What kind of Digital Camera or Camcorder should I buy?

[ChaosLord]

What kind of Digital Camera or Camcorder should I buy?

I need to buy a digital camera or camcorder.
I went to Walmart to see what was available.  They all looked quite nice except for the big giant SONY logo that was on most of them.
There was a sony model there that was just fine for what I need and it was $350.00 and I would have bought it on the spot if it had been made by a reputable company.

Sony and Samsung are banned.  What brand should I get?

The saleslady told me to buy a FUJI but that they have not sold Fuji models for a while.

> Why do you want a camera?
To take pictures

> What would you do with a camcorder?
Make videos of Amiga games.  Specifically Total Chaos AGA.

I actually own a Sony camcorder from about 2000.  It is a Hi-8mm.  Very nice camcorder, never given me any problem.  Too bad it is not digital.  Maybe I could just film an Amiga game with my old analog camcorder and route the S-video output into a PC video capture card but I assume that going that route would be a pain and make blurry video?

Many years ago I was heavily into photography.  I do care about quality.  I used to own an Olympus OM-10 35mm and an antique studio camera that a relative gave to me that used HUGE film.  The antique camera took BY FAR the best pictures with the best resolution and color.  

I don't know jack about modern digital cameras or camcorders.  So I ask my trusted friends at Amiga.org

[ChaosLord]

Cammy I watched a YouTube video starring Cammy and her magical Amiga SVideo adapter.  It looked great.  Was it shot using that Fuji camera?  Which model?

[ChaosLord]

At first I was really wanting a camcorder with built-in 80+GB hard drive and 60x optical zoom.  I mean that sounds AWESOME.  But everyone is telling me that hard drive camcorders overcompress the video. I really HATE over compressed video.  I watch it all the time on cable tv. ugh. :pissed:

So I have decided to concentrate on something that takes great individual pictiures.  Video features can be an extra added bonus.

I need a camera that I can hold in my hand and press the button to take a pic without moving the camera.  I don't want blurry pictures! :destroy:

I have 3 friends that own cheap digital cameras and it is just about impossible not to move the camera when pressing the button.  The button is 1. Too low.  2. It requires too much force to press.  So their cameras always take blurry jittery pictures. :nervous:

So I need a camera with a nice big easy to press button that sticks OUT from the rest of the camera.  And of course a Tripod mount.  And some sort of remote shutter release system would be great.  And/or some sort of image stabilization technology that works on snapshots.  I want beautiful snapshots. :knuddel:

Does anyone own a camera like that?


JPG is an awful picture format.  I would much prefer PNG or some other lossless format.

Does anyone have a camera that saves its pics as PNG instead of JPG?

Thanx for all the helpful info guys & gals!

[ChaosLord]

What program can load RAW images?