Camera search problem
 

I am looking for a camera, with specific (but not particularly unusual)
properties. Unfortunately, I can't cut the range down to a number
that is feasible to investigate individually, as my main sine qua non
doesn't seem to be a standard search term!

I.e. I need a viewfinder. No ifs, buts or maybes - I NEED one.
I have tried to use my wife's one without, and it's hopeless - I can't
see the viewfinder with glasses on and I can't see anything else
without. A fairly common problem for people of my age with short
sight.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many small, light, (fairly)
cheap ones with viewfinders, and I haven't found any with my other
requirements (mainly as much optical zoom as possible). So I am trying
to find the best of an unsatisfactory lot.

Can anyone suggest how I can find out all or almost all cameras
under 250 grammes and a viewfinder? I can do the former, easily
enough, but not the latter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Camera search problem
 

Camera search problem
 

In article ,
Jürgen Exner wrote:

Yeap, manufacturers more and more removed the viewfinder to save some
money to the great annoyance of many people. I wonder if they will ever
learn that customer demand should be a consideration.

Probably not in my lifetime :-(

Digital SLRs (still?) have viewfinders, but of course they are a
different class wrt. price and weight.

Yes. As it is for walking (backpacking), and I am not as young as
I was, that is a problem.

I'd check your favourite local camera shop and ask there.

Been there - done that. I may try again.

Thanks for your help.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Camera search problem
 

wrote:
I am looking for a camera, with specific (but not particularly
unusual) properties. Unfortunately, I can't cut the range down to a
number that is feasible to investigate individually, as my main sine
qua non doesn't seem to be a standard search term!

I.e. I need a viewfinder. No ifs, buts or maybes - I NEED one.
I have tried to use my wife's one without, and it's hopeless - I can't
see the viewfinder with glasses on and I can't see anything else
without. A fairly common problem for people of my age with short
sight.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many small, light, (fairly)
cheap ones with viewfinders, and I haven't found any with my other
requirements (mainly as much optical zoom as possible). So I am
trying to find the best of an unsatisfactory lot.

Can anyone suggest how I can find out all or almost all cameras
under 250 grammes and a viewfinder? I can do the former, easily
enough, but not the latter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick,

If you want a viewfinder and a wide zoom range that means DSLR. For low
cost and weight, Nikon D40:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/

which is 522 grams, and for maximum zoom the Nikon 18-200mm lens:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0511/05...on18-200vr.asp

which weighs 560 grams but isn't cheap. There are some ZLR cameras (also
called "bridge" or "super-zoom") which have an electronic viewfinder where
you put your eye to the finder just like in an SLR or optical finder
camera. The quality of some of these viewfinders is adequate only for
basic composition, but the better ones may suit your needs. I have a
Panasonic FZ5, of which the most recent version if the FZ28:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08...asonicfz28.asp

which weighs just 417 grams, and has a 27-486mm optical zoom (which is a
good coverage at both the wide-angle and telephoto ends), and has an
Electronic ViewFinder (EVF) (although the article I quote doesn't say how
many pixels are in the EVF, i.e. what quality image it might provide).

Other manufacturers also make "super-zoom" cameras - perhaps Canon and
Olympus might be worth trying in the shop to see how they handle.

You might also consider adapting a hand-held slide viewer as a sort of
"LCD" viewer for the back of an LCD-only camera.

Do Campkins and K.P. Cameras (IIRC) still exist in Cambridge?

Cheers,
David

Camera search problem
 

In article ,
says...

snip

Can anyone suggest how I can find out all or almost all cameras
under 250 grammes and a viewfinder? I can do the former, easily
enough, but not the latter.

Canon does a number of compact cameras with optical viewfinders.

The cheapest would seem to be the Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS. Review can
be found he

http://www.photographyblog.com/revie...ixus_80_is.php

Currenly priced at ~UKP 115 on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Digita.../dp/B0012ZEDV4

If you are into macro (close-up) photography, then in may not be for
you, as it states "Use the LCD monitor to compose close-ups in macro
mode since images composed with the viewfinder may be off-center."

--
Ian Riches
Bedford, UK

Camera search problem
 

David J Taylor wrote:
wrote:
I am looking for a camera, with specific (but not particularly
unusual) properties. Unfortunately, I can't cut the range down to a
number that is feasible to investigate individually, as my main sine
qua non doesn't seem to be a standard search term!

I.e. I need a viewfinder. No ifs, buts or maybes - I NEED one.
I have tried to use my wife's one without, and it's hopeless - I can't
see the viewfinder with glasses on and I can't see anything else
without. A fairly common problem for people of my age with short
sight.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many small, light, (fairly)
cheap ones with viewfinders, and I haven't found any with my other
requirements (mainly as much optical zoom as possible). So I am
trying to find the best of an unsatisfactory lot.

