None of the cameras I choose aren't good enough! Please help.

[Emetic]

I’ve gone through two cameras, the Canon S1 IS and the Fuji Finepix S5100, and I was severely disappointed in both of them. I’m hoping someone out there can help choose a camera that’s suitable to my needs. I’m willing to spend between $400-900.

- I want crispy, clear action shots. I want to be able to snap a photo of, say, a golf player and capture the moment perfectly. The Canon S1 IS was very disappointing when it came to taking pictures of my dog. She didn’t have a head unless she stood perfectly still.

- I want a quick response. With both cameras, especially the Canon, I experienced the frustration of taking a picture of a car going 25 miles per hour and waiting 50 years for the camera to respond. By the time I got the photo, there was only the road.

- I want high MP’s. I would eventually like to print my photos. Also, I crop my pictures a lot. I’m hoping to take very serious photos and send them in to contests.

- 10x optical zoom.

- The Fuji S5100 takes horrible night shots and the pictures themselves are horribly dim. Both cameras were great during daytime shots, but I want to be able to capture the city at night.

- I don’t want just a point and shoot camera, and I hate tiny cameras. I’ve been looking into digital SLR’s. I want a camera with convertible lenses.

- The Fuji S5100 has a bit of grain in some photos. I want to be able to take a macro shot of a bug and get superb detail.

- No camera chargers. I want to be able to pop out the batteries and put in new ones without a problem.

Thanks in advance!

- Adrian Gallagher

[D70FAN]

I’ve gone through two cameras, the Canon S1 IS and the Fuji Finepix S5100, and I was severely disappointed in both of them. I’m hoping someone out there can help choose a camera that’s suitable to my needs. I’m willing to spend between $400-900.

- I want crispy, clear action shots. I want to be able to snap a photo of, say, a golf player and capture the moment perfectly. The Canon S1 IS was very disappointing when it came to taking pictures of my dog. She didn’t have a head unless she stood perfectly still.

- I want a quick response. With both cameras, especially the Canon, I experienced the frustration of taking a picture of a car going 25 miles per hour and waiting 50 years for the camera to respond. By the time I got the photo, there was only the road.

- I want high MP’s. I would eventually like to print my photos. Also, I crop my pictures a lot. I’m hoping to take very serious photos and send them in to contests.

- 10x optical zoom.

- The Fuji S5100 takes horrible night shots and the pictures themselves are horribly dim. Both cameras were great during daytime shots, but I want to be able to capture the city at night.

- I don’t want just a point and shoot camera, and I hate tiny cameras. I’ve been looking into digital SLR’s. I want a camera with convertible lenses.

- The Fuji S5100 has a bit of grain in some photos. I want to be able to take a macro shot of a bug and get superb detail.

- No camera chargers. I want to be able to pop out the batteries and put in new ones without a problem.

Thanks in advance!

- Adrian Gallagher

You might want to look at the Panasonic FZ20. Other than that you should probably check out the Canon 300D or Nikon D70. The only 10X zooms currently available for dSLR's are the 28-300 IS (Image Stabilized) from Canon ($2200), the 28-300 non-IS from Tamron ($400), and the 50-500mm non-IS from Sigma ($1000). Tamron is introducing an 18-200mm non-IS this spring (no price yet). A decent macro lens will set you back another $500+.

The FZ20 offers all of that stuff, and is fairly quick, for about $600. Worth a try.

Another solution would be to buy a dSLR and keep one of your all-in-one's for macro shots (that's what I did).

[poikkeus]

You sound like you don't compromise in your image quality. You might want to watch out for sales on the Canon Digital Rebel -- prices are going down, bit by bit. It's a camera you can grow into, and offers first-rate images in a variety of conditions. It's probably the most complete package out there for its price -- which is percolating in the $650-899 range.

I share your dissatisfaction with the SI IS, and while the top-end Panasonics offer very nice images, they're too large for what they offer.

[John_Reed]

I share your dissatisfaction with the SI IS, and while the top-end Panasonics offer very nice images, they're too large for what they offer.au contraire! The Panasonic FZ20 is larger than other similar cameras, because it has more glass than other cameras - a bigger eyeball! You won't get more lens performance from any non-dSLR camera than you will from the Panasonic FZ15/FZ20 (the former being a little faster due to having smaller image file sizes), bar none! Compared to the dReb, the FZ20 is a real light-weight, especially when you consider that its lens is built-in, not something that needs to be purchased and attached later. I'd recommend that you purchase an FZ20 with a "return" option, so that if you're still not satisfied with it, you can go back and trade it in on a Canon dReb or EOS 20D with all the associated glassware you'll need.

[propwash]

If smaller size is important to you, you might want to check out the Panasonic FZ3. It has 12x zoom like the FZ15 and FZ20, but it is a little smaller in size, and it is a 3mp camera.

[Thon]

Based on your requirements (a lot), there will be no camera in this world able to perform up to your expectations.

If budget is not a problem, I'd say get a good dSLR plus lenses and you'll get what you want. But even then you have the problem of carrying them all around, and these babies are fragile.

Your budget will restrict you to most probably all in ones and not dSLRs. But these will not give you the quality of the photos nor the speed of performance that you wanted.

Now, if you don't mind big (of course dSLRs are even bigger), then the FZ20 is most probably the best one for you, but it only has 5MP and with some noisy pictures too (but this is minor). If you want compact, I think there will be none, not even my C770UZ will qualify.

Another option is to forget about the 10x zoom thing (there are more important things to zoom zoom zoom) and get the better low-zoom prosumer cameras, such as the Canon G6 (7MPs) or similar. They have better AF performance than the UZs. In fact after getting my C770UZ, I sometimes wonder if I've gotten a G6 or C8080 or C5060WZ would I be happier, but still the little fellow gives me enough satisfaction not to bring it in to the store to exchange it. BTW, FZ20 is just not my cup of tea although I'd like to have the Leica lens on my C770UZ.

So the bottom line is, either you spend more dough and get the best or bear with the slight inconvenience/flaws of the ultrazooms or get a lower zoom prosumer camera or wait a couple more years till the perfect camera is out. In the mean time, don't expect too much from your camera (unless it's a dSLR) and use it to the fullest and you will be happier for it.