Digital Point and Shoot Question

My wife wants a digital point and shoot camera and I was wondering
what the current recommendation is from this group. She doesn't want
anything complicated or difficult to use. She would prefer one that
takes AA batteries and Compact Flash memory. I would think a 6X to 10X
optical zoom would work well.

I used to have a Fuji 2800 finepix 6 X optical zoom and I thought it
was OK but was only a 2 Meg camera. She is tired of trying to work
with a SLR and changing lens.

Thanks, Art

I shoot Canon EOS film gear and I just bought a Canon 10D but she
wants something simple to take pictures of the grandkids and when we
travel. I think 8X10 would be the largest size picture she would have
made from her digital prints.

Thanks in advance,
Art

Try one of the Canon Powershot A-series cameras. Past models have been the
A70 and A70, current model is (I think) the A75, A85 and A95.

I like Nikons, but I'm with you--I prefer Compact Flash, and all their point
& shoot models are SD-card based now (which I don't care for). The Canons I
mentioned also use AA batteries, although they use 4 of them vs 2. Then
again, I am always hearing great things about their battery life.

LRH

"Art Salmons" wrote in message
om...
My wife wants a digital point and shoot camera and I was wondering
what the current recommendation is from this group. She doesn't want
anything complicated or difficult to use. She would prefer one that
takes AA batteries and Compact Flash memory. I would think a 6X to 10X
optical zoom would work well.

I used to have a Fuji 2800 finepix 6 X optical zoom and I thought it
was OK but was only a 2 Meg camera. She is tired of trying to work
with a SLR and changing lens.

Thanks, Art

I shoot Canon EOS film gear and I just bought a Canon 10D but she
wants something simple to take pictures of the grandkids and when we
travel. I think 8X10 would be the largest size picture she would have
made from her digital prints.

Thanks in advance,
Art

(Art Salmons) wrote in message . com...
My wife wants a digital point and shoot camera and I was wondering
what the current recommendation is from this group. She doesn't want
anything complicated or difficult to use. She would prefer one that
takes AA batteries and Compact Flash memory. I would think a 6X to 10X
optical zoom would work well.

I decided to get Her a Canon Powershot G6. That way it uses the same
battery and memory cards as the Canon D10 that I have. It gave me a
great excuse to buy extra cards and batteries and it will work out
great for her as well.

Thanks, Art

I shoot Canon EOS film gear and I just bought a Canon 10D but she
wants something simple to take pictures of the grandkids and when we
travel. I think 8X10 would be the largest size picture she would have
made from her digital prints.

Thanks in advance,
Art

That's surely a high-grade camera. Heck, pros probably even use a camera
like that for backup.

"Art Salmons" wrote in message
om...
(Art Salmons) wrote in message
. com...
My wife wants a digital point and shoot camera and I was wondering
what the current recommendation is from this group. She doesn't want
anything complicated or difficult to use. She would prefer one that
takes AA batteries and Compact Flash memory. I would think a 6X to 10X
optical zoom would work well.

I decided to get Her a Canon Powershot G6. That way it uses the same
battery and memory cards as the Canon D10 that I have. It gave me a
great excuse to buy extra cards and batteries and it will work out
great for her as well.

Thanks, Art

I shoot Canon EOS film gear and I just bought a Canon 10D but she
wants something simple to take pictures of the grandkids and when we
travel. I think 8X10 would be the largest size picture she would have
made from her digital prints.

Thanks in advance,
Art

"Larry R Harrison Jr" wrote in message ...

That's surely a high-grade camera. Heck, pros probably even use a camera
like that for backup.

She had my Dad's Nikon F100 and several lens which she never learned
to use. So when she said she wanted a digital she said she wanted a
good one. I'm selling her Nikon gear on Ebay and so the cost will be
taken care of. The big advantage for me is it uses the same cards and
batteries as my Canon D10.

When I looked at 5 to 6 meg Digital cameras this one wasn't that far
out of line on cost. B&H sold it to me for $632. The only short coming
to me is the optical zoom. The camera only goes to 140mm. However, the
camera has a fast and excellent lens according to what I read up here.