Can anyone suggest how I can find out all or almost all cameras
under 250 grammes and a viewfinder? I can do the former, easily
enough, but not the latter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick,

If you want a viewfinder and a wide zoom range that means DSLR. For low
cost and weight, Nikon D40:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/

which is 522 grams, and for maximum zoom the Nikon 18-200mm lens:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0511/05...on18-200vr.asp

which weighs 560 grams but isn't cheap. There are some ZLR cameras
(also called "bridge" or "super-zoom") which have an electronic
viewfinder where you put your eye to the finder just like in an SLR or
optical finder camera. The quality of some of these viewfinders is f
adequate only for basic composition, but the better ones may suit your
needs. I have a Panasonic FZ5, of which the most recent version if the
FZ28:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08...asonicfz28.asp

which weighs just 417 grams, and has a 27-486mm optical zoom (which is a
good coverage at both the wide-angle and telephoto ends), and has an
Electronic ViewFinder (EVF) (although the article I quote doesn't say
how many pixels are in the EVF, i.e. what quality image it might provide).

Other manufacturers also make "super-zoom" cameras - perhaps Canon and
Olympus might be worth trying in the shop to see how they handle.

You might also consider adapting a hand-held slide viewer as a sort of
"LCD" viewer for the back of an LCD-only camera.

Do Campkins and K.P. Cameras (IIRC) still exist in Cambridge?

Cheers,
David
I think you are going to have to make a decision on what is most
important. Decent zoom lenses or less that 250 grams. A decent zoom
lenses is made of glass (The new Olympus SP=590UZ has 14 Lenses in 11
Groups, 4 Aspherical Lenses) and all of that glass is going to add
weight. Also in the better zoom you have the weight of the larger
batteries.

I currently have a an Olympus C-740 it is DSLR 10X zoom and weighs about
290g. I have bifocal glasses and have no problem using it.

Personally for landscape picture I like the zoom lenses and am willing
to accept more weight.

Camera search problem
 

Camera search problem
 

Ian Riches wrote:
In article ,
says...

snip

Can anyone suggest how I can find out all or almost all cameras
under 250 grammes and a viewfinder? I can do the former, easily
enough, but not the latter.

Canon does a number of compact cameras with optical viewfinders.

The cheapest would seem to be the Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS. Review can
be found he

http://www.photographyblog.com/revie...ixus_80_is.php

Currenly priced at ~UKP 115 on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Digita.../dp/B0012ZEDV4

If you are into macro (close-up) photography, then in may not be for
you, as it states "Use the LCD monitor to compose close-ups in macro
mode since images composed with the viewfinder may be off-center."

That's nothing to do with Canon, you wouldn't use an optical viewfinder
for macro on any camera.
There's a conflict between small size and incorporating an optical
viewfinder. Although I too, wouldn't want a camera without either an
optical or electronic finder, I've seen people outside using the lcd
even on higher end models like the G canon series, so I wouldn't be so
quick to assume that manufacturers aren't meeting consumer preferences.
There's a tendency in this group to equate our own preferences with that
of the wider buying public. This is a mistake, everyone in this group is
to some extent a camera enthusiast even those of us who only take a
limited number of shots per year and we only represent a small
percentage of the camera market. The vast majority of buyers just want
to point and shoot.
Personally, if I had to replace my current model I would take a good
look at the canon sx10-is, although not a compact, it's a good
compromise between what I have (A95) and a dslr.
Dave Cohen

Camera search problem
 

My wife bought a Canon for just that reason. Not all their
models have viewfinders, but some do.

wrote:
I am looking for a camera, with specific (but not particularly unusual)
properties. Unfortunately, I can't cut the range down to a number
that is feasible to investigate individually, as my main sine qua non
doesn't seem to be a standard search term!

I.e. I need a viewfinder. No ifs, buts or maybes - I NEED one.
I have tried to use my wife's one without, and it's hopeless - I can't
see the viewfinder with glasses on and I can't see anything else
without. A fairly common problem for people of my age with short
sight.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many small, light, (fairly)
cheap ones with viewfinders, and I haven't found any with my other
requirements (mainly as much optical zoom as possible). So I am trying
to find the best of an unsatisfactory lot.

Can anyone suggest how I can find out all or almost all cameras
under 250 grammes and a viewfinder? I can do the former, easily
enough, but not the latter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Camera search problem
 

Thanks for all of the information. I shall look into those ranges.
Here are a few other points.

Yes, I know that I am going to have to balance criteria - the problem
is that most search pages and even camera shops think in terms of
fixed requirements. And, when juggling several criteria, it's not
like that - more "will I sacrifice P% of X for Q% of Y?" Hence my
interest in surveying the field.

500+ grammes is too heavy - I stopped carrying my 35mm because of its
weight, and it was about that - it is about 3% of a full pack weight
or a complete day's food!

I won't bother to explain why I can't use the sort of bifocals that
would allow me to use an LCD finder, but I can't. An electronic
viewfinder is fine, if it creates an image at infinity.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.