Which digital camera to choose? Need advices!

bardamu wrote:
> Hello everybody,
>
> I'm to buy my first digital camera in the coming weeks. Holidays are getting
> closer! The problem is that i'm lost in this "ocean" of different digital
> cameras. I really don't know which one to choose. Reading reviews, I
> narrowed down my scope of choice. Yet, i really don't want to get it wrong.
> I need some experts' advices. Can anyone of you help me?
> For the moment, I hesitate between a CANON POWERSHOT 700, 620 or a SONY W40
> or 70. Which one would you choose? Which one of these 4 would be the best
> one? Any other suggestion?
> I really don't know which one is the best to choose form. I need advices.

Of those, I'd get the Canon A620. The tilt/swivel screen is very useful.

You can narrow down your choices considerably by eliminating the junk.
Whatever you buy, ensure that it has an AF assist beam, an optical
viewfinder, at least a 2" display, SD or CF memory, and the ability to
use add on lens adapters. Li-Ion batteries are preferred, but at the low
end you may get stuck with AA batteries.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

"bardamu" <philippe.treguier.TakeThisOut@free.fr> wrote in message
news:44cfb413$0$23586$626a54ce@news.free.fr...
> Hello everybody,
>
> I'm to buy my first digital camera in the coming weeks. Holidays are
getting
> closer! The problem is that i'm lost in this "ocean" of different digital
> cameras. I really don't know which one to choose. Reading reviews, I
> narrowed down my scope of choice. Yet, i really don't want to get it
wrong.
> I need some experts' advices. Can anyone of you help me?
> For the moment, I hesitate between a CANON POWERSHOT 700, 620 or a SONY
W40
> or 70. Which one would you choose? Which one of these 4 would be the best
> one? Any other suggestion?
> I really don't know which one is the best to choose form. I need advices.
>
> Thanks for any help
>
> Cheers
> Phil

Any of these cameras will produce fine images and have automatic and manual
capability. But their features and prices vary. And you really ought to
actually hold them in your own hands to see how they "feel." You need to
decide which features are more important to YOU. That said, these cameras
differ in size and weight, the types and number of batteries used, optical
zoom and ISO capability. The canon A620 has a swiveling LCD which can be
very handy. If you haven't already, check out the reviews at
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html for detailed
information.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

On Tue, 1 Aug 2006 22:05:08 +0200, bardamu <philippe.treguier.DeleteThis@free.fr> wrote:


>Hello everybody,

>I'm to buy my first digital camera in the coming weeks. Holidays are getting
>closer! The problem is that i'm lost in this "ocean" of different digital
>cameras. I really don't know which one to choose. Reading reviews, I
>narrowed down my scope of choice. Yet, i really don't want to get it wrong.
>I need some experts' advices. Can anyone of you help me?
>For the moment, I hesitate between a CANON POWERSHOT 700, 620 or a SONY W40
>or 70. Which one would you choose? Which one of these 4 would be the best
>one? Any other suggestion?
>I really don't know which one is the best to choose form. I need advices.

You post is kind of like somebody going into a autos newsgroup and asking
what kind of car to buy. Well, that would depend on what is important
to you and how you intend to use it as well as what is your budget.

How important is portability? The ability to put it in your pocket?
Do you want interchangable lenses?
Do you care what kind of batteries, memory cards it uses?
How much money are you going to spend?
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

Read comparisons at drpreview and dcresource. If I were to get a new
camera it would take aa batteries , have a thread for extension lenses
and take a common card, that rules out the sony. I have a sony w5 but
would not buy their new model, also there is nothing to grip I have
dropped my w5. Fuji f30 has a good sensor Panasonic has image
stabilisation. Olympus has a waterproof model.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

Hi

It also depends on whether anyone else is going to use it.

I compared the Nikon D50 and the Canon EOS 350, and found the Canon was
too small for me to handle comfortably.

I am more than happy with the Nikon. It is easy to use, the manual is
easy to follow, and the photos are very good.

Take some time and visit some reputable suppliers. Try them for
weight, size etc. Also, think about purchasing a large memory card,
and an extra battery (one in use and one on charge).

Mike

bardamu wrote:
> Hello everybody,
>
> I'm to buy my first digital camera in the coming weeks. Holidays are getting
> closer! The problem is that i'm lost in this "ocean" of different digital
> cameras. I really don't know which one to choose. Reading reviews, I
> narrowed down my scope of choice. Yet, i really don't want to get it wrong.
> I need some experts' advices. Can anyone of you help me?
> For the moment, I hesitate between a CANON POWERSHOT 700, 620 or a SONY W40
> or 70. Which one would you choose? Which one of these 4 would be the best
> one? Any other suggestion?
> I really don't know which one is the best to choose form. I need advices.
>
> Thanks for any help
>
> Cheers
> Phil
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

>>Li-Ion batteries are preferred, but at the low end you may get stuck with
>>AA batteries.
Which just goes to show how people's requirements can vary. I actually
eliminated Li-Ion battery cameras from my shopping list and ranked the
ability to take AAs as a prime requirement.

