Okay, it's long past time for me to buy a new digital camera. The one I have now is a Fuji "FinePix 1400 Zoom", and it has served me well for many years, but it's also very dated - only 1 MegaPixel, no ability to shoot videos, limited manual control, and so on... It also has some stuck pixels, and the battery door keeps breaking (I've replaced it 3 times now).

I've done quite a bit of research on the latest digital cameras and I keep coming back to Fuji and Canon. I love my Canon photo printer, and their cameras seem excellent based on the reviews I've read. I've been looking at the A80 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/a80/index.html) and the G5 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/g5/index.html).

The Canons look very good, however I'm really leaning towards the 6.3 MegaPixel Fuji FinePix S7000 (http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/digitalS7000Overview.jsp?item=I616757&dbid=616757&urltype=overview). It is a higher resolution camera compared to the two Canon cameras mentioned above, it uses the same batteries as my old camera (I won't have to buy a new battery charger and rechargeable batteries), and I already own a xD-picture card reader, which this camera can use. Another feature I really like about this camera that trumps the Canon is the 30 FPS 640x480 video capability. The videos are only limited in length by the size of media being used, so that's a huge selling point for me (I can finally add good quality videos to the site!

I know there are some experienced photographers here, so thanks for any help!

John,

You are clearly the type to put some “think time” and research into your purchase. This site:

http://www.dpreview.com/

has killer reviews that run pages and pages long with tons of stats and comparison pics. If you have time, check it out.

For what it’s worth, I think anything past 5Meg is overkill especially since the majority of your pics get skinnied down for the web. I just bought the Sony DSC-T1 (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/t1.html) which is about the size of a deck of playing cards, has 5 million pixels, and shoots (no kidding) 640x480 - 30 frames per second video at and makes Mpeg 2 compressed files in real time. Just dump them off the camera and burn to DVD. This has caused my Digital Video camera to sit idle 99% of the time (no need).

Hope this helps,

Ben

This website has the best digi cam reviews

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

I personally own Olympus c-50z. This is a great 5MP cam. You need 5MP+ if you want to make good quality prints. I strongly recomment this cam. It has lots of manual controls, ultra compact , etc....

I'll try and put a sample pic.

John,

I have owned Canons all my life and love them. I still have my first 35mm Canon camera(although I'm thinking of selling it on eBay!). I have the Canon G-1. I've had it for four years and love everything about it. I have many friends that have the G-2 and it is better than mine. I can only imagine what the G-5 must be like.

One of the selling points of the G-1 was the rechargeable batteries that you don't need to remove to charge. No extra $ spent on batteries and they have held up very well.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

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Okay, it's long past time for me to buy a new digital camera. The one I have now is a Fuji "FinePix 1400 Zoom", and it has served me well for many years, but it's also very dated - only 1 MegaPixel, no ability to shoot videos, limited manual control, and so on... It also has some stuck pixels, and the battery door keeps breaking (I've replaced it 3 times now).

I've done quite a bit of research on the latest digital cameras and I keep coming back to Fuji and Canon. I love my Canon photo printer, and their cameras seem excellent based on the reviews I've read. I've been looking at the A80 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/a80/index.html) and the G5 (http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/g5/index.html).

The Canons look very good, however I'm really leaning towards the 6.3 MegaPixel Fuji FinePix S7000 (http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/digitalS7000Overview.jsp?item=I616757&dbid=616757&urltype=overview). It is a higher resolution camera compared to the two Canon cameras mentioned above, it uses the same batteries as my old camera (I won't have to buy a new battery charger and rechargeable batteries), and I already own a xD-picture card reader, which this camera can use. Another feature I really like about this camera that trumps the Canon is the 30 FPS 640x480 video capability. The videos are only limited in length by the size of media being used, so that's a huge selling point for me (I can finally add good quality videos to the site!

