[muni]

I think panasonic is quite a gud brand if you want a gud camera with gud performance for a gud price. I would rate it above sony...and below canon and nikon.

I have a panasonic dmc fz5 with 512 MB sd memory card. I boughtit when i was in japan for about 650 USD( with mem card) when i was there about a month back and the camera is quite gud. It has been rated highly recomended by dpreview guys.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz5/

If budget is a constraint, u can very well look at the new 6x optical lz2 which shud be available for around 12K( not sure in india)

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasoniclz2/


Hurry Home

[Xsailor]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Do the camera's mentioned above have Image Stabilizer??
I had seen a Kodak with 10x zoom. The guy zoomed it to the maximum, had the flash OFF. I expected the aperture to become very high and the image to be completely black, but to my surprise it wasn't. Moreover, his hand was shacking sooooo much, at that much zoom, even a small movement, can blur the image completely. But no, the image was sharp as ever.
I can understand about the Image Stabilizer, but could someone please explain why did the image not become dark when he zoomed that much??

Gordon, lemme try (but this holds good for conventional cameras - not too sure about DigiCams)
Aperture (f nos. adjusts the metal irises) and Shutter speed both adjust the light falling on the plane of the film and thus exposing the same. So, basically when you open the f stops, say from the range of 12 to 5, you force the lens to allow more light to fall on the Film and thus the camera adjusts the Shutter speed (in this case makes it faster) so not to allow the film to get over-exposed and of course, vice-versa keeping the mind that the film speed (ISO nos.) are a constant. If the subject was well lit in the first place, Zooming will only force the shutter speed to vary marginally and as song as the shutter speeds say above 60, camera shake should not be a problem as long as you squeeze the release (like the trigger of a gun) and not 'Press and release'.
Thus, Zooming will not have a very major difference on the shutter speeds as long as the subject is well lit. Same for the Flash.

Yep, the Zoom will require a very steady hand as the subject area is now very very small. However, just a guess, this in your case was not because of the digital zoom (I stand corrected if this was 10X optical zoom but sincerely doubt if Kodak has a model with 10x zoom!). In digital zoom, the image is 'zoomed' digitally and so the optics never come in the picture - like in Photoshop. Since the camera must not have been a SLR (again, I presume), actual result of camera shake will not be visible on the LCD panel or viewfinder as what-you-see-is-NEVER-what-you-get in viewfinder cameras - Simply put, the camera simulates what the lens sees, never the actual as is the case with a SLR (why they call it a Single Lens Reflex).

I am not 'wired' to the DigiCams scene and could be, of course, completely wrong. Kindly correct me in that case.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Hey tsk, What does that mean? I didn't get this good pics bit.

Hey Rudraji,

Have pity on us 1/2.8th of an inch CCD users for us f8 is as small as it gets and its painful to use it in any situation other than very bright sunlight!

cya
R

[Scuderia]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

S1 IS is old, S2 Is is out and retails at 32K in india with 2 year canon warranty. At his budget max is SD500 or whereabouts.

S2 is marked at around 25k. Checked up with JJ Mehta yesterday. Expected to be available by next week.

[subbarao]

Hi,
I have Nikon 4500, 4x optical & 4mega swivel camera, these photos are in macro mode clicked at lalbagh bangalore.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nsrao3...bum?.dir=/9d10

[tsk1979]

Well it does not matter rehan ji. You see at F8 a P&S small CCD camera will have more depth of field(DOF) than a Large sensor DSLR at F22.
Check out http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

[Abhay]

I have a Kodak CX7430...altho there are better and slimmer cameras around this one is a good one for my purposes.

Its cheap (your budget), 4 MP, 3x optical zoom, SD card compatible (also has internal memory) and takes AA batteries!

Takes great pictures especially in bright light (not so good at night ) but then its a easy to use camera with not many frills (also takes ok videos)

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Well it does not matter rehan ji. You see at F8 a P&S small CCD camera will have more depth of field(DOF) than a Large sensor DSLR at F22.
Check out http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Hi tsk1979,

You have a true point, but personally i feel that is more of a disadvantage than an advantage, atleast in terms of my creative preferences, since even though we P&Sers have near infinite DOF at f/8, we still have nowhere near a short DOF at F/2, atleast with the small CCDs.

