Digital Camera Help (1 Viewer)

[Soma]

I want to get a new one before I go to Sri Lanka in a few weeks.

Does anyone know much about what's on the market at the moment.

I've been doing my research, but everytime I find something I think looks good I do a google search and I find some site ripping it to shreds in their review.

Basically I want something compact, takes nice photos in all lighting, outdoors and indoors, around the 5mp mark although this doesnt really matter so much as I doubt I'll take many photos on the max resolution, also must have at least 3x optical zoom, optical viewfinder as well as a fairly biggish lcd as well as rechargable battery/ies which last for a while and sd memory card slot.

I'd like to think the camera would have lots of manual features as well as scene modes because I'd like to play around with them all but in reality I'd probably not ever get around to it so would be happy with just point and shoot.

Am willing to spend up to $700 but would prefer to keep it around the 500-600 mark.

Most of the reviews of the nikon coolpix series say that they take bad pics in lots of light, sony's seem overpriced and so do the memory sticks, some of the canons look ok but at the moment i'm leaning towards the Casio Exilim EX-Z750, the only thing im not really liking about it is that it records its movies in avi format which is a cunt to edit on macs but i dont really know how much that bothers me. Rrp in Aus is about 800 but I'm looking on ebay and I should be able to ship a new one from hong kong plus a spare battery for less than 600, then will just need to buy a 1gig memory card and should be sweet.

If anyone has any input it would be much appreciated.

 

[MedNez]

Go with a reputable and long-term camera brand (Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Sony, Olympus) et cetera - not someone like Casio who spent 20 years making digital watches.

You'll always get bad reviews too, as I've noticed, just pick something that doesn't have a lot of them. Guidelines you're looking for:

* 4 MP +
* Memory stick included/can buy extra 256mb+
* 3x Optical zoom

Most good camera have all that .. just find one you like. Sorry I can't be more specific, I have an Olympus C-350 Zoom (3.2MP), and it's fine. All you need is something that does the requirements, and feels good to use.

 

[Soma]

Some of the older brands feel that they don't really need to innovate as much though and I don't really think their high prices reflect their low levels of r&d.

Everything I've read about the casio is pretty positive, because they don't have a huge name for cameras it seems they've put tonnes of work into this.

My parents have an olympus, I think it's the same as yours, I find the flash is way too bright for most applications, effectively bleaching the picture and the focus is pretty crap.

As for sony and nikon I've already mentioned my gripes with them.

Canon seem pretty good, but a lot of their cameras take 4 aa batteries. Whilst I could easily get some rechargables I'd prefer a camera with rechargables included in the price, and it's nice when you can just plug power straight into the camera.

At the moment I'm fairly certain I want the exilim, haven't read any overly adverse reviews most seem to think it's great picture quality and value. I was just wondering if anyone who has bought one recently knew of anything else good within the price range.

As for having a memory card included as you say it doesnt really bother me, I'd prefer to just buy a 1gig one, I dont think many retailers would include one.

 

[Jayphen]

staying away from Sony's will do you good. that's about all I know about digital cameras. I myself have a Canon A85, it's wonderful. you could give the a95 a go.

 

[Soma]

Yeh saw the a95, it takes 4 aa's id have to buy some rechargables and then have to take them out and recharge them out all the time. Other than that it looks a fairly decent camera, don't like the design all that much however.

 

[Jayphen]

yeah that was the main problem with my camera - didn't wanna fork out more money for batteries/charger (not to mention a new flash card..the one that came with it was 32mb)

however I got a charger relatively cheap, and 20 nimh batteries from ebay for $30.. the batteries last ages too, so running out isn't a problem really. just have one set charging while I'm using another.

but yeah, Canon does make good cameras.

 

[~ForAGoodCause~]

canon a510 or a520 , only takes 2aa's and are more compact then the a85/95's etc.

 

[Soma]

i ordered the casio exilim today