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Table of Contents | ||
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Note 1: Amazon.com Note 2: Canon PowerShot SD200 Note 3: Canon Powershot A410 Note 4: Canon Powershot A75 Note 5: Canon SD300 Note 6: Casio Exilim Note 7: Comparisons Online Note 8: Consumer Report Choices Note 9: Consumer Report Choices 1 Note 10: Digital Camera Resources Note 11: Digital or 35mm Note 12: Digital vs Optical Zoom Note 13: E-Bay Note 14: Hewlett Packard Note 15: Kodak Again Note 16: Kodak Easy Share 1 | Note 17: Kodak Easy Share 2 Note 18: Kodak Easy Share 3 Note 19: Kodak Easy Share 4 Note 20: Kodak Easy Share 5 Note 21: Kodak HP Same Family Note 22: Kodak Only Note 23: Megapixel Suggestions Note 24: Never Send Film Note 25: Nikon 4.1mp 1 Note 26: Nikon 4.1mp 2 Note 27: Nikon Coolpix Note 28: Nikon Coolpix 4600 Note 29: Olympus D580 Note 30: Olympus Digital Note 31: Pentax Optio M10 Note 32: Sony CyberShot | |
| Here are 4 links to help you select a camera, case, memory card,
or just see Today's Deals
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| We bought a Canon digital camera for our son. It is a Canon PowerShot
SD200, which is around $160. We have since liked Canon so much that we
have actually bought one for each member of the family. It is very
small and can be attached to his belt, so it is hidden under his jacket.
It comes with a removable memory card, so you can buy additional memory
cards for the camera. My son took a 1 GB memory card with him (which
gets cheaper all the time) and he occasionally burns a CD with his
pictures and movies, which he sends home. A 1 GB memory card will hold
1000 high resolution pictures. I am actually more excited about the
movies than the pictures, because the camera also records sound and
nothing was more exciting than when I received a movie of my son while
he was in the Brazilian MTC. He showed me his dormitory and introduced
me to his roommates, all in a 40 second movie. I played it again and
again, just to hear his voice. The advantage of digital cameras is the instant access to pictures. My son sends pictures by email every week. Movies can be rather large. There is a website called www.yousendit.com through which you can email someone attachments without clogging up their mailbox. It works wonderfully. The trick with digital cameras is to back up the pictures, just in case you lose the camera, or it gets stolen. Internet cafes are ideal for that. You can burn the pictures on a rewriteable* CD, so that you can add to the CD as you make more pictures. This is very important. One of the missionaries in my ward lost his digital camera with a very large memory card in it. All the pictures he had taken on his mission were on that card. Fortunately, a month later he found the camera. He was lucky.
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| My son is currently serving in the Dominican Republic Santiago Mission and
I posted a question several weeks ago about how to best get a digital
camera to my son. He took his 35mm camera, but developing film there is
very expensive and the cost to ship the pictures home is even worse. The
cost of cameras there is outrageous and unless we buy one here and ship it
via Fed Ex, which is incredibly expensive, it won't be guaranteed to be
delivered. I was able to find a Canon PowerShot A410 on sale at Meier and Frank in SLC for just under $150.00. It is the same camera that my nephew took to Spain a few months ago and it is small and takes wonderful pictures (3.2 mega pixels). Several family members have the same camera as well and love it. At that great price, I won't be too devastated if it gets lost or stolen. We were able to ship it Fed Ex via a family member who was able to send it through their business at their corporate rate (for about $30, instead of the $150 at mailing stores). You are certainly welcome to post my comments. I included the information on shipping because many of the moms who responded to my original email were in the same situation.... their missionary was in the field already and didn't have a digital camera before departing. You're wise to get one before your missionary leaves!! Karen. Elder in Dominican Republic Santiago Mission
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| We got Elder Caldwell a Canon Powershot A75 when he was on his mission and
he loved it. It was not very expensive. It's 3.2mp and takes great pictures.
