Oh no, not again!! Digital Camera help please!!

[Jake11375]

I have been researching digital cameras for the past two weeks day in and out. I`ve thoroughly checked websites like; My product advisor, the Digital Camera Resource Page, Imaging Resources, Steve`s digicams, DCviews, Dpreview, epinions, and every single forum I frequent, so please don`t just suggest a website, I`ve blown out my brain with websites already. :grinno: The product selection is vast with an un-ending, variety of differing opinons and I am at a complete loss. I chose this site because I have seen a good selection of quality car pics here, leaning the route I am wanting to go... This will be my first camera.

What I want: I am purchasing this camera mainly to take pics of my car and detailing shots, also for travel, family pics etc. I would like full manual controls, 3X zoom+, with expansion possibilities like, lens upgrades, telephoto, filtering, etc. Good low light pics as well as day. Not going over $250, I know I`m being cheap but I have other priorities at the moment. (like gas) Don`t want to wait for more cash, been waiting long enough. I can get lenses, memory cards, and other accesories later... So with that, here are my 6 picks...



Canon A85 - 4mp $205

Canon Powershot A520 - 3.9mp $175

Fuji E510 - 5.2mp $172

Olympus C-5500 Sport Zoom - 5mp $220

Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom - 3.9mp $215

Pentax Opito S50 - 5mp $215



I know MP isn`t everything, and there are lots of intricacies that assist in a DC taking quality pics. So please help me, my brain is about to burst! :wall Thanks in advance...

[imported_kgb]

O have a Canon A85 and love it!

[J.J.]

I have the Canon a-510 and think it`s pretty swell.



Where did you find the A-520 for $175. I paid $200 for my A-510 three weeks ago!



JJ

[Jake11375]

JJ, found the A520 on Ebay. Range from $175 and up, depending on bundle packages.



KGB, you got any pics with your A85 I can check out?

[tom p.]

. Good low light pics as well as day.





I`m on my 3rd digicam. I currently have the Canon G3 (awesome camera) and I bought a cheapie Oly D565Z. The Olympus has a very small lens and it cripples the camera in low light situations - - this has been a HUGE disappointment. In bright daylight, the photos are excellent.





A co-worker has a Canon S60(??) and he gets excellent photos with that. My father has a very small Sony and he gets excellent shots, too.



I`d focus on which camera has the best lens. Don`t get hung up on the "MPixel" thing.

[jfelbab]

I have an Olympus C50 Zoom and a Konick/Minilta DiMAGE Z6. For your needs I`d certainly recommend an Olympus. I`ve owned them for over 20 years and they have always worked well and were durable. As an aside to your list notice that Olympus has released some new and very interesting (SP) models lately.



If you want to stretch a bit the new Konica/Minolta Z6 goes for $350. This is a 12x zoom 6mp camera with tons of features including image stabilization. It`s hard to under praise the 12x zoom and the fact that you don`t need a tripod for sharp images at 12x. I get over 400 shots on a set of NiMH AA batteries. This is an excellent camera for photographing cars as well as everything else.



Finally, don`t buy any camera by specs alone. Go to a B&M store and use the camera. Change the settings and play with it for a good while. Ask to take it outside in the sun to try it out. What seems good for one person may be a PITA for someone else. For example, I hated the whole Canon compact line. To me they felt clumsy to use and were somewhat limited in features. OTOH, I liked the feel of the Olympus 5500 and the Fuji E510. Also there are a lot of new models coming out with no optical viewfinder. They have a 2-3" LCD for composing and viewing your photo. These LCD`s are frequently useless in bright sunlight.



Good luck.

[JaCkaL829]

Dell is running some sales on their digital cameras...



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# 25% off Olympus Evolt E-300 Digital SLR Camera with Two Lenses. Code D5N6S?$KX4$K16. Exp. 10/4. 255 uses.



I do believe it ends tonight though :work:

[salty]

I went through the same thing a while back. Read all the comparisons and settled on a Canon S1 IS. It had more features than i will ever use, was rated great and i found a good deal. Now they came out with the S2. If i say i should have waited, i would never own a camera, as they update every year. I am very happy with Canon.