You win some you lose some, and you get what you pay for
cya
R

[tsk1979]

Correct! Your "range" is limited. With a DSLR kit lens you can go from 2.8-22 in F-Stops. With advanced P&S or prosumer cams as they are called, you have range till F-11 or F-14, but DSLR is a DSLR.

[Haque]

Folks, I am reviving this thread, as I am in a similar situation now. Its time to get a digital camera from US. Have to decide in the next three days. Your suggestions/opinions are most welcome.

My budget: Upto $500.
About my usage: Camera for novice ... ( i.e not a professional use , would be using the camera during vacations/travel - not more than one or two trips a year, and some functions..etc )
Nice to have:
- 5Mp+
- Image stabilisation
- Good image quality
- As much memory as possible
- Expandable memory - looking forward to atleast 512Mb during the purchase
- Good battery life - wud be good if it makes use of standard AA batteries rather than LiIon (?) batteries ( as i believe replacement cost will be less )
- 12x Optical Zoom... Now why would i need this? well, dont really know, but since its available why not get one which has this.

Have read the reviews abt Cannon S2 IS and Sony H1...not able to decide between the two. Also any other suggestions?

eagerly awaiting for your replies.

[tsk1979]

http://www.dpreview.com. Go to features search. It will bring out the cams that meet your budget.
At your budget you can get Panasonic DMC-FZ5. It costs about 400$ or less.
You can also get a prosumer 8MP cam if you can stretch your budget upto 600$ but no 12x zoom.
Sony memory cards are expensive, so stay with SD or CF.

That site has scientific reviews, select some cameras and read the reviews.

[dogdiga]

How about a Canon EOS 300D? Now there are some good offers in the US. SOny H1 is very good too. But F828 is the most feature rich (IMO)

[tsk1979]

Thats a DSLR, and I think discontinued due to replacement 350D
Nikon D50 DSLR falls within the $600 range, but I guess he wants a cam for a newbie. To get good pictures from a DSLR you need to have some expertise. Straight out of the box with no settings altered a Point and shoot(P&S) will give you better results

[fash_1]

Originally Posted by Haque

Folks, I am reviving this thread, as I am in a similar situation now. Its time to get a digital camera from US. Have to decide in the next three days. Your suggestions/opinions are most welcome.

My budget: Upto $500.
About my usage: Camera for novice ... ( i.e not a professional use , would be using the camera during vacations/travel - not more than one or two trips a year, and some functions..etc )
Nice to have:
- 5Mp+
- Image stabilisation
- Good image quality
- As much memory as possible
- Expandable memory - looking forward to atleast 512Mb during the purchase
- Good battery life - wud be good if it makes use of standard AA batteries rather than LiIon (?) batteries ( as i believe replacement cost will be less )
- 12x Optical Zoom... Now why would i need this? well, dont really know, but since its available why not get one which has this.

Have read the reviews abt Cannon S2 IS and Sony H1...not able to decide between the two. Also any other suggestions?

eagerly awaiting for your replies.

I'd say go for the Canon Powershot S2 IS.
5MP
12x Optical Zoom
And being a Canon is an added advantage by itself.

[Haque]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

but I guess he wants a cam for a newbie.

Yes, the cam's for a newbie...
btw, have spent quite a good amount of time looking up the reviews at dpreview, imaging-resource, dcresource et all. However, not able to decide between the Sony and the Cannon.
The reason for my chosing these two are : at the moment they appear to be the most feature rich under $500. Well considering the fact that this cam will last a few years, I wanted to get the best in terms of VFM. Though there are other cams with more Resolutions available they fall short of the optical zoom. Hence I think, these 5MP are a good compromise between resolution and features.
Have read the reviews of the panasonic mega zoom, my feeling is the image quality when compared to Sony/Cannon is on the lower end.

Now which of these two is a better one? anybody owns these? feedback?

-Haque