please help - a camera up to $700

[dealeng]

Hi,

I own for the last 2 years the Minolta Dimage 7HI. I would like to upgrade it since:
The qulity in indoor photos is poor, it is very slow, and it has no stabilizer so many photos are our of focus.

Usually I take photos of family and on tours/trips. I am not professional and do not use a lot manual features but still like to have them.

It is important to me:
Mega zoom (min x7 but prefarable higher)
Min 5 MP but preferably higher
manual zoom ring
DSLR alike
ratio of 2 x 3
good quality in indoor conditions
preferable finger batteries
Prefarable companies like Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Minolta and Fuji

I am considering the following options:
canon s2
panasonic fz30
minolta a200 or z6
fuji 9500

Not all of them meet all my requirements but still I have to decide.

My questions:
Are these cameras worth the upgrade of my current one?
Which one of them is the reccomended one for me?
Are there any other options?

Thanks in advance.

[northmotion]

It sounds like the inside stuff is really bothering you. I might suggest the Sony DSC F828. The main reason is really that it has a F/2-2.8 lens. This will allow for really low light conditions. Although for the least grain I would recommend (cus i love it so much) is the Nikon D50 for only 100$ more. But of course there are a lot of options.

I heard the S2 wasnt a bad choice, but i havent tried it!
I hope you find what your looking for

[dealeng]

It sounds like the inside stuff is really bothering you. I might suggest the Sony DSC F828. The main reason is really that it has a F/2-2.8 lens. This will allow for really low light conditions. Although for the least grain I would recommend (cus i love it so much) is the Nikon D50 for only 100$ more. But of course there are a lot of options.

I heard the S2 wasnt a bad choice, but i havent tried it!
I hope you find what your looking for


Thanks.
Any idea about the other brands that I mentioned?
Are these will be a big improvement over what I have today?

[timmciglobal]

The 9500 suffers from your typical fuji problem, bad image quality. Great camera, build, idea but the images just don't live up.

The FZ-30 has a lot of noise issues. For outdoor or good light it's not an issue but poor lightning it would be. Real shame. S2 is in same boat.

If you didn't buy a dSLR I'd say the FZ-30 would be my second bet. It's the nicest of the cameras I think overall, plus you can always post process some of the noise out. Can't do anything with a muddy picture.

Tim

[dealeng]

The 9500 suffers from your typical fuji problem, bad image quality. Great camera, build, idea but the images just don't live up.

The FZ-30 has a lot of noise issues. For outdoor or good light it's not an issue but poor lightning it would be. Real shame. S2 is in same boat.

If you didn't buy a dSLR I'd say the FZ-30 would be my second bet. It's the nicest of the cameras I think overall, plus you can always post process some of the noise out. Can't do anything with a muddy picture.

Tim

Thanks.
Is the noise problem is a real problem if I use to print on 10 x 15 cm mainly?

[timmciglobal]

It depends on your deffinition of problem.

Some people can't stand noise, then yes it is. Some people love canon "silk smooth" colors (a blur sky is absoultly flat blue, doesn't appear "spotted" at all if you look on a PC.

Most cameras, as low as 1 megapixel, will produce a decent 4x6" print so it's relative. The fuji S9500 images I printed looked great printed but didn't look that good viewed on the PC.

Tim

[dealeng]

It depends on your deffinition of problem.

Some people can't stand noise, then yes it is. Some people love canon "silk smooth" colors (a blur sky is absoultly flat blue, doesn't appear "spotted" at all if you look on a PC.

Most cameras, as low as 1 megapixel, will produce a decent 4x6" print so it's relative. The fuji S9500 images I printed looked great printed but didn't look that good viewed on the PC.

Tim

Thanks for the clarifications.