High-End Diaper Bag Camera

[chrysta_r]

Hi,

I'm a mother of a two boys: one two years old, the other two months old. When

my first son was born, we bought a Sony DSC-F828, which was the hot new

prosumer digicam at the time. We love it and have gotten some great photos

with it, but the problem for me now is that it is definitely a two-hands-

necessary kind of camera. It's big and heavy, which also means it needs its

own bag. When my husband and I are out together with the boys that's no

problem, but when I'm alone it's a different story. I need something small

enough to toss in the diaper bag and shoot one-handed with at the playground,

although it doesn't necessarily have to be ELPH small - the A540 I handled in

the shop the other day felt nice in my hand. As my two main subjects are fast-

moving objects, shutter-lag is a major issue - it has to be fast. I've gotten

into digital scrapbooking and plan to buy the Epson R2200, which will print

full-bleed archival pages up to 12"x12", when we upgrade our computer system

early next year, so I'll need to be able to get a pretty good-sized high-

quality print from whatever I shoot with. I don't necessarily need a whole

lot of "modes" or manual adjustment capabilities as this will be a "get the

shot quick!" carry-with-me-all-the-time kind of camera, but if they're there

I'm not going to complain. And price really isn't much of an issue. I think

anything that fits my parameters is going to be under $600 or so, right? I've

been looking at dpreview.com, but they haven't reviewed some of the cameras

I've been looking at, and to be honest, there are so many out there that my

head is kind of swimming. The Canon SD700IS ELPH got a "highly recommended"

at DPReview, but a family member is really tickled with her Sony T9. I prefer

the static 2.5" LCD of the A700 over the tilt-swivel 2" of the A620 (two

hands!) but although I like the grip, neither has IS. I've seen a Ricoh

Caplio R4 and its feature-set looks tempting, but have no idea how the image

quality compares with the Canon, and another friend swears by his Exilim 850.

The Nikon compacts I've seen are too slow. My Mom has a two-year-old

Panasonic Lumix 4mp with which she has taken shots that compare favorably to

our 8mp F828, and I noticed on DPReview that Panasonic has just announced a

few new compact models - should I wait for one of those? Like I said, my head

is swimming. Please help!

Thanks,

Chrysta

[veniero]

I think that with two little children you need a DSLR. Any P&S would likely be too slow. I believe that Olympus makes some pretty compact DSLRs. Also, I think that shooting "one-handed...at the playground" with a P&S, it would be hard to get acceptable quality 12X12 prints, no matter which camera you're using.

 

Best of luck, GT.

[will_perlis]

IMX the SD700IS works well one-handed. I replaced the wrist strap with a short leather thong loop and knot that allows a good grip with the last three fingers on the loop and camera body. I turn it on with my thumb & fire it with the index finger.

 

There's vary little shutter lag compared to the previous little digitals I've used but it's still not quite as fast as the big DSLRs. Fast enough for small children? I dunno.

 

I just checked. The only thing I can't do easily one-handed is remove the SD card or battery.

[phule]

If your family member will let you, borrow the T9 and see what you think. Consider the slighly larger cousin, the T30.

 

Personally, the A620 is my standard recommended camera, but as you've said, you don't like the screen.

[demetri_p.]

Try a Fuji F30 in a store. Small, great lcd, very long battery life, very fast af, low noise and gives resolution closer to an 8 megapixel camera. I've owned a lot of digicams and 4 current dslrs and most were good but I love how close my f30 gets to a dslr. A dslr will give you even lower noise (~ 2 stops) and lens/flash flexibility but you pay in bulkiness even with a rebel xt or similar small dslr.

[des adams]

Rebel xt.

[chrysta_r]

Thanks for all the answers I've gotten so far. Lots of things to consider. A DSLR is too big, so out of the question, unfortunately. With two kids in diapers, I'm already carrying enough junk around with me, and if I really want that much lens, I'll just bring the F828. Note that I said "pretty good-sized high-quality print", not necessarily a full 12"x12" print. Probably more like 8"x10" on a 12"x12" scrapbook page. I liked what I read about the Fuji F30 on DPReview, but have reservations about the lack of optical viewfinder. If I'm shooting at the playground on a bright sunny day, or in lots of snow up on the mountain [i live in the Bavarian Alps at the moment :)] will I be shooting blind? Does anyone have any real-world experience with that camera in similar situations? The optical viewfinder is actually one thing that had me leaning toward the SD700IS, but after being used to my big Sony, the bar-of-soap design doesn't feel like much in my hand. When I've had a chance to handle some models, even a small grip feels more stable, but I guess maybe I'd get used to it? What about the idea of waiting a bit for the new Lumix models to hit the market? The spec sheets posted on DPReview for the FX50 and LX2 looks like they could be good ones if they've addressed some of the reservations mentioned in regards to the LX5 and TZ1 (mostly, great lens, fun to handle and use, not-so-great CCD), and they both look like they'll have at least somewhat of a grip. We live in a really small town so I can't just waltz out to B&H (used to live in NYC) and try them all myself, which is why I'm posting here. As for that T9 in the family, my SIL lives in Enid, OK with my Navy pilot bro, so I can't try hers until the reunion next August. Oh well. Oh yeah, one more thing: a whole lot of people on this site seem to love the A620, but not much mention of the A700. How come? Any answers to the above considerations, clarifications and concerns? Thanks again for your time!

[phule]

<<Oh yeah, one more thing: a whole lot of people on this site seem to love the A620, but not much mention of the A700. How come?>>

 

Because the rotating LCD screen is a very useful tool and despite the larger screen the LCD of the A700 is not very high resolution.