Spencer Allain
10-06-2005, 11:42 AM
We want a nice reliable camera with a good zoom and picture quality (sending in our Fuji E550 for repairs a second time -- maybe we just have bad luck).
The C-5500 has gotten great marks on picture quality, with the biggest complaint being the focusing times and shot-to-shot times. This is a serious concern when trying to take pictures of children. The C-5500 has a tiny edge with the 5x zoom over the 4x, but the A610 starts at 35 mm instead of 38 mm at the wide-angle end (the E550 has 32.5 mm at 4x, but then that doesn't really matter when the pictures come out ruined)
The A610 obviously hasn't been out long enough to have any in-depth reviews on it yet, but speculation is that it uses the same 1/1.8" sensor as the C-5500, so image quality should be similar. The swivel viewfinder is not a significant issue. The built-in flash actually has some positives/negatives for me, but I'm considering it a wash, as the C-5500 has more distance on the flash. Video mode differences are pretty much irrelevant since we never use our digital cameras for that purpose. Size and weight are so close to not care at all.
The A610 has the DIGIC II processor, so it should take pictures fairly rapidly, and is rumored to do so. The C-5500 supposedly has TruePicTurbo so why its shot-to-shot speed is so slow is discouraging -- although the highest HQ setting (not SHQ) is supposed to be faster, but nobody seems to have done timing measurements at that setting.
These cameras seem so similar that either choice may be considered a good one, but I don't want to choose the C-5500 and be upset with the speed, or select the A610 and pay more for the camera (and 512MB memory card and reader) probably $80-$100 total cost extra to get an "equivalent" camera as we already have a 512MB xD card and reader.
Any assistance on how to make a decision between these two cameras would be greatly appreciated.
-Spencer
The C-5500 has gotten great marks on picture quality, with the biggest complaint being the focusing times and shot-to-shot times. This is a serious concern when trying to take pictures of children. The C-5500 has a tiny edge with the 5x zoom over the 4x, but the A610 starts at 35 mm instead of 38 mm at the wide-angle end (the E550 has 32.5 mm at 4x, but then that doesn't really matter when the pictures come out ruined)
The A610 obviously hasn't been out long enough to have any in-depth reviews on it yet, but speculation is that it uses the same 1/1.8" sensor as the C-5500, so image quality should be similar. The swivel viewfinder is not a significant issue. The built-in flash actually has some positives/negatives for me, but I'm considering it a wash, as the C-5500 has more distance on the flash. Video mode differences are pretty much irrelevant since we never use our digital cameras for that purpose. Size and weight are so close to not care at all.
The A610 has the DIGIC II processor, so it should take pictures fairly rapidly, and is rumored to do so. The C-5500 supposedly has TruePicTurbo so why its shot-to-shot speed is so slow is discouraging -- although the highest HQ setting (not SHQ) is supposed to be faster, but nobody seems to have done timing measurements at that setting.
These cameras seem so similar that either choice may be considered a good one, but I don't want to choose the C-5500 and be upset with the speed, or select the A610 and pay more for the camera (and 512MB memory card and reader) probably $80-$100 total cost extra to get an "equivalent" camera as we already have a 512MB xD card and reader.
Any assistance on how to make a decision between these two cameras would be greatly appreciated.
-Spencer