Some digital camera questions...

[Dman877]

My old olympus camera is slowly dying and I'm going to Italy for 3 weeks soon, so it's time to get a digital camera. I like the erganomics and design of the slr-like cameras but I'm sort of unclear on what differentiates digital cameras these days.

Some of the models I'm looking at:
Fuji
Minolta
Canon

Now, I went to best buy and asked a guy there about the difference between ^^^ and the more poular compact cameras. He said the compact cameras have better lenses and take better action shots and the only reason to get an slr (what does slr stand for btw?) is for the extra zoom.

I like having a lot of zoom though and I'm afraid of dropping or losing a small camera. I don't take many action shots either.

Also, what kind of memory is optimal these days? The guy at BB said compact flash is the cheapest but its slower then the new memory standards. I asked if this was noticeable (as in slower write times when taking shots) and he said it was night-and-day. From what I've read on the net though, people don't seem to notice this in reviews of like the canon for example.

What review sites do you recommend? The net is loaded with user review sites that seem kinda useless to me....

I'm looking to spend in the 250 - 350$ range and I'm leaning towards the canon right now. What are your thoughts?

 

[Zepper]

Single-lens reflex (used to be you'd have a viewfinder lens and a picture lens). Basicaly it means you see thru the viewfinder (by means of mirrors and prisms) exactly the same image that will appear on the film (or CCD) - no parallax shift, etc. Most also have interchangeable lenses. The ones you are looking at are SLR-like, NOT true SLR - true SLR digicams typically cost over $500. I think the picture you see thru the viewfinder is another LCD screen image - you aren't actually viewing thru the lens. And they don't have interchangeable lenses. http://www.steves-digicams.com usually has reliable reviews on most popular digicams.
. Personally I think you'd be pretty happy with any of the three. I like the SD cards (better overall value) so I'd go with the one that used them (The Minolta Z20) all else being equal. It's predecessor (the Z10) had a better lens than either the Canon or Fuji - makes the choice even easier...

.bh.

 

[Dman877]

Thanks for the info zep .

1 more question. My olympus began giving me trouble when I started using a card reader to transfer photos to my comp. I kept having to blow out the card port on the camera (NES style ) or it wouldn't read cards. How do most people get the photos off the camera? I never liked having to install software and crap because just using the card reader is quicker and easier.

The olympus used smartcards and after a while they started having format issues too (after i started using them in the card reader). Does anyone have experience using compact flash or SD cards in a card reader and a camera? Should it work ok?

 

[Zepper]

Thus far I've been using a direct connection to copy my pix. One day I'm going to get a YE Data combo floppy/flash card reader and I'll let you know. But direct reading with a card reader shouldn't cause any problems an it is usually much faster. Steve's Digicams has reviews of all types of accessories too - I haven't looked at his card reader reviews but I would imagine some are higher quality than others.

A little Caig Labs Pro Gold contact treatment may go a long way in helping Flash cards that are moved from one socket to another a lot. You can get it in an applicator pen format at Radio Shack et al. Blowing on contacts is never a good idea (unless you're using canned air) - salty breath corrosion... ugh

BTW, I've done some major editing of my first reply.

.bh.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: Dman877
Does anyone have experience using compact flash or SD cards in a card reader and a camera? Should it work ok?

I have been using digicams and readers since 1996. Mostly Olympus until 2001. I then moved into Canon SLRs - am on my 2nd one the 20D. It uses Compact Flash as did my D60. I use reader writers with it regularly - never a problem.

I still have an Oly D40 pocket camera that uses SmartMedia. Never a problem with it either - always use reader/writers.

SD seems to be the emerging favorite now, but it is slower than C/F - it has fewer pins thus a narrower pipe to flow data through. C/F is going to be around a while. Not too many high speed 1 GB SD cards out yet.

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: Dman877
Thanks for the info zep .

