Choosing a good non dSLR digital camera

[evan_parker]

I don't have a lot of money, so I want to purchase a good quality non

dSLR digital camera. It seems like, finally, these compact cameras

are offering sufficient quality to please all but the most demanding

photo buffs (and even that group at smaller picture sizes).

 

In particular, I am looking at Fuji cameras because my employee

discount discounts these cameras the most (as I work at a Fuji

affiliated photo lab). The S5000, at around $390, looks like a great

deal.

 

However, the selection we have on hand at this time isn't that great,

and I'd like to hear everyone's opinions on this matter. What about

the Fuji F700 (kinda expensive at 600, but it's got the Super CCD SR

sensor for extra dynamic range), or the equivalent Canons, Nikons,

and the darkhorse of the race, the Olympus cameras?

 

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[cliff_gallup]

Canon Powershot S45. It's now available for less than $400 at B&H and elsewhere.

[Greg M]

I am as picky as the next guy and I have been completely pleased with a Kodak EasyShare DX6400 at $399. Comes with a German-made Schneider zoom lens (33-134mm 35mm equivalent) f2.2-4.8 zoom lens, focusses pretty fast and easy to use menus and selection buttons (big plus for me- I'm just starting to learn all this stuff). The software is a snap to install in the computer and the included dock makes the downloading of pictures and charging of batteries as easy and painless as it gets. It also uses AA Lithium cells in a pinch so you are not stuck with having to carry two proprietary batteries around to avoid running out of power. When it comes to lenses I had rather go slightly wider than longer. The 33mm end of this lens is slightly wider than most digital P&S cameras- a nice plus.

 

Things that bothered me with P&S 35's (red eye, slow zooms) are non-issues with digital cameras. The lenses are much faster in most cases, even on the tele end, and I just don't worry about red-eye with people anymore. I use the autoflash option to keep the strongest coverage and get rid of the red-eye afterwards when I download the images into the computer. Animals are still a problem. The software packages I have do not help correct for animal "red-eye" because it's not red, so the system does not recognize it as something that needs to be fixed. Anyone out there have a software solution for that?

[evan_parker]

It's easy to use the healing or clone brush of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to "paint out" pet eyes. If you don't have this software, it is worth every penny.

 

To the Kodak user: Yeah, the Schneider lens attracted me to, but everyone I work with seems to play it down because Kodak makes it. From what I've heard from you, this doesn't seem fair at all! Could you let me know, either here or off-board (abstraxion@razor.ws), if I could see any full-resolution images? Thanks so much! I really appreciate it.

 

Any Fuji users out there?

[Greg M]

You are right. I'm not suprised people say that about Kodak, but they have a history of working with German manufacturers, like their Retina series from the 1930's through the 50's with top flight optics. The cameras are designed in Japan and made in China, but the lenses are German quality. I'll email you a couple of shots at the full 4 mega pixel resolution. They do not lack for sharpness.

[pablo_s]

I'm in exactly the same situation as you (although I do hope to save some bucks and go to DSLR soon). I'll get a Canon G3. This camera has gotten excellent reviews everywhere (check <a href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/g3/">Canon G3 review</a> here on photo.net, <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong3/">Canon G3 review</a> on dpreview), and the value for money seems to be superb (you can get it at around $500). It has the best combination of image quality, useful features and manual control.

<P>

If, however, you get a good deal on Fujis, that may be a better option, especially if a long zoom range makes a big difference to you (and if this is the case consider the S5000 in the first place).

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What are your photographic interests? Different cameras are better suited to different situations. If, for instance, you plan do to some heavy macro work, you should consider a Nikon as well.

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Good luck with your choice and let us know what you decide!

[chip l.]

I love the S30/S40/S45/S50 series cameras. It does appear that the S45 is near the end of life. As such the S50 or what may come before the end of year (and no, I have no advanced knowledge of any such camera); maybe the better LONG TERM choice.

[mike_elek]

I bought a camera I never thought I would consider: the Sony Mavica CD500. Colors seem to be very accurate. Reasonably easy to use. I wish it had an optical sensor.

 

Thumbs down: Slow to write and very slow to write an uncompressed TIFF. Start-up time is slightly slower than average. Camera is physically large. 3X zoom is limited. You pay for the Sony name. No optical viewfinder (might be a "so what" thing). LCD is very tough to see in bright sunlight (bought the external viewfinder).

 

Thumbs up: Very nice images. Can control the output of the flash. Movie quality is very good (though a five+ minute limit). Camera is easy to use. Very sharp Carl Zeiss lens with fast f/2.0 aperture. Mini-CDs eliminate need to constantly dump photos to a PC.

 

There are a bunch of other pros and cons, but that's basically it. Bottom line -- I've been very pleased with the camera and am very impressed with the results. [Moving up from somewhat ancient Coolpix 750 and 950 cameras.]

[afviper_afviper]

I bought a s5000 about two weeks ago and have been pleased with it (got it for $314 on the internet). The two negative points of the camera are the noise, and a maximum shutter of only 2 seconds. I use a program called neat image to get rid of the noise, this works well most of the time. The 2 second exposure works for most night pictures well, but a longer time of about 15 seconds would be better. The other camera I was considering was the Olympus c-740. From reviews I read I found out that the Olympus has lower noise than the s5000 and has a longer shutter speed. But the Olympus is also more expensive.

 

Go see my pictures if you want some samples.