I know there are some experienced photographers here, so thanks for any help!

whats the available budget for your purchase? looks like the s7000 looks to be in the $419 range(after $100 rebate) and for 6+ MP, thats not too damn bad! Personally, 3MP is fine for my applications, since an 1800x1200 pic looks amazing when printed via Shutterfly, Sams Club, etc.... For video, I prefer to use my Sony TRV-22 miniDV cam, since its more up to the task and produces absolutely stunning video. We just got my mom a new digicam for xmas, a coolpix 3100. It does 3.2MP and the photos are absolutely amazing, has adjustable shutter speed, f-stop, and all that jazz, unlike my current camera which is a point-n-click by Kodak(quality is still GREAT with it, i just reduce my pics BIGTIME when i upload to my site)

definitely check out dpreview, look at the same pics they take, etc. and let us know where you get the best deal!

Heh, I should have mentioned that I've been doing most of my research at http://www.dpreview.com/ (http://www.dpreview.com/) and at http://www.steves-digicams.com/ (http://www.steves-digicams.com/). Those sites are amazing. The amount of detail in the reviews is mind-blowing...

FastCote, I also do a lot of photo-quality printing, so 5+ MP is required for good looking borderless 8.5x11s. The extra pixels will be put to good use. :)

I'm glad you are pleased with your Sony, but they are out of the question as far as I'm concerned. I used to be a huge Sony fan, but I won't buy their products anymore. I bought one of their best DVD players back in 1999 and it failed a couple of days out of warranty. They refused to do anything so I swore them off because of that, plus within the past 2 years I've had one of their receivers and our 32" Sony bedroom TV fail prematurely. At work we have a Digital Mavica that we've had nothing but problems with. Also, Sony's prices are too high, IMO.

venky_rs, Thanks - I'm going to check out some reviews on that one!

Kevin85, I just wish the Canons had better movie modes! I know they are good cameras, but I'm having a hard time justifying paying more money for the G5 when the Fuji seems to do more for less...

corbint, Yeah the price for the Fuji is unreal with the rebate... seems to be the best bang for the buck right now. I don't want to spend more than 600, so the Fuji would allow me to get all the features I want and spend a little extra on a case and more media!

have you held the fuji in your hands yet? id be a bit concerned about portability for the camera.... not that you ever LEAVE your house though! ;-)

but seriously, when i was shopping for my miniDV cam, and what im about to go thru for my new digicam, i had to make sure they both werent too bulky to carry around. i rolled to Disney World in ORL last May, and made the mistake of taking both my digicam AND a VHS-C camcorder. what a load to haul around the park! the new coolpix im looking at is nice and tiny, damn compact in fact, and should be easier to lug around with my tiny miniDV cam.

John,

Once you pick narrow down your choices I would suggest going to the following forum and do a search for a good price:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/categories.php?catid=18

It can't be beat.

I would definitely check out the Olympus cameras. I have an older C-3000 zoom, and I've found it to be pretty darned good. The only complaints I have about it are size (It won't easily fit in my pocket, though I think most new ones are better) and the lens cap is very sensitive. Other than that, it has lots of features.

Congrats on your upcoming purchase John! The reasons you are considering going with the Fuji are excellent ones (Useability of previous accessories and the things you are looking for in a camera). In reality, the camera itself is just a tool. As long as it can faithfully record images in a useable size, the rest is all about the user and what he can do with it.

The S7000Z reviews relatively well at dpreview.com- not great, but pretty well. There are a few things listed in the "cons" section of tghe conclusion that would seriously make me reconsider this camera. They might not be issues at all for you:

# Use of higher sensitivities affects image sharpness
This means that if you shoot at 200 or 400 ISO your images get soft. If you want to play with sharpness afterwards in Photoshop, that's not a big problem. The fact that the lowest ISO you can shoot is 160 is puzzling to me, but as long as it's not noisy, that's fine.

# Vignetting / Lens shading visible in everyday shots
This would be a huge problem for me. It sounds like, depending on your focal length, you may have dark corners in your images. Which means you either have to crop the images later (and lose some of the resolution you're paying for) or live with dark corners.

# No direct adjustment for tone or color saturation
The review already mentioned that this camera sometimes oversaturates reds. If you have no way to adjust for saturation, that means you're stuck with it. Or more dicking around in PS.

