Which Digital Still Camera?

[scooter]

We bought a Canon A85 point & shoot early last year, quite happy with it.

Shutter lag is still a PITA though.


Cheers................Sean

[Dean]

I have 3 cameras, all Olympus... reason being is that they give, by far, the best color reproduction. No camera is perfect, but you have to remember that 90% of a quality photo is because of the photographer, not the camera.

I have an Oly E-300 DSLR and C-8080. Both too big for what you need I'd say. More recently I bopught the missus an Oly FE-115. These are tiny 5Mp cameras designed for the beginner... i.e.e just turn on and shoot. Has some nice features but only writes to JPG and tends to overcompress them. I probably wouldnt recommend it for indoor shots but in good light it works well. There are lots of brands to choose from, all with similar specs. A mate has a Pentax Optio E-10 and it produces nice photos too.

If you get to learn your camera well, you can take awesome shots no matter what brand you get.

[Iain]

But why are they some damned small, I have a hand like a ham and fingers likes bleeding salamis and have trouble holding little 'cute' cameras, despite the specs.
Hence the 35mm slr size Fuji.

[Christopha]

The Canon "Powershot A7101S" as it is reviewed on the site Stinky referred to sounds excellent to a no nuffink like me.... What sort of bucks would I be looking at and where would a boy from the bush get it?

[Coldamus]

The Canon "Powershot A7101S" as it is reviewed on the site Stinky referred to sounds excellent to a no nuffink like me.... What sort of bucks would I be looking at and where would a boy from the bush get it?

Christopha,

Australian RRP is $549. The best price I can find is $499 here:
http://www.digitalcity.net.au/store/...idProduct=2751

(No affiliation with me)

Because it is a relatively new model, the really cheap discount stores don't seem to have it yet.

regards
Coldamus

[Sir Stinkalot]

From my days in retail you were a damn fool if you paid the RRP set by Canon.

For some reason they set their RRP at least $100 higher than the value of the camera ..... perhaps it was to fool the customer into thinking that the camera was a higher priced model that you were getting cheaper, ie a camera with a RRP of $499 being sold at $399 must be better than a camera with a RRP of $399.

I don't think I ever managed to sell a Canon camera anywhere near the RRP.

That said I still think Canon make a great digital camera .... keep an eye out however for the lower resolution they are putting on their screens is getting some flack from users ..... perhaps the outgoing models may be offering more than the new models.

[Christopha]

OK, so do I buy it at $499 or not and f I do will it come with all the stuff I need to put pics on my puter, get 'em developed, print etc etc, charger batteries etc. etc???

[Coldamus]

OK, so do I buy it at $499 or not and f I do will it come with all the stuff I need to put pics on my puter, get 'em developed, print etc etc, charger batteries etc. etc???

Christopha,

The A series Canon cameras use AA batteries and are supplied with standard non-rechargeable alkalines. This is good because you can buy batteries anywhere but bad because you'll be kept poor buying them. You can buy rechargeable AA's and a charger but it is extra cost.

Personally I prefer the Canon Ixus models such as the Ixus 60 and Ixus 750 because they come with Lithium-Ion batteries and a charger included in the price. However they don't have the image stabilisation feature of the A710 IS.

All Canon digitals, as with most other brands, come with only a minimal memory card that is virtually useless. You definitely need a bigger SD card - say $50 for 1gb.

The software to transfer to your computer and to edit and print your pictures is included. Of course you need a colour printer unless you already have one. You can take the SD card to any chemist or photo shop to have prints made or print them yourself from slot machine photo kiosks.

The following is a useful site for comparison shopping and details of what is included:

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/index.htm

I have no association with them and have never dealt with them. However their prices seem generally good. Click on a brand name for a list of that maker's cameras and then click the "Info" button next to the one you are interested in for full specs. and description.

regards
Coldamus

[Christopha]

OK.... so the $499 camera with just battery charger and a card becomes a $607 camera and I don't even have a little bag to keep it in!!!

[scooter]

Harvey Norman's pencil was very sharp when I bought my camera there.

Bought the cam, 4xAA NiMh & charger, bigger card, & bag, & extended warranty, & the deal was very good.

Well worth a shot.


Cheers...............Sean

[Coldamus]

OK.... so the $499 camera with just battery charger and a card becomes a $607 camera and I don't even have a little bag to keep it in!!!

Yes, welcome to photography. However, some good news - digital camera warehouse, the link I gave in my last post, now have it listed at $459 instead of $499.

regards
Coldamus

[Iain]

I can also vouch for Digi camarea warehouse, very fast and efficient.

[Christopha]

Well, I had a reallly schidty Farvers Day and was feeling crap yesterday when one of my customers finished paying me for a little job in fun vouchers (cash!) so I bought myself a Farvers Day pressy... A Panasonic Lumix Dijitool camera. YAY! for me! Now I have to work my way through the inkstrupotion manual which is kinda the size of War and Peace x 2. I would like to say a huge thank you to Tikki who came along, gave great advice, donated a memory card and some much needed moral support.
Now, lets go find out where the fillum goes in......

[Studley 2436]

remember to rewind your memory card before you take it out

Studley

[Stuart]

You can always get a smaller version of the DVD rewinder, rather than wearing out the camera....