Digital Camera dilemna- advice please
 

i am stuck going back and forth on this. buy a very small camera that needs proprietary batteries and lacks some special control, but is feather light (ie elph,exilm). or get a canon a70/80 and carry a bit more bulk (more features), but be able to use AA batteries...that is the dilemna. i do love to travel light, but any ideas of the happy medium.

I have the canon a70 and find it still to be very small. It easily fits in my purse (without a separate case) and is not terribly heavy.

I don't know the actual weight of both cameras when loaded with batteries/cards but I'm sure you could find that online. It would seem to me that the difference would be minimal compared to everything else you'd be carrying.

Plus, I find the a70 very easy to hold, but I'm not sure anything smaller would be comfortable.

I purchased the Canon A70 last summer for a 2 week trip ti Italy. Can't say enough great things about the camera. Bought a 256 MB card along with a 128MB card. Took over 350 photos on the 256 card. Bought 3 sets of digital photo batteries at Target and only went through 2 sets.

It's a great camera and does not feel bulky or large to me. I keep it in my purse at all times.

HTH

I bought a Canon A80 a couple of months ago. Like you, I was going back and forth about the smaller ones and the Canon, and decided on the Canon. I love it. Gives you the option to go fully auto or take over with manual settings. I was worried about the size based on some comments I had read, but when I got it I couldn't imagine that anything smaller would be easier to use. The AA batteries do make it a bit heavier, but it's still light relatively speaking. It's a great camera.

Don't be afraid of proprietary batteries, if they're rechargeable. My Minolta Dimage is smaller than a cigarette pack and I just love it. Yes, the battery is proprietary -- it's the size of a postage stamp; the entire camera weighs about the same as 2 or 3 AA batteries. It has a stand that it sits in to recharge, no problem at all, especially if you have 2 batteries.

i am a male, so i don't carry a purse and most of the times don't carry anything if i can help it. guide book in the back pocket (AAA spiral guide takes care of both map and guide) and i wear a jacket. i love feeling light and unrestricted. i last went to london and paris with a kodak easyshare 2mp, which i borrowed from my friend and it was bulky. small enough to fit in my front pocket, but not what i'd consider light.

So souless, yes they're easy, cheaper to run, good results, but no passion.

How can you sacrifice the click of the shutter, the loading of the film, the developing, the feel of the camera for some digital version. Purchase a Leica, this will last for years, and is visually attractive, beautifully tactile, superb!

You can, of course, get rechargeable AA batteries, which also have more power than the single-use ones. But I agree with Anonymous - don't hesitate to buy a camera that uses the proprietary rechargeable batteries. I have three Canons - the G3, S45, and D400 (all pretty much the same 4MP camera in three different packages) They all use proprietary batteries and they each have been excellent in every respect. That said, I understand the A70 and its clones are also very good, and a lot less money.

FlyFish,

the battery issue is one, but when you drop down in size u also start losing picture quality and manual features (shutter speed).

Hi UC

The Canon A70/80 weighs about 14oz with batteries.

Get rechargeable batteries and a charger. Recharge overnight in the hotel.

We brought 3 128MB flash cards for 3 weeks. I took 1090 pix, brought home 850.

Anything over 3mpxl is for professionals who want enlargements of greater than 8x10. The quality of the lenses is more important.

I have a Canon A60. I am very pleased with it.

UC - yes, the smaller cameras do have to sacrifice somewhere, and the manual features are the first to go. With regard to picture quality, I haven't had the D400 long enough to comment, but I used the G3 and S45 interchangeably on a trip last year and honestly can't tell which camera took which picture. I know the G3 with its larger lens has an advantage in certain situations, but for vacation snapshot type pictures I don't think there's much practical difference.

You may also want to spend some time at this site: www.dpreview.com/. It has some of the best and most detailed reviews anywhere of the various digital cameras available.

