Suggestions on Digital Camera - Page 2

[quote]Originally posted by Belle:
<strong>It's a wonderful camera, though the manual focus system takes a little work. The battery life is outstanding. I carry my camera almost all the time, and can fill the disk (512 JPEGs at maximum resolution) before having to recharge the battery.</strong><hr></blockquote>

So..how about letting me see a picture of you, belle?

I have the Canon PowerShot S30 ($499 retail). 3.2 megapixel camera..really nice and takes good pics. I really like mine.

The Installer, their last great camera was the Nikon CoolPix 990. All of their recent consumer cameras have been rather disappointing in almost every respect.

1) They produce noisy photos
2) They feel cheaper...more plastic, less metal.
3) It's not that Nikon sucks; The competition is just better.

[quote]Originally posted by mac's girl:
<strong>the sony dsc-s75 is the best camera. i researched it for so long i was going to go blind from reading.</strong><hr></blockquote>Interesting what you are saying, mac's girl.

I have a feeling the SONY is sort of being overlooked by many people - including myself - but having just had a good long read on the Digital Photography Review site (WHAT A COOL SITE THAT IS, you can spend days reading there), I must say it does look *very* impressive indeed. I am now trying to decide between the S75 and the S85 model.

The Sony DCS-S85 and S75 are very good cameras indeed (I recommended the S75 in my first post.) They are competitively priced and have top notch image quality. They also produce vivid colors (too vivid for some,) but I generally like over-saturated tones vs under-saturated ones. You can always tone them down in Photoshop.

The only real problem with these two cams is MemoryStick, and that really isn't that big a problem at all.

The S75 is $470 at B&H
The S85 is now $650.

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/</a>

[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:
<strong>The Installer, their last great camera was the Nikon CoolPix 990. All of their... &lt;snip&gt;</strong><hr></blockquote>Thanks for that, Eugene.

- T.I.

[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:
<strong>The only real problem with these two cams is MemoryStick, and that really isn't that big a problem at all.

The S75 is $470 at B&H
The S85 is now $650.</strong><hr></blockquote>Memory Sticks used to be expensive, but aren't any more, not even in Europe.

In Tony Blair Land (the U.K.) cheapest price:

S75 = £439
S85 = £549

I think I would be inclined to go with the S85, if I had the extra cash. Extra cash = extra pixels.

- T.I.

[ 05-07-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by The Installer:
<strong>Memory Sticks used to be expensive, but aren't any more, not even in Europe.

In Tony Blair Land (the U.K.) cheapest price:

S75 = £439
S85 = £549

I think I would be inclined to go with the S85, if I had the extra cash. Extra cash = extra pixels.

- T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>

only a .8 mp difference between the [sony dsc] s75 (3.3 mp) and the s85 (4.1 mp). i like the silver s75 rather than the black s85. other than that, the features are identical.

p.s. i've seen 128mb lexar memory sticks go for as little as $54 on e-cost. i only have the sony branded ones, so i dont know how good the lexar ones are. anyone ever try them?

Lexar is a great brand. They generally sell at a premium. I don't know about eCost though. They have outrageous shipping fees.

The cheapest for me was $69 from TigerDirect, which I just purchased from recently. (no complaints)

[ 05-07-2002: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by mac's girl:
<strong>

only a .8 mp difference between the [sony dsc] s75 (3.3 mp) and the s85 (4.1 mp). i like the silver s75 rather than the black s85. other than that, the features are identical.</strong><hr></blockquote>Except for the improved (now extremely good!) battery performance, and that it does 3 frames at 3 fps against 2 on the Continuous Drive setting. Oh, and you get a bigger M/S., which is no big deal really.

dpreview.com suggest that the S-85 has slightly less color saturation, which would suit me.

On reflection I'd say the S-75 does represents better value for money.

I have now dropped the Coolpix from my list, and will most likely be getting the S-85. More pixels is bit like more memory, buy as much as you can afford. Also I prefer the black.

- T.I.

[edit: done it, I have now ordered the S-85, thanks everyone.]

[ 05-07-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>

I'd have to put in another voice in favour of the G2. It's a great camera! The best I've ever owned. I love the rotating LCD for hard angle shots. It does good Macro and the digital zoom is not bad either.

