Too many choices... so which one please?

[Rbox]

Budget

* 200 to 380 euro (approx 440$)

Size

* Does not matter much. Not too big though

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 4 and up

* What optical zoom will you need? 3 is OK, 4x would be nice

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Importance: 9

Do you care for manual controls?
Don't know much about it, but would like to control lighting.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Holiday shots, portraits, animals, kiddies, macro and scenery. That's the lot, I think.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
max 30x40 cm

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
mostly indoors and low light and on holiday in bright sunlight.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
No

Miscellaneous
I like to make short videoclips

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Don't care too much for Sony

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Yep, Nikon Coolpix 5900-Canon A95-FujiFilm A550.
Haven't looked at Kodak yet

[Rbox]

Oh, and camera speed is also very important....

[jbcm]

I know the Canon A95 is a great choice I know a few people who have it and love it. Here is another great place to check it out.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/a95.html

[Rbox]

Thanks, but what's the verdict on the other two?

[speaklightly]

Rbox-

You specify the Fuji A-550. I think you mean the Fuji E-550. You also might want to look at the new Fuji F-10 which will most probably open a whole new era for digital cameras. The F-10 has been reviewed on dpreview and will soon be reviewed by Jeff Keller right here on this website. The F-10 mis capable of using ISO speeds up to 1600 and has a large 2.5 inch LCD.

Sarah Joyce

[smadhok]

Well, Among the 3 that u shortlisted Canon A95, Fuji E550, and Nikon 5900. I would pick the Nikon 5900 (This would soon be my first digital camera).
I decided this on a whole lot of factors.
1) The Canon A95 has a more predominant red-eye issue compared to Nikon 5900. This can be eliminated using free s.w available off the internet. But, when I gave it a shot using Picasa from google, I was not quite successful at removing the redeye cleanly. Try it out yourself, take the red-eye image from the review of A95 and try removing it using any s/w. Remember you will have to do this for almost all shots where ppl are looking right into the camera.
Nikon offers in-camera redeye reduction which saves you all the trouble. The Fuji comes in between the A95 and Nikon in terms of this.
2) Canon uses AA batteries, which are good because they are cheap, but you have no idea when they may die on you. And the A95 uses 4 of these making the camera heavy. Nikon uses a proprietory battery which is much lighter and longer lasting. Fuji 550 again is in between using 2 AA batteries.
3) based on the reviews of dcresource.com the image quality for the Nikon is better followed by Fuji and Canon.
The F10 has got a couple of good reviews but I would prefer to wait for a review on dcresource.com. It is however a 7MP camera. You should buy this camera only if you are willing to pay extra for the additional features, because ideally you will prefer to use it at a setting of max 5MP.
Hope this helps.
Shikhar

PS: All my info is primarily based on the reviews on dcresource.com. :D

[Rbox]

Thanks all.... much appreciated

The fuji e550 also has the ability to use additional lenses, I think this is a big plus. And the nikon 5900 is a bit on the small side. So I think I'll go for the Fuji... But nothing is written in stone yet.

And what's this thing with the manufacturers not bundling a decent memorycard nor carrypouch nor decent battery charger with the camera? I should say the camera is already expensive enough to not fork out another 100$ before you can get going.

[jessie25]

I was considering the Fuji E550 for awhile, but decided against because it has a pop-up flash that you have to pop up whenever taking a flash photo. Some people don't mind this. To me it's a hassle. So decide whether you think this would be a pain or no big deal for you before buying.