I did the same dance a couple weeks ago. I finally settled on the Canon G5. I will be taking it on a 2 week trip of Ireland and the UK, and spent many hours reading the specs on the G5 and the S50. Durability was a factor, I don't like moving parts on the exterior of the camera. If the camera has a sliding door or pop-up flash, you can be sure that will be the first thing to get dust in it and break.

I also used the www.dpreview.com site, it was fantastic. Very straight forward and detailed reviews.

Spend some time in the store (if there is no power supplied to the camera or the battery is dead, ask the sales person to get some power for it. I played with both versions and found which was more comfortable to manipulate and hold steady.

Remember that the higher the MP the fewer picts you can store on a card. Also, I would assume you would be using the camera after the trip, so think of the features you might want later, after the trip.

Happy camera shopping!

p.s.- one cool feature of the G5- a little remote control, great for taking group or self portraits!

Europe voltage - 220. Batteries are available almost everywhere. Buy the best camera you can afford! Weight and size are almost inconsequential. Don't neglect a carrying case..ziplock bag will do for casual protection from water.

The A70/80 are tiny.

I agree with m_kingdom in some respects... there's a use for each type. personally, for the 'real' pictures I wish to blow up and frame, I use my old clunker. manual focus, it has auto speed and aperture but I'd just as soon set it myself. it takes fabulous photos.

I also love my little Canon S400 Elph (or whatever they call it now?) 4 MP, tiny, fits into my purse easily.

I'd advise getting something like what I have - very very small... and try not to use the LCD as much (although this does defeat the purpose of having the digital camera). get a separate download card thingy to preserve the batteries on the fly, and the standard charger it uses can be adapted easily. use the LCD to review later, not take pictures. and don't pass the camera around to show everyone. download and show them. I used up a lot of batteries by showing everyone my trip while I was still on it!

ps. m_kingdom - I HAD a Leica and I agree... however it won't withstand a galloping horseback ride along the Pacific in Peru... and falling into the surf. not that I know this PERSONALLY or anything.. ;-)

One issue with electronic cameras and traveling.

Unless you have gobs of storage media, how do you download the photos to free up more storage. I hate lugging my laptop along with me, for storing the photos. I would imagine some folks know a way to download them at internet access "cafes" around the world.
Is that something that people have found out how to do?

I know what you mean - there's times when just a front pocket sort of deal would be good and other times you'd like to have it all. I think I'll probably end up with both the small digital (we have a DiMage now which is great but not that small) and a digital SLR that I like as much my old Pentax. Personally, I wouldn't make the choice based on battery. If you use the viewfinder, it's going to grind on battery life. Actually, it's probably easier to find replacement AA NiMH than it would be to find proprietary, but if you bring spares anyway, then it's a wash. Pick the nicer camera that suits your priorities.

And as far as digital vs film. I agree, film is still better. But only if your typically means of storing them is the old photo album. If you're setting them up on a website, emailing them, or anything electronic, then you might as well use digital. You're usually going to lose that depth on the scan anyway.

For storage you can usually take it to a photo shop and have a CD burned. Or just take enough memory cards for your trip. They are dirt cheap now. If your proprietary batteries go dead in the middle of the day, you are pretty out of luck.

Hi ekellyga,

As Gretchen says, bring along some extra flashcards. Edit them in the evening and erase the ones that are definitely not good.

You can also have a CD made.

I was also torn between a Canon A70, and a Canon SD100 elph which is smaller, and uses a proprietary battery. I wound up with the SD100, just because it is so tiny - about the size of a cigarette pack, and has a rugged stainless steel case. The battery is quite small, and I plan on carrying an extra on our trip. I'm sure you would be happy with either one, they both take great pictures - don't let the proprietary battery scare you off the elph, however. Here is a great site for camera reviews:
www.dcresource.com

i also have a digital elph and have been extrememely happy with all the features (which includes manual mode, panorama and movie mode w/sound) and the quality of the lens, plus i love the small size!

i also bring extra flash cards and have a spare battery with me at all times (i go into manual mode 90% of the time, which sucks up battery power), then recharge them overnight. i take ALOT of pictures (about 400 a trip) and have never been in a position that i've run out of disk space or dealt with a dead battery.