I'll also get to use it when I want a quick walk around camera. The
funny thing about my wife is she has had Canon SLR's and then my Dad's
Nikon gear after he passed away and she always has gone back to a
point and shoot camera. She doesn't like having to bother with
changing lens and carrying heavy gear. She likes to take pictures but
likes it hassle free.

That said, I'm worried that she won't actually take the time to learn
how to use this camera correctly. She will probably set it on one of
the automatic settings and just point and click. She also will hand me
the card and I will get to upload her images and then let her select
her keepers. It's a hassle but at least she enjoys being out there
taking pictures when I drag her out on one on my photo adentures.

Art

I decided to get Her a Canon Powershot G6. That way it uses the same
battery and memory cards as the Canon D10 that I have. It gave me a
great excuse to buy extra cards and batteries and it will work out
great for her as well.

Thanks, Art

(Art Salmons) wrote:

snippage

That said, I'm worried that she won't actually take the time to learn
how to use this camera correctly. She will probably set it on one of
the automatic settings and just point and click.

more snippage

What's wrong with that? That's the reason the camera has automatic
mode(s). Using them is one way of using the camera correctly.

I learned with my wife (and it's true of many, many people) that it's
best to let them go auto if that's what they want. The only thing
that would bother me is if she didn't learn to zoom or learn to turn
the flash on and off.

Myself, I'm not sure I've ever used a camera in auto-everything
mode...but I won't worry about those who do.

Austin

(AustinBoston) wrote in message . com...
snip

Myself, I'm not sure I've ever used a camera in auto-everything
mode...but I won't worry about those who do.

Austin

I agree somewhat, as my wife has started wanting to go on my
photography outings. So much so, I had to buy a CP5400 to supplement
the CP5700 we already had because she "hogged" the 5700 so much I
could hardly use it all. (I've now sold the 5400 and bought a D-SLR,
still have the 5700.) But then, again, sometimes they need to learn
the "advanced" or "creative" ways for their own good.

In my wife's case, the camera is typically on aperture-priority, and I
keep having to remind her to use a faster-shutter speed to prevent
blur if she utilizes the 250-280mm equivalent end of the zoom. She
keeps getting blurry pictures when she zooms due to slow shutter
speeds and I keep telling her "twirl the dial" meaning use the command
wheel to "shift" the aperture/shutter speed combination. How hard is
that? But she practically never remembers. Even when I later see a
blurry photo and figure out via EXIF data the problem, I then tell her
AGAIN she needs to up her shutter speed, she AGIAN keeps asking "how
do you do that?"

Argh!! Just twirl the #$((&$(* dial!!

Why not shutter-priority, you ask? Typically it's near night-time with
many of our outings and there's the risk of underexposure if it's
darkening, and 1/60 second is fine with wide-angle shots. But I can
NEVER get her to get those principles in her head, obvious as they
are.

She also takes too many pictures. Yes, even in the digital realm that
is possible. I've seen outings where I take 40-70 photos in a 1 1/2
hour period of different vantages points of scenics in the desert,
that's still almost a photo a minute. Meanwhile, she's taken 250! And
3/4ths of them look like the same thing--no exposure compensation
tweaks, or saturation tweaks, or vantage-point tweaks, just 4-5
pictures of the EXACT SAME THING with every single subject. I'm
like--for crying out loud, the camera is going to wear out by the end
of the year at that rate.

I can NEVER get her to understand that you take 3-4 pictures of the
same thing when it's say, a wedding and the bride & groom are kissing;
put it in "burst" mode and pick the best of the 3-5 of those. Or, with
scenics, take 2-3 of the same thing with EV at 0, EV at -1, EV at +1,
etc. (Bracketing of course.) But then, after that, unless the lighting
has changed or you see a better point of view you want to try out,
then at least for that subject--STOP! No more. You can only take so
many before it's just waste.

Ah, the beauty of marriage. (Yes, I am happy, but yeah they are
quirks.)

LRH

(AustinBoston) wrote in message . com...
snip

Myself, I'm not sure I've ever used a camera in auto-everything
mode...but I won't worry about those who do.

Austin

I agree somewhat, as my wife has started wanting to go on my
photography outings. So much so, I had to buy a CP5400 to supplement
the CP5700 we already had because she "hogged" the 5700 so much I
could hardly use it all. (I've now sold the 5400 and bought a D-SLR,
still have the 5700.) But then, again, sometimes they need to learn
the "advanced" or "creative" ways for their own good.

