Compact Camera for Iraq

[Bob77]

In two months from now, the “Government” is going to send me on an all-paid-expense vacation to Iraq for a year; so I am looking for a small, durable digital camera that can produce good quality photos to take with me.

Here is what I am looking for:

1) Small camera that can fit into my pocket.
2) Prefer around 3 to 5 megapixels.
3) 3x optical zoom with 3x or 4x digital zoom would probably be best.
4) Good quality photos. I want to be proud of the photo I took, but I am not going to be applying for any photography awards.
5) Probably print mostly 4x6 photos but I would like to produce high quality 5x7 and 8x10 photos on occasion.
6) There may not be good lighting in the facilities, so I would like the camera to be to adjust for that.
7) I want to be able to take a picture of someone running or walking without the picture being terribly blurry.
9) High reliability and durability is a necessity since the camera will be in a harsh, sandy environment. I would like the lens to be scratch resistant or have a lens cover. (However, I do plan on keeping the camera in a hard, waterproof case all the time unless I plan on taking a picture that minute.


Question: Does shutter speed determine whether or not an action picture will be blurry? For example, will a camera with 1/1000 sec. shutter speed be more likely to produce blurry action photos than a camera with 1/2000 sec. shutter speed? Is 1/1500 sec. shutter speed good enough?


I have been looking at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX8, Canon PowerShot SD400, and Kodak EasyShare V550. I am leaning towards the DMC-FX8. Any suggestions or tips are welome.

[P_Schneider]

My son deployed 2 weeks ago and he chose the fuji A345 mostly because it fit into the "best bang for the buck" category. I think he paid right around $100. for it but keep in mind your going to want to upgrade the XD card since fuji only ships 16meg cards with their cameras. So far he says he likes it but I have not seen any photos yet. Here is a link to a review if your interested.
Link (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/05020801fuji_a345a350.asp)

[Paparazzi]

In two months from now, the “Government” is going to send me on an all-paid-expense vacation to Iraq for a year; so I am looking for a small, durable digital camera that can produce good quality photos to take with me.
Like P_Schneider's son, are you being deployed as well? I'm not a US citizen nor do I live in the US. I live in Kuwait which is now more or less filled with the US armed forces and I've heard through many a source that once here, the personnel deployed get a lot of benefits which include getting electronic stuffs like cameras, gaming tools, etc at a substanial discount besides having it shipped for free.

Maybe you should check this up, since you've got time. Again, you could if you have friends who are deployed get information from them as which suits best.

Things in this part of the world are awfully expensive and maybe behind times as well!

Cheers

[Bob77]

Paul, thank you for your suggestion; although, I am still leaning towards the Panasonic DMC-FX8. Glad that your son found a nice camera for himself.

Paparazzi, yes I am being deployed as well. I have been told by soldiers returning from Iraq that they were able to purchase extremely cheap electronics over in Iraq. I just thought electronics was cheaper in Iraq or that the electronics they were buying were lower quality. But I do want to buy the camera before I am actually deployed so I can have the option to pick out what I want and learn how to use it first. I already have access to military exchange stores (which is like a Walmart store) but their prices are still higher than some of the prices I have found on Bizrate.com or Pricegrabber.com. But thank you for your reply and for the information. I plan on asking a friend who is in Iraq right now more about the discounts.

[Severin]

What kind of price range are you looking at? I think you should go with a camera that can take AA batteries as you may not always have access to a 120v outlet for charging batteries, but AA batteries are available everywhere. 1/1000 of a second should get you good outdoor daytime action shots without being blurry but even an inexpensive camera like my A510 can go as fast as 1/2000 so I expect that you shouldn't have a problem with any new camera you purchase.

[Clyde]

Since you want to shoot in low light/quickly moving subjects, you should consider either the fuji f10 (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_f10-review/) or z1 (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_z1-review/index.shtml). If you think you have the room, go for the f10. The z1 would be very portable, and the body looks pretty durable.

Regardless, I suspect most of us would be very happy if you would post pictures from your vacation in the photo galeries here.

Best of luck!

Clyde

[coldrain]

The shutter speed you mention is max. shutter speed, something you will hardly ever use. 1/125th to 1/250th of a second is usually enough to stop normal action. Any camera will be able to do that, I suspect it will be sunny there most of the time. No idea which cameras are hardy, but the Pentax WP series is water proof, and as such will probably be dust proof too.

[Bob77]

Initially, I thought cameras with AA batteries would be ideal, but I don’t think I will be without electrical outlets for more than a week or two. So I think it would be all right use a camera with a rechargeable lithium battery. I really don’t want to spend the extra effort in getting a charger and keeping track of which rechargeable AAs are charged up.

I don’t think I will be shooting in low light and taking pictures of moving objects at the same time. The flash build into any camera will probably take care of most of the shots I take indoors. Also, the objects I will shoot indoors will probably be close to the camera.
The only downside I see with the Fuji F10, is that it will probably be a little too big for the hard, waterproof case I got. The next size bigger in cases will add a .5 to an 1 inch bigger on all sides which is a lot when you consider trying to put in your pocket. Also, I am not fond of the xD memory cards which is not really a big deal.

The Fuji z1 seems a little dinky to me and I do not like the idea of having use a cradle to charge it up with and to use to load pictures to a computer. Although, I can easily see the advantage of the z1’s design; especially, the part that its lens never leaves the body.

I have checked out the Pentax WP cameras, but I turned them down because I didn’t want to trade durability with quality.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and answering my question about shutter speed. I will check out the gallery. I may not be able to post any pictures when I am in Iraq but I will certainly try when I get back.