# No manual white balance preset
I use my manual white balance preset every single time. Not having it would be a dealbreaker for me. This is what helps to assure your photos don't have any sort of weird color cast, it calibrates off of a white object so the whites are truly white and you don't end up pink like Karatetricker :D This camera does have some white balance options, but they aren't fine tunable for mixed light. I've found that auto white balance isn't always true.

# Relatively slow shutter release lag (half to full press of shutter release)
My camera (Nikon Coolpix 5700) is a bit slow on the shutter release as well, but I've learned to adjust to it and to anticipate shots. This may or may not be an issue to you.

In a quick skim I didn't see any info about battery life, but it tends to be a constant problem with digital cameras. If you use the flash or the movie mode frequently, that will likely drain the battery fast. If it's important to you, you might want to find out if they offer an accessory battery grip for this camera, but keep in mind it will add to the camera's size and weight.

The 35-210mm zoom is excellent, though be aware that zoomed all the way to 210 will likely be very difficult to hand hold. People often think "awesome! 6 times zoom!" but find all their zoomed images are blurry. You will either need to get a tripod, become very good at Zen stillness, or lean against things every time you shoot using full optical zoom. Digital zoom is crap, I wouldn't suggest using it ever. I didn't look through the whole review to see if it has full manual mode, but it does have aperture and shutter priority which are excellent if you want more control over the depth of field or shutter speed.

Before purchasing this camera, I would DEFINITELY suggest going to a store and handling it. Make sure you don't mind the heft. This camera, bodywise, looks a lot like mine and is probably a similar weight. That might take some getting used to. I would also suggest taking your own card to the store and firing off some shots- at the highest resolution, with and without flash, at the different ISO settings, at several different focal lengths, test the macro function, see how quickly the camera focuses, how long the shutter lag really is, etc. Take the card home and look at the images and see if they're what you want. (Especially look for that stupid vignetting).

When all is said and done, none of this may matter to you- each camera user knows how much he or she wants to "fiddle" with photography. A camera with this much functionality may not be very good if what you really want is to point and shoot. My camera just can't be used as a P&S, every shot would suck. My husband has a Nikon Coolpix 4300 (yes, we're a Nikon family), which has 11 "Scene" modes. Taking a photo at sunset? Use the sunset scene mode. Indoor? Party? It's got modes for them. Which means you don't have to know what manual settings are necessary for the situation. A camera with this type of functionality is excellent for someone who doesn't want to learn about photography but still wants great photos.

That said, there are a number of simple things that you can do in your every day shooting to really help your photography and make a camera like this worth the $$ you spend on it. Most importantly, READ THE MANUAL cover to cover!! There will be tons of things about the camera that you won't be able to figure out on your own. And let me know if you're interested, I'd be happy to send you a list of general photography tips for getting better photos.

And finally, buy from a reputable dealer. Make CERTAIN the camera has a US warranty and isn't a grey market camera. When you do get the camera, PLEASE send in the registration. Validate the warranty. Trust me. Digital cameras in this price range can have problems, and if you havent registered the camera it will be very difficult/expensive to repair or replace.

Good luck!! Please email or PM me if there is anything I can do to help or any questions I might be able to answer, and be sure to share lots and lots of photos with us!!

John, good choice on Fuji. I am an avid Fuji fan. A few years ago I purchased the s602, excellent camera. The only problem I have is the low-light auto focus ability. I have missed many shots because the camera just can't focus. My wife had come close to breaking the camera several times because of this.

This past Christmas I decided to get her a new camera so I didn't have to hear her gripe all the time (I hope she doesn't find this forum ;) ). I decided on the Fuji F700. Wow. I love this camera. It has the same movie mode, an auto-focus assist light, a continuous auto-focus feature, a charging/download cradle, and definite pocketability. Compared to the 7000 it does lack resolution, and the extra zoom. You also cannot add lenses or an external flash. However, at about $300 online, I think it is hard to beat.

