before I buy F30 is there ......

[njdag]

Hi

Ok I am almost set on the F30 but !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just to be pickey ..is there a ultra compact camera that has good low light, zoom, 2.5 or better lcd , gians up etc, takes good or better pics and has an optical viewfinder ?????:?

[mtclimber]

njdag-

No, there is no other digicam that can compete with the Fuji F-30 in the high ISO field.

MT

[meanstreak]

njdag wrote:

Hi

Ok I am almost set on the F30 but !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just to be pickey ..is there a ultra compact camera that has good low light, zoom, 2.5 or better lcd , gians up etc, takes good or better pics and has an optical viewfinder ?????:?

Asmtclimber pointed out "No, there is no other digicam that can compete with the Fuji F-30 in the high ISO field". In light of that, though an optical viewfinder is nice feature, they are quitesmall on compact cameras. Despite being small, it is nicerto have one than not,but in my opinion not worth trading off for the low light capabilities of the F30. If you plan on getting the F30, don't wait too long since the 50 dollar rebate is only good to July 15th, unless they decide to extend it. I am pretty much set on getting one as a backup to my DSLR and for my wife to use and will probablyorder one today.

[meanstreak]

mtclimber wrote:

njdag-

No, there is no other digicam that can compete with the Fuji F-30 in the high ISO field.

MT

MT,

You had posted info somewhere on where to get a good price on XD cards, but I can't find it. I can probably find them myself, but if you could tell me where, I would appreciate it. Also, is speed of the cards crucial for this camera? For my KM I use Sandisk Extreme III, but not sure it matters for the F30

[mtclimber]

meanstreak-

Concering XD cards: It all depends on what size chip you desire. Please keep in mindtwo very important factors.

(1) Xd chips are available in two classes. There is the M class or type chip which was the original design, and while being quite small, it is not especially fast. And there is the H class or typechip which is about twice as fast, but it cannot be used in all cameras. In this case the Fuji F-30 uses the H class XD chip with no problems.

(2) Chip readers: Most chip readers will not read either a H or M class chip when the size exceeds 1gb. XD chips larger than 1gb must be read with an Olympus XD chip reader called the MAUSB-300. It costs about $25. Some of the newer chip readers have been reported to read the H and M class chips that are larger than 1gb without difficulty. However, that seems to vary from chip reader to chip reader.

I tend to use 512mb XD chips because I can read them in my regular Lexar chip reader, the choiceis yours. Currently www.newegg.com seems to have the best prices on XD chip.Over the July 4th weekend www.outpost.com had 1gb type H chips on sale for $29.95. It is always a wise idea to chech either www.pricegrabber.co or www.shopping.com for prices when you want to shop for XD chips.

MT

[meanstreak]

mtclimber wrote:

meanstreak-

Concering XD cards: It all depends on what size chip you desire. Please keep in mindtwo very important factors.

(1) Xd chips are available in two classes. There is the M class or type chip which was the original design, and while being quite small, it is not especially fast. And there is the H class or typechip which is about twice as fast, but it cannot be used in all cameras. In this case the Fuji F-30 uses the H class XD chip with no problems.

(2) Chip readers: Most chip readers will not read either a H or M class chip when the size exceeds 1gb. XD chips larger than 1gb must be read with an Olympus XD chip reader called the MAUSB-300. It costs about $25. Some of the newer chip readers have been reported to read the H and M class chips that are larger than 1gb without difficulty. However, that seems to vary from chip reader to chip reader.

I tend to use 512mb XD chips because I can read them in my regular Lexar chip reader, the choiceis yours. Currently http://www.newegg.com seems to have the best prices on XD chip.Over the July 4th weekend http://www.outpost.com had 1gb type H chips on sale for $29.95. It is always a wise idea to chech either http://www.pricegrabber.co or http://www.shopping.com for prices when you want to shop for XD chips.

MT

Thanks for the info. I'm going to order the camerasfrom BUYDIG. I called them to make sure the rebate is good buying it from them since they don't mention that rebate on their site and I had thought they were an authorized dealer. The guy on the phone said I was better off ordering online as opposed to phone because online would guarantee meeting the date requirement.

Just curious, why do you buy 512mb chipsif the issue is reading cards over 1 gig. Does the lexar reader not support anything higher? I have the Sandisk Multicard reader. I think it has XD capability, but I never really checked.

[mtclimber]

meanstreak-

I have personally tried 11 different chip readers, including my own Lexar chip reader, and none will read a 1gb or higher XD chip of any class or type. I have read on this forum several reports of folks who have chip readers that will accomplish that feat. So, I purchased the Olympus MAUSB-300 to read my XD chips that are LARGER than 1gb.

MT

[meanstreak]

mtclimber wrote:

meanstreak-

I have personally tried 11 different chip readers, including my own Lexar chip reader, and none will read a 1gb or higher XD chip of any class or type. I have read on this forum several reports of folks who have chip readers that will accomplish that feat. So, I purchased the Olympus MAUSB-300 to read my XD chips that are LARGER than 1gb.

MT

Oh... so it's not just higher than 1 gig. My reader is pretty new. I'll check the Sandisk site to see if they have any info.

[meanstreak]

mtclimber wrote:

meanstreak-

I have personally tried 11 different chip readers, including my own Lexar chip reader, and none will read a 1gb or higher XD chip of any class or type. I have read on this forum several reports of folks who have chip readers that will accomplish that feat. So, I purchased the Olympus MAUSB-300 to read my XD chips that are LARGER than 1gb.

MT

It looks like 1 gig olympus cards are only 12 dollars more than the 512. Just waiting on Sandisk to confirm compatability

[meanstreak]

mtclimber wrote:

meanstreak-

I have personally tried 11 different chip readers, including my own Lexar chip reader, and none will read a 1gb or higher XD chip of any class or type. I have read on this forum several reports of folks who have chip readers that will accomplish that feat. So, I purchased the Olympus MAUSB-300 to read my XD chips that are LARGER than 1gb.

MT

Well I ordered the F30... looks like it's coming Monday. Sandisk said my 12 in 1 readeris compatable with the 1GB H XD cards. Outpost has the Olympus for 39.99 and free shipping. Circuit City wants 69.99 for the same thing. I'll check the local wholesale club tomorrow to see if I can get it locally, but they are probably higher and might not have the selection especially XD.