It even takes short videos with sound. He is still using it! We got it at
Ritz Camera in Baton Rouge and they transferred the sale to Salt Lake and
he picked the camera up there. The place in Salt Lake is real close to the
mission office. I can't remember the name of it. His camera broke while he
was out, so we got him this one right before Christmas. It was his first
Christmas away from home. He sent some wonderful pictures of the Temple
and Temple Square all lit up at night. I would suggest checking it out.
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| My son was advised not to bring a digital camera, but since he already
had one, he took the gamble. We are so grateful for the pictures and
movies, that if he loses his camera, we will buy him another digital
one. Before Ryan went to Thailand, we asked people about this. We were told that it was ok to have a digital camera in Thailand. We researched it to find a camera that was small, would take good pictures, and had the capability to have voice messages put with pictures so he could document his pictures easily. A huge bonus of the camera we got for him for Christmas right before he left was that is takes incredible video. It also takes video in different sizes, so he can get super high quality and large video that he can send to us on CD or he can take it smaller and send us small bits over e-mail. We did a lot of research and have been greatly thrilled with the purchase. It is the Canon SD300. It did cost over $300 but was worth every penny. Good picture quality is extremely important, so I would never get anything less than 4 megapixels. The camera is about the size of a credit card and is very thin. It is so small that it easily fits in a shirt pocket. He puts messages with his pictures, so I can have them all organized and documented for him when he comes home. The video is priceless. We paid about $350 for it, but I now see it for as low as $220 after rebate. As far as losing it, I expect if your sons or daughter have a hard time keeping track of things before they leave, that would be a concern. We knew our son was pretty good at keeping track of his stuff, so it wasn't a worry. If he lost it today or it broke, I would probably buy another one, because the pictures and video are such a treasure. Linda, Elder in Thailand
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| My son has a Casio Exilim. It is tiny, so very portable and convenient. It
has a large viewing screen, larger than most. It has red eye reduction which
is a must also. [Ed: Redeye is very bad with most digital cameras] The cost
will vary depending on how many megapixels it has. They keep coming out with
new models with higher and higher megapixels. That makes the older models an
even better buy. I have the 4.0 version with the 3X optical zoom lens. I love
it and the quality of pictures is great. I've had it about 3 years and have
had no problems at all. My missionary son has the 7.2 mega-pixel version.
It also takes video. I hesitated sending the expensive one with him, but he
has never been one to lose things. He gets prints of the pictures he wants
on p-day and then sends me the SD card. I put the pictures/videos on a CD and
send the card back to him. It's best to have a few SD cards that way, but
they go on sale at great prices from time to time. I would highly recommend
the Casio. I understand Nikon has a comparable model, but I think the price
is higher. I bought the extended warranty which came in handy when my son's
companion stepped on the camera and damaged it. The warranty covers any
damage and either fixes or replaces the camera. You can get an idea about
pricing on line. Christine, Elder in Oklahoma/Texas
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| If you google 'camera compare' many sites come up but three pretty good ones
are BetterPhoto.com, DCCompare.com and DPreview.com. You are able to look
at the features you need and narrow down the choices on many of these sites
which is a good thing because it is overwhelming for the majority of us to
understand in simple terms. After your preliminary decision on a camera then
you can google the camera and see what other people are saying about it and
their experience in actually using the thing. Takes some time but it is
worth it to get what you need at the price you can afford. I think for a
missionary the most important features are a memory card to send back and
forth, long battery life or recharger which is not good for foreign missions
with different current; converters tend to blow up delicate electronics
randomly, and portability. Remember that most digital cameras do not include
a memory card which must be bought separately. If you do not buy the card
you will only be able to take a few pictures before the built in memory is
full (5 or so usually) and it seems many missionaries like to send the cards
home and the family can send one back with pics of home or the missionary
has another while he is waiting for the return. It seems some can upload to a
website for the folks to review and print. Of course cost is a consideration
also, but there are good quality cameras at reasonable prices. The prices
are coming down and the megapixils are going up. The higher the megapixels,
the better quality the photos are, as a general rule. The best prices are
usually on-line but always do a price check first: pricecheck.com, shopzilla
etc. and of course there is Walmart for a quick buy. It would be good to do
a test run with all this technology before the missionary actually leaves
so that everyone is familiar with the process and valuable memories are not
lost. Hope this helps, I learned the hard way about that. Donna P. South American missionary.
