Steve'sDigicams

billrussell · Jun 4, 2006, 7:53 PM

Please be genitalwith me here as I am a newbie…

I have spent a fair amount of time looking for my next Camera. I want a pocket model (Not a SLR) and I am just a little bit above an Amateur and the point and shoot crowd. Most of the time, I want the P&S, but sometimes I need to be able to manually control the lens and exposure. – Here are my requirements:

5 Megs or more – preferably 6-7 Megs [/*]
Quick response times. Most of the cheap Cameras that I have tried, took a long time from when you pushed the shudder button until the camera actually took the picture. I have lost some really good shots because of this. [/*]
Above average ISO rating [/*]
Lens – Must be a good quality with zoom – preferably more than 3 X (5 would be ideal) [/*]
Some sort of image stabilization for shots at night with reasonably long exposure times. [/*]
Bright LED display so that I can see it in bright sunlight [/*]
Macro mode would be nice. [/*]
Price should be below $500[/*]

I have looked at the following:

Fujifilm FinePix F30

This only has 3X Zoom, and I am a bit concerned about their claim to have up to 3200 ISO – Will this give me excess grain?

Fujifilm FinePix F650 6.0 MP

This seems to have everything that I want except Image stabilization.

Pentax Optio A10 8MP

This again only has a 3x Optical Zoom, but it has a Shake Reduction system that is different from the image stabilization systems of the others.

Can anybody give me some advice on the above, or any other Camera that I have missed?

sing_or_die_1818 · Jun 7, 2006, 9:44 PM

bill russell?!? THE bill russell?!? sorry, what with nba finals on now and all.... and now back to our regularly scheduled reply...

i can tell you that i'm quite happy with a recent purchase, the sanyo dmx-c6 (in japan; in the states, it's called a dmx-vc6, i think). cost around $400 here in japan, extremely light (145 grams?), very satisfactory so far as an all-in-one (photo/video) solution. it does 6 megapixels, macro up to 1 cm, image stabilzation, and pretty fast power-up, it seems to me. 5x optical zoom, 12x digital zoom (as you probably know, optical zoom doesn't sacrifice image quality, digital does), and can recreate 10-megapixel images, tho i haven't even bothered with that: satisfied with 6 MP, for sure. downside is no internal memory, so you need to spring for SD card (up to 2GB works--BUT some have noted that some cards don't seem to work, esp higher speeds: see readers' forum on this). btw, the video has been quite satisfactory, a very pleasant surprise--BUT it's mpeg4, not (DVD-standard) mpeg2, so need to do some work to burn cds (again: see reader posts on this). also, easy to connect to tv for direct output, which is kinda cool (family gatherings, etcetera). you mght want to give this a look. it's got serious style, too (bought mine in ruby red) :-)

check steve's review, too... not many pro reviews out there (just steve and cnet, i think).

good luck!

billrussell · Jun 10, 2006, 1:17 PM

You forgot that Bill Russell was a pretty good infielder also.

Thanx for the info, and I will check it out in the review section.

Bill

I have just tried to search for this model (and models close to it) and have drawn a blank here and on Amazon and ebay - Could it be known by another model? Any URL would be of great help.

sing_or_die_1818 · Jun 12, 2006, 11:31 PM

ok, looks like vpc-c6 for statesiders... and wasn't bill russell a shortstop for the dodgers? i THINK that was your reference... a yanks fan over here, tho (sorry)!

omGARY · Jun 13, 2006, 9:12 PM

pocket camera? u mean one that is compact and pocketable? too many digicam terms out there.. if pocketable's the case, i'm also looking for one, i cant decide between sony dsc-w50 or the casio ex-z60. both are 6 megapixels.. and such n such.
and u said something about the fuji camera having max iso of 3200? shouldn't the higher the number the better, and less grainy the picture? max iso on the two cameras i'm lookin at are around 1000 only. SO i don't know the avg. ISO of a digicam. does anybody know?

LadyhawkVA · Jun 14, 2006, 2:48 PM

I don't mean to quibble too much, but I assume you want people to be "gentle" with you. :-)

billrussell · Jun 14, 2006, 7:17 PM

LadyhawkVA wrote:

Quote:

I don't mean to quibble too much, but I assume you want people to be "gentle" with you. :-)

You must be an English teacher - I almost failed Bonehead English in College...

billrussell · Jun 14, 2006, 7:21 PM

omGARY wrote:

Quote:

pocket camera? u mean one that is compact and pocketable? too many digicam terms out there.. if pocketable's the case, i'm also looking for one, i cant decide between sony dsc-w50 or the casio ex-z60. both are 6 megapixels.. and such n such.
and u said something about the fuji camera having max iso of 3200? shouldn't the higher the number the better, and less grainy the picture? max iso on the two cameras i'm lookin at are around 1000 only. SO i don't know the avg. ISO of a digicam. does anybody know?