[quote]Originally posted by wormboy:
<strong>I'd have to put in another voice in favour of the G2. It's a great camera! The best I've ever owned. I love the rotating LCD for hard angle shots. It does good Macro and the digital zoom is not bad either.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I use a G1 camera since 18 months and that's a great camera.
excellent resolution
wonderfull electrical autonomy : more than one hundred pictures with the flash, in fact i charge the battery only one to two times per months and i use it very often at my office.
great look and i agree that the rotational screen is fine and better than the one of the nikon coolpix. I use to have before a nikon coolpix 990: the pictures where great at his time, but the battery where out after 10 to 20 pictures with the flash : very bad for a professional use.
I am still using argentic camera for preoperative procedure, but i think that in the future i will go exclusively in numeric world.I think i will buy next year the canon D60 in order to use the lenses of my canon eos 10.

[quote]Originally posted by wormboy:
<strong>I'd have to put in another voice in favour of the G2. It's a great camera! The best I've ever owned. I love the rotating LCD for hard angle shots. It does good Macro and the digital zoom is not bad either.</strong><hr></blockquote>I had been looking at the G2 too, but it was the RAW format that made me decide against it, plus the better battery life of the SONY. I do like the swivel screen though and the fact that you get a remote control.

If one could only take the features one likes from every camera and combine them . . . Ah well . . .

- T.I.

[quote]Originally posted by The Installer:
<strong>Except for the improved (now extremely good!) battery performance, and that it does 3 frames at 3 fps against 2 on the Continuous Drive setting. Oh, and you get a bigger M/S., which is no big deal really.

dpreview.com suggest that the S-85 has slightly less color saturation, which would suit me.

On reflection I'd say the S-75 does represents better value for money.

I have now dropped the Coolpix from my list, and will most likely be getting the S-85. More pixels is bit like more memory, buy as much as you can afford. Also I prefer the black.

- T.I.

[edit: done it, I have now ordered the S-85, thanks everyone.]

[ 05-07-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

congrats on your decision and good luck with it. the battery life was always great IMO on the s75, and i never had any complaints about it. let me know how it is on the s85. im sure you wont ever need to buy a spare.

its funny that you like the black and i like the silver. were we arguing this over in the brushed metal post too? maybe it's a girl thing, cuz Mr. Mac likes the black color better also, but i'm the one who picked out the camera. also, i got it right when it first came out, so there was no s85 at the time. but i never regretted buying the s75, not for a minute.

have fun with your camera when it comes!!!!

Stick with the Sony. The Canon PowerShot G2 grabs noisy images as well.

[quote]Originally posted by mac's girl:

congrats on your decision and good luck with it. the battery life was always great IMO on the s75, and i never had any complaints about it. let me know how it is on the s85. im sure you wont ever need to buy a spare.<hr></blockquote>The battery life on the S-85 is even better than on the S-75! [quote]its funny that you like the black and i like the silver. were we arguing this over in the brushed metal post too? <hr></blockquote>I never saw that one. [quote]maybe it's a girl thing, cuz Mr. Mac likes the black color better also<hr></blockquote>Shame there is a Mr. Mac. I already saw us walking into the sunset with our contrasting cameras hanging around or necks [quote]have fun with your camera when it comes!!!!<hr></blockquote>Thanks. I'll let you know.

- T.I.

[quote]Originally posted by The Installer:
<strong>I had been looking at the G2 too, but it was the RAW format that made me decide against it, plus the better battery life of the SONY. I do like the swivel screen though and the fact that you get a remote control.

If one could only take the features one likes from every camera and combine them . . . Ah well . . .

- T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I don't know for the G2 but the battery life of the G1 is excellent.

and i find personnaly that the quality of the image is excellent and not very noisy unless very poor light conditions. One of the advantage of the G1 or G2 is his lens which has a very good aperture .

[quote]Originally posted by The Installer:
<strong>I had been looking at the G2 too, but it was the RAW format that made me decide against it

- T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>

What about the RAW format do you not like?
You don't like uncompressed images? That's all that the RAW format is,and you can select varying degrees of jpeg compression if that's what you want. Also, the G2 is known for excellent image quality, so unless you're trying to shoot in low light situations, you shouldn't be getting noisy images.

[quote]Originally posted by ryukyu:
<strong>What about the RAW format do you not like?
</strong><hr></blockquote>Ironically enough, I have now changed my order to a G2.

- T.I.

:confused: <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" />

S85 &gt; Canon PowerShot G2 in pure image quality.

hey what happened to walking into the sunset with our contrasting cameras around our necks???? you cant switch your order!!

