Martin Taylor on Camera Selection

TO J.P., WHO WANTED A HIGH-QUALITY POCKET CAMERA:

Canon A620 ($300)

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a630.html

or A630

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a640.html

A bit more bulky that the 700 IS but I really like having a grip bump to hold on to and it has an articulating screen which is useful for low or high angle shots – also you can turn the screen around on itself to protect it.

If you still want small and sexy the Sony W70

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/w70.html

is worth looking at – about $300 again

If you want a super zoom that is almost pocketable the Nikon S4 is worth a look

(http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/s4.html)

I really like the swivel body design.

The SD 700 IS you found does look really nice though – Did you know there was a SD800 too? 1 more megapixel but anything over 5 is great for even largish prints anyways.

If you want to get really serious the Canon PowerShot G7 is worth looking at although it’s probably bigger and more expensive than you need – it’s more aimed as the digicam for pros.

The one I was looking at that was great in low light was the Fuji F30 but that doesn’t have an optical viewfinder.

TO L.N. WHO NEEDS A LONG ZOOM LENS:

So it seems that you are looking for a Digital SLR (DSLR). It also seems that you are looking for a long lens as well as a more general lens. $1000 for these pieces of kit is doable but you may want to change one or more elements of your initial purchase at a later date (e.g. buy lenses to be getting on with then upgrade later.

Choosing a DSLR has as much to do with deciding which brand and system you are going to buy into as much as a specific camera model. Over time I have spent much more on lenses and accessories than I have on any one camera. My personal preference is Canon lenses so I carry a Canon DSLR these days but that is a personal decision.

The brand leaders these days are Nikon and Canon, however, Pentax, Olympus and Sony all make interesting systems and are worth looking into.

Canon – more professionals use Canon than any other brand, however, the cameras and lenses you and I would purchase are a little removed from the professional line. The current entry level Canon is the new digital rebel 400D (aka XTi). It is 10 megapixels and can be bought for around $775.

(http://www.adorama.com/ICADRXTIK.html?searchinfo=canon%20xti&item_no=5#Canon-Digital-Rebel-XTi-SLR-10.1MB-Camera-Body-Kit,-Chrome-Finish-with-EFS-18-55mm-f-3.5-5.6-Zoom-Lens—U.S.A.-Warranty)

This is the camera I have now but the previous Rebel (the 350D or Xt) is very similar but only has 8 megapixels and can be found for much less (around $600.

http://www.adorama.com/ICADRXTBK.html?searchinfo=canon%20xt&item_no=13#Canon-Digital-Rebel-XT-SLR-Camera-Body-Kit,-Black-Finish-with-EFS-18-55mm-f-3.5-5.6-Lens—U.S.A.-Warranty)

To be honest, the extra 2 megapixels makes very little difference in the resulting image quality – the reason I chose the 400D over the 350D is the dust reduction system, faster speed and larger buffer – all of which may not be important to you.

The one problem with the Canon Rebels is the kit lens that they come with (kit lens means a lens that is sold with the camera). It is usable but it is not a great lens. The first upgrade lens I bought for my Canon was the 28-105mm f3.5-5.6 USM which is much better lens than the kit lens for around $230.

(http://www.adorama.com/CA28105AFNU.html?searchinfo=28-105mm%20f3.5-5.6%20USM&item_no=3#Canon-EF-28-105mm-f-3.5-4.5-II-USM-AutoFocus-Wide-Angle-Telephoto-Zoom-Lens—USA-Warranty)

It doesn’t have the wide angle of the kit lens so you would still might use the kit lens for wide landscapes and cramped interiors but it has much more reach and better build and optical quality. It makes a great walk about lens for travel, portraits, etc. It is not especially long though. Photographers usually think of long lens being at least 200mm and more usually 300mm.

The Rebels have a “crop factor”. This means that their sensors are physically smaller than the equivalent old 35mm film (known as full-frame cameras). This is common to all the cameras I am going to mention. If you are used to 35mm camera focal lengths you have to use a multiplier to get the equivalent focal length on a crop factor (also known as APS sensor) DSLR. The crop factor for Rebels is 1.6x, therefore, a 300mm lens on a Rebel behaves like a 480mm lens. This kind of focal length is great for taking good shots of animals in zoos, aircraft, etc. You can buy a Canon 75-300mm zoom for $160.

(http://www.adorama.com/CA75300AFU.html?searchinfo=canon%2075-300&item_no=9#Canon-EF-75-300mm-f-4.0-5.6-III-Autofocus-Telephoto-Zoom-Lens—USA)

It would get you started but it is not a great lens.

