Recommendation for a compact digicam?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

A friend, a very casual photographer, is about to end his holdout as
the last American to have nothing but a point and shoot film camera.
He asked me for recommendations for buying a digital camera.

The Panasonic DMC-FZ15 was the one I recommended most highly to him.
The 12-power zoom, the image stablilization, the ability to focus
manually, all make it ideal for the types of pictures I think he'd be
taking (his kids play sports, and he has a son graduating from college
next month - so he takes a bunch of pictures, at a fixed distance from
the action, often quite a ways away from the action).

However, he's not so sure he wants to go from a tiny camera that drops
into his wife's purse, to a massive camera requiring mastery of a
bunch of settings that he's never had to deal with.

What are some good compact cameras - essentially point and shoot
digitals - that I can recommend to him without embarrassing myself?
He probably should have at least a 3 or 4-power optical zoom. And
FWIW, this is the Rochester, NY area, so Kodak products would get
special preference (I know Kodak has some awesome digitals, I just
don't know much about their compact ones).

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

eldrid@chevsnothome.com wrote:
[]
> The Panasonic DMC-FZ15 was the one I recommended most highly to him.
> The 12-power zoom, the image stablilization, the ability to focus
> manually, all make it ideal for the types of pictures I think he'd be
> taking (his kids play sports, and he has a son graduating from college
> next month - so he takes a bunch of pictures, at a fixed distance from
> the action, often quite a ways away from the action).
[]

Would the newe FZ5 be better for him - it may be a little smaller.

David

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

eldrid@chevsnothome.com wrote:
> A friend, a very casual photographer, is about to end his holdout as
> the last American to have nothing but a point and shoot film camera.
> He asked me for recommendations for buying a digital camera.
>
> The Panasonic DMC-FZ15 was the one I recommended most highly to him.
> The 12-power zoom, the image stablilization, the ability to focus
> manually, all make it ideal for the types of pictures I think he'd be
> taking (his kids play sports, and he has a son graduating from college
> next month - so he takes a bunch of pictures, at a fixed distance from
> the action, often quite a ways away from the action).
>
> However, he's not so sure he wants to go from a tiny camera that drops
> into his wife's purse, to a massive camera requiring mastery of a
> bunch of settings that he's never had to deal with.
>
> What are some good compact cameras - essentially point and shoot
> digitals - that I can recommend to him without embarrassing myself?
> He probably should have at least a 3 or 4-power optical zoom. And
> FWIW, this is the Rochester, NY area, so Kodak products would get
> special preference (I know Kodak has some awesome digitals, I just
> don't know much about their compact ones).

Kodak DX7590 or the newer Z740. If he wants something smaller, then
DX7440 (4x optical zoom) would do well.


--
Ron Hunter rphunter@charter.net

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Hi Eldrid,

Not sure how much your friend is willing to pay, but you can get a great
camera for about $350-$400 dollars that will do everything your friend may
want to do, including manual settings, long lens, external flash options,
and a lot of other neat features he can explore. Of course it can be set to
work fully automatically, as well. You can check out the Kodak stuff at the
following site.

http://www.kodak.com/go/digitalcameras

Actually, I think the best thing to do is consider what he wants to spend,
think about what he wants to do with his images, how important the options
and features are to him, then visit local retailers to see the many models
etc. that might fit those needs. There are many. Try them first hand so he
can get a feel for those he likes. If he has or can borrow a memory card,
bring it along and take the same picture or scene with each of those that
meet his criteria and note which camera did which shot. He can then return
home to compare. Just make sure that when the pictures are taken they are of
the same thing in the same light and so on.

Regardless of what he buys he is going to love the fun of digital imaging.

Talk to you soon, Eldrid,

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company

<eldrid@chevsnothome.com> wrote in message
news:r4o461la4a98o1paavoqo04ti621khl0ju@4ax.com...
> A friend, a very casual photographer, is about to end his holdout as
> the last American to have nothing but a point and shoot film camera.
> He asked me for recommendations for buying a digital camera.
>
> The Panasonic DMC-FZ15 was the one I recommended most highly to him.
> The 12-power zoom, the image stablilization, the ability to focus
> manually, all make it ideal for the types of pictures I think he'd be
> taking (his kids play sports, and he has a son graduating from college
> next month - so he takes a bunch of pictures, at a fixed distance from
> the action, often quite a ways away from the action).
>
> However, he's not so sure he wants to go from a tiny camera that drops
> into his wife's purse, to a massive camera requiring mastery of a
> bunch of settings that he's never had to deal with.
>
> What are some good compact cameras - essentially point and shoot
> digitals - that I can recommend to him without embarrassing myself?
> He probably should have at least a 3 or 4-power optical zoom. And
> FWIW, this is the Rochester, NY area, so Kodak products would get
> special preference (I know Kodak has some awesome digitals, I just
> don't know much about their compact ones).