The reason is that my main intended use is when out hiking. I always carry
spare AAs as I need them for my GPS so I have confidence that even if I
forget (or there's no convenient place) to recharge, I will always have
spares to hand.

I did look into procuring spare Li-Ion batteries but they seemed expensive
and would mean carrying different sizes of spare batteries, and different
chargers, on my travels.

Keith
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

>>CANON POWERSHOT 700, 620 or a SONY W40
I recently chose the Powershot A700 mainly for the 6x optical zoom. It
doesn't have the tilt and swivel screen of the A620 but that wasn't a
priority for me (maybe a case of what you've never had you don't miss). The
other disappointment with all the Canon A series is lack of image
stabilisation.

I've had my A700 about a week now and it has lived up to expectations.

Like others said, though. We would need to know what you want of a camera
before being able to advise which model would suit you.

Keith
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

Keith Sheppard wrote:
>>> Li-Ion batteries are preferred, but at the low end you may get stuck with
>>> AA batteries.
> Which just goes to show how people's requirements can vary. I actually
> eliminated Li-Ion battery cameras from my shopping list and ranked the
> ability to take AAs as a prime requirement.
>
> The reason is that my main intended use is when out hiking.

That's my main use too. I want to minimize the hassle when out hiking.
The camera I take hiking is a small camera, which I use only about every
two weeks. I can "grab and go" without worrying about batteries, it can
go for months without being recharged, and the spare battery is very
small (so small I often have trouble finding it in my pack, but I've onl
once ever needed it).

> I always carry
> spare AAs as I need them for my GPS so I have confidence that even if I
> forget (or there's no convenient place) to recharge, I will always have
> spares to hand.

I can't stand carrying a lot of stuff, and when backpacking I really
want to get rid of every ounce of weight.

In fact, I would not mind an AA powered camera for most uses, but for
hiking and backpacking I would not want one.

> I did look into procuring spare Li-Ion batteries but they seemed expensive
> and would mean carrying different sizes of spare batteries, and different
> chargers, on my travels.

In reality, a spare Li-Ion battery is about the same price as four good
AA NiMH cells. It's less than 2x a pack of 4 AA Alkaline batteries
purchased from a convenience store.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 10:00:12 GMT, Keith Sheppard wrote:

>>> Li-Ion batteries are preferred, but at the low end you may get stuck with
>>> AA batteries.
>
> Which just goes to show how people's requirements can vary. I actually
> eliminated Li-Ion battery cameras from my shopping list and ranked the
> ability to take AAs as a prime requirement.
>
> The reason is that my main intended use is when out hiking. I always carry
> spare AAs as I need them for my GPS so I have confidence that even if I
> forget (or there's no convenient place) to recharge, I will always have
> spares to hand.
>
> I did look into procuring spare Li-Ion batteries but they seemed expensive
> and would mean carrying different sizes of spare batteries, and different
> chargers, on my travels.

I'm not familiar with GPS units, so I don't know if you use
alkaline or NiMH batteries in it. If it uses alkalines, the good
news is that you might not need to use rechargeable batteries with a
camera such as Canon's A610 or A620. This would depend on the
length of your hiking trips, but these Canons get up to 1,200 shots
per set of alkalines, which is more shots than most people take on
two week vacations. If you prefer using NiMH, they'll be good for
about 1,700 shots per charge. This assumes outdoor, daytime
shooting. If you have to use the camera's flash for many of the
shots, according to Canon's rating, the number of shots declines to
350 for alkalines and 500 shots per charge for NiMH. Actually, the
number would be closer to 600, since Canon's rating assumed that
you'd be using 2,300 mAh NiMH batteries, but 2,700 mAh batteries are
now available.

If you use alkaline batteries, and usually bring a flashlight
along on your hikes, you could use an LED light and it would do
double duty as a spare battery carrier. Most of the LED lights I've
seen that use 4 AA alkalines get from 50 to 200 hours from them.
This would allow you to use the light for a good number of hours and
the batteries would still be nearly as good as an unused set of
alkalines as far as the camera or GPS is concerned. Then the
so-called "dead" alkalines from the GPS or camera could be swapped
into the LED light, where they'd provide light for another 25 to 100
hours. Unfortunately this doesn't work quite as well with NiMH
batteries. The spares in the light would do even better when
removed and used in the camera or GPS. But the batteries removed
from the camera would probably only power the light for a few
minutes before conking out.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

Thanks a lot, guys, for your input. I'd like to get a camera that works
reasonnably well in most circomstances (indoors and outdoors,
landscapes...). I'm not an expert in photography at all, but i like to take
nice pictures;-)
I'd like a camera very easy of use. As a really old school boy, i want a
camera with an viewfinder. The size doesn't really matter. I'd like to get a
compact camera thought. The optical zoom is important. I would prefer to
have AA batteries as they could be find anywhere in case of emergency. As
you see, my requirements are very commonplace as i really don't know
anything about the technical stuff. I just want a camera that delivers the
goods, reliable and of good quality.

