[DarkAngel]

Anyone own one of these two new 2.1 megapixel digital cameras? I will be buying one this weekend for work, but will also use a little for side projects and may post glimpses of my gothic altar of sound.

Any features that give one an edge over another, or any owners want to comment if they are good buy? Any other serious contenders for $400 or less?

 

[Vertigo-1]

Dunno if you thought about it, but the new 2 megapixel Fuji 2600Z going for $300 is a very good bang for the buck. You'll probably upgrade the memory card someday but if you don't anytime soon, the Fuji comes with a 16 megger, very uncommon for its price range. Rechargeable AAs + the charger and 3x optical zoom and that 16 meg card rounds off the more unique points of its package...just not a combo you normally see for $300. Jaskin bought one recently I believe, those pics he took in his thread about his speakers are how the pics turn out, + what I took at the Headfi meet in Honolulu. I took a crapload of pics just the other day on my visit to the Arizona Memorial, I'll upload some of em later, it'll show how the camera does outdoors.

 

[DarkAngel]

Vertigo
I do also have the Fuji 4700 (2.4 mp) and Cannon S110 on the short list but Cannon lens seems somewhat limited range compared to other cameras at this price. Fuji Fine Pix 4700 would slightly exceed my $400 budget (unless I buy online), but has more features. Need to try one at store and see how controls are laid out......cool looking I must say.

 

[danieln]

I would recommend the Olympus C-3000 zoom. Last month I bought one for $400 at Sam's club. It's got 3.34 mp, 3X optical zoom (32-96 in 35 mm equivalent), works with 4AAs (takes rechargeables), USB, uses Smart Media (comes with 2 cards, 16 MB and 8 MB), program or full manual control, 2" LCD, MPEG1 movie mode with sound etc. etc. Built like a tank. I am very happy with the optics and picture quality overall. Very decent prints up to 8"x10".

Fuji are also good buys, but the picture quality (for the 2 mp ones)is one step below. My brother has a Fuji so I have seen both.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Any other serious contenders for $400 or less?

Dark, I recently did a TON of research on this topic, and bought the Canon PowerShot S110. I recommend it over all of those listed above, mainly because it offers picture quality comparable or better, plus so small and well-built that you end up taking it everywhere.

MacWorld just did a review of a bunch of 2.1 MP model and gave the S110 the Editor's Choice award:

http://www.macworld.com/2001/10/revi...gapixcams.html
http://www.macworld.com/2001/12/macbeat/giftguide.html

(The Coolpix 775 and Olympus 2100 are included in the review there)

You can find it on the web for around $310-$330

 

[danieln]

quote:

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I recommend it over all of those listed above, mainly because it offers picture quality comparable or better
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A good 2 mp camera does not compare favorably to a good 3 mp one (Olympus C3xxx series for example). Sure, pixel count is not all. The Oly also has a sharp and fast F2.8 lens. If you like Canon, the 3 mp G1 and the new 4 mp G2 are much better choices, but they cost $500-$600+. Why not pay $80 more for the C3000 and get 50% better quality? Then you won't need to upgrade next year.

BTW, I have been interested in photography for well over 20 years now. I have probably 7 cameras lying around - Nikon, Fuji, 2 Olympuses (spelling?), Yashica etc. (like some people here have headphones

). Just my 2 cents...

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by danieln A good 2 mp camera does not compare favorably to a good 3 mp one (Olympus C3xxx series for example)

Sorry, danieln... I didn't see your C-3000 rec. I was referring to the thre 2.1MP cameras mentioned. The C-3000 will surely have better picture quality.

On the other hand, it's also true that some users won't really "use" (in a practical sense) the extra resolution, and so the much smaller size of something like the S110 will make the camera more useful <-- describing myself there

Some will prefer a 3MP (my cousin did, actually; he just bought the C-3000 last week).

 

[danieln]

quote:

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... it's also true that some users won't really "use" (in a practical sense) the extra resolution
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I agree 100%!

DarkAngel, if you know you won't print pictures larger than 5" x 7", 2 mp is plenty (for 8" x 10", even 3.34 mp is just "good" at most). The S110 is an excellent 2.1 mp camera, and, as MacDEF said, it's really small. If you need a camera for email or 4"x6" prints, even 1.3 mp cameras are adequate.

 

[DarkAngel]

Dan & Mac
I only need 2.1mp for the size and resolution of pictures I will be working with. I was looking mainly for ease of use features, simple display, easy transfer to computer, good batteries, software etc.

The only reason I don't have the Cannon S110 higher on the list is the lens is only 35-70mm, other models here come with 35-105mm lens (3x optical zoom). Isn't that a negative for the Cannon?

 

[danieln]

quote:

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the lens is only 35-70mm, other models here come with 35-105mm lens (3x optical zoom). Isn't that a negative for the Cannon?
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Not really. My favorite lenses are fixed focal. The 10X optical zooms some cameras have are usually not very good optically, especially at the tele end. But it looks good on paper.

Another thing that many don't realize is that a wide angle is much more useful than a long tele, for group pictures, buildings etc. when you can't step back. Most digital cameras start at 38 mm focal lentgh (in 35 mm equivalent). I prefer 28 mm, but even 32 mm (Olympus C3000) or 35 mm (Canon S110) are better than 38 mm. In other words, I will always take a 28-84 zoom lens vs. 38-114.

Again, my 2 cents...

 

[MacDEF]

DA: I thought about that when I was shopping, and in the back of my mind I was a bit concerned about it. But after taking about 500 pictures on our recent vacation, the truth is danieln hit it right on the head. I found myself trying to "step back" far more often than I found myself wishing I had a better optical zoom.

But if you plan on doing lots of "distance" shots where you'll need the zoom, maybe it's a good feature for you?

 

[Tides]

I have the olympus 2040z and I absolutely LOVE it.

I also did a lot of research readings before I decided on it. Absolutely a great digital cam!

Tides

 

[chych]

Hmm the Olympus 3020 is gaining my favor... I'm inclined to go for this, going to be getting a digi cam soon myself.

 

[DarkAngel]

Well got good deal on Nikon CoolPix 775 at local store, so bought one today. Took some test pictures today, although camera has many auto modes the number of options and menus is mind boggling, as 166 page owners manual should warn you!

Two free software programs included, Nikon View 4 transfers pictures to computer easy enough then they provide Canto Cumulus for image database to view/sort images. Don't like the Canto system, very complex and no suite of tools to edit image. The software that comes free with Win ME "picture it" offers some cropping and image effects but not really very useful to me. Adobe
software is overkill and very expensive/complex @$150.

I found some great easy software called "photosuite 4" by MGI
that offers user adjustable resizing of image when printing (not just cropping) This is extremely useful as images direct from camera are very large even at lowest resolution settings. Also has many editing/special effects/organization tools for your images, the cost was $29 with $10 rebate!

Now it may take some more playing around to figure how to get images transferred to website so members here can see some of my stuff

 

[KR...]

That's sounds cool Dark,

Nikon CoolPix series are very cool, since it could do anything a real camera can, so if you ever get really hardcore about it, it's got you covered.