Digital Camera Questions
 

Ok I am looking for a digital camera for my wife. Here are the requirements

Small (something along the lines of Pentax Optio S40)
Takes AA batteries (although I would consider others)
3 mega pixel and up
Like to keep costs low

Please keep in mind this would be a second camera so it doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles. Want something that is easy to keep in the purse and snap a shot when she wants. Also want to stay away from Sony.

So any recomendations

I have an Olympus, can't remember the model, its a new one
370 ???

its a 3 meg, does video, all automatic, quite small.

should be available Stateside

HTH

Ade

To keep socsts down consider the cost of memory cards.

All Olympus Camera take xD cards....a biot more expensive than SD or Compact Flash.

This is my new camera. 5 MP. Smaller than a deck of cards. Amazingly intuitive menus. Huge display. I love it! (~$400)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1102982213.jpg

Oops! Bad picture.

Casio Exilim ESZ-55
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1102982793.jpg

See this thread from last week on a similar topic

Thread

The Canon A75 seems very popular for a good point & shoot. I just bought my wife one.

Ian

Moses great looking camera. More than I want to spend as this will throw in the purse camera. Planning on buying a D70 sometime in the next year.

So would you reccomend so of the less expensive cameras in that line? Want to spend $250 or less.

For hundreds of camera reviews & sample photos etc

See Steve's

Ian

I think www.dpreview.com is the most comprehensive digital photo review site I've seen.

I just checked your link. Awesome site. I'll add that to my favorites list. Thanks.

Steve's site is amazing. I found it 3 or 4 weeks ago while surfing. You can download pictures that he has taken of the same thing, same angle & compare them at the same resolution. I used the hotel picture. The palm trees & the siding. That's what narrowed me down to the Canon. When you compare the photo detail with others - Pentax, Olympus etc in the same price range, it had more definition. It had the features & price I wanted too of course.

The site you pointed to is good too. It has consumer reviews while Steve's is all him.

Ian

Your needs sound just like what I needed, a second, cheap, but decent, back up digital camera. I bought the HP Photosmart 435. Has 3.1 mega pixels, 5X digital zoom and can take about 4 minutes of video with sound. Comes with the inexpensive memory cards. Best of all the price is around $120.00 and most electronic stores sell them along with Target and Walmart. I bought a cool combination of camera and photo printer that is made to operate right from the camera and it came with an additional memory card and 64 sheets of 4x6 paper all for $199!
http://www.staples.com/images/produc...072932_std.jpg

I just bought the Minolta X31 DiMage for my dad.
At Ecostcom it was $174, 256 MB SD card was $14 and 7-in- reader was $5....shipping Free. Handling was $6.
Now I just need batteries and one-hour charger.



http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/X31/ZX31A.JPG


-3.2-megapixel CCD.
-1.5-inch color TFT LCD monitor with anti-reflection coating.
-Glass, 3x, 4.7-14.1mm lens, equivalent to a 36-108mm lens on a 35mm camera.
-As much as 4.0x digital zoom.
-Automatic exposure control.
-Shutter speeds from 1/500 to four seconds.
-Maximum aperture f/2.8 to f/3.7, depending on lens zoom position.
-Built-in flash.
-SD/MMC memory card storage, 16MB card included.
-Images saved as JPEG files.
-Power supplied by two AA-type batteries or optional AC adapter.
-DiMAGE software and USB drivers included for both Windows and Mac platforms.


Special Features

-Movie mode without sound.
-Continuous Advance and Multi Frame shooting modes.
-Portrait mode with self-framing mirror.
-10-second Self-Timer for delayed shutter release.
-White balance (color) adjustment with five modes.
-Five color adjustment settings.
Special framing and side-by-side picture modes.
-DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
-PictBridge compatibility.
-Integrated USB and Video cable for connection to a television set.