Obviously I need help choosing...

[pete101]

Greetings to all :)

I've been reading reviews for past two months, but nothing beats personal experience.
My wife decided to pass our Nikon 2200 to her cousin, so I'm on the market looking for replacement. I don't think we'll be doing anything larger than occasional 8x10 print, so 3 to 4 MP should suit us fine. The only few requirements are: use of AA rechargables, and use of SD cards. Size is an issue too.
On my short list I have Canon A510, Nikon 4600, and as possibles Pentax Optio 30 and Nikon 3200.
Considering that about 40% of our pictures are indoor shots, which one would be your choice?

Thanks

Pete

[PhilR.]

If your indoor shots are made with flash, then just pick the camera with the strongest flash. Flash ranges are easily found in the reviews. If on the other hand you take indoor shots in ambient light, then you should consider getting one that will allow you to determine exposure factors, and that would be the A510.

If you do use the flash, then keep in mind that most small digicams have flash ranges that only go out to approx 10-11', 12' if you are lucky, and that is at the wide lens setting. Shooting at the telephoto end of the lens settings will decrease the flash range.

If you shoot in just ambient light, try to get a camera whose lcd "gains up" in low light settings. I don't know if any of your choices do this, but this can also be easily found in the reviews. Having a brighter lcd image can sometimes be useful when in low light settings.

PhilR.

[George Riehm]

Greetings to all :)

I've been reading reviews for past two months, but nothing beats personal experience.
My wife decided to pass our Nikon 2200 to her cousin, so I'm on the market looking for replacement. I don't think we'll be doing anything larger than occasional 8x10 print, so 3 to 4 MP should suit us fine. The only few requirements are: use of AA rechargables, and use of SD cards. Size is an issue too.
On my short list I have Canon A510, Nikon 4600, and as possibles Pentax Optio 30 and Nikon 3200.
Considering that about 40% of our pictures are indoor shots, which one would be your choice?

Thanks

Pete

If it's indoor shots of people, then try to find an A75 or A85 both are very good at anti-red-eye. The A510/A520 misplaced this feature. The downside is that both use Compact Flash :( but Compact Flash is cheap :). OR you can buy an SD to CF converter/adapter :D

[pete101]

Thanks Phil and George,
seems to me that A510 is it :) I don't mind editing some red eye every now and then, and all the rest sounds convincing. A75/A85 are undeniably good cameras, just my better half doesn't like the size.
Yesterday while at walmart I picked up Pentax Optio 50... frankly, that was a disaster. While daylight shots a very nice, indoor shots are total trash. Major issues:
1. Problem focusing in low ambient light - 90% of shots I took were blurry.
2. Huge amount of noise, even when manually overriding sensitivity to 100 ISO
Even my oldie Nikon 2200 took better shots indoor (we ran a comparison).
Today I'll be taking it back and exchanging for Canon A510. Then I'll run some tests. The good part is Walmart has good exchange policy, and they have Nikons and Kodaks too, so if I don't like A510, I'll just keep exchanging until I find something I like :)

[gary_hendricks]

Some thoughts I have about the Canon A510:

Pros:
1. Very good image quality.
2. 3 MP and 4x optical zoom is the perfect combo for most people.
3. Priced right, unlike some overpriced digicams out there.
4. Works on 2 normal AA batteries (buy rechargeable ones for extra life and lower cost), unlike expensive & hard-to-find propreitary batteries.
5. The menu on the Canon cameras is light years ahead of most other manufacturer's. Lots of manual options and scene modes.
6. Battery and SD card doors seem to be of above average quality.
7. 1.8" LCD screen is bright and fluid.
8. Uses standard SD cards, unlike propretary memory cards like Memory Stick or xD card.
9. Can attach extra lenses if one buys the adaptor for it.
10. Actual LCD screen looks nicely protected below a plastic plate.

Cons
1. The camera is still quite thick (although not bulky).
2. It uses Digic instead of Digic2 processor in other new Canons.
3. Tripod mount is on the corner and made from plastic.

[pete101]

Thanks, Gary.
Granted, Digic2 would be better, and I wonder why would Canon not implement it in all newer cameras. Although A510 is slightly lagger than Nikon 2200, it's not by much, and still way smaller than A85. I intend to give it a try tonight, and if I like the results, I'll keep it.
I still cannot get over abysmal performance of Pentax Optio 50 in low light... it shouldn't be this bad! Given the poor ergonomics, I have no qualms about returning it. That's the bright point of buing at the local store.

Pete