First digital camera for meteorologist? (Christmas shopping early...)

I want to get my meteorologist husband his first digital camera for
Christmas! (The man has been good all year and deserves it...)

I took him over to Wal-Mart and had him play with the cameras to see
what felt comfy in his hand... and how well he could work with the
digital menus.

He found the Nikon Coolpix series a bit small, with the Canon
PowerShot A series better. He was quite surprised by the small size of
the cameras! He has large hands.


There was a Kodak he really liked the menus on, but the model was a
bit more expensive than I liked, around $400. I'm looking for
something $300 and under if possible, from 3-5 megapixels.


At any rate, Wal-Mart listed a Canon PS A85 for $298+.... but having
looked around, I see that Buydig.com has the A95 for similar price.
I'm leaning towards the A95. The camera would also serve as a possible
backup to my Olympus C3030.


Question, are there any downsides to this Canon model?

I was concerned by the fact that the A85 had a larger LCD screen than
the A75... but that the larger LCD on the A85 was NOT as sharp and
clear as on the smaller A75! Of course, this is a display camera, so
it's possible that it has just been mishandled. But I'd want to know,
as I found the display on the A85 much harder to read, like it was
soft and out of focus. (The latter being my husband's words.)


Does the swivel and twist LCD on the A95 have sharp and clear menus?
Is it STURDY?

Should I be worried about these E18 errors I've read about on Canons?


Also, how sturdy is the camera in general? Hubby doesn't always take
quite the same kind of care of things I do, so it could get banged
around some, hopefully not too bad. He might be taking it back and
forth to work with him.

And, is it, or is any digital camera somewhat weather resistant? Or,
is there some kind of all-weather housing available as an option?

My husband would really like to keep it handy at work (National
Weather Service) for taking pictures of weather phenomenon. Hence the
above question!


I'm also open to suggestions of other cameras. I saw that the Olympus
Stylus 410 is supposedly weather resistant, but some reviews led me to
believe that the image quality wasn't sterling.


Thanks for advice and help! I want him to have a nice camera he can
grow with. I'm willing to investigate other possibilities.

Cynthia

Cynthia P wrote:
I want to get my meteorologist husband his first digital camera for
Christmas! (The man has been good all year and deserves it...)


I'm leaning towards the A95. The camera would also serve as a possible
backup to my Olympus C3030.



My husband would really like to keep it handy at work (National
Weather Service) for taking pictures of weather phenomenon. Hence the
above question!



I can't address many of your questions, but I can make one suggestion

I am going to guess that a meteorologist taking pictures of weather
phenomenon will want a wide angle lens. That A95 have a noticeably less
wide angle capability than your C3030 and it is not very wide itself.

For a number of reasons, both mechanical and sales, the manufacturers
tend to lean towards the telephoto end for cameras. I suggest you look at
the wide angle issue before you buy. Look at the short end of the 35mm
equivalent specifications. 28mm or less would be good.


Cynthia

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

"Cynthia P" wrote in message
...

I want to get my meteorologist husband his first digital camera for
Christmas! (The man has been good all year and deserves it...)

Get him a Nikon D70, he'll love it. Then again you'll both love it and he
might not get a chance to use it.

Rita

Joseph Meehan wrote:
[]
I am going to guess that a meteorologist taking pictures of weather
phenomenon will want a wide angle lens. That A95 have a noticeably
less wide angle capability than your C3030 and it is not very wide
itself.
For a number of reasons, both mechanical and sales, the
manufacturers tend to lean towards the telephoto end for cameras. I
suggest you look at the wide angle issue before you buy. Look at the
short end of the 35mm equivalent specifications. 28mm or less would
be good.

Or even the Nikon 8400 with its 24mm (eqv.) lens. A little bigger and
easier to hold than the ultra-compacts as well.

Cheers,
David

Joseph Meehan wrote:
[]
I am going to guess that a meteorologist taking pictures of weather
phenomenon will want a wide angle lens. That A95 have a noticeably
less wide angle capability than your C3030 and it is not very wide
itself.
For a number of reasons, both mechanical and sales, the
manufacturers tend to lean towards the telephoto end for cameras. I
suggest you look at the wide angle issue before you buy. Look at the
short end of the 35mm equivalent specifications. 28mm or less would
be good.

Or even the Nikon 8400 with its 24mm (eqv.) lens. A little bigger and
easier to hold than the ultra-compacts as well.

