Camera search problem

On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:35:52 -0800, Jürgen Exner wrote:

wrote:
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.

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.


What many fail to understand is that the mfg are doing what they feel is
correct.

I like a good optical or electronic viewfinder and do agree with what you
say. But if you look at the typical snapshooter with a P&S that has a
viewfinder you will find they do not use it. They hold the camera way out
in front of them shaking all of the way and use the lcd. So the mfg now
provide large lcd and not viewfinders in most models.

That said I have read reports that the Canon SD880 is one of the best P&S
out there.



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.

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

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

jue

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

Take a look...
http://www.imaging-resource.com/MFR1...=Canon_reviews



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.

Dave Cohen wrote:
That's nothing to do with Canon, you wouldn't use an optical viewfinder
for macro on any camera.

Make that "... on any non-SLR camera" and I agree.

jue

In article , wrote:
[ ... ]
Been there - done that. I may try again.
[ ... ]

The closest I can think of is the Canon a590is.
And you can install CHDK on it!!

-AlanL

David J Taylor wrote:

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

Less of a kluge would be an LCD loupe. Here's one:

http://www.adorama.com/HNHLPP3.html

Complete with diopter adjustment.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups -
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org

Dave Cohen wrote:

That's nothing to do with Canon, you wouldn't use an optical viewfinder
for macro on any camera.

I sure do.

Let's have a show of hands, here...


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups -
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org

In article ,
AlanL wrote:

[ ... ]
Been there - done that. I may try again.
[ ... ]

The closest I can think of is the Canon a590is.
And you can install CHDK on it!!

Thanks to everyone, again. Some further answers:

Campkins is still around, but (if I recall) has taken over KP cameras
shop.

I am currently thinking of a Canon Powershot A710 IS or A720 IS.
I believe that there is something that had replaced the latter, but
Canon (in their usual way) have done something incomprehensible
with the code for it. They are not unusual in that!

But why don't they have their Basic Guide online? I have had to
get information that would be in that from reviews, in order to
decode the Advanced User Guide (which IS available online).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:14:50 +0000 (GMT), 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.

Go to this comparison page and fill in the blanks.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

wrote in message
...

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.

I have much the same enquiry. I've seen some with a display, but to me
they're not bright enough to see outdoors in even British summer sunlight.

So a more wide-ranging wish-list is:

Small - (size of pack of playing cards?);
Large display (easy to review pictures);
Display works in full sunlight (so can see it when taking pictures);
Viewfinder (if display not visible in full sunlight);
Minimum time from switch on to fully functional (sub 1 second ...) (I have
an old Casio that takes over 15 seconds from switch on - eugh!);
Lens cover you can't lose;
Long battery life;
Does not forget time settings when batteries fail or are removed;
Easy to use by the technophobic;
Support software works with Vista and 64-bit versions of XP, also with Mac;
Saves camera orientation with image so no landscape/portrait rotation
required after pictures transferred to computer;
Software allows correction of camera date/time errors after pictures
transferred to computer.

Any recommendations?

TIA

--
Graham J

"AlanL" wrote in message
...
In article ,
wrote:
[ ... ]
Been there - done that. I may try again.
[ ... ]

The closest I can think of is the Canon a590is.
And you can install CHDK on it!!

-AlanL


OH YES CHDK, I was about to suggest that - a Canon w/ CHDK
(http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK) is the way to go. I have a Canon G9 and w/
the additional features CHKD adds it's the perfect compliment to my Pentax
K10D.

I shoot a lot of both events and crew regattas and CHDK and, in conjuction
w/ my SLR, ive be able able to add A LOT to the range of interesting (time
lapse) shots.

I find that i do need the optical view finder to set up my G9 shots because
the ambient light renders the EVF useless during crew regattas because
they're typically held in the fall and spring (bright sun rules!).

Id check out the above site to see if the intersection between your
requirements and the added features of CHDK would help you to decide which
camera to buy.

I love my G9!!

Rob