Digital Camera recomendation

[D_Seymour_Dix]

*Edit
oops I mean recommendation, lol.

Hey everyone.

I'm wanting to update my digital camera, but I don't yet feel ready for a digital SLR. I'm starting to favor the Fuji S5800 8MP. I was wondring if any members had this camera, had and thoughts about it, or new of any other cameras with in this range that I should be looking at.

Cheers,
Ty

 

[Phil Ayesho]

I have never been too impressed with the optics on Fuji cameras.

And let's face it- there are two major issues with any small digital camera- image quality... and Lag.

Most folks shooting small digitals miss a good shot because the camera has a large lag between the time you press the shutter, and the time it actually takes a picture.

I highly recommend going someplace you can actually play with the camera and try simulating how fast the thing can actually take a shot from the moment you decide to bring the camera up and shoot something.

I found all the finepix cameras to be sluggish.


For a very small and somewhat affordable point and shoot my recommendation would be the LUMIX DMC-TZ4 from Panasonic.

It is very compact- but not awkwardly so, yet boasts a 10x lens that goes from panoramic wide angle equivalent to 28mm to the equivalent of a 300mm SLR lens.
It shoots fast and it has image stabilization in the lens ( as opposed to chip reducing image stabilization )
Most importantly it has the same lens as the much more expensive Leica... the optics and color fidelity are terrific and it has a large array of features... ( be aware that most digital cameras "punch" color- resulting in more saturated, but less accurate images- amateurs tend to like these over-rich images... but I would prefer accurate color info- I can always punch the color to my own taste in photoshop )



OR- if you want a really compact camera- but you want the image quality and tools of a professional photographer then definitely go for the DP1 from Sigma.
Its a camera for folks who understand photography... and it has Sigmas ground breaking Foveon imaging chip which results in image quality that regular chips require 3 times the pixels to acheive...
Because the foveon chip takes Red Green AND Blue data at every pixel on the chip... there is no color or detail interpolation necessary... no artifacting... no color fringing...
and none of the eversoslight blur that regular CCDs and CMOS chips produce.
Its pricier... and a lot less automated...
But if you are a photo nut- worth every penny.


For a digital SLR- go Canon. The EOS series are the very best, fastest and most usable SLRs I have tried.


The 30D or 40D are my favorites... but even the lower cost EOS cameras are pretty damn good and they take most any Canon lens.

 

[Dorian_Gray]

Personally I'm a Sony man. I got the Sony Alpha D-SLR not too long ago and it continues to amaze me every time I take a picture. The camera I had before that was a Sony DSC-H3B and I would recommend it to anyone. They seem to have the best color representation of anything I've seen so far except the Canon's with the DiGIC image processor. I bought the Alpha because it had lower image noise at the higher ISO's than the Canon's that I looked at. To me the image noise is my purchasing guide. Hope that helped

PS... I agree completely with ^Phil^, Panasonic makes a very respectable camera with the LUMIX's.

 

[atomicTIGER]

Canon is the best. I have used Canon for 30 years and have never had a problem. Nikon is over rated. Minolta sucks. Sony is a very good brand too.

 

[Dorian_Gray]

Canon is the best. I have used Canon for 30 years and have never had a problem. Nikon is over rated. Minolta sucks. Sony is a very good brand too.

Before digital cameras, I wouldn't buy anything but a Nikon. It seems that since digital cameras have taken over, Nikon has become a little diluted. They just don't have anywhere near the quality that they used to. I bought a CoolPix for a close friend and I made them take it back and get a canon elph... it was that bad. It was horrible.