Cheers,
David

Cynthia P writes:

I was concerned by the fact that the A85 had a larger LCD screen than
the A75... but that the larger LCD on the A85 was NOT as sharp and
clear as on the smaller A75!

This could be an optical illusion based on when your brain's
auto-smoothing kicks in. To get a good comparison you probably need to
place the larger LCD far enough away that it appears about the same size
as the smaller one, then see if either looks sharper.

Also, how sturdy is the camera in general? Hubby doesn't always take
quite the same kind of care of things I do, so it could get banged
around some, hopefully not too bad.

In August our Canon Powershot S45 slipped from my wife's lap onto
concrete. The display and all photos came out black after that. I was
concerned this might fall under "abuse" and void the warranty, but when
I called they said to send it in, that the techs would determine if it
was abuse or not, and they wouldn't make any repairs without our consent
unless they were free.

Even with noticeable scratches on the corners where it hit the concrete,
they went ahead and repaired it under warranty. Chalk up one positive
experience with Canon.

--
Make that pile of digital photos presentable: http://ourdoings.com/
It's quicker and easier than you think.

On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 15:26:00 GMT, "Joseph Meehan"
wrote:

Cynthia P wrote:
I want to get my meteorologist husband his first digital camera for
Christmas! (The man has been good all year and deserves it...)


I'm leaning towards the A95. The camera would also serve as a possible
backup to my Olympus C3030.



My husband would really like to keep it handy at work (National
Weather Service) for taking pictures of weather phenomenon. Hence the
above question!



I can't address many of your questions, but I can make one suggestion

I am going to guess that a meteorologist taking pictures of weather
phenomenon will want a wide angle lens. That A95 have a noticeably less
wide angle capability than your C3030 and it is not very wide itself.

For a number of reasons, both mechanical and sales, the manufacturers
tend to lean towards the telephoto end for cameras. I suggest you look at
the wide angle issue before you buy. Look at the short end of the 35mm
equivalent specifications. 28mm or less would be good.



Very good advice! I'd kind of thought about it, and I guess one can
get an attachment wide angle lens for it... but in my experience, NOT
very convenient. (Got a 1.45x telephoto adapter lens for my Oly
C-3030, never use it.)


Thanks! I will look into that, though I haven't seen much for 28 mm.


Cynthia

On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 10:32:01 -0500, "Rita Ä Berkowitz"
wrote:

"Cynthia P" wrote in message
.. .

I want to get my meteorologist husband his first digital camera for
Christmas! (The man has been good all year and deserves it...)

Get him a Nikon D70, he'll love it. Then again you'll both love it and he
might not get a chance to use it.

Rita



I thought those were, well, a *bit* more than $300?

Not that I wouldn't LIKE one... and no, he would never get the chance
to use it! Totally and completely out of my current budget though! The
$300 is a stretch...

Cynthia

On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 10:32:01 -0500, "Rita Ä Berkowitz"
wrote:

"Cynthia P" wrote in message
.. .

I want to get my meteorologist husband his first digital camera for
Christmas! (The man has been good all year and deserves it...)

Get him a Nikon D70, he'll love it. Then again you'll both love it and he
might not get a chance to use it.

Rita



I thought those were, well, a *bit* more than $300?

Not that I wouldn't LIKE one... and no, he would never get the chance
to use it! Totally and completely out of my current budget though! The
$300 is a stretch...

Cynthia

On Wed, 3 Nov 2004 16:14:32 -0000, "David J Taylor"
wrote:

Joseph Meehan wrote:
[]
I am going to guess that a meteorologist taking pictures of weather
phenomenon will want a wide angle lens. That A95 have a noticeably
less wide angle capability than your C3030 and it is not very wide
itself.
For a number of reasons, both mechanical and sales, the
manufacturers tend to lean towards the telephoto end for cameras. I
suggest you look at the wide angle issue before you buy. Look at the
short end of the 35mm equivalent specifications. 28mm or less would
be good.

Or even the Nikon 8400 with its 24mm (eqv.) lens. A little bigger and
easier to hold than the ultra-compacts as well.


Looks great... but out of my budget right now. $300 is about the upper
limit. For one thing... I'm not sure just how often he'll *really* use
it for weather pictures. He likes the idea of a camera being available
but he is not like a storm chaser type... too much effort. G


Cynthia