Help Please

[lightninnnnn]

I need some advice and help, if you please. I am looking for a digital camera to be a backup/secondary use to my company's Nikon D70. We are a small family owned construction consulting and construction litigation support firm and there are occassions where we need a high quality camera in 2 locations at the same time. The Nikon D70 is awesome, but the price tag is not cost effective to buy another body and lenses to use as a spare and personal use. So my dilema is what camera to buy? here are my answers to the questionaire (notice the separate thread! lol)

Budget: $500ish

Size: I like an "SLR type" feel with a nice hand grip--helpful when climbing a ladder or under a crawlspace

Features: I think I would need at least 4-5 mp, zoom of 6x optical at a minimum, good image quality (rate 8-9), manual controls required

Use: Indoor shots of construction defects (ceilings, walls, floors, cracks, etc...a good autofocus is needed due to issues with pics on a white wall/ceiling); basement and crawlspace shots where there can be very low light looking at foundations and floor beams; outdoor shots of homes/buildings in whatever light or weather the day brings (both general shots and close up detail photos of brick, windows, caulking, etc...); personal use for family pics and sports whenever I have downtime.

Models researched: Canon G6, Sony DSC-V3, Canon S2 IS; Fuji S7000; plus tons of reviews on all sorts of models.

If any of you have any comments or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[PhilR.]

Well, you state you want 6x minimum, yet you list two cameras that don't have what you want. Therefore, you can cross the Sony and Canon off your list. You also state you want manual controls, which I would take to mean manual exposure *and* manual focus. If this is so, then you can cross the other two cameras off your list as well, since they don't have manual focus. OK, they kinda have manual focus, but it doesn't work by turning the lens barrel.

You might consider the Panasonic FZ15 and FZ20. They have 12x zoom lens that are extremely fast (faster than the others you mention, at full zoom), and incorporate image stabilization as well (like the S1). This will allow you to take handheld shots in lower light levels than normal. They also have manual exposure controls, and manual focus via turning the lens barrel. These are also some of the larger fixed-lens digicams, so they would fit your requirement of "slr feel" quite well. The 20 has a hotshoe, which would make it easier to use an accessory flash, if the need arises.

The Minolta A200 and Nikon 8700/8800 might also meet your requirements....

PhilR.