Weight loss and digital cameras, two topics of great interest for me. Hopefully you don't start a high definition thread becasue I will be on here all day.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

John,


I have had an Olympus C-3030Z for a few years now. It's a 3.3 MP with 3X optical zoom. I originally bought it for taking web site product shots. I quickly got into taking really intense action photos at the local Go Kart track, then selling the photos online. I became extremely impressed with the 8x10 quality of the photos. The camera is now really outdated, but I would urge you to seriously consider the newer Olympus cameras with the high MP ranges.

While this isn't exactly a comprehensive review by any stretch, and I can't say that other brands weren't as good, but I can tell you I know many people who have the Olympus digitals and are very pleased.

Don't just look blindly into megapixels because that's not all of it. Some cameras with lover megapixel can actually take better and sharper pictures.
I would go for Olympus. We have two Olympus digital cameras in our family and they have great picture quality.

Speaking as a Canon fan that is currently using a Nikon, you might want to wait until April - there are some new Canon digitals coming out in April like the (personally long-awaited) S500. That's the one I'm holding out for. =)

Wow, some great information here. Thanks everyone for taking the time to offer your input! :) I can see this is not going to be a quick or easy choice.

Andi, thanks SO much for posting the blow-by-blow on the Fuji. I can't say that any of those things are going to make that camera a no-go for me, but you've given me a lot to think about. I'll definitely run my choice by you before I purchase, whatever it is. Thanks again for the detailed response, it was really helpful to me.

I can see that I need to add Olympus to the short-list. I'm going to research some of their cameras today.

Jamester, thanks for the heads-up! I'm really interested in seeing what the new Canon cameras can do. I'd be willing to wait until April, but only if the specs look really good. Do you have any links to places I can read about Canon's new cameras?

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all the help!

If you go here and click on any of the manufacturers, you'll see the new cameras just or yet to be released. I think Canon has 7 upcoming releases, Olympus has 6, Nikon has 4....
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp

Just want to make a quick point.... it's not always a good idea to chase technology. Just as new operating systems and software come out ALL THE TIME, so do new cameras. And just like OSs and software, sometimes they're crap. There are a slew of new cameras on the verge of release, but since the public hasn't had a chance to test them, they could have serious problems (it's happened plenty of times in the past). Personally I'd suggest buying a camera that has been out long enough to have a number of professional and user reviews.

I was told when I buy a digi cam to stay with the G series of canon. I currently have an old kodak DC290 zoom, and a camera phone ;)

J A few years ago I purchased the s602, excellent camera. The only problem I have is the low-light auto focus ability. I have missed many shots because the camera just can't focus. My wife had come close to breaking the camera several times because of this.


For anyone with this problem (it's a common one with digital cameras), try shining a flashlight on the subject, focus and hold, shut off the flashlight, fire. Your very own auto focus assist lamp. It may seem cumbersome, but if it's one of those "can't miss" shots, it will make sure you can't miss.

I have a camera question too. My camera now is a Olympus D-520, it's alright but I have a few problems with it, and my warranty with best buy is going to expire soon so I should trade it in for another before it does.

The Olympus is sort of big, I want a camera that will fit easily in my pocket, and it delays before taking pictures. The menu system is also pretty complicated and ackward to use, maybe there's a way to make it take pictures faster? I just want to push the button and have it take a picture, instead of a 3-4 second delay first.

So basicly I'm looking for something that's small (fits comfortably in my pocket), takes pictures instantly (no delay), and is inexpensive (under 300). Any reccomendations?

edit: Oh and I want built in rechargable battery, my current camera eats double AAs like popcorn.

Many digital cameras have a delay between when you push the button and when it actually fires. This is the camera trying to focus. You can try prefocusing (with my camera this involves a half push on the button till it indicates it's in focus). Then when you push the button all the way down it will fire instantly. Some cameras also have single focus or continuous focus modes- you might be on single focus. Switch to continuous and the camera will be continuously focusing, which means it should happen much quicker. This also means it will chew through batteries more.

Can you use rechargeable AAs? Go to www.batterysupply.com and buy Maha Powerex 2200 mAH rechargeables, with a charger. The life is extremely long.

