J.S.Pitanga wrote:
I found that A2's pictures are noticeably cleaner, sharper and less noisy
than those from FZ20, the latter also displaying artifacts not visible in
A2's. This could be expected from A2's much bigger sensor anyway (2/3" or
58.08mm2 as compared to FZ20's 1/2.5" or 24.7104mm2).


As a Panasonic FZ10 owner I would agree that the A2 is probably
electronically a little superior to the FZs - its ancestry is very good
(Dimage 7, A1...). A good friend of mine finally "went digital" with a
Dimage 7i a couple of years back and the A1 and A2 carry on the good work.

The A series are excellent cameras. Don't judge Konica Minolta by the
cheaper Z range - they're low-budget fun cameras. The A2 is slightly
pricier in the UK than an FZ20 (at least in the UK) and the lens has
less reach, though to some extent you can trade pixels for zoom if you
plan on cropping... If K-M can get the zoom out past x8 (which they've
done with the optically and electronically inferior Z range) they're
going to have a truly formidable camera.

I think most of the good ZLRs (x7 zoom and above) I tried have plus and
minus points:

Olympus C770
+ : small size, style, good interface
- : no stabilisation

Konica-Minolta A2
+ : very SLR-like controls, pixel count, stabilisation
- : styling, relatively limited zoom (x7)

Panasonic FZ-10/15/20
+ : x12 stabilised Leica lens with manual focus ring
- : no "raw" mode

Canon S1 IS
+ : price, size, x10 stabilised
- : limited pixel count, feels flimsier than pricier Canons

Nikon 8700:
+ : pixel count, excellent EVF
- : price, prone to noise (small sensor - the 5700 is actually nicer at 5mp)

Sony F828:
+ : Zeiss lens with *manual* zoom and focus ring, articulated body
- : styling, size, no stabilisation.

(actually for most practical purposes I'd go for a 5700 over an 8700....)

All are fine cameras, and depending on what you're looking for any one
of them is likely to fit your needs. If Nikon can sort out the noise
issues on the 8700 with the 8800VR (x10 stabilised) then they'll have a
truly great camera too, at a price...

I haven't yet seen a Powershot Pro-1 but it seems to take many good
features from Canon DSLRs as well as compacts. Should be formidable.

The only ZLR I tried that I didn't like was the Fuji S7000. "Only" x6,
and murky, noisy 6-megapixel pictures (the "interpolated" 12 megapixel
ones are a gimmick).

pete
--
"there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas"