A Camera For myself ? Which One

[jeepsrock]

I think its about time i retire my old aging fuji 1.3 MP camera which has done me good for a long while.

After going to a few local stores i think i have narrowed down to a few cameras. I liked the nikon 5200 andd 5600 which were very similar and the fuji Z1 is very intresting also. I really wasnt impressed by any cameras by canon, kodak,hp.

My budget is probably around 260$ max. Most of my pics are a mix of indoor and outdoor pics usually during medium light conditions. Please give me some opinions on the cameras i have listed or some advice on other cameras in this price range.

THanks
pete

[jeepsrock]

I am not sure why no one has responded..Maybe someone can please make a suggestion, i really would like a camera for the coming holidays.

pete

[TampaJim]

Nikon 4600, IMO, would be the best bet in your price range. $159 in the door, plus another $25-30 for SD card, another $20 for charger and AA NiMH cells, $20-25 for case. Total $225-235. Good camera and totally supplied.

You didn't get answers because you dissed our blessed Canons. But it is time to forgive, after all it is the holidays. LOL

Take care and enjoy the hobby.

[jeepsrock]

Does everyone here have a canon ? Its my opinion i didnt mean anything by it, if someone thinks there is a canon in that range that is better please suggest ...

Also my price range is only for the camera, i dont mind paying more for additonal acc.

Addionally today i went to another store and saw a few more models that i thought i might share.

Fuji F10
Olympus Sp310
panasonic dmc-fx9

cmon guys
pete

[TampaJim]

I have been advising all my friends and family to look at the A610 as the "power buy" this Christmas. Hard to touch at $269 (or less) in the door. Takes SD cards, DIGIC II processor, uses AA batteries, swivel/tilt LCD, 5MP, nice 4X optical zoom, incredible battery life, amazing manual controls for its size and price range, etc.

There is a reason that Canon sells so many digital cameras - they are a very good value. That doesn't mean they are the best for every situation or the best for every purchaser - but most people are not disappointed.

They have good support and the bundled software is some of the most best out there.

If you don't like the Canon A610 when you go look at it, take a look at the Sony DSC-W5 - not a bad camera and the same price. It doesn't offer quite as much, but most people wouldn't be disappointed with owning one.

[sjseto]

I have the Fuji F10 and I have really been enjoying it. I love having the ability to increase the ISO to 400 and above without having to worry about my pictures being overly noisy; in that respect, no other compact camera can match it. It really helps when I want to take a photo in dim lighting, but I don't have a tripod and I don't want to use the flash.

Although it uses a propietary battery, the battery life is fantastic; in fact, I've never bothered to get a spare.

There are other nice little touches as well, like the fact that the shutter speed is displayed when you half-press the shutter button (I can't tell you how many times that has saved me). I also like the two-second self-timer option (for taking night pictures on a tripod, without blur) and the optional grid display on the LCD (helps with making your horizons straight).

The one thing I wish it had was direct control over aperture and shutter speed. The new F11 offeres that, but it isn't available in North America.

As for as Canons go, I've always thought they were great cameras and before the F10 came out, I was almost sure that my next digicam was going to be a Canon. But the S series was a bit too expensive and the A series a bit bigger than I wanted to carry around (I carry my F10 with me everywhere). And the SD series lacked the manual controls that I wanted. Although the F10 lacks them as well, the high ISO capability was so attractive that I was willing to live without them.

[jeepsrock]

Well to perfectly be honest with you, most if not the majoity of my pictures are using the auto setting. What i mean by this is manual adjustments other than simple flash on /off and macro mode are not that important to me. So i need a camera which has good results basically automatically. The reason i swing towards some brands is bc i have used olympus, fuji and that my olf fuji has lasted well over 6+ yrs.

So far what you guys have listed are basically
Canon A610
Fuji F10 / Z1
Sony W5

Any other cameras to look at.

pete

[TampaJim]

I would look at the Canon A610 or Sony DSC-W5 if you want to stay within your budget. The Fuji is a nice little camera, but it is a bit over your stated price range ($25-$50 depending on where you buy it, without accessories). If you want to save a few bucks, I would still recommend you consider the Nikon 4600.

The Canon is probably the premiere camera of the lot in an "all-around" sense and definitely has the edge in "movie mode". The Fuji is the best in low light conditions - but more expensive memory and batteries. The Sony has a monster display and has the tightest profile. The Nikon is just a great value with a few less bells and whistles.

This is one of those "go touch and feel" type decisions at this point - other than deciding if any of the above "strength/weakness" factors are important to you.

[sjseto]

The Fuji is a nice little camera, but it is a bit over your stated price range ($25-$50 depending on where you buy it, without accessories).
I know, I wouldn't have suggested the F10 but Pete mentioned it, first, so I figured he didn't mind stretching his budget a bit. But I checked with Adorama and B&H, and they both list the F10 for $275, so that's just $15 more than his specified $250 budget.

The Canon is probably the premiere camera of the lot in an "all-around" sense and definitely has the edge in "movie mode".
Both the Canon and the Fuji have a movie mode of 640x480, 30 fps, so aren't they equal? Unless the Canon uses less compression? The Nikon Coolpix 4600's is only 15 fps, so the Canon has the edge there. But I agree that the A610 is a great all-around camera; manual controls and that nifty swivel LCD, just to name a couple of things that neither the Nikon nor the Fuji have.

The Fuji is the best in low light conditions - but more expensive memory and batteries.
A Sandisk 1GB SD card (the cheapest one I could see listed) costs $73, a 1GB Sandisk xD card costs $80 (sources: Adorama and B&H). There is more of a difference between 512 MB cards, though ($45 vs. $57).

The Fuji's propietary battery costs more if purchased separately, but I never have, because I've never needed to. I'm just using the one that was included with the camera. The battery life is really good; it's rated at 500 shots per charge, same as the Canon. If you're going camping and you're not going to be around a source of electricity for days, then, yes, the extra battery is going to be an issue. You'd probably want one for situations like those.

Canon doesn't include rechargeables with the A610 kit, so you'd have to go out and buy them separately.

This is one of those "go touch and feel" type decisions at this point - other than deciding if any of the above "strength/weakness" factors are important to you.
Agreed. :)