1 more question. My olympus began giving me trouble when I started using a card reader to transfer photos to my comp. I kept having to blow out the card port on the camera (NES style ) or it wouldn't read cards. How do most people get the photos off the camera? I never liked having to install software and crap because just using the card reader is quicker and easier.

The olympus used smartcards and after a while they started having format issues too (after i started using them in the card reader). Does anyone have experience using compact flash or SD cards in a card reader and a camera? Should it work ok?

Let me guess, your Olympus used smartmedia. That was a severely flawed standard that caused all kinds of corruption. Which is also why Smartmedia was left abandoned. Personally, I stick with compact flash because I find the media very reliable (not a single failure in the 8 years I've been using it). Microdrives only come in CF format too, so if you need high capacity storage then it's best to stick with CF.

 

[Dman877]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah the olympus used smartmedia cards. They looked like miniature 5.25 inch floppies (remember those days? ).

I think I'm gonna go with the fuji cuz its the cheapest and got good reviews everywhere I checked. Reading through some of the reviews on steves site there made me realize I'm probably not going to use many of the features these cameras have to offer but I like the 10x zoom and I'm sure I'll use that plenty.

Anyway the fuji uses xD memory, anyone comment on this memory type? It looks a bit smaller then compact flash but its still kinda big and its pretty cheap too.

 

[beverage]

Originally posted by: Dman877
Anyway the fuji uses xD memory, anyone comment on this memory type? It looks a bit smaller then compact flash but its still kinda big and its pretty cheap too.

"pretty cheap" yeah, but still not AS cheap as SD... also seems to be a bit harder to find... in retail stores at least, you'll have no trouble online

 

[nullshark]

Just be aware that the Fuji will give "vignetting" at wide focal settings (no zoom). Vignetting is dark corners in pictures, making it seem as if you're taking a picture through a tube.

See this sample - WARNING HUGE PIC for an idea of what I'm talking about. If that doesn't bother you and you don't need image-stabalization, then you'll be satisfied with S5100/S5500 (same camera, different model numbers in some locations). As Zepper notes below, you can crop out the vignetting during post-processing.

If you want to do rapid shooting, I'd go with the KM (a better lens on it, as well). Avoid the Canon if you plan to do any low-light shots. It has horrendous low-light focusing problems (and low-light to a camera is usually a lot brighter than low-light to a human).

xD is still more expensive than most CF and SD but is dropping steadily in price. xD's design means that it will be able to reach sizes of 4GB, as well.

As the Fuji's CCD isn't image stabalized, it will be harder to get a "motion-blur"-free shot at the maximum zoom while handheld (no problem if on a tripod, of course).

[edit]

To address the BestBuy salesman's comments (coming from the standpoint of myself selling and researching digital cameras for two years: Pure BS. Compact cameras do not have better lenses than SLRs. An SLR is a better rig, all around but gives more manual control than you stated you'd use. You will be able to get better pictures using an SLR than a compact, it's just the way it is. Having said that, of course. Many compacts and "SLR-like" will give great photos of the point-and-shoot variety.

 

[Czar]

what a good bad salesman, says alot of lies to seel the product

 

[Czar]

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms5100/
a review for the fuji

 

[LED]

CF cards are cheap and I love my Powershot S1 IS
as it can take Vids when I want and the price is right plus I have many attachments...with the pocket Cameras going down in price I also carry on of them with me. Soon we will have DV Camera's that'll be compact and handle both. There are a few out there now.

 

[Bucksnort]

I got the fuji s5100 after looking 2 months in store and exaustive research online. You will be glad you went with this camera believe me. And as far as vignetting, any mid-lower price digital camera with a 10x zoom will do the same. You can read every consumer review you can find and you will not see 1 complain about this. Consumers are making this one of the most sought after cameras due to the lens and 10x zoom, ergonomics and other features. I have found no one unhappy with this camera. If you want something substantive to complain about then I would say that not having image stabalization is more prudent. Then again this is a $230.00 camera. You cant go wrong.