Someone mentioned that memory cards were really cheap now. Anyone have a memory versus film analysis? Such as how many rolls you would need to have used to get your memory purchase back? just curious.

It's a complicated comparison because the film cost doesn't include processing and, if you add the processing, then the digital memory cost isn't comparable because it doesn't put a hard copy print in your hand without additional (and variable) cost, and many people don't bother with the actual print anyway.

But, if you want to compare the cost of just getting the image captured, then there's no comparison - digital wins hands down. You can get a 256 MB CF memory card for around $50 if you shop a bit. My 4 MP Canons, shooting at large size and fine resolution, produce JPEG files that average around 1 MB. A little of the card is taken up with housekeeping, leaving room for perhaps something like 220 images - a number that can increase 3 times or more if you go to smaller size and/or less resolution. At 220 images that equates to 6 36-exposure rolls of film, which I'm sure is well less than $50 these days, but the CF card can be downloaded and used over and over, virtually indefinitely. So in the long run digital is far cheaper, though as I said there are many other variables that need to be rolled into a fair comparison.

Even the smaller memory cards (128M) are less money than the six rolls of film/processing they replace.

Buy a film camera? Even Kodak's bailing on those now. Leica's notoriously overpriced; just look how they've re-branded the Fuji digicams and jacked the price up.

Be sure and get the extra memory cards BEFORE you leave. They're twice as expensive in Europe.

Comparing film price to memory price is an exercise but not terribly fruitful in my opinion. I thought I would never give up my film cameras but they are now paperweights. It is fun and instant gratification to have a digital. I have had a darkroom--and now have one in my computer. The cameras are so light--mine is not terribly small but will fit in my raincoat pocket when walking around Paris. I also especially LOVE not dealing with stacks and stacks of prints lying around. I can print exactly what I want and share them or display them. I can print sheets to make a record of our trip. Just an opinion.

I?m getting ready to step up to a descent digital myself. I?m considering the G5 and the DiMage A1. The A1 has the powerful zoom which I really like, but from test shots I?ve seen, it seems that the color on the G5 is a bit better. The A1 is about $120 bucks more but the added zoom is huge. Plus it appears you can add standard filters without an adaptor. All my filters are 55mm. I?m hoping I can get a stepdown to a 49mm. Any suggestions or feelings from those who own either of these cameras. them? BTW, I just read on the Canon website that they are coming out with a Powershot Pro 1 8 MP. It is bound to be too expensive for a while.

Soulless? We seem to be getting a bit too attached to our mechanical devices. It?s a camera, film or not. I too love film cameras, but the bulk of carrying the extra lenses is wearing me down. I have a friend who is a professional photographer who swore by Leicas but know says he?ll never shoot another role of film again. I?m afraid that my fairly new Minoltas may become paper weights also.

If you are concerned about storage, you might consider an Image Bank. You can get 20GB of storage which should be at least 2000+ pictures at the highest resolution on a 5MP. You can get them for about $250.

Bill

Efficiency isn't charming.

Teabags don't have the same effect as loose leaf tea. Double glazing is heat efficient, but lacks the qualities of traditional windows.

Leica do make digital cameras, so perhaps thats a good compromise, but it still isn't the same!

It's not the same, but it's not worse. Open your mind to new possibilities.

I just received a camedia digital which we will take with us to three or four cities and ten nights. I have a 256 card, I believe. How many pictures will this take and should I purchase another battery as well or will I be able to plug the charger in in the hotels?