One of the problem with long lens is that they exaggerate camera shake which makes them difficult to handhold in anything but ideal lighting. A relatively recent technology that helps to counter this problem is stabalization (IS in Canon terminology, VR in Nikon). This is achieved mechanically by spinning one of the elements in the lens and the gyroscopic effect this creates buffers the shake. Unfortunately this technology cost a small premium e.g. the Canon 70-300mm IS zoom lens costs about $550.

(http://www.adorama.com/CA70300ISNU.html?searchinfo=canon%2070-300%20IS&item_no=7#Canon-EF-70-300mm-f-4-5.6-IS-USM-Autofocus-Telephoto-Zoom-Lens—USA)

On to Nikon. The entry level Nikons are the 6 megapixel D40 and D50 which can be had for about $550. Next up is the D80 which costs over $1000. I’ll be honest with you, the Nikons feel more robust in your hand than the entry Canon’s, however, I know less about their entry level lenses except that choices seem a little more limited than Canon e.g. Nikon have far less stabilized lenses than Canon.

The Olympus DSLRs are well built and very compact. The 2 disadvantages they have over Nikon and Canon, however, are that the image quality isn’t quite as good and the lenses are more expensive and hard to find. For these reasons I wouldn’t have the Olympus in my short list. Worth looking at, however, are both the Pentax K100D ($590 and 6 megapixels) and the Sony Alpha A100 ($775 and 10 megapixels).

What is interesting about both these cameras is that they have image stabilization built in which makes every lens you fit on them stabilized not just premium lenses offered by the manufacturer. The do this by mounting the sensor on a moving chassis rather than by spinning any glass. I don’t know much about the lenses offered for these cameras but I have played with both of these models in the store and they seem well built and fun to use; I prefer the Pentax but that’s just because Sony is a new player in the DSLR field (they bought out Minolta last year).

So there you go. I like Canon but many people prefer Nikon. If you’re looking for bang for your buck Pentax and Sony are well worth checking out. The final choice is obviously yours and I would recommend actually handling all these models in a store if you can because feel and opperation may play a large part in your decision. You choice may also be affected by how far you envisage going in photography – as I said, your buying into a brad and system just as much as buying a camera. Canon and Nikon have more professional options up their lines if you plan on going further. Pentax and Sony may be more economical to begin with.

UPDATE FOR L.N., AFTER FURTHER CONSIDERATION:

The following is a list of cameras that fit your criteria that are well regarded:

Canon Powershot S3 IS*
Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd
Kodak Easyshare P712*
Kodak Easyshare Z612*
Nikon Coolpix S10*
Olympus SP-510UZ
Panasonic DMC-FZ50*
Panasonic DMC-FZ7*
Sony Cybershot H2*
Sony Cybershot H5*

All of these cameras are “ultra zooms” (they have a zoom of around 10x or more). They are all digicams not SLRs unlike the cameras I mentioned in my last list. The ones with a ‘*’ have built in stabilization. As I mentioned last time, stabilization buffers camera shake allowing you to hand hold your camera at slower shutter speeds.

Of these cameras we own the predecessor to the Canon S3, the S6000fd and I have first hand experience with the Sony’s, Nikon and Panasonic’s. I don’t like Kodak’s but that is just my personal prejudice – you should judge them for yourself.

The Canon S3 is probably the best reviewed and best selling of the cameras on this list. My wife uses here S2 that is 18 months old on a daily basis. She loves the zoom and stabilization and it’s amazing macro facility. It also makes good quality movies and its picture files are very good. Like no one gets fired for buying IBM, no one regrets buying the Canon S3. I know a bunch of people with both the S2 and the S3 and they all seem to love it.

We bought the S6000fd because my wife thought she wasn’t ready for an SLR but she wanted more than the S2. The S6000fd is as close to an SLR as you can get without buying an SLR. It is almost as big as one but the lens doesn’t change and the viewfinder isn’t optical – like all the cameras listed here it is electronic (EVF). The nice thing about the Fuji is its lens – the zoom ring is mechanical rather than a pair of electronic buttons. This allows you to change the focal length and frame the shot with more accuracy and more real camera feel than with any other camera in this list. It also does amazing low light work and will even shoot RAW if you are patient enough. It doesn’t have stabilization though and, for many reasons, my wife uses her Canon more than this camera.

When we were researching the cameras the Sony H5 compared very favorably with the S3. There were minuscule differences that made us chose the Canon but I have owned and loved Sony cameras before. You really should handle all the cameras in your short list before making a decision. The Panasonics are good value, the Nikon is tiny and nicely designed. If it were me buying this camera I’d look very closely at the Canon and the Sony H5 and then I’d probably buy the Canon but that’s just me.

THANKS, MARTIN.

[Nemo]