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| My husband did a lot of research in Consumers Reports when buying my digital
and those for my kids (they're his step kids). My camera and my daughters'
cameras (who are not missionaries) are Canons. He bought my son, who is the
missionary, a Nikon Coolpix. It was rated as well as the Canon but was on
sale at the time and was considerably smaller in size when compared to the
Canons. I think it is a 4 megapixel. I'll have to check with my hubby to
be sure. Be sure to get a case. They can be invaluable in protecting the
camera if it's dropped. First, we were going to get a plain digital with no features; but I thought my son might want to be able to do things with his camera as he is a computer geek. I was right. Not only do I get great pics from him (he periodically mails his cards home to me so I can upload them to his website) but he shoots great and sometimes hilarious videos with it, too. Granted, they are very short videos, but it is so nice to see him and hear him talk in them! For his first Christmas out (which was about 3 months into the mission) we sent him a small, portable photo printer (I think it was a Lexmark) so he could print out pics there without having to make a WalMart run since he's primarily on a bike. When I bought it, it was the only portable printer on which you could see the picture you were selecting to print. I think lots more have that feature now. He's been able to share pics this way with other missionaries and investigators, which has been fun for him. And camera cards make such easy- to-mail presents for all occasions! We have always gotten our best price shopping at B&H in New York City. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ They are orthodox Jews and so are closed on Saturdays, but they have always been very helpful and had some prices that were hard to beat in the local stores, even when you included shipping (partly because you don't pay sales tax if you're not in NY.) Heidi
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| For those of you who are preparing to send out a missionary, I hope this
information will be helpful. IF NOT, you can use this information for a
Father's Day gift idea, Birthday, Christmas, etc. Digital camera stuff
is still relatively new for all of us. I am bringing up this topic so that
missionaries-to-be can make the wisest choice with their money and
situation. Missionaries are NOT tourists! But they do want to have a few photos to remember the special people they taught and baptized on their missions. Mothers especially want to get a glimpse of what life is like for their missionaries. If you plan on purchasing a Digital Camera soon, I highly recommend reading the July 2006 issue of Consumer Reports, "The Right Digital Camera for you"! It has a big section called, "Annual Photo Guide, what to buy, how to shoot, ways to print."
That is something to consider with a missionary--batteries can get expensive. With subcompacts, "...it still may be more difficult to manage menus and the like on some models using their smaller controls." IF POSSIBLE (my emphasis), have future missionaries "...try out subcompact cameras at the store before you buy it. "That way, you'll know which ones fit your hand comfortably or can be securely gripped." Regarding camera use among missionaries, they should not take expensive, fancy digital cameras. Mainly, missionaries should have a camera that will make standard 4x6 snapshot prints, and Consumer Reports says, "...a camera with a 4-5 megapixel resolution should be fine. Such a camera will also let you make an 8x10 print...and won't look much different than one from a 6- or -8 megapixel model. To enlarge images more than that or blow up only parts of them, you'll want a 6- to 8- megapixel camera." BATTERY TYPE AND LIFE: According to Consumer Reports, all digital cameras run on either rechargeables, or regular batteries. FOR MISSIONARIES: Consumer Reports think its more convenient to own a camera that accepts AA batteries. Missionaries can take with them a battery recharger. However, if during the day their batteries run down, they can slip in a set of disposable batteries and not lose the opportunity to take a memorable photo. Another important point Missionary Mom's have made, along with Consumer Reports, is to buy a camera that "...uses the same type of memory card or battery as other digitals you own, so that you can share them." This is very important. BRAND REPAIR HISTORY: A missionary needs to have a camera that will be dependable. I recommend choosing a brand that needs the fewest repairs. If your missionary is going international, finding a place to repair a digital camera would be difficult and distract from missionary work. It is probably best to just ship them a new camera, and have them send home the broken one, especially during the warranty period. FEWER REPAIRS: Sony needed the fewest. Panasonic was next. Then Canon, Olympus. Fuki/FujiFilm, Casio, Nikon, and Kodak were next. Further down the line and getting worse were HP, Pentax, Konica Minolta/Minolta, Toshiba, and coming out at the end at having the most repairs needed was Vivitar. RECOMMENDED CAMERAS: Based on Consumer Reports, for a Subcompact camera (those that can fit into a pocket/purse):
Quickpick: For Compact Cameras (basic cameras at a low price):
Consumer Reports Bestbuy:
Quickpick: I hope this is helpful to you in choosing the best camera for your missionary. I really don't like focusing so much on this part of missionary preparation. However, they are here to stay, and so we might as well make it as easy as possible for a missionary to take care of so they can focus on the real purpose of being a missionary!! Consumer Reports has more information about fancier digital cameras, and if you want to send your missionary out with one of those, fine. However, I won't be sharing that information with you. You can find a copy of Consumer Reports at your local library and read the entire article. I don't recommend sending a missionary with a fancy, expensive camera. Consumer Reports also has an article on how to take better photos and tips on how to make the most of your digital camera.
