Re: [OT] Digital Cameras

>Because this is completely off-topic, please just respond to me and not
>the entire list. If anyone else is interested, I will summarize the
>responses I get and send it to you. Thanks!

Hi Rick,

As MANY on the list are probably interested in taking pictures of 
their ships (or at Cons, etc.), I don't think that it's OT at all.

And as I've just done some research and purchased a digital camera 
myself (it should arrive tomorrow or Friday :-))

Things that I looked at:
1) Cost - how much are you willing to spend compared to how much 
non-hobby use it'll get.
http://shopper.cnet.com/ is a good source of comparison pricing once 
you've got a general idea what you want.

2) Minimum focal length / Macro mode. This is really important if 
you're planning to take close up pics of minis. The closer you can 
get (generally) the better.

3) Optical / Digital Zoom. Optical is better than Digital for 
clarity, but most cameras these days have a combination of both, 
either 2X/3X or vice versa.

4) Size. If it's a pain in the <you know> to carry the thing around 
at a Con, you won't. You'll leave it in the room/car, and no pictures 
will get taken.

5) Pixels. Anywhere from 1 to 3+ MP these days. What you need is 
dependent on what you're going to use it for. For web-based stuff 1 
MP will suffice, but for printing them out as pictures, you'll want 
at least 2 MP.