great results in tricky lighting conditions. My Colors allows special in-camera colour effects to be applied to images and movies in real time. Make extra-long (up to 1GB in size) 30fps VGA quality movie clips with full audio. View them with friends and family on the large LCD or connect to a TV for full screen playback. Record fast action sequences at 60fps QVGA quality and analyse them in sharp slow motion. Printing with the Digital IXUS 55 is a breeze. Simply connect your camera to any PictBridge compatible printer and push the Print/Share button for a full colour print within seconds. Connect to a Canon SELPHY CP Series printer and take advantage of advanced print functions, such as printing ID photos and stills from your movies. Transfer images to your PC quickly and effortlessly with the ultra quick USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection. Canon's ZoomBrowser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Macintosh) are included for editing and organising photos, movies and slide shows. CANON iMAGE GATEWAY provides 100MB of web space for sharing your photos online.
* Operating Temperature: 0 to 40?C
* Operating Humidity: 10 to 90%
* Exposure Compensation: ?2 EV in 1/3 EV steps
* Light Metering Method: Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre)
or the
Casio QV-R61:
Sensor

? 1/1.8" Type CCD
? 6.4 million pixels total
? 6 million effective pixels
Image sizes

? 2816 x 2112
? 2816 x 2112 (3:2)
? 2048 x 1536
? 1600 x 1200
? 1280 x 960
? 640 x 480
Movie clips ? 320 x 240 (15fps) unlimited depending on size of memory card
File formats

? Still: JPEG (Exif 2.2)
? Movies: AVI (Motion JPEG)
Lens ? 39 - 117 mm (35 mm equivalent)
? F2.8 - F4.9
? 3x optical zoom
Digital zoom Up to 4x
Focus ? Contrast type autofocus (selectable between spot and multi)
? Macro
? Infinity mode
? Manual focus
Focus distance ? Normal: 60cm to infinity
? Macro: 10cm - 70cm
Metering

? Multi pattern
? Centre-weighted
? Spot
ISO sensitivity ? Auto
? ISO 64
? ISO 125
? ISO 250
? ISO 500
Exposure compensation ? +/-2EV
? 1/3 stop increments
Shutter speed 4 - 1/2000 sec including night mode
Aperture F2.8/F4.8
Scene modes 23 BESTSHOT modes
White balance ? Auto
? Fixed
? Manual
Self timer ? 2 or 10 secs
? Triple self timer for selection of best shot
Continuous shooting 3 fps
Image parameters

? Fine
? Normal
? Economy
Flash ? Auto, On/Off, Red-eye reduction
? Range: 0.6 - 2.6m (W) 2.1 m (T)
Viewfinder Optical
LCD monitor ? 2" TFT LCD
? 85,000 pixels
Connectivity ? USB
? DC out
Print compliance ? DPOF
? PictBridge
? PIM III
Storage ? SD/MMC card
? 9.7 MB internal memory
Power 2x AA NiMH/lithium ion/alkaline battery
Weight (no batt) 168 g (5.9 oz)
Dimensions 88 x 61 x 33 mm (3.4 x 2.4 x 1.3 in)
if you want to have a professional cam i'd recommend the

Canon EOS 50D:
* CCD resolution: 8.25 megapixels
* ISO equivalent: ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200
* Maximum shutter speed: 30 seconds
* Minimum shutter speed: 1/8000 second
* Resolution modes: Fine/Normal settings: 3504 x 2336, 2544 x 1696, 1752 x 1168 pixels; RAW 3504 x 2336 pixels
* Optical zoom: N/A
* Digital zoom: N/A
* Autofocus: TTL-CT-SIR with a CMOS Sensor
* Focal length: N/A
* Maximum aperture: N/A
* Aperture modes: N/A
* Memory: Type I and II CF card
* Maximum high-resolution images: 3.6 MB per image (Large/Fine)
* Burst mode: Yes, 23 shots (Large/Fine JPEG) or 6 shots (RAW or RAW+JPEG)
* Continuous shooting speed: Approximately 5 frames per second
* Delay between shots: Information unavailable
* Rapid-fire shots: Information unavailable
* Display size: 1.8 inches
* Viewfinder: Eye-level SLR (with fixed pentamirror)
* Flash type: Auto pop-up E-TTL II autoflash (retractable)
* Red-eye reduction: Yes
* Tripod mount: Information unavailable
* Image types: JPEG, RAW formats
* In-camera editing: Information unavailable
* Manual features: Focus, exposure, white balance, shutter
* Special features: LCD monitor has 12 languages provided (English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese)
* Software: Canon's Digital Photo Professional (Version 1.1), EOS Solution Disk (Version 8.0), and Photoshop Elements 2.0
* Batteries: One battery pack BP-511A
* Size name: Digital SLR
* Width: 5.7 inches
* Height: 4.2 inches
* Depth: 2.8 inches
* Weight: 24.2 ounces (body only)
* What's in the Box: EOS 20D digital camera, Lithium-ion battery pack (BP-511A) with protective cover, battery charger (CG-580), USB cable (IFC-400PCU), video cable (VC-100), EB eyecup, wide neck strap, EOS Digital Solutions Software CD-ROM, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Software CD-ROM, EOS 20D instruction manual, 1-year USA limited warranty

Originally Posted by needforspeed' post='261320' date='Mar 28 2006, 08:43 AM

I generally shoot in jpeg on the highest setting (not raw), then convert them to tiff files for any photoshopping (red eye reduction etc..). This seems to work well although I am initially compressing the true image.

On the highest setting my images scale at a3 and are about 5mb.

Will I see much improvement if I switch to RAW / lossless?

Originally Posted by needforspeed' post='261320' date='Mar 28 2006, 08:43 AM

I wanted to print 10x8s - from my limited research in the small and light type of cameras the no of pixels is generally less important than the quality of lens, battery life and shot speed.

Having said that anything up to 8mp is pretty cheap.

Don't know much about SLR's though - other than the professionals use up to 16mp.

Question for you and znod though:

I generally shoot in jpeg on the highest setting (not raw), then convert them to tiff files for any photoshopping (red eye reduction etc..). This seems to work well although I am initially compressing the true image.

On the highest setting my images scale at a3 and are about 5mb.

Will I see much improvement if I switch to RAW / lossless?

Originally Posted by UUronL' post='261512' date='Mar 28 2006, 03:35 PM

If you're talking point and shoots, then I'd say the Fuji Finepix F30 Zoom.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fuji..._finepixf30.asp

The model it replaces, the F10 - had some insanely good high-ISO performance. It could shoot great images even up to ISO1600, but even at ISO400 it embarassed any Canon P&S. The F30 is so good in this regard, it has an ISO3200 setting. Fuji's SuperCCD technology really has yielded the absolute best point and shoot high ISO performance.
If you are talking DSLR with their APS-C or larger imagers, then it's a different story. Canon cameras produce some of the lowest noise images of any camera. The Nikon D50 is Nikon's low-noise champ. At the entry level, I would recommend a Nikon D50 or a Canon Digital Rebel XT. At the mid-range, a Nikon D200 or the Canon EOS-30D.