ceb7369

johng - thanks for your advice and concern. For me, a digital is a neccessity I've been putting off. I need one for my website and work, and uploading is no problem for me. I'm not worried about understanding the operations of whatever camera I pick I'm more worried about misunderstanding the specs and therefore not getting the best I can for the least amount of $$. I'm ever the planning, bargain shopper.

Heimdall - shutterlag! Of course! That's going on my list of specs to check out on all these cameras.

ceb7369

Thank you all so much. My list of specs to research just went from two lines to an entire page! I'll post back when I'm able to do some hands on research and let you all know what I end up with. And, God willing, I'll have some excellent photos to share with you all next spring!

noe847

Besides shutterlag you want to look at the time it takes for the camera to be ready for the next picture (can't remember what the term for that is). With my first digital both of those types of delay drove me crazy.

Tries2PakLite

We just bought a Canon PowerShot A540 today. I have tinkered with it a bit and so far I am very happy with the camera. I was upgrading from a Sony Cybershot 3.3, which still takes a great photo, but I wanted something smaller for our upcoming trip in August.

It will take me awhile to get to know all of the features, but the photos I took today where crisp and sharp and the colors are great. I think we made a good choice.

The camera is not so tiny that I have to fumble with the buttons, and it has a viewfinder which I prefer. The charming Scot that sold me the camera called me "old school". I can't help it, I need that viewfinder.

Good luck with your research and your final purchase!

Heimdall

Gretchen, a Nikon lens will fit both film and digital Nikon SLR cameras. A Canon lens will fit both film and digital Canon SLR cameras...etc. Both these companies have taken great pains to insure all their cameras are compatible with all their lenses. The only difference is, that, because of the size of the sensor, there is a 1.5X multiplication factor (1.6X on the Canon) in the length of the lens. In other words, a 200mm lens will act as a 300mm lens when fitted to a digital camera. This is actually an advantage when using a telephoto lens.

The down-side, of course, is that wide-angle lenses become less wide-angle when fitted to a dSLR. A 28mm becomes 42mm, and a 35mm becomes 52.5mm, which isn't even wide-angle anymore. In fact, I have a Nikon 35mm/f2 prime lens which I use as a normal lens.

My apologies for digressing from the P&S topic, but I didn't want to let a misconception go unanswered. I have four separate lenses for my digital SLR, and three of them were originally designed for film cameras. My question to johng was "Do you really want to change from Canon to Nikon and then have to start a new lens collection?" He answered the question by stating he hopes to borrow the fine Nikon lenses his wife (a pro photographer) uses with her Nikon F100. Both it and the D200 use the Nikon F-mount, and the lenses will work with either camera.

Mucky

As far as compact cameras go, I have found that the Olympus MJU series are perfect, and like most electronic things these days, the spec gets higher and the camera gets smaller.
The main factors I look out for when getting a camera are.

1. What is the focal zoom I always look for a minimum of x3 on these little cameras.
(This is not digital zoom, but one where the lens moves)

2. What kind of power pack does it use?
Frequently the AA batteries take quite a hammering and really don't last too long, however if the battery is designed for the camera and is rechargable then it will last you for a few days.

3. Pixels. These days anything above 4meg will give great pics but these
little cameras are up to 7 or 8 now. This poses a problem with storage, the higher the picture quality, the more memory it takes up.
So 512mb + is needed.

4. Cost. Prices vary greatly, look around compare prices and package deals.

5. Read reviews from 'which digital camera'magazine.

With all this info in place buying is easy..lol
Remember to get a camera that suits your use.
An SLR is fabulous and pictures are unbeatable but there is no point in lugging that around if you just want to take good honest holiday snaps.
In summary.
Small camera,High mp, good power system, plenty of memory and focus.
Good luck
;-)

Muck

where2

I just ordered the Canon SD700 IS after hours of online research and I am waiting to for a trip back to the USA next week (I live in London) to pick it up (costs way more here). I bought it for $423 but I feel certain the price will continue to drop as it is a new model. I also thought image stabilization was necessary. I chose this camera over the much less expensive Panasonic FX01 (which has a wider lens - big bonus) because reviews seemed to indicate that the Canon consistently takes better indoor pictures in an automatic setting - which I will use. Both cameras have a nice LCD, are quite small, and are fairly fast at focus and shot to shot. Skilled people seem to get great pics with both cameras but I am not so skilled. I use my camera for both family shots of my small children and travel.

One downside of the Canon is that it does not take AAs - I cannot count how many times I have used off the shelf AAs when my batteries weren't charged. I ordered a second battery and hope I will be more diligent in charging.

I got the camera to replace my Sony W-1 which is almost the same exact camera as the W-5 which is sold currently. My Sony has dust in the sensor of the camera so all my pictures of a recent trip to Switzerland have spots on them. In self-diagnosing the problem I realized that this is a common problem of the W-1, not so much the W-5. But the sony uses AA batteries and takes great pics when it is working. It does not have IS.

Gretchen

Yes, they "fit"--didn't say they wouldn't. But the size of the digital image is not the same as the film image so you lose some of it as you have explained. So, if you boil it down, you no longer have a true SLR--a what you see is what you get through the lens. It is well to understand that.
It is recommended to use the lenses made for the digitals. This was a big bummer for me when Ifound out because I very much wanted to use my considerable number of Pentax lenses. I think I just read also, that (I think it was Canon) you can buy an adapter to compnensate, it doesn't enable the autofocus of the lens.

Heimdall

Sorry Gretchen, but I didn't say you "lose some of the image" - you don't. You still see what the lens sees through your SLR viewfinder.

Regarding Pentax, I don't know which model you have, but Pentax advertises the K100D as "compatible with any Pentax lens ever produced". See the page in their website http://tinyurl.com/jnwxk.

Some of the older lenses may not have full functionality when used in the latest cameras (be they film or digital). I sold my old manual focus lenses when I switched from Nikon F3 to Nikon D70 because I wouldn't be able to use the autofocus or metering system in the camera. The same would have been true had I gone to a film SLR such as the F100.

Pausanias

johng --

I wonder if the problems you're having with the 20D are related to your lenses. At any rate, it would certainly be wise to buy a Nikon camera if you have access to your wife's pro lenses.

In the meantime, you may be able to improve the performance of your 20D with some judicious requests for advice here: http://www.photo.net/bboard/forum?topic_id=1545

murphy89

Any thoughts on the Canon A530 5MP model? I have a gift card at a store that has a small selection of digital cameras and thought that one looked the best out of what there was.....on the other hand I don't want to settle for lesser camera.

Heimdall

Murphy, why don't you look at the opinions/reviews in http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/. Also consider the A610, another 5MP Canon.

murphy89

Thanks Heimdall - I didn't notice that website above! Sounds like it is rated ok