OT:another digital camera ?

[mochinist]

Me and my wife are talking about getting each other a digital camera for Christmas. We dont really want to spend more than $500. So far threw a little surfing I have found two cameras that I like Olympus c-765 and the Olympus c-755. I like them I guess because they have the 10X optical and 4X digital for a combined 40X zoom. I would like your opinions, I am not set on these cameras by any means and if there is something better or a reason not to buy these let me know.

[mochinist]

By the way Evan you should put how to tag a link in the networking thread. I followed your directions from the how to post a link thread and it worked perfect.

[dvideo]

Frys had Panasonic Lumiz FZ20 on sale this weekend. Less than 500 - image stabilization, 5 M Pixels, Leica lens, 12 Optical. Should play with before you buy, though...

--jr

[tattoomike68]

my friend last night had a pentax 5.0 mega pixle, with videos and pictures of them fishing for racoons with a fishing pole.(crazy stuff)

I have a cannon powershot A-70. 3.2 mega pixle they run $200 now

my woman and I agree after I get 10,000 pictures on the cannon(I have over 2,000 now) we will get a 7+mega pixel and spend $1,000-$1,500 and get a real camera in the (SLR) class and get 3 frames per second.

what I like is the cannon uses "AA" batteries, not some freaked out type you cant find easy.

I am sold with the cannon's, they also make some of the best printers too.

I also have the cp-200 compact photo printer, it rocks.(90 second photo system)

also do not buy an hp camera they want more to fix one than what you pay for the POS.



[This message has been edited by tattoomike68 (edited 12-11-2004).]

[chief]

I have the Olympus c-765, I like quite well.

[kevinro]

I would almost completely ignore the digital zoom feature. You might find 2x digital zoom acceptable, but anything greater makes for an ugly distorted picture. I have a camera that advertised a 32x digital zoom. Completely worthless feature.

[bpsbtoolman]

I recently bought a c 740 Olympus Digital Ultra Zoom camera from Amazon.com for $ 239 out the door , no tax, no shipping. I did have to register fror a Visa card to get the $ 30 discount however. Not to long ago this camera listed for almost twice this price. It has a 10 X optical and a 3X digital. It has a 16 second max time exposure that allows taking night picks that look great. The pics are excellent.
Walt

[rockrat]

Before I bought my canon powershot s60 I searched lots of online reviews. I don’t know what your plans for the camera are but I needed one that I could put in a jacket pocket or, if I really needed to, squeeze into a pocket in loose fitting jeans. I love this camera. It does everything I want. As far as batteries go, I don’t mind the rechargeable that it uses. I bought a spare, they are lith-ion and one gets me through a day easily.

But, I checked the following before I bought.

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.dcviews.com/

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

One of the other major things that I looked for was the time for a full press of the shutter button to having the shot. I tried some cameras out at the store and decided that the time had to be under 1 second. Anything more was annoying. Just my 2آ¢.

[J Tiers]

We bought a Canon A-80, and have been extremely satisfied. It is 4 megapixels.

Unfortunately, Canon apparently decided to discontinue it.It has not been replaced to my knowlege, although obviously I have not been looking. The A-70 is similar.

I think they split it into a higher model and a lower one. It is nice enough that you wish it took more lenses, but still less expensive. I guess they thought it fell between logical feature/performance combinations.

What I wanted was not the zoom, etc, although the zoom is quite adequate on this.

I wanted the capability for close-up pictures, and this has it. I particularly like their focusing system, the all-direction viewfinder screen, and the good color rendition.

For close-ups, the fact that it can show exactly what it decided to focus on is nice. Maybe others do that, but I didn't see any that did.

If you select that mode, it shows a little green box on the screen around the point or points that it used to focus. That way you can see if it is going to be right.

Otherwise, the small screen won't show the focus details, so it may be blurry. If you know what it focused on, you can see if that is the area you want sharp.

[Gator]

Mochinist:
I have had the Olympus C-4000z for year and a half and have been very happy with it & I have taken over 6000 pics with it. I had my wife pick up an Olympus C-770 at Oklahoma City last week but I have not been home in over two weeks so it's still in the box waiting for me. Since many of the features are the same as the C-4000z it will not take long to get acquainted with the C-770.
I also read the reviews on Steves Digicam before buying this one and the previous camera and advise you to do the same - lots of info there.
I wanted the better flash, 10X Zoom, faster & better processor, lower ISO setting, longer shutter speed, and better movie mode with sound. Both cameras are 4 mega pixels so that didn't come into play.
If I don't like the camera when I try it out I will probably try the Panasonic FZ20 like "jr" suggested. It has 12X Zoom and Image Stabilization plus it is 5 mega pixels. Good looking camera for the money.
If I could combine both cameras I would have the perfect camera for myself.
If I were a little more serious about photography (and probably will be in the future) I would buy the Canon EOS Digital Rebel like Evan has. Excellent choice for DSLR.
I will give my wife the C-4000z even though she will not use the special features that it has - she's the "point and shoot" type - which comes in handy if you have to hand your camera to someone else to take a few pics of you.
Another thing to look at is software.
Some cameras come with a decent software package. Both of mine came with Photoshop Elements 2.0 and the learning curve is pretty mild. It does let you manipulate your photos to your satisfaction - most of the time.

Good luck on whatever you decide to purchase.

Larry

[Mike Burdick]

J Tiers,

On the Canon A80 they have the swivel LCD - on the replacement, A85, they removed it. Was there some problem with it or rather, did you have any problems with it? Seemed like a good idea to me.

I'm with you regarding the Canon A70 thru A95, seems like they offer the most features (especially auto and manual) for that class of camera.

[J Tiers]

No, no problems.

Haven't seen the A-85, didn't know that.

Stands to reason it probably went out a lot. But, it is THE BEST SINGLE FEATURE ON ANY DIGITAL CAMERA I HAVE SEEN. Aside from sharp focus and great color rendition, I assume that as given)

Does the A-85 take the same attachments as the A-80? I have not seen it, of course.

[This message has been edited by J Tiers (edited 12-12-2004).]

[Evan]

I would recommend the Nikon Coolpix 4800. We have the 4300 which is the model that preceeded the 4800 and we love it. It always takes good pics. In auto mode it always makes the right choices. That is my wife's camera now as I have the Canon Digital Rebel.

As far as a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera the Canon Digital Rebel seems to be the one to beat. But, it is not a camera for the average point and shoot user. It is for someone that has used in the past a film SLR and enjoys having control over the picture taking process. The LCD screen is only for review, not preview, as the mirror blocks the sensor when down. It is a Pro-sumer camera intended for those familiar with SLR cameras. Having said that, I love mine although it still is very expensive. It does make possible photos that would not be possible with film.

[This message has been edited by Evan (edited 12-13-2004).]