Which 10x camera should I buy?

nychris · #1 07-05-2004, 02:49 PM

My wife is due next month and we are looking for a good digital camera to capture the moments.

These are features that I am looking for:

Good picture quality ( I have been loking at the 4 megapizel range)
Responsiveness after pressing buttin and time between pictures
10X or greater zoom without shakiness (possibly image stabilizer)
not too big. (It would be great if it could fit in to my pocket)
Good pictures in low lighting conditions
Decent Battery life

Am I asking for too much?

I am considering the following:

Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10K 4MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Zoom

Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom 4MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom or C765

Kyocera Finecam M410R 4MP Digital Camera with 10X Optical Zoom

Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 4MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilizing Optical Zoom

After reading all these reviews, my brain hurst. I am leaning towards the Olympus, except I am concerned with image stability and pictures in low light.

Any advice would be appreicated.

Thanks.

Chris

JDR7171988 · #2 07-05-2004, 03:04 PM

Go with the Kyocera, it's a great camera. Never lets me down

nychris · #3 07-06-2004, 05:17 AM

Thanks. HOw do you find the image quality? When using the zoom, is it difficult to snap a sharp picture w/o a monopod or tripod?

Thanks.

Chris

John_Reed · #4 07-06-2004, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nychris

Good picture quality ( I have been loking at the 4 megapizel range)
Responsiveness after pressing buttin and time between pictures
10X or greater zoom without shakiness (possibly image stabilizer)
not too big. (It would be great if it could fit in to my pocket)
Good pictures in low lighting conditions
Decent Battery life

I am considering the following:

Canon PowerShot S1 IS 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10K 4MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Zoom

Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 4MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilizing Optical Zoom

After reading all these reviews, my brain hurst. I am leaning towards the Olympus, except I am concerned with image stability and pictures in low light.
Chris

I think you're wrong about the Z2; it doesn't have image stabilization. For taking photos of babies, you probably don't really need a high-X zoom, so you must be thinking of other applications. I have the FZ10, and I can say from personal experience that it does very well in low-light situations. I recently returned from a trip where I shot hundreds of indoor shots in museums, at shutter speeds down to 1/4 second, and I threw only a handful of shots away for blurriness. But to make your own choice, you need to go to a camera shop where they carry your choice(s) and put your hands on each camera, snap off a few shots, see how each feels to you. You may be very steady-handed, for example, maybe image stabilization isn't that big of a deal to you. In my case, I went to a camera shop and tried shooting shots with a Minolta Z1 (very similar to Z2), and I couldn't get any sharp shots indoors at anything other than wideangle.

Jeff Keller · #5 07-06-2004, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nychris

Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 4MP Digital Camera with 10x Image Stabilizing Optical Zoom

The only Minoltas with IS are the A1 and A2.

nychris · #6 07-07-2004, 05:26 AM

I realize that I proabably won't need a 10x zozm for a baby, but this would be our only digital camera and I want it to be versatile. We have a Nikon N80 SLR, but it is cumbersome and want something to have the portability, but also take advantage of todays technology. I was ready to buy the Olympus C-770 as the features are awesome and it is pretty portable, but I saw the lag of responsiveness when pressing the button and heard that it wasn't great under low light. I want to be happy with the camera, but don't wan't another big camera or I would just buy the Nikon D70. My wife liked the feel of the Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 even though it was a bit larger, but heard that the picture quality is not great. Any additional help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jeff Keller · #7 07-07-2004, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Keller

The only Minoltas with IS are the A1 and A2.

Okay now that's not true anymore after the introduced of the Z3.

Nick · #8 07-07-2004, 12:21 PM

nychris, I believe if you want something really responsive, my belief is that you'll need an dSLR. Shouldn't use flash on babies, so if you got a D70 paired with a, say, f/1.8 lense, you should be able to get great indoor pictures with really nice DOF, and likewise for outdoors. The kit lense is also sharp and is sold for quite a bit on it's own. ISO quality is also very fine, and shutter lag/write times are..well, not there.

nychris · #9 07-08-2004, 05:50 AM

The D70 is too big. I understand the Z3 and the M410R have pretty good responsiveness. How is the picture quality and can you take steady shots I higher zoom without a monopod or tripod?

Thanks for all of your feedback.

Chris

PaulA · #10 07-08-2004, 10:31 AM

Hi--

I've been going through the same thing.

Have you considered the Fujifilm S5000?

I felt this camera got an unfair slight at this website and have found many users (expert and novice) who sing it's praises! I ended up buying one. The closest competitor was the Canon S1.

I share your burnout about the reviews. This process is one of the most subjective I have found. The same feature can be described as a God-send and a fraud (such as the image stabilizer of the S1 and the Super CCD of the Fuji). I'ts all marketing. I chose based on flexibility of operation, ease of use and quality of image. I chose the Fujifilm S5000.

But then, that's just me.

Good luck.

Paul