In all situations the best thing you can do is read the manual that came with your camera. Many of the problems you might think you have can be solved there.

If you still decide you need a new camera, go here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp
Enter the features you want and compare the cameras that it spits out. The one you like the best is the one to buy!

Originally posted by andi
For anyone with this problem (it's a common one with digital cameras), try shining a flashlight on the subject, focus and hold, shut off the flashlight, fire. Your very own auto focus assist lamp. It may seem cumbersome, but if it's one of those "can't miss" shots, it will make sure you can't miss.

Thanks for the suggestion. I read this on dpreview also, but I have never tried it. I guess I feel strange shining a light on people in order to get a focus lock. But, I guess the alternative is missing the shot. I am getting better at finding something with high contrast that is about the same distance as my subject, getting a focus lock on that instead, recompose the shot, and shoot. The problem for me also is I have 4 kids under the age of 9. About the only time they stop moving is when they are in bed. So I am also trying to get a focus on a moving object! :rolleyes:

I have this one and its really great.
http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/s400/index.html :tu:

John implied in an earlier post that he's intererested in fairly high-quality stuff. If he doesn't want to take the full-on DLSR plunge (The Canon Rebel for $1,000 is a pretty impressive DLSR - the lack of noise is amazing!) then he may want to wait a little bit as there is a whole crop of 8 megapixel digicams coming out.

I have played a bit with the Sony F828 (the first of the 8MP digicams) and am overall VERY impressed (although it has a few shortcomings, but nothing is perfect). Canon has a very interesting follow-on to the G5, and the various web sites (such as the ones he mentioned) should have full reviews showing up withen a few weeks of this camera and the others from Nikon, Olympus, etc.

John mentioned the G5, so maybe he doesn't want to "chase" technology - I actually preferred the G3 to the G5 because it was quicker and less noisy. Note that both of these do NOT do 640X480 video if that is a factor for you - note that neither do the DSLR's.

For those interested, click here to read my misc. digicam ramblings about the G3 vs. G5 and also the Sony F828. (http://www.komar.org/digicams/)

Digicams are still on a pretty steep price/performance curve, but the prosumer models are getting pretty darn decent. I have personally done 10X15" borderless blowups ($2.99 at Costco!) from the 8MP images from the Sony F828 and they are beautiful (although the originals were shot outside in good light and well exposed). Note that I have not had hands-on experience with the other 8MP prosumer digicams, but I would expect those to do quite well also - we'll have some idea in a few weeks when the web reviews start coming out.

John could certainly do the same and I think he's be pretty darn happy with a 10X15 blowup showing his excellent definition! ;-)

alek
http://www.komar.org/

dunno if this is too late but I have a Canon SD100 which is tiny, doesn't need AA batteries and shoots 3MP. the color and sharpness are great, though it only does 2x zoom if you need that sort of thing. it fits into a pocket very nicely and I shot all over Budapest and Rome with it last December and got some great pics.

Thanks for all the great information and insight. I've read every single post here at least a dozen times, and have been doing lots of research on so many cameras it's bordering on ridiculous. Thanks for taking the time to help me out. :)

After all my research, I've pretty much decided on the Fuji S7000. It's not a perfect camera (show me one that is), but it has all the major features that I'm looking for, is well-reviewed and the price is awesome.

Andi, after doing more research into the specific weaknesses of the S7000 that you mentioned (a couple of which had me pretty concerned), my findings were different that yours. Specifically:


It seems that the Fuji does have 2 user-adjustable manual white balance presets, and that was my biggest worry. Did you just overlook this, or am I still missing something? :)


Also, the reviews I've read with sample pictures done specifically to test for vignetting indicate that the S7000 is actually above average in that area. Did you read something to the contrary? The uncropped sample images I saw didn't show even a trace of vignetting. This was my other big worry.

Battery life is excellent compared to other cameras. :tu:

I'm not too worried about the lack of color saturation adjustment built into the camera; Photoshop can handle that sort of thing along with any sharpening.

