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View Full Version : Canon S410 or A95? Olympus?


charlesk
07-06-2005, 04:27 PM
Before I answer the questionnaire, a couple of important things I should clarify:

I definitely want a camera that performs well, but I'm really looking for a camera that is 1) DURABLE and 2) HAS NO SHUTTER DELAY (or as little as possible).

I can't stand when you try to take a picture and the delay makes you miss the moment, and I can't stand buying a new camera every year!

I've been looking at Olympus cameras (which seem to have shutter delays, e.g. D-540) and the Canon S410 and A95, which are rumored to have common lens errors ("E18 error") and the A95 is rumored to be very breakage-prone.

Thanks so much! -Charles



Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

- AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE, BUT UP TO 250 OR SO.

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?

- SMALLER BETTER, BUT OF MINOR IMPORTANCE

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?

- 3 IS FINE, 4 MAYBE

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

- STANDARD

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)

- 7, I FIGURE MOST ARE PRETTY GOOD

Do you care for manual controls?

- YES, BUT NOT IMPORTANT

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?

- NORMAL STUFF, + OUTDOOR SHOTS, TRAVEL, MACRO DEFINITELY

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

- PROB NOT, BUT WOULD BE GOOD TO BE ABLE TO ZOOM IN

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

- YES

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

-YES

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?

- LIKED AN OLYMPUS I HAD FOR WORK, BUT HEARD SOME HAVE BIG SHUTTER DELAYS (E.G. D-540)

- LIKE THE CANON S410 SPEED BUT HEARD IT'S PRONE TO TECHNICAL ERRORS, AND THE A95 LOOKS GOOD BUT HEARD IT'S VERY FRAGILE & BREAKS EASILY.

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

- CANON S410, A95

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

- WEATHERPROOF GOOD (TROPICAL TRAVEL/WORK), WIDE ANGLE GOOD, BUT NEITHER IS NECESSARY.