i'm probably going to regret this ;-) but i am soliciting assistance in selecting a digital camera for myself. i'm trigger happy, and my shiny new (and much tighter) budget doesn't permit the kind of development allowance i require for prints. plus - i gotta show you guys what's going on up nawth!
few preferences:
must be able to turn digital zoom off.
must be able to snap and save pictures almost as fast as i can press the button, let go, and press it again... i understand that "as fast as" is not an option... so i'll settle for "almost."
stainless steel body rather than plastic.
all-weather. (not a must-have, but a strong preference)
6+ Mpix.
battery included.
good service reputation/ability to be serviced at a major chain store (bb, target, etc.).
slim. pocketable. you know, so i can lose it.
not sure about this: do i want a view finder? my favorite camera in the store today did not have a view finder, which makes me nervous, because i know how much battery the lcd uses, and i'm one of those people who leaves the camera on for an hour and takes 5 pictures while watching things happen through the view finder...
anyway - my favorites today were the olympus(es) 7.1 and 8.0, and a fuji finepix 6.0. i tried the elph, but i'm not sold on it... a casio was recommended to me, but they don't have any in the store, so i couldn't try it out (i must test-drive). so does anyone have one they can tell me more about?
this is a gift from my parents so keep their budget in mind... i get to pick, which means i make up the difference if my greed exceeds their generosity :) thanks for your help!!!
3 comments:
I love my Fugi. I was really sure I wanted to be able to take off the digital zoom, but have discovered with my digital it isn't as big an issue - everything is basically in focus, it is framing that is the issue. (I have taken it off digital twice altogether after almost 2000 pictures.)
I also almost never use my view finder now - the LCD is much more accurate (or I am really screwed up when I can only look with one eye).
But whatever you get, an all weather case will help you more than an all weather camera (you can hide it under something for long enough to shoot the pictures usually).
Oh, and mine takes regular AA batteries. Special AA camera batteries work tons better, but in a jam on vacation you don't have to find a specialty shop - just take the ones out of your walkman! (I am an ancient being sans ipod.)
Good luck in your hunt and don't forget to check out Consumer Reports (so you can avoid needing to have it serviced).
Having sold cameras for 7+ years, I would highly recommend the Olympus first and the Fuji second.
Olympus as a company has a long track record of high quality dependable products and they will be more than helpful with any warranty issues.
Fuji will usually divide their line in two. The high end (including the one you are looking at) is a well-made camera. Were you to step down to a plastic body you should familiarize yourself with their customer service department and their repair shop.
I have always felt that Cannon's amateur/advanced amateur line is a 3rd class product with 1st class marketing.
You could probably assume that the Casio is not a Casio product. It is most likely manufactured by a 3rd party and then sold to multiple buyers who will simply slap their label on it.
The other two things to keep in my mind is the type of memory and the battery. Availability, storage capacity and interchangeability with other products, of storage and battery should be a concern.
oh my gosh - you're awesome.
thank you!
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