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| I just took a class through Davis School District's Educational Technology
Center and they have some awesome handouts and links that would help you I
think. Here is the address:
http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/district/etc/cathy/digitalcameras.html The "Digital Cameras Beginning" handout gives some good basic information on choosing a digital camera. The most important things I remember are to pay attention to the optical zoom - not the digital. Optical is actually zooming in on the object and digital zoom is just magnifying what the optical has zoomed in on. However, the digital zoom diminishes the quality of the picture while optical zoom does not. The other thing is that the pixels are what allows you to enlarge the picture. If you want to enlarge pictures to an 8x10 size a 3.0 megapixel or higher will do it. A camera with 6.0 megapixels allows you to get excellent quality in a 16x20 enlargement. While a 2.0 megapixel or higher will give you photo quality 4x6 and 5x7 prints. (Photo Quaility is the best you can get on a photo quality printer) In other words you don't need to pay big bucks for higher megapixels if you are only going to print 4x6 pictures. Usually you can find 4.0 or 5.0 megapixels for around $100 on good sales. Also pay attention to the battery type. We sent one to our son that had rechargable batteries, but it can also use AA batteries in case his adaptor does not work to recharge the batteries in Peru. However, the AA will run out faster so be sure he knows to carry spare batteries with him at all times. I have heard of missionaries downloading the pictures to a CD and sending that home or they have an extra memory card that they mail back and forth. I don't know which works best as Matthew is just now getting his camera so you'll have to rely on others for that info. I think both probably work well. The CD is probably less likely to get stolen however. These cameras can get very technical and if your son has time to learn it well before he leaves you are in great shape. If not look for one that takes a good "point and shoot" picture. We just found a Kodak one that was on a great sale and sent that because it had the AA battery option and it used the same kind of memory card as the one we have at home. We have a Nikon Coolpix 5900 and I love it - but it is too nice to send on a mission! We are hoping the Kodak takes a good point and shoot picture! I guess we'll find out - eh?! Hope these suggestions help.
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| We also pondered on whether our son should take his digital camera (he
already had one) it is a 3 mega pixel by Kodak. On the cheaper side of
digital camera but it works well, hasn't given him any trouble and is fairly
small and takes pretty good pictures and videos when he holds his hands
still and has a big enough memory card. We purchased a portable CD burner
for him to take with him so he just downloads from the camera memory card
when it's full to a CD and then mails the CD home to us (he doesn't need a
computer with this device.) Note: It is important the missionary at least
dates and labels the CD (with subject matter) to help mom keep everything in
order. My son just takes notes on an index card as to the places or people
or activities as he takes his pictures and sends that home with the CD. We
sure do enjoy seeing all his pictures but we probably enjoy the little video
clips he takes while he is narrating what his is videoing the most (I love
hearing his voice and chuckles of happiness.) It also makes it easy to
share electronically to family and friends (he gave me his email list) some
of our favorite pictures. We also print some to put in a missionary
scrapbook we are putting together for him. We had a friend whose son just got back from a mission in Moscow and this is what he did and didn't have any problems. However in my son's mission in Romania the missionaries were warned to not show signs of wealth, so we weren't sure if any camera would convey wealth, or if it is just new technology. We just aren't familiar with the area although a friend from work that is from Romania didn't think it would draw attention. So whether to go digital, SLR, 35mm, or even a different film size you would definitely want to consider the area that they are going to. My son that served in Madrid in 1999-2001 used a camera with a small film and he would send the film canisters back to us to have developed. I guess overall you have to understand that no matter what you take it may get stolen, and you have to determine how much risk you can absorb. Also taking high end items that are stolen usually would entail filing police reports etc. that can take the missionaries time where as the lower end items you just kind of chalk it up and move on without spending more time on it. The upside of digital over film method of course is not having to pay for the "bad" pictures. The only drawback I saw of the missionaries sending home their film/cd's is that they then don't have pictures to share with others but of course we can send some printed back to them. Anya, Elder in Romania Bucharest.