[Jake11375]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I`m kind of leaning toward the Olympus 5500 or the 750 now. I`m definitely not hung up on MPs. I`ve seen pics with 4mp and 6mp that were comparable. I`m not worried about high mps that much as I won`t be printing any large pics, however, it may come in handy for zoom pics. I`m going to try to find some of these tomorrow for hands on like Jfelbab mentioned. Thanks for your help guys!

[JaCkaL829]

Not to make your decision any harder or anything, so take it for whats it worth...



I was in the same boat too, looking for the best bang for your buck super zoom dc. I ended up going with the Fuji Finepix S5100 (4MP, 10x optical zoom, etc.) and have been pretty happy with it. I believe I paid $271(April 05) at a camera shop that happened to be one of the cheapest places online, then I did the $50 MIR so about $221 or so for a really nice camera, that i`m sure you can get a little cheaper now. The extra zoom is worth it and is nice to have, compared to the other Olympus cameras you listed. It also comes with 55mm thread adapter so you can put on telephoto or wideangle lenses which is a nice plus in my book. I`ve really been pretty pleased with it and just recently started printing out some 8x10s and i`m overall pretty impressed. I`m sure more MPs would make the picture more clear and detailed, but for me, a novice, i`m fine with it. If you don`t plan on printing larger than 5x7 I would definately go with the 4MP, no sense in spending more $ on MPs that won`t make a difference.



btw my final decision was a toss up between the Fuji and Olympus. I really liked the Olympus but the Fuji was way more comfortable for me, and the price difference is what made up my mind.

[Jake11375]

Not to make your decision any harder or anything, so take it for whats it worth...



I was in the same boat too, looking for the best bang for your buck super zoom dc. I ended up going with the Fuji Finepix S5100 (4MP, 10x optical zoom, etc.) and have been pretty happy with it. I believe I paid $271(April 05) at a camera shop that happened to be one of the cheapest places online, then I did the $50 MIR so about $221 or so for a really nice camera, that i`m sure you can get a little cheaper now. The extra zoom is worth it and is nice to have, compared to the other Olympus cameras you listed. It also comes with 55mm thread adapter so you can put on telephoto or wideangle lenses which is a nice plus in my book. I`ve really been pretty pleased with it and just recently started printing out some 8x10s and i`m overall pretty impressed. I`m sure more MPs would make the picture more clear and detailed, but for me, a novice, i`m fine with it. If you don`t plan on printing larger than 5x7 I would definately go with the 4MP, no sense in spending more $ on MPs that won`t make a difference.



btw my final decision was a toss up between the Fuji and Olympus. I really liked the Olympus but the Fuji was way more comfortable for me, and the price difference is what made up my mind.



You know, that`s odd that you mention the S5100. When first started looking for a digital it was "my first love" so to speak. I liked the SLR feel of it, it got good reviews for the most part, and Best Buy had one I could actually get my hands on. It has pretty much all the features I`m looking for, but it got ruled out for some odd reason. I don`t know, each person`s perception is always somewhat different. Hopefully I can decide before the end of the century. :think: Thanks.

[stilez]

No question, Canon A85.





It has a ton of manual controls and takes very rich quality pictures. I have been researching a new camera for over 6 months. I was going to go with an SLR, but due to having to spend money in other areas now, I decided on a Canon A95, time and time again.

[Jake11375]

Well if anyone was wondering, I decided on the Fuji S5100. Ordered it this morning from Butterfly Photo, $300-$50 mail in rebate. So $250 which was right on point! 128mb xdcard upgrade included. I re-read a few more reviews and decided it was a "safe" purchase. The deciding factors were full manual controls, support for conversion lenses, 10X zoom, af assist lamp, good red-eye performance, RAW image format, and of course, good photo results IMHO. Being my first DC and a complete novice, I`m sure this camera will meet my needs. I`ll be posting some pics soon... Which reminds me, I have some swirl removal to do. :eek: NEway, thanks for all the suggestions and advice. :2thumbs:

[JaCkaL829]

Nice choice, i`m sure you`ll be very happy :bigups



One suggestion for you is to go to a Target or likewise and get some rechargeable batteries. I picked up 4 Energizer 2500mah rechargeable batteries/portable charger kit for only $20 at Target, and those batteries last a LONG time.



If you got a lot of free time or your an online junkie like me you can visit s5000.net

Its a forum based soley on the S5100/S5500 and is quite informative.

[Corey Bit Spank]

Panasonic has a very imrpessive lineup.