[quote]Originally posted by mac's girl:
<strong>hey what happened to walking into the sunset with our contrasting cameras around our necks???? you cant switch your order!!

</strong><hr></blockquote>
Due to his high rank the installer have the power to edit his order. In a way TI is a sort of aristocrat

[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:
<strong> :confused: <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" />

S85 &gt; Canon PowerShot G2 in pure image quality.</strong><hr></blockquote> <a href="http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=1599" target="_blank">http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=1599</a>

On reflection I preferred the "flexible" screen. It allows me to to look down on to the picture, with my hand under the screen, in a Rolleiflex type fashion, giving greater stability / less chance of camera shake. I am just not comfortable holding up the camera away from my face. Also, with the screen in the resting position, I can look through the viewfinder without fear of getting greasy nose prints on the screen. A very important consideration for me, that.

Other plus points:

50 ISO !
accepts a Microdrive !
panoramic stitch function
remote control
time lapse recording
accepts any flash
fewer chromatic aberrations than the SONY !
weighs more than the SONY

And last but not least, the G2 looks sexier than the SONY

- T.I.

[ 05-18-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by mac's girl:
<strong>hey what happened to walking into the sunset with our contrasting cameras around our necks???? you cant switch your order!!

</strong><hr></blockquote>Gee (2), I was hoping that you wouldn't notice the difference in cameras on our little stroll . . .

And yes, I DO feel like a traitor

- T.I.

P.S. powerdoc does have a point

[quote]Originally posted by The Installer:
<strong>

And yes, I DO feel like a traitor
</strong><hr></blockquote>

I think you'll be quite happy with your choice.
The G2 gets excellent reviews for image quality. A major problem with a lot of digital cameras is chromatic aberration and with the G2 it's non-existent.
I don't know what you intend to do with it, or what your level of expertise is with regards to photography, but the G2 also has a great selection of settings modes in which you can operate, including fully manual.
Unless you're a pro photographer, it will probably take a while to outgrow that camera.
Enjoy your camera!!

Yeah, my only concern is image noise. Image noise is more important to me because blooming / purple fringing will only happen in daylight shots in areas of high contrast, usually...

Image noise will appear in basically any photo.

but whatever...the G2 is a fine camera...

[quote]Originally posted by ryukyu:
<strong>I don't know what you intend to do with it, or what your level of expertise is with regards to photography, but the G2 also has a great selection of settings modes in which you can operate, including fully manual.</strong><hr></blockquote>I used to do press photography for a living once. You are right about the setting modes, there seems to be plenty of scope there.

I mainly intend to use the camera just for fun, i.e. let "Automatic" do the job 95% of the time, but it's good to know that I can override should I feel creative/be bored.

Cool thing is, that with all that it does, it still is not too big to be strapped to my waist belt in a pouch when I am out and about hiking.

- T.I.

[ 05-19-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by Mandricard:
<strong>Hi All,

I am wondering about a digital camera in the 4-500 dollar range. I think that puts me in the 2-3 Megapixel range. However, what I am most interested in (for a number of reasons) is color fidelity and image quality, not necessarily speed/bells/whistles, etc.

I have looked at the Canon digital elph, and the nikon 885. Are there any other suggestions? Sony's seem like a pin in the neck with the memory stick situation, but I hear they have good glass (lenses) in them.

What are people's suggestions?

--Mandricard
AppleOutsider</strong><hr></blockquote>

Nikon 775. About $300-$350. 2.2 meg 3X optical 2.5 digital zoom. Plugs right into iPhoto. About the same width and height as an Elph but a little thicker. Buttons are easier to use though. Get a 128 meg card and shoot at high res. Works great for me.

[ 05-19-2002: Message edited by: stoneage ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by Mandricard:
<strong>Hi All,

I am wondering about a digital camera in the 4-500 dollar range. I think that puts me in the 2-3 Megapixel range. However, what I am most interested in (for a number of reasons) is color fidelity and image quality, not necessarily speed/bells/whistles, etc.

I have looked at the Canon digital elph, and the nikon 885. Are there any other suggestions? Sony's seem like a pin in the neck with the memory stick situation, but I hear they have good glass (lenses) in them.

What are people's suggestions?