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| [From LDS MM Admin] From a technical standpoint, don't look for high digital zoom. Actually, you don't really need digital zoom. Why? Because it's no different than the method of enlarging an image on the computer by zooming. The image becomes grainy and of lower quality just as if you were using a camera with fewer megapixels than you bought. Optical Zoom is the best way to get higher quality pictures from distance. This is the way film cameras work and follows the same principle as binoculars and reading glasses. It actually magnifies the image, thus keeping the image at the higher megapixel setting you bought in the camera.
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| I would suggest E-Bay. You can find many makes and models for a fraction of
retail. I sent a good Sony digital to my son in Venezuela, checked the
replacement cost on E-Bay first, in case the camera disapeared in transit,
or in case it got stolen which it did out of his bag on the bus. I don't
know how to use E-Bay yet, but most people do and that is what I am doing
to replace the stolen camera. Lisa, Provo
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| My experience with my children in Venezuela is very good. We bought them
Hewlet Packard cameras, they are good quality and not expensive, they use
3mp cameras and they are ok. HP is worldwide and they give warranty for one
year, so if your missionary have troubles with his camera he can go to an HP
store and get a solution. I hope this helps. Teresita, Caracas, Venezuela [Note: Hewlett Packard cameras use a different storage format than most SD card cameras. Most cameras, and Palm Pilots that use SD cards, put pictures in a directory named DCIM/NNNNNNN (a date or other format). The HP cameras destroy the pictures taken on other cameras or stored on a Palm Pilot handheld device.]
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| A year before our son left, my husband gave me a Kodak digital from Walmart.
It has been easy to use. When our son was leaving on his mission, we asked
around AGAIN and most people said Kodak AGAIN. They take great pictures, are
about $100. and are truly easy to use!! Hope this helps. Tammy in Minnesota, Elder in NH
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| We have a Kodak easy share-- my camera was a CX6330-- but my missionary's
camera was croaking, so I sent him mine and bought another Kodak one--
C340-- I bought them thinking that when Aaron sends home a card-- we could
fill it with small videos and pics. Problem?? The cmaeras won't read each
others videos-- but they will read the pics. We bought the first camera
at Walmart- it was the last one and on sale. The other one came from
Ebay. Look at the stores then buy from Ebay. NEVER buy a card from the
stores-- always from Ebay!! Much cheaper. Aaron has 3 cards-- we didn't
know how it would be- sending them back and forth. We only needed 2.
Good thing they were cheaper!. I like the kodak cameras-- they are good, easy to use ones
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| Ryan got just a regular 35mm camera as that is what his booklet told him to
do and being the first missionary we had sent out we just went along with
what the packet told us to do. It lasted about 7 months and then he started
going through batteries one right after another and the pictures were
terrible. He got a great deal on a Kodak Easyshare Digital with 3mp. He
also got a 128MB card. He got it at a Big K in Brisbane. It takes great
pictures and isn't too big to carry around for those great shots that
missionaries have in all of their areas. Addendum: We got the same cameras for our two girls for Christmas at WalMart.com. They like theirs too. Glenda, Missionary in Australia
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| I sent Shane a Kodak Easy Share. They aren't too expensive. Buy 2 memory
cards and send them both, then when he gets one filled up, he can send it
home and you can take it to Walmart and put it on a cd. Then send it back
to him so he can fill it up again. That way, they don't spend their money
getting film developed. I hope this helps a little on your decision. Patty, Lehi, Utah
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| Kodak EasyShare takes great pictures and is reasonably priced. I have a
nephew who works in photo developing and he says by far it is the best
camera for the price. It uses an "SD" card, as opposed to the MUCH more
expensive "XD" cards. There are a few levels of EasyShare. You might want
to make sure whatever you choose has audio capability, so you can send
video with sound back and forth with your missionary.
