Totally OT -advice on digital camera purchase

What are you looking for? Point-and-click-I-don't-konw-anythign-about- cameras, or a proper SLR? You'll get an SLR lookalike for that price.

Compatibility with a Mac shouldn't be a problem, though what version of=20 MacOS are you running?

Ta, Aled.

Get a Sony. Regards Stephen

Hi Nikki,

It's the lens not the camera - rubbish in , rubbish out!

I swear by Nikon - go for the best you can afford.

Cheers

Mark HH

I think Nikon do a fully waterproof camera.

Rich

On or around Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:23:54 +0100, Nikki Cluley enlightened us thusly:

well, I've been quite satisfied with my new (secondhand) toy, which is an Olympus C700UZ. it's a few models behind the leading edge... the same series has 720, 730, 740 and maybe more now. ah yes, 750, 756, 770.

the UZ is for ultrazoom, they have 10x zoom. bit flighty to hold still on maximum zoom, though. The later ones have more pixels (mine's a "mere" 2.1 Mpix, but that makes for 1600x1200 pictures) and use XD cards rather then smnartmedia which mine does.

others have had good results from fuji cameras, and in fact we also have a fuji finepix 1400 here which is a nice little point-and-shoot style with a

3x zoom.

may I recommend

especially the "cameras" link on the bar on the left - very good for comparing specs.

actually, the one I really fancied was the Oly 2100UZ, which also has image stabilisation, but they tend to be a bit more pricey.

I've got a Fuji S602zoom and I think it's fantastic, does everything I want. It uses a 340MB IBM microdrive for storage and as long as you can use USB or have a card reader on the Mac it'll probably work.

It's been superseded now but I should think that current Fuji models are similar. You can do point and click or have everything on manual if you like. 6x optical zoom as well.

For lots of choice take a look at

I would look at

and then buy from

I have a fairly old Sony 'big brick' 4MP job, and it is great if a little slow shutter wise. Battery life is particularly good.

Mandy has a tiny Casio 2MP job, which is great as it is always in her handbag and ready to go.

The smaller they are, the more likely they are to break IME.

I know very little about Macs, but presume you can get a media card reader for them, in which case just about any camera will work with it.

Twas Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:23:54 +0100 when Nikki Cluley put finger to keyboard producing:

For that money I'd look at a fuji, maybe S602. I personally don't like fuji as they have problems with accurate colour reproduction, probably not an issue for most people but photography is what I do. My personal reccomendation would be to get an olympus C-750 UZ second hand, and as big a memory card as you can afford. (128 is a sensible size to aim for). As long as your Mac OS is a fairly recent one you'll not have any compatability issues, macs are very common in the photography world and camera manufacturers know this.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Fuji S3500

Scott

Is the 602 considered a good camera then? I know next to nothing about photography and bought my 602 cos I liked the look and feel, also being point and shoot as well as manual appealed to me. I though it may make me learn a bit about photography, and I have a bit, I sometimes use the manual settings.

What colour problems do Fuji's have? I've noticed reds and oranges aren't always right, sometimes the're not bright enough, others they almost glow.

On the whole I'm very please with it though.

Twas 29 Oct 2004 12:24:50 GMT when Simon Barr put finger to keyboard producing:

It's considered a good-un, though I'd not use it.

hit the nail on the head, it's reds and oranges that seem to fox it, which can be a real problem when your main work is people as skintines are not reproduced accuratly.

If you are not trying to produce pro-standard images then the 602 is a mighty-fine camera. very capable.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

As well as what everyone else says, its worth thinking about the batteries. Digital cameras eat batteries, get a camera that takes AA batteries, that way if you are ever out and about and run out of power you can just replace the batteries rather than trying to find a power outlet and the time to recharge the cameras own batteries. And of course get some rechargables. Make sure you read the 'mAh' of the battery, try and get ones as high as possible, 2000mAh or somewhere around there.

I bought a Fuji S500 last year and I must say i am very pleased with the results, as simple point and click or as complex as you want it with all sorts of controls you find on a 35mm.

128Mb memory and away i go. 20x zoom, (10x optical)

Highly recommended

AlunP

Twas Fri, 29 Oct 2004 12:56:13 GMT when "Nigel" put finger to keyboard producing:

That's good advice, I carry 3 sets of 2300mAh, though I've never yet run-down one set on a shoot.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Twas Fri, 29 Oct 2004 14:04:51 GMT when "Alun P" put finger to keyboard producing:

worth noting that optical zoom is a true zoom, digital zoom simply crops the image to the centre thus reducing the quality. the common rule is never to use the digital zoom, you can get the same effect editing later.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

All of my pics (4gig or so) on

were taken with Fuji Finepix [whatever I had at the time] cameras. I'm currently trying to break a Finepic F402

Remember that rechargable batteries can deliver more current than an alkaline. Fresh alkalines are a useful emergency power source, but many cameras will need more current than slightly discharged alkalines can supply.

I agree, the optical zoom is superb...... excellent lens

AlunP

In message , Nikki Cluley writes

Canon - gives you the option of point and click or control the settings yourself. Also will take additional lenses.