I understand the Fuji has an advanced CDC that allows the equivalent film speeds to 3200 ISO, but I read somewhere that someone questioned if this would cause excessive graininess - I don't know.

Dirt Rider · Jun 15, 2006, 6:40 AM

Might also want to check out the Canon A620. It has every thing you want except for image stabilization.

billrussell · Jun 17, 2006, 9:33 PM

Dirt Rider wrote:

Quote:

Might also want to check out the Canon A620. It has every thing you want except for image stabilization.

Image stabilization is my main feature that I want. I take quite a lot of low light picturesthat require a long exposure time, and I have seen a vast difference with this feature.

I also have seen dramatic results using zoom, as this amplifies any shaking.

Thanx for the info, and I will check the Canon A620

Jun 4, 2006, 7:53 PM	#1
billrussell Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5	Please be genitalwith me here as I am a newbie… I have spent a fair amount of time looking for my next Camera. I want a pocket model (Not a SLR) and I am just a little bit above an Amateur and the point and shoot crowd. Most of the time, I want the P&S, but sometimes I need to be able to manually control the lens and exposure. – Here are my requirements: 5 Megs or more – preferably 6-7 Megs [/] Quick response times. Most of the cheap Cameras that I have tried, took a long time from when you pushed the shudder button until the camera actually took the picture. I have lost some really good shots because of this. [/] Above average ISO rating [/] Lens – Must be a good quality with zoom – preferably more than 3 X (5 would be ideal) [/] Some sort of image stabilization for shots at night with reasonably long exposure times. [/] Bright LED display so that I can see it in bright sunlight [/] Macro mode would be nice. [/] Price should be below $500[/] I have looked at the following: Fujifilm FinePix F30 This only has 3X Zoom, and I am a bit concerned about their claim to have up to 3200 ISO – Will this give me excess grain? Fujifilm FinePix F650 6.0 MP This seems to have everything that I want except Image stabilization. Pentax Optio A10 8MP This again only has a 3x Optical Zoom, but it has a Shake Reduction system that is different from the image stabilization systems of the others. Can anybody give me some advice on the above, or any other Camera that I have missed?

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Jun 7, 2006, 9:44 PM	#2
sing_or_die_1818 Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4	bill russell?!? THE bill russell?!? sorry, what with nba finals on now and all.... and now back to our regularly scheduled reply... i can tell you that i'm quite happy with a recent purchase, the sanyo dmx-c6 (in japan; in the states, it's called a dmx-vc6, i think). cost around $400 here in japan, extremely light (145 grams?), very satisfactory so far as an all-in-one (photo/video) solution. it does 6 megapixels, macro up to 1 cm, image stabilzation, and pretty fast power-up, it seems to me. 5x optical zoom, 12x digital zoom (as you probably know, optical zoom doesn't sacrifice image quality, digital does), and can recreate 10-megapixel images, tho i haven't even bothered with that: satisfied with 6 MP, for sure. downside is no internal memory, so you need to spring for SD card (up to 2GB works--BUT some have noted that some cards don't seem to work, esp higher speeds: see readers' forum on this). btw, the video has been quite satisfactory, a very pleasant surprise--BUT it's mpeg4, not (DVD-standard) mpeg2, so need to do some work to burn cds (again: see reader posts on this). also, easy to connect to tv for direct output, which is kinda cool (family gatherings, etcetera). you mght want to give this a look. it's got serious style, too (bought mine in ruby red) :-) check steve's review, too... not many pro reviews out there (just steve and cnet, i think). good luck!

Jun 10, 2006, 1:17 PM	#3
billrussell Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5	You forgot that Bill Russell was a pretty good infielder also. Thanx for the info, and I will check it out in the review section. Bill I have just tried to search for this model (and models close to it) and have drawn a blank here and on Amazon and ebay - Could it be known by another model? Any URL would be of great help.

Jun 12, 2006, 11:31 PM	#4
sing_or_die_1818 Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4	ok, looks like vpc-c6 for statesiders... and wasn't bill russell a shortstop for the dodgers? i THINK that was your reference... a yanks fan over here, tho (sorry)!

Jun 13, 2006, 9:12 PM	#5
omGARY Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 86	pocket camera? u mean one that is compact and pocketable? too many digicam terms out there.. if pocketable's the case, i'm also looking for one, i cant decide between sony dsc-w50 or the casio ex-z60. both are 6 megapixels.. and such n such. and u said something about the fuji camera having max iso of 3200? shouldn't the higher the number the better, and less grainy the picture? max iso on the two cameras i'm lookin at are around 1000 only. SO i don't know the avg. ISO of a digicam. does anybody know?

Jun 14, 2006, 2:48 PM	#6
LadyhawkVA Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,374	I don't mean to quibble too much, but I assume you want people to be "gentle" with you. :-)

Jun 15, 2006, 6:40 AM	#9
Dirt Rider Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 45	Might also want to check out the Canon A620. It has every thing you want except for image stabilization.