Sheryl, Alpine, UT
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| Thanks for the information on the digital cameras! We also did a great
deal of research on digitals before my son left on his mission a couple
of months ago. We opted for the highly rated Kodak EasyShare LS753 6
megapixel camera. It has wonderful features, takes video as well as stills
and captures sound. This model and the 5 mp model LS743 also comes with a
lithium ion battery pack, recharger, cables so you can view the shots on
your television screen and more. It retails for over $300 BUT -- here's how
we did it: the Kodak Outlet regularly places this model for auction on
Ebay. They are factory demos which have been refurbished, come with brand
new packaging and accessories and the best part-- a one year warranty! I
actaully ended up bidding on a second one for myself so I would have one
here at home. Mine cost $143.00 and my sons was just $135.00! Sooo easy to
use and the photos are wonderful. I might recommend purchasing a second
battery to keep charged just in case. Worth checking out!
MM from Idaho
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| We have bought 2 digital camera's in one year. The first one we bought was a
Kodak 3mp for $200 for our son. He took this on his mission. This Christmas we bought our daughter an HP 5mp camera for $100. They both take great pictures. You need to see if the camera comes with a memory card. My son's did, my daughter's didn't. Personally I cannot tell the diference in the quality. My sister who takes a lot of pictures--she took a college photography class--said to make sure you get at least a 3 megapixel. Laurie, MM of Elder serving in England
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| Alex is our fourth missionary, but the first that we sent out with a digital.
He is also the first that would even know how to best use it, so before buying
digital make sure the missionary is familiar with how it works! Our "driving" force behind sending him with a digital was the INCREDIBLE ease of just sending full SD cards back and forth. I have always had Kodak, currently 5 megapixel. We decided that Alex should have a minimum of 3 megapixels. We also felt strongly that we wanted a camera that took video. We learned the hard way, though, that if it's not a Kodak, you may have video, but NO SOUND. OR... you may have video, and sound recording, but they DON'T WORK TOGETHER. [NOTE: Virtually all cameras have sound with video if you stay away from the budget models (under ~$150).] He ended up with a Kodak... it was the third camera he bought! I never would have guessed a camera would offer video without sound, or have them not work together. He went from spending $80 on the first camera, to $120 for one that would suit our needs. The first one our daughter ended up getting for Christmas, the second he was fortunately able to return. We did want to keep the price as low as possible, since it could get lost or stolen, but at the same time didn't want to waste money on something that would prove to be more trouble than it was worth. He's only been in Florida for a couple of weeks, but we've delighted in getting SD cards from him and being able to see AND HEAR about his experiences, his companions, etc. Since his camera is a lower resolution than ours, we can't send SD cards to him to view ON his camera... but he CAN go to a Wal-mart or wherever they have those machines and see what is on the SD card I send back, and then print one or two that he likes. We've also been eyeing "digital frames", perhaps for next Christmas... that way he could put our SD card in and have a "slideshow" of family pictures. They can be a bit pricey, but if you get a small one it's around $50 or so! Janet in Colorado
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| If you go digital try for a 5 megapixel. Mine's a 4 and is great, but I'd go
for a 5 just for good measure. A very nice lady in line with me at Walmart--
I was very disappointed with some pictures, thrilled with others and
didn't know why (the compression and resolution was set lower on some of the
pictures)--was helping me and said that she had gotten a 6 and wouldn't waste
her money again. She can't see any difference between that and her 5 but
it cost quite a bit more. Maybe prices have fallen since I got mine, not
sure. Mine is a PowerShot A80 from Cannon and I love it. I think there's
now an A95, just get what you can afford. My advice is to always use the
highest resolution and compression available. If the picture is going to be
just an email attachment, or just a 4X6 it can be done on a lower setting
and be fine, but that's when I get a little disappointed and feel like my
pictures are 'digitalized'. As long as I keep the resolution and compression
at the highest level I haven't been disappointed. [Ed: If you use digital zoom, you will get the same effect--don't waste money, or time, getting/using digital zoom.]
