Which camera? Price is not a concern.

[Bankedout]

I'm in the market for a digital camera. I have been searching for the right one for myself, but there are too many to choose from. I figure that a decent camera should last a while and provide me with much enjoyment and satisfaction, so I'm willing to spend what it takes to get the best one for my needs. Looking through the Buyer's Guide at this site for some qualities, I'll make a list:

Size - I want something I can carry around with me easily. Preferably something that will fit in a pants pocket. I know if I get too big of a camera, it will sit at home.

Pixels - I probably will never print anything larger than 8 X 10, but who knows for sure?

Zoom and focal length - I don't need outrageous amounts of zoom. Mediumish zoom would probably be sufficient for me. I want to take some Macro pictures. Macro fascinates me, and I have never tried it. I have enjoyed doing some zooming with my film SLR, but lots of zoom is not necessary.

Manual Controls - Yes, I think these are important. Unless the camera is so smart as it will understand all situations presented to it.

Movies - I don't care. If I want to make movies I will buy a video camera. I want to take still photos with this camera and will not use the movie mode.

I want to be able to do indoor flash photos, as well as night photos without a flash. I think they all do outdoor daytime photos OK. Like someone else said, I can always get rid of red eye with software, so that's not a deal breaker for me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need more information.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[m123456]

might want to check some best camera lists e.g steves/dave's

http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/WB/WB.HTM

btw people seem to like canon g6 as all arounder and sony v3
also, canon a95

hi res, smallish, with good zoom & controls...pentax750/oly7000

[Bankedout]

Thanks for the reply. The G6 and V3 might be too big for my pocket. It's hard to say without seeing them in person.

The A95's images appear to have too much color for me (saturation?)

Of the 750z and the Olympus C-7000, I like the images posted from the C-7000 much better. The Pentax images seemed too dark and dreary looking to me. If I didn't see all of the straight lines being curved in the photos from the C-7000, that would be my camera for sure.

Is there anything else similar to the Olympus C-7000 that I should consider?

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[Jeff Keller]

might want to check some best camera lists e.g steves/dave's

http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/WB/WB.HTM

Don't forget our own holiday buyers guide (http://www.dcresource.com/specials/holidaybg2004/index.shtml) right here on the DCRP!

[m123456]

sony p150, by far smallest of bunch and super fast but only 3x zoom. also less manual features.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscp150/

canon s70, also less manual features
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons70/

casio p7000
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/casioexp700/


Maybe one of the nikon coolpix


btw dpreview has good forums to ask q's on

ps Not sure what lines you mean? Sometimes lenses distort at far ends of zoom but not at normal ranges. I almost picked one up myself buy prefer going the 2 camera route. One all the time tiny one bigger for better shots.

best

[Thon]

Normal ultra compacts just don't have the flash power to do indoor flash photos justice. The mid-sized compacts would be the better choice.

In your case, I'd say probably the Canon S70 and its siblings and the Oly C-7000Z would be the better choices. Both should have reasonable amount of flash power and also enough manual controls. A friend just got the Fuji F810 and it looks good too, so far.

However, I'd suggest that you go for 2 different cameras rather than one. A good smallish camera for portability and a larger more capable one for your serious shots (based on the fact that cost is not a major issue for you).Probably the Canon G6 for the serious stuff or indoors and the S70/C7000/A95 or even something even smaller for the more minor stuff. This way you can get 2 cameras that cover all that you need for different situations. This is actually what many serious photographers do, a smaller compact camera for the fun stuff and the dSLR for the serious ones.

I have a Stylus 400 (it's a gift) for the fun stuff (not indoors) and a C770UZ for the extra zoom range and indoor shots. And like you, size and quality matters for me and the C770UZ is more or less the size limit for me. But cost matters a bit for me, so to save a bit of cost on memory, I stuck with Oly (unless Oly really sucks, which they don't).

It's just a matter of getting the balance right.

[Bankedout]

Thank you for your responses. I think that is the right idea. Have two cameras. One for important pictures and one for fun stuff.

The A95 seems so popular. Maybe I am the only one that thinks the colors are cranked too high on the sample shots at this website? Isn't the sky "too blue" etc.? Maybe there is a setting for that, which I could adjust. That would probably be a good fun camera, judging by the popularity.

Going the two camera route, the serious camera can have some heft. I would bring that out for special situations.

I'm going to get the fun camera first and then add the serious one once I am settled in with the fun one. Maybe the fun one will teach me what to look for when I pick the serious camera.

Thanks for the advice,

Jim

BTW, by "lines" I meant that buildings that are straight in real life appear curved in the photos, along with other things like that. It's like being in a fun house, but not as intense.