I don't know much about cameras and photography, but the S7000 looks like a great camera that will allow me to point and shoot at first, and will "grow" with me as I learn about more advanced photography (which I plan to do). The 640x480 @ 30 FPS w/ sound movie mode is a huge bonus, and the price is a steal after rebate.

I'm probably going to pull the trigger within the next few weeks. I'll be getting the camera along with a 512MB xD picture card and a carrying case. I'm covered on the battery front - I already have a charger and 3 complete sets of rechargeable batteries. I also already have an xD picture card reader.

Andi, after doing more research into the specific weaknesses of the S7000 that you mentioned (a couple of which had me pretty concerned), my findings were different that yours.

WHOA. This is frickin' weird. The negative points that I mentioned in my original post were cut and pasted DIRECTLY from
this page (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms7000/page16.asp) . Now most of them are gone and there are new ones in their place. Which either means I've gone insane or they've redone their review. I'm gonna look into this, cause I'm surprised they'd change their review conclusions without noting that they've been updated.

In any case, the S7000 is recommended, so go for it. I still think that handling one and shooting some pics before plunking down the money would be a good idea, but then I didn't do that before I bought my camera and I love it. I can't reiterate enough, buy it new from a reputable dealer, confirm that it comes with a US warranty, and register that baby. And most of all, SEND ME PICS!! :claphigh:

EDIT: Problem solved. Those "cons" were from the review of the S5000. Either they had the wrong conclusion page linked to the S7000 review or I went to the wrong review. Either way, the S7000 looks a lot better to me than it did before ;)

Hope I'm not encroaching on this thread but could someone recommend a good camera for under $200. I don't need anything real fancy, main priority is taking my own pics daily, but I would like to use it at other times. I tried one of the review sites but it was wayyy to technical for me as I didn't know what half of the options were/meant. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm currently thinking of the KODAK MOVIE CX6200.

BUMP .....Anyone?

:confused: I know I'm not THE John Stone so three pages of comments aren't necessary but three posts would be nice. :D

BUMP .....Anyone?

:confused: I know I'm not THE John Stone so three pages of comments aren't necessary but three posts would be nice. :D


Shameless bump :-)

Hope I'm not encroaching on this thread but could someone recommend a good camera for under $200. I don't need anything real fancy, main priority is taking my own pics daily, but I would like to use it at other times. I tried one of the review sites but it was wayyy to technical for me as I didn't know what half of the options were/meant. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm currently thinking of the KODAK MOVIE CX6200.

Best thing to do would be to go here (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp) and enter in the features that you want. If you don't know what a certain feature means or don't care, choose "don't mind". It will pop up a list of cameras that fit your criteria and you can see how many stars each is given, see what current owners of those cameras have to say about them, and read the technical reviews on each, if they've been done. The technical reviews are very technical, but if you go to the "Conclusions" page of the tech review it will give you an overview of the pros and cons and state whether the camera is average, recommended, highly recommended, etc. That should be all you need to know.

Thanks so much!!

After a few more weeks of research, I have finally decided on the Fuji S7000 camera. I want to thank everyone for all their excellent advice!

I had to move quickly because our old camera is acting really weird and I don't think it's going to last much longer. I'd hate to miss a day of pictures after 444 days in a row without missing a single one! Besides, if you have a web site that relies heavly on daily photographs, you gotta have a decent camera!

Anyway, here's the package that I ordered: http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=E2FJFPS7000

It will be here Friday (if Fed-Ex doesn't screw the pooch!)

I'll have plenty of pictures (of course), and I'll eventually throw some videos up so you can see what a complete d0rk Lisa is. ;)

woohoo! Congrats! I can't wait to seeeeee!!!

And like I said earlier, if you want some tips on taking good or better photos lemme know- I'm sure there's plenty of others on the boards who have good tips to contribute too!

Andi, the tips idea is a great one! You should make a thread in the photo forum with your best tips, and and others can add to it. I'll make it a sticky! :)

Andi, the tips idea is a great one! You should make a thread in the photo forum with your best tips, and and others can add to it. I'll make it a sticky! :)

Ooh, good idea. I'll start collating tips later tonight, while I'm supposed to be "working" :D