Since the original poster pointed out that he's a man and therefore doesn't have a purse or other tote for a bigger camera, I have the perfect tiny digital that is full of features and is an impressive 4.0 megapixel. I researched digitals for 3 months trying to find the perfect one that was the smallest I could get with all the features I wanted.

It is a Casio QV-R40, and if you buy it online thru a discount locator site like Dealtime, you can get it for around $240. It is about the size of a pack of cigs but has lots of features, including a very good zoom (optical AND digital). I was very leary, since at that price it sounded like one of those "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" things. And I already had a 2.1 megapixel that makes wonderful pics but was just bigger than I wanted to carry around.

Also, I have always thought of Casio of as a lesser, cheaper (in terms of quality) brand so that made me even more hesitant. But I finally decided, hey, if I don't like it, I'll send it back. I have read lots of articles that say when you buy a Canon or a Sony of anything you are paying the bucks for the brand. OK, I'm convinced. You couldn't buy this Casio off me now. It's the greatest!

So I'm looking forward to a couple of months in France this summer with my tiny Casio. I've bought a couple of 256 cards, a couple of packs of AA batteries to throw in my suitcase, and I'm ready to roll!

Robbiegirl, I have the Olympus Camedia with 10X optical and 3X digital zoom. I have two 128 MB xD cards for storage. I shoot on the next to highest resolution and get very close to 400 pictures on the card. I would assume you could double that on a 256 MB card (or get the same using the highest resolution).

I have three sets of rechargeable batteries and have never used more than two sets per day and I keep my camera on all the time. I recharge in the hotel room at night (or in the car if we're driving). Be sure you take a European adapter plug (and converter if necessary). The car plugs work in any car lighter.

I do take my laptop with me to download the pictures every evening because I shoot 400+ pictures a day and don't want to deal with them later. After I download them, I burn them onto a CD so I have two copies of all originals. I store them in dated files and when I get home, I copy the ones I want to print onto a separate CD and have them printed professionally. I also create a DVD to play in the television set so the family can share memories.

The reason I switched to digital was because they were boosting strength of airport security scans and I was tired of worrying about my film being x-rayed. Now I don't have to worry!

My camera is a little large and heavy but does fit in my purse along with an extra set of batteries and xD card (which are tiny and very easy to lose!).

great insight...btw if any one is interested canon is releasing updated versions of cameras...new elphs and a75...that should mean price drops on the older models.

i must say that my paranoia probably stems from the fact that in the middle of my last trip my charger died and i was stuck w/out camera for the last 1.5 days of my trip...no big deal as i had seen most everything that i had already wanted to anyway. but it did stick in my mind.

Suggestion: Dramatically improve the quality of your photographs - use a tripod. Hand/arm held cameras are subject to movement and subsequent image blur. Next, try some shots at various distances using flash enhancement. Make a record. Practical limit is less than 12 feet. Try Kodak 1600 film instead.

ucsun - NEW Elph? I thought the s400 just came out though? what are they going to add...

SalB, You have enough energy to do all that picture taking and download it all onto your laptop? I do not think DH would go for bringing a laptop with us. I will have to have a number of cards and do all the downloading when I get home. I have hardly used the camera but need to start pracitcing on it. Thanks for the suggestions. I will purchase extra batteries.

flygirl,

they're coming out w/ the elph s500 and s410. i saw them at dpreview.com, which was a great suggestion.

Again, buying a whole bunch of cards is more expensive than buying a portable hard drive like the Image Bank. It is reviewed on Steve's digicams and gets pretty high marks. The same amount of memory you can get with an Image Bank for $250.00 you would have to pay $5000 in memory cards to equal. I found them online at:
http://store.yahoo.com/insidecomputer/20imtag2usb2.html

Bill

buy the canon s400. we got a 256mb chip and took 200 pictures and still didnt fill it up. this camera is small enough to fit in your front pocket and you wouldn't even know it is there. plus it is a 4.2 mega pixel camera. camera plus chip etc. is about $500 at beach camera online.