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| I would NEVER send a film camera again!! 90% of my sons pictures were ruined
meaning they never develpoed and it was a brand new camera. I would for sure
send a digital. There are some great ones on the market now that have a high
megapixel. 4 or above, don't need to be more than a 6. .the prices are reallly
good now also. This is the way to go and they can put their photos on a
photosharing site that will allow you to view them, print them, share them
with other distant family member, they can email them to you so you have back
ups. However you do have to worry about theft. we did disposables for most of
my sons mission after his camera quit working, they didn't get stolen or
anything for packages nor apartments!! He will just need to keep a really
good eye on it to keep it safe. There is a good camera from Kodak, the
EasyShare I think. Shari
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| I was able to send my son a digital camera at Christmas to Ecuador. He is
now able to send home pictures every week. Thankfully, his current companion
knew how to use it and email a photo home. A picture is definitely worth a
thousand words! I bought a Nikon 4.1 megapixel at Best Buy for about 129.99
on sale. We found a large memory card for it on the internet for a good
price. If the country has any kind of tourism, there is usually a way to get
pictures downloaded or developed on CD. Making sure the battery charger will
plug into their voltage system would be a concern. The camera I purchased
runs on AA batteries, that eliminates plug concerns. If stolen mail is not a
concern, then I know some families who alternate memory cards, and then post
on ofoto. If the missionary is going to be state-side, they can upload to
Wal-Mart and their family can pick up developed copies at the Wal-mart in
their town. Jani, Elder in Guayaquil Ecuador South
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| We bought a Nikon 4.1 megapixel at best buy for 129.99. The key is to find
good deals on memory cards and discuss if they will burn them to cd and then
mail the copy or mail the card. Good deals can be found on the internet for
memory cards. I own a Nikon 7900, but it was expensive. We did a camera comparison search on Consumer Report (on line). We typed in the criteria important to us, small, inexpensive, amount of zoom and clarity. We found the Olympus cameras came up as top choices. I wrote down which Olympus models appealed to me, and then searched Ebay for the best buys on those particular models. We got a super deal for our missionary as well as for our daughter. Marie
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| Our son is serving in the Japan Fukuoka mission. We sent him with an
inexpensive 35 mm camera. He had some money left over from purchasing
his bicycle and asked us if he could get a digital camera. He bought a Nikon Coolpix, for less than $200, and has really enjoyed it. The pictures turn out great, and he can also take short video clips. For his first Christmas there he asked for a larger memory card. We sent the money and he bought it over there. When he wants to send us pictures, he goes to the camera store and all the pictures get downloaded to a CD, which he mails home. I can look at them on my computer without any trouble. That was over a year ago and it has never been broken, lost or stolen. I'd give the Nikon Coolpix a great recommendation as a missionary camera. I've noticed that they are for sale over here at Best Buy.
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| We sent our son to Chile with a Nikon 2 mp camera that he got when he
graduated. He loved it, but then he dropped it in some water and it was
shot. We looked around during the Christmas sales and still felt that the
Nikon was the best--it's quite small and does tons of things. We even bought
the same for us. The model is now 4 mp: the Nikon Coolpix 4600, takes
short video clips but without sound I think. We saw some cheaper but they
didn't have optical zoom, only digital zoom, which isn't good. They need
optical zoom to zoom in. Regular price is about $189, but they have sales
and rebates all the time. We've gotten good deals at Inkleys (at Christmas,
we got $30 back and a free printer to boot). The memory card this one uses
are more universal than say, the Sony cameras, which use their own memory
cards. That was useful because when his camera was broken, he could put his
card in another missionary's camera and still take pictures. They can burn
the pictures on a CD and send them home. But tell him to always check and
read the cd before erasing his card-sometimes it will burn but not be
readable for some reason. [Note: If the camera can't read it, maybe your
home computer can--another good argument for having two cards which
are alternately sent home.]
