Jed

OK, JG. Give me one good reason why you bought the camera.

BTW, I have the A510, and I suspect he will love the 540. We are all waiting for your report on what happened.

jgarvey

Jed, very funny! I hope the reasons I gave were sufficient, although I could probably come up with more if pressed.

Ira, thanks for the thumbs up. Your approval means a lot to me since I value your expertise and professional opinion.

Fishee and Mowmow, it was reassuring to hear that you knew of this model and had a positive opinion about it. The things you taught me were very valuable and made me feel more cofident about my purchase. Otherwise, I would not even have thought about the optical viewfinder, switch-to-manual, or AA batteries features.

You have all been extremely generous and helpful. I am deeply appreciative. Also happy that my thread gave some of you a chance to have some techno-chatter with each other, which hopefully will assist others in making an educated choice when selecting their cameras for travel.

Discovering this forum has meant a lot to me. I will fill you in tomorrow about how the gift was received by DS and future wife (I hope).

fishee

basing and JG -- thanks for the nice comments on our pics. The Fujifilm went up to $278 this morning, so I should make a decision soon, I don't want to spend more than $300 (so S3 is sadly, out of the question).

Fujifilm E900 9 MP has rechargeable AA's which users say provide a lot of juice -- downside is there is no AC adapter (must purchase separately) for downloading. I like its compact size, pulling the Canon Rebel out of my purse last trip was a hassle.

I haven't done much editing with software yet, too lazy. I need to think about what I'm going to with these pictures -- if I'm willing to put time/effort into editing, the Fuji seems like the better choice with its 9 MP. If I just want instant gratification, maybe the Canon S2 IS is better? Canon also seems more "idiot-proof".

Basing did you say that the Fujifilm E900 has the option to attach a wide angle lens?

fishee

BTW, JGarvey -- I love that you bought an Elph for yourself!

ira

Hi fishee,

The Fuji E900 is only 4x zoom.

The S2 will give you both a wider angle and a better zoom.

I would rather have optics than pixels.

MaureenB

JGarvey, well done! You are a great parent to be so thoughtful. You son will love it, and you!

Merry Christmas everyone!
>-

Fodorite018

I have been following this thread, and ironically we just bought the 540 for our daughter. She opened it this morning and loves it! It is so easy to use!!! We got it at Costco online for $179 several weeks ago. Of course now it makes our Pentax Optio look ancient, lol! I hope your son enjoys it!

basingstoke2

JG- fine choice. I am sure he will love it. Fishee -According to steves digicams, there are.76X wide angle part # WL FXE01 and 1.94X telephoto lenses available # TL FXE01. You will also need the AR FXE 02 adaptor ring. Don't know the cost. With the ring, you can also use 43mm filters. However, for about $120 more than the base E900 you can get the S900 that has a wide angle to 10X optical zoom and other upgrades. Might be a better buy than the E900 with extra lenses. It is quite a bit larger though. Amazon has the Canon S2 at the same price as the E900. To confuse things even more, they have a couple of Kodak easyshare superzooms with IS at the same price or a few dollars less.

jgarvey

Please check out basingstoke's warning to me about the Canon Powershot 540. All is OK with the one I purchased, but just wanted to spread the word to others to check their serial numbers.

Also, please read this same message for my report of how my son received and appreciated his gift. Big success! Thanks to all again.

janeg

you write-
Author: jgarvey
Date: 12/27/2006, 02:24 pm
Please check out basingstoke's warning to me about the Canon Powershot 540. All is OK with the one I purchased, but just wanted to spread the word to others to check their serial numbers.

Also, please read this same message for my report of how my son received and appreciated his gift. Big success! Thanks to all again.

