Nikon 4200 vs Canon A95

[lisamgs]

I'm struggling between the pros and cons of the Nikon 4200 and the Canon A95. Both seem to be good values for point and shoot cameras.

What I'm looking for is an easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera to take photos of my family (including an active 2 year-old), friends, and vacation. Primarily, I'll be printing 4x6 images, but want the option for larger photos.

I'd like 4mp as a minimum with at least a 3x optical zoom. As I wear glasses, a decent size LCD screen is important as is viewfinder that isn't teeny tiny. Something that can fit in my pocket is nice, but not necessary.

What's most important to me (in more or less descending order):
photo quality (esp for prints)
price
intuitive and easy menus to navigate
quickly turns on and short lag times between pictures
red-eye reduction (my current APS camera is terrible)
LCD size
manual controls
batteries (trying to shy away from proprietary)
weight

I've tried both the coolpix 4200 and the canon powershot a95 and the pros and cons are nearly even. According to the camera salesguy I talked to, the nikon 4200 has a superior, professional-style lens (ED) that takes very sharp prints. Plus it has the internal red-eye feature, which I like. Don't know about the software package. Downsides = proprietary battery, smaller LCD, almost too light, and its a bit pricey. The A95 has the larger, swivel LCD and has 5mp. Plus it uses AAs. Downsides = not a "pocket" camera, photo quality may not be as sharp as the nikon, would need to use software for red-eye reduction, and I might be spending money for manual features that I'm not sure if I'd ever use.

Thanks for reading my rambling. I'd love some help!

[George Riehm]

I'm struggling between the pros and cons of the Nikon 4200 and the Canon A95. Both seem to be good values for point and shoot cameras.

What I'm looking for is an easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera to take photos of my family (including an active 2 year-old), friends, and vacation. Primarily, I'll be printing 4x6 images, but want the option for larger photos.

I'd like 4mp as a minimum with at least a 3x optical zoom. As I wear glasses, a decent size LCD screen is important as is viewfinder that isn't teeny tiny. Something that can fit in my pocket is nice, but not necessary.

What's most important to me (in more or less descending order):
photo quality (esp for prints)
price
intuitive and easy menus to navigate
quickly turns on and short lag times between pictures
red-eye reduction (my current APS camera is terrible)
LCD size
manual controls
batteries (trying to shy away from proprietary)
weight

I've tried both the coolpix 4200 and the canon powershot a95 and the pros and cons are nearly even. According to the camera salesguy I talked to, the nikon 4200 has a superior, professional-style lens (ED) that takes very sharp prints. Plus it has the internal red-eye feature, which I like. Don't know about the software package. Downsides = proprietary battery, smaller LCD, almost too light, and its a bit pricey. The A95 has the larger, swivel LCD and has 5mp. Plus it uses AAs. Downsides = not a "pocket" camera, photo quality may not be as sharp as the nikon, would need to use software for red-eye reduction, and I might be spending money for manual features that I'm not sure if I'd ever use.

Thanks for reading my rambling. I'd love some help!

I really hate it when sales people stretch the truth either from ignorance or on purpose. The "truth" is that the lenses in sub $400 compact cameras are very much equal in quality and "professional style" in this context is a ridiculous throw away statement. The CP4200 might be a good camera, but that is really stretching it.

If red-eye is a critical factor then you might want to look at the A85 which seems to do a better job of red-eye reduction than the A95. It does not have the Articulating LCD but neither does the 4200. The 4MP to 5MP difference is not significant for prints up to 8 x 10.

I own 2 Nikons (CP990 and D70) but I'm a big fan of Canon's A series, as they are arguably the best cameras in this class. In additon to using AA size batteries, and (very) low cost Compact Flash memory cards, they also offer extra lenses for wide angle and extra telephoto, and even an underwater case.

A note on Compact Flash and batteries: Fry's Electronics and Outpost.com generally have some super prices on CF cards as do these guys:

http://www.softwareandstuff.com/memory.html

Don't let the sales guy talk you into an Ultra II or other super high speed 60X or 80X (reads expensive) card for any of the "pocket" sized digi-cams, as they add nothing to the performance of the camera. 25X to 40X cards will probably make a small difference, but mainly when downloading from a USB2.0 High Speed card reader.

Additionally they may try to imply that "non-name-brand" memory is inferior, and that simply isn't true. In fact the only failures I have had was with a Kingson CF card and a SanDisk SD card. All of my "cheepo-off-brands" are still working fine.

If you choose the Canon A series:

For a great battery charger MAHA C204W is the way to go. Also there are several very good NiMH AA rechargeables on the market. Buy the highest capacity (in mAh rating) possible. Currently 2300mAh seems to be the highest, but anything over 2000 will be fine. You can find both here:

http://nimhbattery.com/batteries.htm

Hope that helps.

[lisamgs]

For the advice on the Canon as well as the battery advice.

Just to clarify, the Nikon having an ED lens doesn't add great value to the photo quality?

- Lisa

[George Riehm]

For the advice on the Canon as well as the battery advice.

Just to clarify, the Nikon having an ED lens doesn't add great value to the photo quality?

- Lisa
No. And here is why.

I doubt that there is more than a single ED element in this lens. Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass helps to minimize Chromatic Aberation (CA or "purple fringing") in high contrast areas (like a street lamp in a night shot) of a picture . Apparently, Nikon wanted to correct this problem in previous models, as it does add to the cost of the lens (but not that much), so they wouldn't add it on this class of camera if they didn't need it. OR it's a marketing ploy to warrant a higher price.

So the answer is: It probably improved the picture quality in the Nikon CoolPix family. However, the Canon A series seems none-the-worse off for not using ED lens elements, and doesn't seem to need it.

I would advise reading the reviews on the A85 and the CP4200 (right here on DCRP) and then decide.

[Thon]

Hi,

My brother has a A80 (very similar to the A95, 4MP vs 5MP) and he loves it. The swivel screen is an added bonus for difficult positions too. And it takes very decent photos with some manual controls should you need it. I'd expect the A95 to be very similar (probably faster).

My advise is to get the A95 if you need the 5MP and swivel LCD. Or consider the A85 (4MP, fixed LCD) and A80 (4MP, swivel LCD)(last year's model so I hope it's still available, and you should be able to get a good discount for it)

Thon