Student with no money, wants to buy a camera!

[neon_pipe]

Hello,
I am a student from Portugal, therefore I am poor, very poor. Altough I love to take photos, I have a Mustek MCD 4000 (wich is the worst camera of all time) but I wanted a new camera. I have some experience with the traditional cameras, just no money to buy a good digital one, and even less money to keep paying for devoloping paper. I have read some reviews and came to the conclusion that this would be the best choices to consider (it's most important factor is the price unfortunatly):

Easyshare Kodak DX6490
Olympus C760 Ultra Zoom
Panasonic Lumix DMC - FZ 3

Can you help me decide? If you know any better cameras that are possible with not much more money, please say. Please write your opinion.

Thank You.
Duarte Aragão

[Newbie]

Well, you have not mentionned what sort of camera you'd want, but all the cameras you named were Ultra-zoom. There is nothing wrong with that, I am just wondering if that is what you need ?

If it is, then I advise against the Kodak and the Olympus because neither of them have an Image Stabilization. Instead, with the FZ3, there could be the Canon S1 IS which is also a 10x zoom camera with IS, it has an excellent movie mode and is in the same price range as the FZ3.

If ultra zoom is not a must, I'd truly suggest you invest your money in a Canon A75, its doesn't cost much, but has some very good photo quality and all the manual controls you could want. Very few cameras can rivalize with the A75 for price considering the manual controls and image quality. You can easily find similar cameras in its price range but with only a fraction of the manual controls it has(and that is usually if you're lucky).

If you are not needing too much manual controls, there is the Sony DSC-P73 which has some and which is quite fast to focus and in all operations. There is also the Fuji E500 which has some manual controls and an interesting zoom range.

Whatever you do, make sure you check out pictures from the camera you plan to buy at this site: http://www.pbase.com/cameras and that you go to a store and hold it to be sure your comfortable with it and that its an appropriate size for you.

[neon_pipe]

I would like a camera with a big zoom, because I spend a lot of time surfing on the beach, therefore I like to take photos of the surf.
I have decided with the Panasonic one, but where is it cheap? Online stores, cheap ones?

[Newbie]

Usually Online stores are cheaper, but I still suggest that you go to your local dealer to hold the camera and see what it feels like. I also suggest that you try the S1 IS at that store just so you have an idea of what another potential camera feels like.

[MiguelATF]

I was in a similar position to you - wanting a quality camera with outstanding picture quality, a large zoom and a small price tag - and my choices came down to the Panasonic FZ3 (mainly because of the amazing Leica lens!) - and its predecessor, the FZ1. Although in some ways the FZ1 has less 'features', it can be 'upgraded' through firmware (a software fix) to have more manuals controls - and it is significantly cheaper than the FZ3, especially if you are lucky enough to find a used one from a reputable seller (which is what I did). Also, interestingly, the FZ1 has a slightly lower ISO (sensitivity rating) speed setting than the FZ3 - the FZ1 goes down to ISO 40, whereas I believe the FZ3's lowest setting is 80 - and this lower ISO setting means, actually, that in bright light conditions, if you set the ISO at its lowest (40) ... the FZ1 will actually producer sharper/more clearly rendered photos than its older sister, the FZ3, even though both have the same lens!

If you can find a used one in good shape, you will be getting an amazing detail. Having said that, there is no 'right' camera for everyone - so the choice of a camera is really a personal and subjective issue. Good luck making up your mind!

[neon_pipe]

How do you change the firmware? Is it an impossible mission or farly easy?

[Newbie]

Although I have never upgraded a firmware, it appears to be somethin fairly easy... basicly you go to the dealer's site and you download it, then, I am not sure at all... but I think you upload it to your memory and run it, then u can delete it... but I could be wrong and its just with your camera connected to the computer u run the file and it uploads...

Anyhow, it should be explained on the site or at least on the boards a kind soul will tell you how.

[propwash]

I was in a similar position to you - wanting a quality camera with outstanding picture quality, a large zoom and a small price tag - and my choices came down to the Panasonic FZ3 (mainly because of the amazing Leica lens!) - and its predecessor, the FZ1. Although in some ways the FZ1 has less 'features', it can be 'upgraded' through firmware (a software fix) to have more manuals controls !

That is not exactly correct. With the firmware upgrade, you will be able to have shutter priority (S) and aperture priority (A) modes, but you will not have full manual mode (M), like you get with the FZ3. You will be able to choose your aperture or your shutter speed, but not both.

I guess your interpretation would depend on what you mean by "more manual controls." With the upgrade, you will indeed have more manual controls than you had before the upgrade, but you will not have more manual controls than you have with the FZ3. I hope this clears things up a bit.

With the FZ3, you also get a stronger flash, a focus assist lamp, and an improved Venus II processing engine. You get the same 12X zoom lens, and the FZ3 is slightly smaller in size than the FZ1.