--Mandricard
AppleOutsider</strong><hr></blockquote>

i'm trying to decide between the coolpix 995 and the canon G1

my wife has had a nikon for 20 years that we love, so i really like nikon's build and reliability....

i can get the 995 for about 500 shipped....i love the swivel body and the way this camera feels to hold....i like the 4x zoom and that this camera offers many lens attachments...

i can get the G1 for a little less than 600 shipped...like that it comes with a wireless remote and like the swivel lcd screen....

nikon doesn't have AF assist for night shots...i think the G1 does....any thoughts??? who has the 995?? the G1??? thanks g

Hmm, you can get a Canon G2 from Dell for about $670 after a mail-in rebate...deal ends today...

[quote]Originally posted by thegelding:
<strong>i'm trying to decide between the coolpix 995 and the canon G1</strong><hr></blockquote> <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp995/" target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp995/</a>

<a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong1/" target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong1/</a>

The G1 is discontinued BTW.

- T.I.

[ 05-20-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>

Bump...

Now owner of a Canon G2 reporting back here: a terrific little camera that.

I have now shot over 1,000 pictures with it (some samples can be seen here <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/mac_alain/PhotoAlbum3.html" target="_blank">http://homepage.mac.com/mac_alain/PhotoAlbum3.html</a> ) and I am extremely happy with it.

I cannot praise the swivel screen feature enough.

- T.I.

I just bought a new digital camera to take photo in the operative surgery room(the camera will be always there) : a minolta dimage S404. It's not as bright as a G2 or even a G1 for quality image, but i am very happy with it.

Some comparisons with my G1 :
- the LCD scree of the G1 is better
- the minolta is incredibely fast if you not use the flash
- the quality image of the minolta appears to me quite as good as the G1 : i will made some comparisons tests this weekend. But i took the picture of my cat : the fur shows incredible details very sharp and contrasted, and i did not need to make some corrections.The S404 is 4 Mpixel and the G1 only 30,3 : it does not make a huge difference in practice.
- both menu of the two camera are very simple to use.
- the G1 has a better look, and much long lasting batterys. But in case of need simple alkaline batteries work in the S404. And it's an argument. I nearly lost a client, because i have forget my battery charger, and was not able to show some the nose rectifications of the nose that i suggested. It's always easy to find some AA battery in case of need.
- the lenses of the minolta is a 4X zoom 35- 140 mm equivalent apochromatic with two aspherical lenses with 3 to 3,5 aperture. the G1 is a 3 X zoom with aspherical lenses with 2 to 2,5 aperture.

I will say only this, the digital camera are becoming more and more mature. And i am impressed by the sharpness of the pics made with them.

Now all my professional pictures will be digital. In the past, i feared that the digital pictures could not make a proof, but the people who selled me, show me that there where info take with every pictures showing how was taken the pictures, with the model of camera, with the right resolution, with the date of creation and the date of modification.
I consider that a digital photo has the same law weight than a traditional pictures (that can be transformed either ...).

Those wooden cabins...I swear we took photos on those very slopes...

getting one soon (joint B-day present for my wife and i as we are both virgos...how we stand each other is a mystery to me )....still trying to decide between the nikon 4500 and the canon G2....love the way the nikon feels with the twist body and our current nikon is 20 years old and still a great camera.... love all the extras on the canon (hotshoe, af assist, swivel lcd...but cost 100 more) .... argghhh..oh well, guess i can't go wrong with either camera...probably won't know which one i am getting till the day i actually plop down the money for one and walk out....g

[quote]Originally posted by Powerdoc:
<strong>One advice using this digital camera, while using flash never use it when you are close to the subject or your picture will be all white, take some distance and use the great magnification of the lense.</strong><hr></blockquote>No problem that. On the G2 you can reduce the strength of the flash. I tested this, and -1/3 seems to work fine.

- T.I.

[quote]Originally posted by Eugene:
<strong>Those wooden cabins...I swear we took photos on those very slopes...</strong><hr></blockquote>The stadel, most of them well over a hundred years old, their wood burned black by the sun, are used to store hay.

Let's see some shots, Eugene. That would be interesting.

- T.I

[quote]Originally posted by The Installer:
<strong>No problem that. On the G2 you can reduce the strength of the flash. I tested this, and -1/3 seems to work fine.

- T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately on the G1and the S404 you haven't got this feature.

[quote]Originally posted by Powerdoc:
<strong>

Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately on the G1and the S404 you haven't got this feature. </strong><hr></blockquote>Try putting a thinnish white cotton handkerchief or even a paper one (or in your case a surgical dressing maybe) over the flash and test it.

- T.I.