BEST DIGITAL UNDER $200 ?
 

Taking a poll on the best digital camera deal under $200 ? (for Christmas!)
Thanks...

"John F" wrote in message
...
Taking a poll on the best digital camera deal under $200 ? (for
Christmas!)
Thanks...

Best for what?

Canon A60 probably gives you the best digicam with auto AND manual controls
under $200. But that would be overkill for someone who would never leave
Auto.

I agree that the A60 is the camera to beat in that price range. Great
picture quality, AA batteries, and inexpensive CF storage, plus enough
options to grow beyond "green box" mode.

Tom P.

"Don Coon" wrote in message
news:aF5Eb.382424$Dw6.1232315@attbi_s02...

"John F" wrote in message
...
Taking a poll on the best digital camera deal under $200 ? (for
Christmas!)
Thanks...

Best for what?

Canon A60 probably gives you the best digicam with auto AND manual
controls
under $200. But that would be overkill for someone who would never leave
Auto.

In article aF5Eb.382424$Dw6.1232315@attbi_s02,=20
says...

Canon A60 probably gives you the best digicam with auto AND manual contro=
ls
under $200. But that would be overkill for someone who would never leave
Auto.

What can I get for =A3200 (UKP) ($353 approx)? Some manual controls would=
=20
be nice :) I was going to get a 5mpix, 3x Kodak (=A3199.99) - but reviews=
=20
mentioned it didn't have any/many manual controls. Need to figure out=20
what camera to get before xmas - otherwise I may end up with an MP3=20
player instead :S

BTW, can most new digital cameras handle being used as a webcam with=20
USB? (Not important, was just wondering).

--=20
Dazed

Remove 'NOSPAMX' to reply by E-Mail.

You can find the Canon A70 (3mp, 3x optical zoom) for under £200 on eBay
(UK), also some nice Olympus models as well. Not at Jessops, though.

Tom P.

"Dazed" wrote in message
...
In article aF5Eb.382424$Dw6.1232315@attbi_s02,
says...

Canon A60 probably gives you the best digicam with auto AND manual
controls
under $200. But that would be overkill for someone who would never leave
Auto.

What can I get for £200 (UKP) ($353 approx)? Some manual controls would
be nice :) I was going to get a 5mpix, 3x Kodak (£199.99) - but reviews
mentioned it didn't have any/many manual controls. Need to figure out
what camera to get before xmas - otherwise I may end up with an MP3
player instead :S

BTW, can most new digital cameras handle being used as a webcam with
USB? (Not important, was just wondering).

--
Dazed

Remove 'NOSPAMX' to reply by E-Mail.

In article , =20
says...
You can find the Canon A70 (3mp, 3x optical zoom) for under =A3200 on eBa=
y
(UK), also some nice Olympus models as well. Not at Jessops, though.

Thanks, any idea how the Nikon Coolpix 3700 compares? Someone suggested=20
that I can get it for =A3225 (till tomorrow only app.) I've seen the A70=20
so far for =A3220-240 at shops online and the A80 at =A3270+.

--=20
Dazed

Remove 'NOSPAMX' to reply by E-Mail.

They're both nice cameras, but for the same money, I'd take the Canon. It
has ASA settings to 400 instead of 200 (better low light capability), manual
focus and both aperture/shutter priority modes (if that matters to you), and
accepts add-on lenses/filters.

The Nikon, though, is only half the weight, shoots movie clips at 640x400
instead of 320x200, and allows you to zoom in to 10x in preview mode to
check focus.

Tom P.

"Dazed" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
You can find the Canon A70 (3mp, 3x optical zoom) for under £200 on eBay
(UK), also some nice Olympus models as well. Not at Jessops, though.

Thanks, any idea how the Nikon Coolpix 3700 compares? Someone suggested
that I can get it for £225 (till tomorrow only app.) I've seen the A70
so far for £220-240 at shops online and the A80 at £270+.

--
Dazed

Remove 'NOSPAMX' to reply by E-Mail.

In article , =20
says...

They're both nice cameras, but for the same money, I'd take the Canon. It
has ASA settings to 400 instead of 200 (better low light capability), man=
ual
focus and both aperture/shutter priority modes (if that matters to you), =
and
accepts add-on lenses/filters.
=20
The Nikon, though, is only half the weight, shoots movie clips at 640x400
instead of 320x200, and allows you to zoom in to 10x in preview mode to
check focus.

