buying a DIGITAL CAMERA - experiences and suggestions needed

[stmoritzer]

Hi JW

I thinking of buying a new camera. After a long comparison, reading many articles and talking to several salesman in various shops...
I don't want to buy a reflex camera, because I wouldn't carry it so often with me.

The main/ important issues on a new camera are:
1.)good quality of lenses
2.)at least 6MPixel (a high Pixel number will compensate on a smaller optical zoom)
3.) fast picture taking, when I click the button



these are my favourites:
Fujifilm FinePix E550
Nikon Coolpix 7900
Sony DSC-W17

or
Fujifilm FinePix F10
Fujifilm FinePix F810

or should I go for a bigger ons closer to a ReflexCamera ?

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3
Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200


The Fujifilm FinePix E550



* 1/1.7- inch Super CCD HR sensor with 6.3 million effective pixels (delivering 12.3 million recorded pixels)
* Wide angle 4x optical zoom lens (32.5mm - 130mm equiv.)
F2.8 - F5.6
* High resolution 2.0-inch LCD
* Full range of exposure controls (P/S/A/M)
* Wide range of ISO settings (80/100/200/400/800)
* VGA movie recording at 30 fps with sound
* RAW file format
* Fast start-up and operation
AA (2) batteries (NiMH recommended)
optional wide or tele converter possible on this one ( not on the F10

on www.dpreview.com this camera got: Highly Recommended


The Fujifilm FinePix F10



* 1/1.7-inch Super CCD HR sensor with 6.3 million effective pixels
* 3x optical zoom lens (36mm - 108mm equiv.)
• F2.8 - F5.0
* 2.5-inch LCD
* Wide range of ISO settings (80/100/200/400/800/1600)
* VGA movie recording at 30 fps with sound
* Fast start-up and operation
NP-120 Li-Ion battery
This is the new model, quite impressive, with a long battery duration and very fast. but less manual controls and no optical viewfinder

on www.dpreview.com this camera got: Recommended




very similar to the 550 is the 810

Fujifilm FinePix F810



same package as 550 for the lenses/zoom/chip
but
High resolution 2.1-inch widescreen LCD for 4:3 and 16:9 pictures
USB 2.0 connectivity
metallic frame



Nikon Coolpix 7900



# 7MP resolution
# 3x optical Zoom-Nikkor lens with ED elements (38-114mm equiv.)
F 2.8 - 4.9
# In-Camera Red-Eye Fix
# D-Lighting (in-camera shadow lightening)
# Post-shot Blur Warning
# 16 scene modes
# 14MB internal memory
# 640x480 pixel, 30fps movie mode
# Best Shot Selector - takes a series of shots and chooses the sharpest for you
# White Balance and exposure bracketing
EL-EL5 rechargeable lithium ion battery

on www.dpreview.com this camera got: Recommended


Sony DSC-W7 or Sony DSC-W17



1/1.8" 7.2 Megapixel Super HAD™ CCD
3X optical zoom lens
2.5" LCD monitor1
Compact rangefinder design
32MB flash memory built-in2
AA (2) batteries (NiMH rechargables included)




I'm also thinking at these two cameras with larger lenses (more light coming in) and with external flash possibility and maybefilters


Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3



• 1/1.8 " Type CCD
• 7.1 million effective pixels
• RGB Color Filter Array
• 4x optical zoom
• 34 - 136 mm equiv.
• F2.8 - F4.0
• Screw-on adapter for optional conversion lenses
up to • ISO 800

on www.dpreview.com this camera got: Highly Recommended

Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200



• 8.0 million effective pixels
• 28 - 200mm equiv. (7x optical zoom)
• F2.8 - 3.5 / F11

flip-out and twist LCD monitor (higher resolution 1.8", 134,000 pixels)
Electronic viewfinder, no eye sensor
CxProcess™ III image processor
Larger movie clip mode: 800 x 600 @ 15 fps

No PC Sync flash terminal
NP-800 Lithium-Ion battery
up to • ISO 800

on www.dpreview.com this camera got: Recommended




Do you know one of these cameras?
Any good/ bad experiences made?
Please give me a "specific" answer, why you would take that model ...
not general comments like "PENTAX is better" or similar

Thanks guys for your help

stmoritzer

[evoWalo]

Just get the best camera you can afford. It follows that a more expensive camera is a better spec'd and featured camera.

[No.1]

Originally Posted by evoWALO Just get the best camera you can afford. It follows that a more expensive camera is a better spec'd and featured camera.

Not the best advice ever

I suppose the lack of responses to this thread is a result of the same question being asked week after week. Look at the older threads where people have asked for advice, look at specialist sites www.dpreview.com looks good, and research it thoroughly. Then make the purchase, and show us all the rare cars you spot

[evoWalo]

Funny no Canon. You'll notice that stmoritzer did take the time to do research. All he needs to do now is choose between a Fuji, Nikon or Sony. Older threads wouldnt be of much use as those cams are probably obsolete already.

[stmoritzer]

@ evoWALO, thanks for above post, yes I would like to have some comments to these 3 choosen models.... no CANON because the IXUS700 which is in the same category has following "negative" points I noticed:

only got a "Recommended", the zoom turning button is not that nice to handle, it has a big battery and not AA batteries, which in case can be filled with single-use-batteries) and very little manual control

@evoWALO , you first post was useless, because the most expensive one is very often not the besst one


@thenumber1 . as evoWALO said, I did a research ops: and I'm looking for people owning one of these cameras of knowing about them. Of course if someone knows a much better camera of the same category, he's very welcome suggest it

[gbg]

This year I bought a Nikon Coolpix 5200, very similar to the 7900 but with less resolution (5.1 MP)



I'm not a camera expert, but I can tell you some impressions I had

- It's very easy to use, the 15 scene modes are really great!

