I've just spent the last couple of hours researching digital cameras and am more confused than when i started. I thought maybe some folks here might have some recommedations of a decent camera they have had good luck with. I'm looking for something in the $300 range that has good close up quality for taking aquatic photos but also easy to use for everyday stuff. If you had some sample photos of your tank that would be great.
thanks

I am kind of partial to Canon, so don't listen to me...

If I had to buy a camera for someone, and they would give me $300, I would buy a Powershot A80. If they would give me $600, I would buy a G5. If they would give me a grand, I would go with the Digital Rebel.

I just like Canons... But I know that Nikons and Olympus and whatnot are just as good or better :mrgreen:

I'm going to ahve to agree with Wasserpest... I have a new Canon Powershot A80 on the way... I've been using an A40 for a while and just love it. Easy to use, and decent pictures too

I've had an Olympus C-5050 for about a year now. I've been quite happy with it. It's a bit pricey, so it might not be the best option if you're simply looking for a good camera to take aquarium photos. My incentive was that it's one of the best under-water digitals (with housing, of course) - I use it while freediving.

I have a Canon S50. 5.0 megapixels. I would recomend it. For tanks you want something with custom white balance setting as our lights tend to throw off a pretty funky color spectrum.

Here is a sample:

http://members.shaw.ca/chris.zaborow...edResSharp.jpg

Canon released 4 new cameras in the last few weeks...

S500
S410
S1 IS
Pro1

My fav. digi camera site:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews.html

Putty, thats a great pic there. You were able to take that with the Canon S50 as it came and no modifications, different lenses etc? I looked at some of those cameras today and may have to get one soon.

I'm all for the Canon love too. Personally I have both a film SLR and a brand spanking new 10D (yippeee!), but on my wish list is the Canon S400, which I believe sells for around $300. Also, now that they've announced the S500, the price may be dropping :D

For more info, see this handy-dandy site. They have great in-depth reviews and you can do side-by-side comparisons.

Be sure to let us know what you decide on!

Thanks! You take 500, and what do you know...one turns out. Yes, this is the stock camera with no mods or lenses.

The only thing I did is sharpen and crop in Photoshop.

DPreview is a great site.

Another thing that's really important is that once you narrow your choices down, go to the store and play with the cameras you're interested in. Take a few shots. Fiddle with the controls. Is it comfortable? Is it a good size for your hands?

One of the things I love most about Canon is that they're designed so well. The controls make sense to me, and they're positioned in such a way that I can easily make adjustments by touch alone.

I have a fuji finepix s5000 and love it. Of course I'm still trying to tweak around with all the settings to get the best pictures possible of my fishtank.

Matt

I've been doing alot of research, reading reviews checking prices etc to upgrade my old 1994 Kodak digital DC200 no zoom that cost $700.
Decided on the Canon G5, its well equiped for my needs.

So.. last saturday I added it to my shopping cart @ newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...14&order=1
which rocks by the way, free shipping is cool too :) had to run out and do some errands, came back to make the purchase a bit later and wah lah.. out of stock which previously wasn't... :cry:

So now the wait is on.

Crap. I feel your pain. Whenever I finally decide on a new toy, I always want it now!

Hey! Thats my camera! Did you get the firmware upgrades for this to give it the same features as the DC220?

Hi!
No I didnt get the 220 firmware, but did upgrade the firmware with the 200/210 which in turn gave me " Improved battery life" and speed up pics from camera to pc time. helped a bit.
If I take 15 or 20 snaps it takes about 10 minutes to download to pc which is a bit better than before.

The DC200 to this day, still takes fantastic quality shots, even of the planted tank, but closeups of fish and plants just dont cut it :(

I bought a fugi finepix S3000 about a month ago 3.2mp and 6x zoom, I farted with it for a few days, but the quality of the shots just didnt even compair to my old DC200, so I returned it.

I'm excited about getting the G5.... looking forward to it very much indeed 8)