In my wife's case, the camera is typically on aperture-priority, and I
keep having to remind her to use a faster-shutter speed to prevent
blur if she utilizes the 250-280mm equivalent end of the zoom. She
keeps getting blurry pictures when she zooms due to slow shutter
speeds and I keep telling her "twirl the dial" meaning use the command
wheel to "shift" the aperture/shutter speed combination. How hard is
that? But she practically never remembers. Even when I later see a
blurry photo and figure out via EXIF data the problem, I then tell her
AGAIN she needs to up her shutter speed, she AGIAN keeps asking "how
do you do that?"

Argh!! Just twirl the #$((&$(* dial!!

Why not shutter-priority, you ask? Typically it's near night-time with
many of our outings and there's the risk of underexposure if it's
darkening, and 1/60 second is fine with wide-angle shots. But I can
NEVER get her to get those principles in her head, obvious as they
are.

She also takes too many pictures. Yes, even in the digital realm that
is possible. I've seen outings where I take 40-70 photos in a 1 1/2
hour period of different vantages points of scenics in the desert,
that's still almost a photo a minute. Meanwhile, she's taken 250! And
3/4ths of them look like the same thing--no exposure compensation
tweaks, or saturation tweaks, or vantage-point tweaks, just 4-5
pictures of the EXACT SAME THING with every single subject. I'm
like--for crying out loud, the camera is going to wear out by the end
of the year at that rate.

I can NEVER get her to understand that you take 3-4 pictures of the
same thing when it's say, a wedding and the bride & groom are kissing;
put it in "burst" mode and pick the best of the 3-5 of those. Or, with
scenics, take 2-3 of the same thing with EV at 0, EV at -1, EV at +1,
etc. (Bracketing of course.) But then, after that, unless the lighting
has changed or you see a better point of view you want to try out,
then at least for that subject--STOP! No more. You can only take so
many before it's just waste.

Ah, the beauty of marriage. (Yes, I am happy, but yeah they are
quirks.)

LRH

(Art Salmons) wrote:

snippage

That said, I'm worried that she won't actually take the time to learn
how to use this camera correctly. She will probably set it on one of
the automatic settings and just point and click.

more snippage

What's wrong with that? That's the reason the camera has automatic
mode(s). Using them is one way of using the camera correctly.

I learned with my wife (and it's true of many, many people) that it's
best to let them go auto if that's what they want. The only thing
that would bother me is if she didn't learn to zoom or learn to turn
the flash on and off.

Myself, I'm not sure I've ever used a camera in auto-everything
mode...but I won't worry about those who do.

Austin

"Larry R Harrison Jr" wrote in message ...

That's surely a high-grade camera. Heck, pros probably even use a camera
like that for backup.

She had my Dad's Nikon F100 and several lens which she never learned
to use. So when she said she wanted a digital she said she wanted a
good one. I'm selling her Nikon gear on Ebay and so the cost will be
taken care of. The big advantage for me is it uses the same cards and
batteries as my Canon D10.

When I looked at 5 to 6 meg Digital cameras this one wasn't that far
out of line on cost. B&H sold it to me for $632. The only short coming
to me is the optical zoom. The camera only goes to 140mm. However, the
camera has a fast and excellent lens according to what I read up here.

I'll also get to use it when I want a quick walk around camera. The
funny thing about my wife is she has had Canon SLR's and then my Dad's
Nikon gear after he passed away and she always has gone back to a
point and shoot camera. She doesn't like having to bother with
changing lens and carrying heavy gear. She likes to take pictures but
likes it hassle free.

That said, I'm worried that she won't actually take the time to learn
how to use this camera correctly. She will probably set it on one of
the automatic settings and just point and click. She also will hand me
the card and I will get to upload her images and then let her select
her keepers. It's a hassle but at least she enjoys being out there
taking pictures when I drag her out on one on my photo adentures.

Art

I decided to get Her a Canon Powershot G6. That way it uses the same
battery and memory cards as the Canon D10 that I have. It gave me a
great excuse to buy extra cards and batteries and it will work out
great for her as well.

Thanks, Art