I was just looking on Ebay, so many Oldie, Goldies out there. I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for an older, but cheaper Goody Digital Camera out there?
I just picked up a slightly used Canon 20D that looks brand new for $144 shipped. Paid about $1500 for my first one when it was new…
Look at Adorama or B&H Photo Video used sections, specifically look for an E or E+ rating as being in very good condition.
For a smaller point and shoot camera, the Canon S90 or S95, even S100 or S110 can be found at great prices and they do an incredible job…still fit in a shirt pocket.
A much experienced camera repair guy I know says: buy Canon
Just want something easy to operate, dependable, can be older like the 8.2 recommended, do small videos like for this site, and night time pictures like for Flashlight Beam Shots — Thanks
The small S90- S110 will and as they also have full manual controls they’ll work well for beamshots.
To be fair though, that’s just biased bull. For the large part of the camera market you get Canon or Nikon fanboys. And it’s just like Ford and Chevy fanboys.
Both are good, and both have sold less good models. Reliability is likely to be very similar.
That said, despite having owned both Canon and Nikon, I’m more of a Pentax or Contax kind of person.
What is your price range?
I got one of these 5-6 years ago and I have found that even the newer “upgraded” cameras in this line are not as good. It has somewhat of a cult following and people sometimes will try to sell them for more than the original list price.
Very easy to use.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnuNQt6Pc4/watch?v=
Guess it depends on what type of camera. You have compacts, bridge and SLR’s.
For the most part all with have easy to use Auto modes. Not all will have manual modes, but if they do, they will do the same things. SLR’s tend to have much better UI’s and controls for manual control. Top end compacts and many bridge cameras might offer similar functions, but are often more fiddly to control.
As a rule, any of the top name brands offer good camera’s. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Pentax and so on.
Samsung often offer good spec, but I’ve never really been impressed with the end results vs the others. And Kodak I’ve always been disappointed with.
Sony can produce good stuff, but they often insist on using only their stuff, which ramps the price up for no reason. And the same components Sony use are often found being used by other makes anyhow. I wouldn’t avoid Sony, but please don’t pay more to get one.
Also don’t get carried away with stats. Many cheap brands will try and be spec crazy. But it’s quality that counts.
e.g. pixels. While more is nice, you really don’t need silly numbers unless you plan on massive prints.
3MP will easily print an A4 sized picture and 6MP will let you print A1 poster prints.
Lens quality plays just as big a part. This is where SLR’s come into play, the lenses are bigger and usually of higher optical quality. Their size also means they perform far superior in low light conditions as a rule.
Video quality is slightly different. If this is important, do check it will be sufficient, as many cameras have quite poor video ability.
Older DSLRs are great, but the body is only part of the cost. You also need a good lens or three. Lenses hold their value better than bodies. Also, older DSLRs don’t do video. The 20D doesn’t shoot video. Canon didn’t add it to their mid-range DSLR line until the 60D in 2011. The first in their Rebel line was the Rebel T1i/500D in 2009.
These are great cameras. I love my S90. I am interested to see what Canon will do in the next iteration of the line.
If you are looking at DSLRs and require HD video, the Canon T2i (550D) would be a good choice. If you just need basic video and bridge cameras are okay, the PRO1’s can be found pretty cheap.
I agree that the T2i would be a good choice at roughly $300 used with a lens. I would not get anything with less than 8MP or without the ability to record video.
Digital gear depreciates like crazy, so buying a 3-4 year-old camera will save you a ton of money.
I’m a Nikon user myself, but just about any cam will do.
I do recommend however, getting a cam which will allow you to manually focus without too much hassle (read: DSLR).
This is because in low-light situations , the camera tends to focus-hunt and this is very frustrating. Also, from shot to shot at a
fixed target, the cam will keep re-focusing every time you hit the shutter button and you’ll end up with quite a few blurry pics 
I just bought a Canon PowerShot S110 (beware, there's also an Elph S110 or at least some sellers list it that way, and it's a different camera) for $220, it's got way more stuff than I know what to do with but still takes excellent pics in dummy mode.
I’ve got a Canon EOS 40D and find is does all that I want, the 30D’s and 20D’s are good as well. If you want video then go for a dedicated video camera.
IF you thought Budget Lights drained your wallet .... wait till you find a camera setup of your dreams ......
Stick with NAME Brands ... Canon, Nikon, Olympus , etc. Finding the "Right" one is a daunting task.
Here's a couple of sites that will help make your decision
DPREVIEW http://www.dpreview.com/?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=logo&utm_medium=image&ref=logo
Canon for Sales and Refurb's http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras
Olympus Sales and Refurb's http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/featured_weekly_deals?icn=footer&ici=links_weekly-featured-deals
Nikon for Sales and Refurb's http://www.nikonusa.com/en/index.page
Also, check out (bookmark) Slickdeals.net it is a forum with many deals some good some not, look at the very bottom and you can select "Cameras" Deals pop up but they don't last long ...http://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?daysprune=1&vote=0&intagid%5B%5D=294&f=9&sort=lastpost&order=desc
GOOD LUCK let us know what you found
Any opinions on EOS-M with stock 18-55mm lens?
Sells for about $350 new and much lower used.
I was considering the Sony NEX-3N before Dale pointed me towards the much smaller Canons. Sony has them as factory refurbs for $280, with lens.
Bought the wife a newer Rebel dslr a couple of years ago. Love it but bought an older rebel that is 8mp and uses older CF cards off of Fleabay for > $100 with extra battery and cards. I have a small collection of lenses from older slr Cannons that work fine from 18 to 300. Take it hunting and if it gets fubar I’ll buy another. Can’t see taking a big money camera into the woods, dust and rain. Video would be nice but maybe next camera.
Years ago maybe. But in this day and age I completely disagree unless filming is your primary goal and you’ll be doing a lot of it.
HD capable camera’s can offer superb video quality and indeed many video production these days (lots of YouTube channels) and other media so indeed use still cameras for video recording, specially DSLR’s as they have brilliant lenses.