zachary

Bird<div></div>

Flower (macro mode)<div></div>

Well both of the cameras arrived and my first impressions are as follows: 1)Both are quite similar in layout, operation, (even body size and weight (different but not enormously different))

2) I am happy I got my mom the A700 because the screen is much bigger (although a bit more grainy)

3)I havent had so much shooting experience yet but I had the chance to take a short walk with my A620 and here are the first couple shots...

 

Thanks for the imput everyone. My mom and I are both really happy with the cameras.

 

 

ZAch<div></div>

A friend of mine just got a Canon A430 and loves it.

 

 

ZAch

Thats good info there, Chuck.

 

Thanks,

 

ZAch

Thanks for the responses. I know they are both NiMH chargers, I was really curious to know if they would charge them properly (to their full capacity or not)?

 

ZAch

Charger...<div></div>

I picked up some Energizer Rechargeable AA batteries today and I was wondering

if I can/should charge them in the chargers I already have. Also, are these

batteries any good?

 

Thanks,

 

ZAch<div></div>

Chuck, check your email.

 

ZAch

Done. I am the proud new owner of the A620. $215 with free two day shipping. Looks great!

 

ZAch

Thank You everyone for responding. I went with the A700 for my mom because of the larger LCD. But seeing how much everyone loves their A620, I may just need to get one for myself, as I was always looking for a compact when I dont want to carry around my dslr.

Thanks Again,

 

ZAch

Chuck thanks for the responses, theres no need for an apology whatsoever. I appreciate your concern.

 

Thanks,

 

ZAch

Also, I just wanted to say to everyone that I really appreciate your help and advice with this. Thanks for taking the time.

 

 

ZAch

Chuck, yes, I think I read pretty much every review (but there arent so many yet on the a700) and I went to Office Depot to check them out. I really never wanted a kodak its just something someone mentioned on this forum for beginner in digital photography like my mom.

From what has been recommended to me so far it looks like I need to re-ask the

question now a bit differently...

 

Would you take the Canon A700 over the A620? Are there any advantages the A620

has over the A700? The main reason I would prefer to get my mother the A700 is

the bigger LCD (2.5" compared to 2") The extra cost (~$60) is worth it so she

can see the screen well and show her pics to friends (i.e. bore them). Is there

another camera I should consider. Someone mentioned the Kodaks such as the the

C663 or C643. Are the Kodaks picture quality any good? Especially, what about

low-light conditions? Now I REALLY need to order by the morning and expedite

shipping for it to get here on time! :)

 

Thanks,

 

ZAch

What about the a700? Is it similar to the a620 in quality? I am willing to pay that much more for the 2.5" screen.

 

Zach

I forgot to mention two things...

 

1)Most of here photos are of children (indoors and outdoors) and at parties and weddings (mostly indoors)

 

2)The main concerns I have with the a540 are a) Noise at higher ISOs since she takes a lot of indoor pics b)Flash power and coverage c) The quality of the LCD, I hear it is grainy...

 

Zach

Hi,

 

I am looking to buy my mom a digital camera for her birthday. She's not too

tech savvy and needs something with a big LCD so she won't need here reading

glasses just to use it simply. It doesn't need to be super-small, but it can't

be too bulky (like a DSLR or the like). Price range is somewhere between $200

and $300. I came across the Canon A540 as meeting my needs but since its

relativley new I see very little info here on it. Is there something else I

should look at? I really like the a620 more but its lcd is 'only' 2 inches. I

think I should go for the 2.5" one, eventhough I will sacrifice some other

qualities of the a620. Please mention any camera that you think might work, I

would like to order it tomorrow.

 

Thanks,

:)

 

ZAch

One thing I always wanted to try was some really close macro shots

like the ones here from Plonsky etc... Where the bug is so magnified

you can see every little hair and the details in the 'eye'. Well, I

am not sure what equipment I need to get that close with good optical

quality. I currently have a DRebel XT(350d), 18-55mm, 50mm 1.8, 28-

105mm 3.5-4.5, a 70-200f4, and a 420ex flash. Oh, and a B+W close-up

filter (+4 I think). Is there an inexpensive way for me to shoot

macro? I just got my XT and 70-200 so I was considering the 50mm 2.5

Macro lens (rebate eligible), but I am not sure it gives me enough

magnification for my needs. Would it? Is there a cheaper way to get

similar results. This is not my main genre of shooting but its

something I enjoy.

How can I get macro shots like that?

 

 

Zach

Or is this a better way to do it?<div></div>

Well I am glad I did this practice run post. I guess I need to make the image 511 pixels wide. LOL. I hope to post all of the crops tomorrow night. Just again, am I resaving after the crops correctly? I only save once.

 

Later,

 

Zach

Well, I did the lens test as I mentioned <a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00E72f">

here</a>

 

I still need to do the crops and place the crops next to each other

in a single image and write what you're looking at (see example) but

first I want to see if this format is good for posting here before I

do them all. I will do center and side crops. How should I save them?

(I use Elements 2) For this example I did "save for web" and did 100%

jpeg. Is there a lossless compression for web posting here?

 

Zach<div></div>

Im planning the test for tomorrow night, I have been really busy so far this week.

 

Zach

Great stuff, Sheldon. Thanks for sharing.

 

Zach

Oh yeah, a quick question, should I use Paramater 1 or Parameter 2? 2 is more neutral, but differences will be more clearly seen with 2, which I think is more like the way people will be using the lenses.

 

Yes,I understand that I cant count for lens variations (I dont have 8 lenses of each :), but the test will be assuming I have an average one, which I would say accurately describes 80-90 percent of lenses that leave Canon's factory.

 

 

Zach