in the market for a new digital camera

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

Thanks dms ... In the time between posting and seeing your reply, the
Canon S2 IS was a model that stuck out at pricegrabber and cnet for
great reviews, guess I'll consider that one.

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

On 2 Aug 2005 13:16:02 -0700, id.at.w98.dot.us@gmail.com <id.at.w98.dot.us@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey all.
>
> I'm currently use an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom. Bought it in 2001 for
> its 10x optical zoom and, at the time, monstrous 128MB memory cards.
>
> Some good friends of ours are budgetting some money to buy us a new
> digital camera for our upcoming wedding, and would like us to pick
> which model to get. We figure we can spend $400-$450 on the camera and
> use what's left on an extra memory card; I'll use PriceGrabber.com to
> find the best deals.
>
> So I'm here to solicit some opinions on a sturdy digital camera that
> fits our needs:
>
> Our primary necessity is a fast autofocus. My C-700 takes a good 4-5
> seconds per shot to focus and the shutterspeed is horrible when taking
> action shots, especially in low light. We attended a dance recital for
> our junior bridesmaids and more than half of the photos had to be
> junked because they were blurry. We'd like for that not to happen
> again, even if it means sacrificing megapixels for it. Now, we don't
> take pro photography at sporting events or anything, we don't need
> something super high end, but something that will let us track kids
> running or playing in the yard and not be blurry would be really nice.
>
> Secondly, being a bit of a shutterbug, I enjoy having the 10x optical
> zoom, but I haven't seen many models in our price range that continue
> with such a high zoom capability, but I'd enjoy something at least 5x
> optical. I avoid digital zoom like the plague. My biggest beef with the
> C-700 is that at 10x optical zoom you're pretty much forced to being on
> a tripod for steady shots.

The current generation of superzoom (mostly 12x) cameras list for $500;
you probably can find them for $450ish without too much trouble. Most of
them have image stabilization, which helps alot with the camera shake
issue.

I believe that the current champion for fast focus in this group is the
Panasonic FZ5. That's the model I have (more for the light weight than
anything else; it's definitely the lightest of the stabilized
superzooms) and it focuses pretty well at most light levels, usually in
under a second. Other, comparable, models to look at include the Canon
S2 IS and the Sony H1.

-dms

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

In article <1123013762.550950.204350@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, "id.at.w98.dot.us@gmail.com" <id.at.w98.dot.us@gmail.com> wrote:
>Hey all.
>
>I'm currently use an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom. Bought it in 2001 for
>its 10x optical zoom and, at the time, monstrous 128MB memory cards.
>
>Some good friends of ours are budgetting some money to buy us a new
>digital camera for our upcoming wedding, and would like us to pick
>which model to get. We figure we can spend $400-$450 on the camera and
>use what's left on an extra memory card; I'll use PriceGrabber.com to
>find the best deals.
>
>So I'm here to solicit some opinions on a sturdy digital camera that
>fits our needs:
>
>Our primary necessity is a fast autofocus. My C-700 takes a good 4-5
>seconds per shot to focus and the shutterspeed is horrible when taking
>action shots, especially in low light. We attended a dance recital for
>our junior bridesmaids and more than half of the photos had to be
>junked because they were blurry. We'd like for that not to happen
>again, even if it means sacrificing megapixels for it. Now, we don't
>take pro photography at sporting events or anything, we don't need
>something super high end, but something that will let us track kids
>running or playing in the yard and not be blurry would be really nice.
>
>Secondly, being a bit of a shutterbug, I enjoy having the 10x optical
>zoom, but I haven't seen many models in our price range that continue
>with such a high zoom capability, but I'd enjoy something at least 5x
>optical. I avoid digital zoom like the plague. My biggest beef with the
>C-700 is that at 10x optical zoom you're pretty much forced to being on
>a tripod for steady shots.
>
>Thanks for any insight or ideas. Feel free to Email my gmail account
>with info.
>
Maybe look at the Olympus C7070
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Olympus/oly_c7070...

Or the Canon Powershot S2 IS
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_s2is....

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

id.at.w98.dot.us@gmail.com wrote:
[]
> Secondly, being a bit of a shutterbug, I enjoy having the 10x optical
> zoom, but I haven't seen many models in our price range that continue
> with such a high zoom capability, but I'd enjoy something at least 5x
> optical. I avoid digital zoom like the plague. My biggest beef with
> the C-700 is that at 10x optical zoom you're pretty much forced to
> being on a tripod for steady shots.

Look at one of the cameras with an image-stabilised lens:

Panasonic FZ5: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz5/

Panasonic FZ20: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/

There are other makes but my view is that the Pansonic have the better
image quality. The Canon S2 IS and Panasonic FZ30 have a swivel LCD and
more resolution in movie mode.

David