- Fast picture taking, not that fast but ok for me... on the other hand it does took a while to record some pictures, i.e. night pictures

- Overall it's a good camera, nice videos, nice features, great zoom, the battery last a lot... the only problem I see is that the LCD is really small

here, I can show you some pics I took (unfortunatelly they're all on 3.1 MP, I only take shots on that res)

http://gbg87.sites.uol.com.br/disco_...BISHOP_021.jpg

http://gbg87.sites.uol.com.br/disco_...D/VEGAS060.jpg

http://gbg87.sites.uol.com.br/disco_...D/VEGAS063.jpg

good luck! ask me anything you want, but be fast because I'm traveling in two hours

[stmoritzer]

@gbg, thanks for your comments... the 7900 has a bigger screen (2.0inch, same as the FUJI, the SONE has a 2.5inch screen))



and thank for the nice samples

[stmoritzer]

I'm leaving to a camera shop, will be online in a few hours

[evoWalo]

stmoritzer check out which one of the cams you're eyeing is "popular" or are receiving the most clicks on dpreview. I noticed that the most popular cams tend to be good ones. You're right the more expensive cams arent always the best but the added price normally goes to better specs and more features.

You might always want to consider the GUI and hardware user interface. The button placement is a big thing to think about.

[TT]

Well, I know it is more of a pain in the ass, but bigger is usually better and after a while you will get used to carry along a big camera

I am no expert and to be honest, no time to check out the specs of the 3 cameras right now, but since you asked my opinion, here I am.

Here is what I think is very important when buying a camera: optical zoom must be at least 6 or 7x. And no less than 6 MP these days.
IMO also the trend of having big LCD is useless (well can be handy when checking pics you've taken): the best way to take pics is by looking thourgh the viewfinder, so you need a camera with a practical viewfinder (in mine you can see exactly what you see in the LCD): it saves battery and also helps in having fewer blurry pics.
The tuning on time must be as quick as possible too. Same goes for the focusing and zooming time. Ergonomics are important but you always get used to them in the end.
Also, VERY important IMO is to be able to manually set shutter and aperture, one at a time or both together. I don't dig the cameras with "day / night / sport" preset modes. Also to be able to fiddle with white balance is important for interior or night shots.
Smaller cameras sometimes can't be screwed onto a tripod -> no good
Smaller cameras usually can't have a polarizer filter installed -> no good
Ï love Canon, so I was surprised not to see a canon option up there, but to tell you the truth, I never really looked in depth into those.

And an important thing many ppl forget: a good camera isn't everything. Way more than 50% is up to the photograph anyway. MIHALS always post great pics and he doesn't have a latest generation SLR!

All the cameras in the same price range are similar. Only some details change, and the brand. Basically buy what feels better when in your hand, or the brand you prefer. Then you will get used to it and the rest is up to you

[stmoritzer]

Thank you TT for the input

I agree to all (most) of your suggestions, except the zoom. A 7 times optical zoom means a 28mm to 200mm zoom ... I'm not sure if this large zoom is possible from the physics/optical point of view without compromises in quality or edge "sharpness" or similar. If you look at common high quality lenses used in Reflex cameras, usually you don't find a lense with that big zoom factor... ?
In my opinion, I think a smaller zoom is ok and a bigger picvturesize with more Pixels can also be used to zoom in, because you can crop the picture and it's still good quality..


Just came back from the shop, I had a long conversation with the guys there.

Before entering the shop, the smaller FUJI550 was the favourite, but now I think, I'll buy the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3

for these reasons :
699.- CHF is a very good price compared what you get (I have to look if I can get it cheaper somewhere else )
2 different memory chips can be used : SD and CompactFlash (!)
Highly Recommended by dpreview.com
external flash possible
adapter for wide or tele or filter possible
good ergonomics
7MPixel, ISO 800, good battery life

[DeMoN]

I use cdnet.com pcmag.com and pcworld.com to get a top ten review and choose from there.

I am the lazy tipe who does not like to fiddle arround with camera options so I go for portable point-and-shoot

I just bought a DSC-T1 I would have gotten the DSC-T7, but I dont think 200$ more justifies.

[sheruken]

You know today I came in and was thinking of creating a new thread regarding help for "buying a DIGITAL CAMERA". But now it seems if I do that, I'll be shot dead..
So I better use this thread if stmoritzer, has finished his quest on finding the "right" CAM.

I am looking forward to buying a professional CAM for my brother. I am not much into technicalitiies, so I have short listed about 4 of pretty decent SLR (ish) cams.


Canon Digital Rebel XT (released in 2005):
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...s/rebelxt.html

Canon EOS 20D (released in 2004):
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/20d.html

Nikon D70 (released 2004)
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_...nikon_d70.html

Sony CyberShot DSC-F828 (released 2003):
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/f828.html

They are'nt similarly priced, so my budget is fairly flexible. I want to give him something that he'll proudly carry around. He's not a professional photographer, but photography is his major hobby and has had some amazing Cameras (old ones). I also dont mind giving him a Hasselblad H1 with a digital back, but thats quite a bit expensive and dont know if its any practical for an enthusiast!
More suggestions would be welcome. Anything from :
6+ MegaPixels
4x+ Optical Zoom (lenses are his choice so he'll buy what he wants)
Cam and a default lense worth anywhere between 800 to 1500 USD.
Most manual features and specs, and SLR preffered!

This better be worth it, as am not buying a scheduled new notebook, I was saving for since 2 years..

Thank you.