A question: is the image stabilisator very important? There's not such as
thing on the Canon A series. Wouldn't it be necessary with a 6x zoom?
Wouldn't the pictures be blurry?

Is there a big difference betwen the A700 and SD700IS. On the one side, i
like the 6x zoom of the A700(even though a 4x zoom would probably be
enough), and on the other side i like to size of the SD700IS.
Any thought about the SD700IS? The reviews I read about it are very
lukewarm. I know that the perfect camera doesn't exist, but i'm pretty sure,
it's possible to find a good compromise. The question is, where?

Philippe



"Keith Sheppard" <keith.sheppard.RemoveThis@tesco.net> skrev i melding
news:5K_zg.64503$ST2.48462@newsfe5-win.ntli.net...
> >>CANON POWERSHOT 700, 620 or a SONY W40
> I recently chose the Powershot A700 mainly for the 6x optical zoom. It
> doesn't have the tilt and swivel screen of the A620 but that wasn't a
> priority for me (maybe a case of what you've never had you don't miss).
The
> other disappointment with all the Canon A series is lack of image
> stabilisation.
>
> I've had my A700 about a week now and it has lived up to expectations.
>
> Like others said, though. We would need to know what you want of a camera
> before being able to advise which model would suit you.
>
> Keith
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

"ASAAR" <caught.RemoveThis@22.com> wrote in message
news:1e92d2p17m8ndo4uj84bbh2a3k597ark2l@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 2 Aug 2006 21:01:26 +0200, bardamu wrote:
>
> > A question: is the image stabilisator very important? There's not such
as
> > thing on the Canon A series. Wouldn't it be necessary with a 6x zoom?
> > Wouldn't the pictures be blurry?
>
> The review at dpreview.com of Canon's A700 touches on when the
> image stabilizer would be helpful/necessary. The short answer is
> that it helps more with longer lenses, and on a bright sunny day
> probably isn't really needed except at longer tele focal lengths.
> So for some shots where the A620's 3x lens might not need IS at any
> zoom position of its lens, in situations requiring the same
> exposure, the A700's lens might benefit by IS when zoomed way out.

The A620 actually has a 4X zoom. The 6X of the A700 would certainly benefit
from IS when zoomed out fully but in my experience, the vast majority of
casual shots are taken at less than 2X. Indeed, there are many times I'd
love to have a wider angle than available at the typical 1X (35mm/35 mm
equivalent on the A620 and 700). I have to say that the pivotting LCD on the
A620 allows you more confidence in taking shots over the heads in a crowd
and other awkward positions such as a mini tripod on the ground. As a first
camera, the A620 will save you about $80-90 in the US over the A700 which is
a newer model.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

bardamu wrote:
[]
> A question: is the image stabilisator very important? There's not
> such as thing on the Canon A series. Wouldn't it be necessary with a
> 6x zoom? Wouldn't the pictures be blurry?

It's a matter of degree. With the 432mm lenses of a typical 12X zoom
camera, in less than perfect lighting it is useful to be able to shoot at
the 1/40s that an image stabilised lens system allows, rather than the
1/400s which would otherwise be required to stop blur from camera shake.
On the other hand, I have found that I can hand-hold a digital camera with
a 24mm lens at 1/10s or even more, and still get an acceptably sharp
picture. If you use a good tripod all the time, you will always avoid the
effects of camera shake.

I would suggest that if you are interested in telephoto pictures (and I
would just include 6X zoom as telephoto), an image stabilised lens is a
worthwhile thing to have on your camera, but you could manage without. As
for me, I have an IS camera (Panasonic FZ5) and have never regretted
buying it.

David
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices! 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonSD700IS/
m Ransley wrote:
> Read comparisons at drpreview and dcresource. If I were to get a new
> camera it would take aa batteries , have a thread for extension lenses
> and take a common card, that rules out the sony. I have a sony w5 but
> would not buy their new model, also there is nothing to grip I have
> dropped my w5. Fuji f30 has a good sensor Panasonic has image
> stabilisation. Olympus has a waterproof model.
 >> Stay informed about: Which digital camera to choose? Need advices!