Where is this message?

jgarvey

janeg--sorry about the confusion. Go to basingstoke2; I forgot the #2 attached to user name. Here's a summary of what he said: that Canon has put out a warning on the Powershot 540--the ones starting with serial numbers 21, 22, and 23 (I think). Something about the batteries overheating. Anyway, go to basingstoke 2 and look up his message to me that has the heading: :jgarvey, Are You There?--Important." If you still can't pick it up I will make sure it gets copied to you. It was surely a relief to discover that the one I bought did not start with any of these serial numbers. Please let me know if you get the info, and hopefully that your camera is not one of the ones with a problem.

jgarvey

Fishee, I haven't bought that Elph for myself yet. I was waiting to see if there might be some good sales after Christmas. Can you guess what my new question is? Of course, here it comes: Is there one of the Elphs that you prefer or have some knowledge of? Once again, I did not realize that there were so many models of the Elph! I had thought there was just one! Duh--stupid me again. What's the newest and what's the best. Do you know? Appreciate the opinions. Don't tell me to read the reviews, please. I don't know enough to read them and make all of the comparisons myself. That's why I'm asking YOU to do it for me instead. Be nice to an old lady.

Also-just hope that everyone with the Powershot 540 saw basingstoke2's warning on this thread. Take a look if you have it, gave it, or recieved it as a gift. Hope all here are well and resting up with a good book and a good camera.

MaureenB

JGarvey, one point someone already made about the Elph (at least the ones we've owned) is that they only have a screen for a viewfinder, not the traditional eyehole viewfinder. That is something I can't use, because I have a hard time seeing the image in that viewfinder, especially in daylight without my glasses.

So, I prefer my Canon that has both a traditional and a screen viewfinder. In fact, mine has a screen viewfinder that can close to its protected from scratches, can open up and even swing out to the side, so you can take pictures of yourself. The kids love that feature when they are out having fun with friends.
>-

jgarvey

Maureen, thanks for that reminder. Exactly what model of Canon do you have? I just gave my son the Powershot 540 for Christmas, and he loved it. For some weird reason though (style, convenience, compact size, etc.), I seem to have set my heart on the Elph. Of course, I will not go with this if it is really not a smart choice. Hope there are other opinions out there with a positive choice of this as a great little travel camera--for someone without too many photo skills. Please let me know what you think. Grazie.

MaureenB

Sorry, I should have said mine is the PowerShot A95. I am not even sure they still make it, models change so quickly. Mine is probably almost 2 years old now. I really like it. I think Canon makes a very good quality, and dependable camera.

My daughter really likes her Elph. But her twenty-something eyes do better than mine with the LCD screen (??) viewfinder.

The Elph uses a proprietary battery charger. Mine uses simple AA batteries. Pros and cons to both ways, really.

ira

Hi jg,

>I seem to have set my heart on the Elph.<

A new Elph starts at about $220 at amazon.com. An S2 is $279.

For merely an additional $60, the S2 is a much better camera.

Check the reviews at Steve's Digicams by googling <elph steve> and <S2 steve>.

jgarvey

Ira, thanks again. I am going to look into that. BTW, do ALL of the Elphs have that battery-pack thing, or are there some that also have the optical view finder. That could be the deciding factor for me.

ira

Hi jg,

>.. do ALL of the Elphs have that battery-pack thing, or are there some that also have the optical view finder. <

That sentence doesn't compute.

MaureenB

JGarvey, have you looked up the review article in Consumer Reports on digital cameras? It gives recommendations on cameras for people of different skill levels. It sounds like you're getting confused with all this info. (The battery pack and the viewfinder are two separate questions.) Besides, it's all personal taste, as long as you buy a reliable brand.
>-

jgarvey

Ira, and Maureen, sorry I was rushing. AND..I am an English teacher. So, I really know a f-upd sentence when I see one. What I MEANT to ask was two separate questions: Are there any Elph models that use the AA batteries "instead of" the battery pack that needs recharging? And...Are there any Elph models that have the opti-viewfinder "as well as" the screen? Maybe even a third question: Do any models have both? Sorry, that's what happens when you don't proofread your own writing.
Maybe someone can help me now that I have asked a coherent question.
Thanks.