 

[Zepper]

Hey nullshark,
. Some of us are still modeming - cut those dang pix down to reasonable size (100kB max)! Besides which any photographer worth a darn would have cropped the heck out of that pic anyway, so no one would ever see the flaw...

.bh.

 

[nullshark]

Sorry Zepper, I have no control over that pic. That was a link to Steve's Digicams - A digital camera info & review site. I should have warned of it's size.

I realize that the vignetting can be cropped out, I just hate telling half the story. I was going to buy the S5000, myself, until I realized that almost all my shots are of the quick, whip-the-camera-out and snap away at family gatherings or at the bar variety. I went with a non-ultra zoom (The Canon SD200), instead.

At the time, the other main reason I didn't go with the Fuji is that xD was insanely expensive (~150 CAD over SD for a 1GB card). Trust me, I played with about 50 cameras at work for about two months before purchasing and the slightly higher than average vignetting and an unimpressive continuous mode (which has been addressed in the 5100/5500) were the only two things that took me back from absolutely loving it to just liking it a helluv a lot

 

[Dman877]

I only bought a 256mb card, think I should go for more? How many pics will that hold? I never print pictures so I might just use the 1600x1200 mode but I've been told it's usually best to take pics at the max res you can just in case...

 

[nullshark]

I agree with the advice to always using max res. If you want to enlarge & crop a particular pic that might have surprised you in how good it is upon review, you'll be set. On 4MP(F) setting, you're at just under 2MB per picture. Probably about 140 pics on that card at max res & fine setting. (RAW mode will eat up about 8MB per pic).

It's really up to you on how much memory you need to carry with you: How long you'll be away from an upload spot, how many pics you take, etc. I'd say play with the 256 for now, you can always pick up another one, or a 512, later (and it might be a little cheaper at that time, heheh).

 

[CMar]

The guy at Best Buy does not know his ass from diaphragm.

SLR, or even "SLR style" will take better pictures than a compact. The only reason for a compact is to have something compact.
Although there are some high quality compacts, like the canon G6 or the S70

The other side of the story is if they try to cram too much zoom into a lenses, even on an SLR, the quality suffers.

The biggest factor for me, if you are traveling, is size. If you don?t have your camera handy you will miss many opportunities.
A small camera is much handier. I often carry a small compact and an SLR when I travel, and get more good shots on my compact because I take 3 times as many frames with it.

As far as cards, CF is the standard in digital photography. The best digitals used by the pros use CF.

Read the reviews of the cameras.
Important things as far as lens quality is the speed (f#, the lower the better)
Canon or Fuji wins on this.
Read about optical problem, like vigetting (which cant always be cropped out), "chromatic aberrations" aka purple fringing, pincushion and barrel distortion.

All those cams have good features and quality.

What trade offs are you willing to make?
Example - Fuji has raw format if you wish to shoot with it, but uses the XD card.
Canon only shoots jpg but used the better CF card.

 

[CMar]

forgot to add, my fav didies are somthing like a canon A95 od G6, great comprimise beteween size and function.

 

[Dman877]

I got the Fuji today and it's working pretty well. I don't have any problems with vingetting at wide angles like steve had, fortunately. My card reader doesn't read xD cards though, forgot to check this before buying . However the camera works plug-n-play so I don't have to install fuji's bloatware .

Thanks for the help guys, I know, I should never believe things that BB guys say. I tend to be pretty guilible when someone sounds like they know their stuff and I'm clueless though hehe.

 

[nullshark]

Glad you're enjoying it, lucky you don't need the card reader, heh.

 

[bub]

Just get a Canon A85 and a 512mb compact flash card AND BE HAPPY.

Goto www.stevesdigicams.com for review.

Check here for mail order prices:
http://www.dealtime.com/xPC-Canon_Power...-4~SRID-6f0453ceb74e0511bafb1c1f~AT-DD