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| Cameras get stolen in Peru. Our son was recently robbed and the thieves were
annoyed that he didn't have a camera they could take (he leaves it in his
room for that very reason). What I'm saying is, have your son be very wary
of taking the camera anywhere. As for digital cameras, we really like the
Olympus D-580. It was around $140 on ebay and is a Consumer Reports best
buy. You'll want to get extra batteries and a charger, and a larger memory
card for the camera. Shane & Ann, Elder in Peru.
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| My son took an Olympus digital. I don't remember all the features but it
was a decent camera. His dad gave it to him a year or so before he left so
it wasn't a brand new one with all the bells and whistles that they have
now. Consider what the camera will be used for--the most important thing
will be taking pictures of people. But you also want one that will do a
decent job with scenery. If he goes to an area where it will be difficult
to get pictures transferred from the camera card onto a DVD/CD, it would
probably be best to send him with 2 cards. That way he can mail one home
when it's full. You would download his pictures to a CD, clear the card
and send it back to him. If he's in an area where there are stores where
he can download his pictures onto a CD, 1 card would probably be sufficient.
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| I just this very moment ordered a camera for our son for his birthday.
He will be leaving in July for his mission. I received an ad from a
company for a Pentax. It was not reviewed in the Consumer Reports, but
it has a better lens aperture (2.8) than some that were. It is a Pentax
Optio M10 Digital Camera, 6 megapixel compact, 3x optical zoom for $129.95
after a $30 rebate. As other helps have said, digital zoom doesn't matter because you are supposed to turn that off anyway. The teacher in a photography class I took said digital zoom can cause graininess. He recommended always turning it off to avoid that problem. Optical zoom is more important and doesn't affect the resolution. I haven't seen this nice of a camera for that price in a long time. I even did a search on Cnet and this is lower than their lowest price. So I ordered three! One for my soon-to-be missionary son, my son-in-law and my husband for Father's Day--all three had digital cameras on their wish lists. The rebate of $30 per camera is valid from March 1 to June 30, 2006 and you can receive 3 per household or address. I don't work for Adorama, but that is where I bought the cameras. :) Another advantage to this camera is that it uses the standard 2-AA batteries, so you don't have to worry about finding battery packs. I take along several sets of rechargeable AA and then I always have fresh ones. But in a pinch you can run into any store and use AA alkaline on this camera. An advantage to a digital camera for the mission is that our son was able to upload his pictures on preparation day when he was emailing and we could see them right then. He would also send home the small memory cards, I would copy them to our computer and then send it back in the next letter (can't send through pouch, but through regular mail and we received them both directions without any problem.) He is serving in Latvia and it worked great--when he takes the time to upload. For Christmas he sent home a CD of all the pictures he had taken so far. The branch president did it for him. What a wonderful, tearful gift and very inexpensive for him and valuable for me! Thank you for all your work. MM from Snowflake, Arizona
Elder: Canada Toronto East July 2006-2008
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| We have had great success with Sony. What has been totally nice is the fact
we have the same camera as our son and we can view and exchange the
photo/video cards. We started with the Sony CyberShot 3.2 and we purchased
the same for our missionary for Christmas before leaving. We updated ours
this year to a 7.2 and still can interchange our card and uploading
abilities. We priced the CyberShot 3.2 at Christmas for our older daughter
and her husband as a gift and it was going for $149 at that time. The
quality of the 3.2 is great. My parents have a Kodak and their features are not nearly as user friendly as Sony. I know others with Canon, but they are pricier. The Sony allows video and we send special occasion greetings that way. Our missionary sends his card home and we upload and record to DVD for his permanent collection. He simply takes his card to Wal-Mart and develops to photos and a CD. That way he can record on the photos as he gets them. He has just been great with recording his mission via audio and photos. So far, he has not had a problem with theft. He keeps his camera with him at all times though. Cindy
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