Compact Pocket Digital Camera Question Fuji V10, F40, F50 ..

In terms of digital pocket cameras, so far I have owned and used the
Fuji V10, an F40 for my son which he used and liked, but then lost,
and recently based on the specs, I bought a Fuji F50 for my daughter
who is in art school. All from B and H by the way. The F50 became
available only in September, and we bought one the first day it came
out.

My daughter emailed me a few of the photos from her new Fuji Finepix
F50 and they are very high resolution, and sharply focused. One thing
that appealed to me about the camera was the low light capability of
the camera with the hi speed CCD chip. I am actually considering
replacing my V10 with another F50.

No, I don't work or shill for any camera companies. My question is,
should I be looking at the Canon, Sony, Casio, Nikon, Minolta, Leica,
Panasonic or any other lines for a pocket digital camera which might
rival or exceed the Fuji F50 in terms of compactness and image
features? I also have a Nikon D70 digital SLR with two lenses. But I
consider the large Nikon body too fragile and bulky for travel or
candid spontaneous photos.

In the years past before digital technology, I have used film cameras
such as Pentax, Minolta and Nikon. I really liked the Minolta
autofocus film camera but I accidentally dropped it and that was the
end of it. Same thing happened to my Nikon 28-105 zoom lense which I
really liked...I dropped it last year on a plane and that was the end of
that. I replaced it with the standard Nikon digital lense. Any other
suggestions?

I must say I have been impressed with the progress in the compact
digital camera technology over the past 5 years. The cameras are
getting better and cheaper, sort of what we have seen with computer
technology in general. The image quality and ability to take good
pictures in difficult conditions has dramatically improved. What do
you see happening over the next few years? Can we expect even more
improvements, and what types of improvements should we be expecting?
I can be contacted at the web site listed on my profile page. jeffrey
dach www.drdach.com

Jeffrey Dach wrote:
> In terms of digital pocket cameras, so far I have owned and used the
> Fuji V10, an F40 for my son which he used and liked, but then lost,
> and recently based on the specs, I bought a Fuji F50 for my daughter
> who is in art school. All from B and H by the way. The F50 became
> available only in September, and we bought one the first day it came
> out.
>
> My daughter emailed me a few of the photos from her new Fuji Finepix
> F50 and they are very high resolution, and sharply focused. One thing
> that appealed to me about the camera was the low light capability of
> the camera with the hi speed CCD chip. I am actually considering
> replacing my V10 with another F50.
>
> No, I don't work or shill for any camera companies. My question is,
> should I be looking at the Canon, Sony, Casio, Nikon, Minolta, Leica,
> Panasonic or any other lines for a pocket digital camera which might
> rival or exceed the Fuji F50 in terms of compactness and image
> features? I also have a Nikon D70 digital SLR with two lenses. But I
> consider the large Nikon body too fragile and bulky for travel or
> candid spontaneous photos.
>
The problem with trying to answer a question of this kind is that virtually
eneryone will tell you that the camera they are using is "the best". Even
reading the reviews can be a waste of time since many of these are biased
towards one make and type or another.

Joining a camera club or photographic society and asking around can be
illuminating, since every single member will tell you that he/she is pleased
with their particular camera, but at least this way might tell you which
ones to avoid!

I think it all boils down to looking at a shortlist of the ones that seem to
have all the functions you prefer to have, then trying to see how they
handle at the local camera shop. You can then either purchase from them, or
buy through mail order on the Internet or from magazines.

Whatever you buy will be out of date in about 6 months, so why worry?

Dennis.