I'd also recently read that the Nikon has problems capturing at 640*480=20
in a forum, that and I guess the more manual controls on the Canons=20
clinched it for me, as well as already owning some 1700MAh batters (slow=20
8hr charger though). I think I would've got bored of a camera if it was=20
mostly point and shoot.

I've just gone and bought the Canon A80 (=A3269.29, =A345 more than the A70=
)=20
and a ByteStor 256MB 40x Hi-Speed CompactFlash (=A349.99) from Amazon. It=
=20
was =A310 extra for the 'faster' version of the CF card, whether it is I=20
don't know - but for =A310 extra I guess it's worth a try.=20

They're probably both overpriced but Amazon claims it can deliver before=20
xmas if I ordered it today - their tracker is showing an estimated 23rd=20
of December now, here's hoping. I think I'll feel nervous about taking=20
it around town for fear of dropping it or getting it nicked though.

I suppose I could try it out around Manchester Airport - but they're=20
putting the Concord in a hangar after this Sunday IIRC.

Cheers.

--=20
Dazed

Remove 'NOSPAMX' to reply by E-Mail.

I'm glad you could stretch and get the A80, IMHO the swivel screen is worth
a lot, and 4mp will keep you happy for a good while, too.

Tom P.

"Dazed" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

They're both nice cameras, but for the same money, I'd take the Canon. It
has ASA settings to 400 instead of 200 (better low light capability),
manual
focus and both aperture/shutter priority modes (if that matters to you),
and
accepts add-on lenses/filters.

The Nikon, though, is only half the weight, shoots movie clips at 640x400
instead of 320x200, and allows you to zoom in to 10x in preview mode to
check focus.

I'd also recently read that the Nikon has problems capturing at 640*480
in a forum, that and I guess the more manual controls on the Canons
clinched it for me, as well as already owning some 1700MAh batters (slow
8hr charger though). I think I would've got bored of a camera if it was
mostly point and shoot.

I've just gone and bought the Canon A80 (£269.29, £45 more than the A70)
and a ByteStor 256MB 40x Hi-Speed CompactFlash (£49.99) from Amazon. It
was £10 extra for the 'faster' version of the CF card, whether it is I
don't know - but for £10 extra I guess it's worth a try.

They're probably both overpriced but Amazon claims it can deliver before
xmas if I ordered it today - their tracker is showing an estimated 23rd
of December now, here's hoping. I think I'll feel nervous about taking
it around town for fear of dropping it or getting it nicked though.

I suppose I could try it out around Manchester Airport - but they're
putting the Concord in a hangar after this Sunday IIRC.

Cheers.

--
Dazed

Remove 'NOSPAMX' to reply by E-Mail.

In article ,
says...

I'm glad you could stretch and get the A80, IMHO the swivel screen is worth
a lot, and 4mp will keep you happy for a good while, too.

It got the A80 delivered around Monday afternoon (which was pretty fast)
and had a play with it for an hour (just to make sure it works :D),
before putting it away for xmas.

First thoughts were that it's a lot smaller than it looks in the
pictures I'd seen, my hand is quite a bit bigger than it. I took about
110 pictures and a couple of movies, about 1/2 of them were blurry or
blown out due to me trying out the different settings, subjects moving
or me wobbling. That and preferring to disable the flash.

I found a lot of images had a yellow cast on them - I think this was due
to the lamps in the house, changing the lighting setting seemed to help.
It was hard to get decent pictures of the dog leaping about even in
'sports' mode, I guess the plethora of manual settings will allay that.

I was disappointed with the LCD initially as I felt it was tiny, but
after staring at it quite a bit, it seems substantial once again - one
point to note is to rotate and close it when using the viewfinder, I
left nose prints on it! I did find it hard to review the picture quality
at first - until I used the digital zoom, the composite TV out also
worked well.

Anyway - the best photo I managed to take was of a Jack Daniel's bottle
in-front of a lamp. I took it using the macro mode and manually focusing
(though I may have knocked the AF thing after?), I put it at ISO 400 and
according to Exif the shutter was 1/80 and aperture 3.2.

www.dazed.dsl.pipex.com/JD.jpg

I have noticed a few hot pixels on some photos in areas of dark contrast
though. I also tried out some new webcam software on it, I got it to
take a picture using 'remote control', but then it repeatedly flashed
the AF assist light at me for about 1 minute after.

--
Dazed

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