If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my
trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. I just know I'm going to miss my 10x stabilised zoom but it's probably true that the extra weight and bulk is too much when we need to travel light. I took a quick look at the pocket sized cameras available but there are so many of them that I didn't know where to start. Anyone care to make any recommendations? Requirements are (in order): Lightweight and shirt-pocket sized. Some sort of optical zoom, the more the better. Takes commonly available and reasonably priced upgrade memory (see note below). I'm not too fussed about megapixels but I guess extra mp could make up for lack of zoom if I can digitally zoom (in camera or later). As much manual control as possible in this format of camera. Preferably takes NiMh AA sized batteries as I always carry those for my GPS. It will probably only be used in the great outdoors. When we get back to the hotel or whatever, I'm hoping I'll have my Oly available. Note on memory: My Oly takes SmartMedia cards and I have some spare cards. Are these old-hat/obsolete now or is it possible to get a modern pocket camera that takes them? It would save a few pennies if I could use the cards I already have available. Any advice on what to look out for or avoid greatly appreciated. I am based in the UK if that makes a difference. Regards Keith |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
The latest "fashion squeel" is Panasonic DMC-FX01. It is small (metal body) and takes good pictures. The additional features are image stabilization and 28 mm focal length (film equivalent). You can get a slightly larger Panasonic DMC-TZ1. The designers packed a 10x zoom into the small body by using "folded optics". Ultrazoom and image stabilisation work together synergistically. ... Keith Sheppard wrote: My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. I just know I'm going to miss my 10x stabilised zoom but it's probably true that the extra weight and bulk is too much when we need to travel light. I took a quick look at the pocket sized cameras available but there are so many of them that I didn't know where to start. Anyone care to make any recommendations? Requirements are (in order): Lightweight and shirt-pocket sized. Some sort of optical zoom, the more the better. Takes commonly available and reasonably priced upgrade memory (see note below). I'm not too fussed about megapixels but I guess extra mp could make up for lack of zoom if I can digitally zoom (in camera or later). As much manual control as possible in this format of camera. Preferably takes NiMh AA sized batteries as I always carry those for my GPS. It will probably only be used in the great outdoors. When we get back to the hotel or whatever, I'm hoping I'll have my Oly available. Note on memory: My Oly takes SmartMedia cards and I have some spare cards. Are these old-hat/obsolete now or is it possible to get a modern pocket camera that takes them? It would save a few pennies if I could use the cards I already have available. Any advice on what to look out for or avoid greatly appreciated. I am based in the UK if that makes a difference. Regards Keith |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
Keith Sheppard wrote:
My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. I just know I'm going to miss my 10x stabilised zoom but it's probably true that the extra weight and bulk is too much when we need to travel light. I took a quick look at the pocket sized cameras available but there are so many of them that I didn't know where to start. Anyone care to make any recommendations? Requirements are (in order): Lightweight and shirt-pocket sized. Some sort of optical zoom, the more the better. Takes commonly available and reasonably priced upgrade memory (see note below). I'm not too fussed about megapixels but I guess extra mp could make up for lack of zoom if I can digitally zoom (in camera or later). As much manual control as possible in this format of camera. Preferably takes NiMh AA sized batteries as I always carry those for my GPS. It will probably only be used in the great outdoors. When we get back to the hotel or whatever, I'm hoping I'll have my Oly available. Note on memory: My Oly takes SmartMedia cards and I have some spare cards. Are these old-hat/obsolete now or is it possible to get a modern pocket camera that takes them? It would save a few pennies if I could use the cards I already have available. Any advice on what to look out for or avoid greatly appreciated. I am based in the UK if that makes a difference. Regards Keith Some of the "pocketable" Panasonics have 6* zoom and are probably the best compromise if you feel that the pocketable 3* zooms are simply not up to the job. Browse and compare here- http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Panasonic/ Dennis. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
On Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:20:55 GMT, Keith Sheppard wrote:
My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. Kodak has a shirt-pocket-sized superzoom, the V610. The one review I read of it, though, said that you'd be better off with the somewhat larger Panasonic TZ1. The latter is a bit less than half the weight of your Oly (it's listed as 234 grams without battery), though it's probably too big to fit in most shirt pockets. Links: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ko...ew/index.shtml http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/pa...mc_tz1-review/ -dms |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
In article ,
"Keith Sheppard" wrote: My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. I just know I'm going to miss my 10x stabilised zoom but it's probably true that the extra weight and bulk is too much when we need to travel light. I took a quick look at the pocket sized cameras available but there are so many of them that I didn't know where to start. Anyone care to make any recommendations? Requirements are (in order): Lightweight and shirt-pocket sized. Some sort of optical zoom, the more the better. Takes commonly available and reasonably priced upgrade memory (see note below). I'm not too fussed about megapixels but I guess extra mp could make up for lack of zoom if I can digitally zoom (in camera or later). As much manual control as possible in this format of camera. Preferably takes NiMh AA sized batteries as I always carry those for my GPS. It will probably only be used in the great outdoors. When we get back to the hotel or whatever, I'm hoping I'll have my Oly available. Note on memory: My Oly takes SmartMedia cards and I have some spare cards. Are these old-hat/obsolete now or is it possible to get a modern pocket camera that takes them? It would save a few pennies if I could use the cards I already have available. Any advice on what to look out for or avoid greatly appreciated. I am based in the UK if that makes a difference. Sony has several digital cameras that fit your criteria. So does Nikon, Kodak, Fujifilm, Pentax, and Olympus. I recently bought a Sony DSC-W100, 8 megapixal camera with 3x optical zoom and an f2.8 lens and I am thrilled with it. Check out http://www.dpreview.com or your favorite camera store to see what else is available. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
As one poster suggested there are loads of choices. I just got a Sony
T30 and its awesome. I had been using a Nikon CP990 which is a clunker but built like a tank, and a Canon digital Elf 250. The Sony will probably wind up in the NY Metropolitan Museum of Design... its that sweet. But you have to use proprietary memory, and I bought a 2Gig Sandisk Ultra II Duo Pro for around $60 and I'm good to go with 110 7meg pix or 1100 640/480 pix. Better $$$ than Sony memory and probably faster. My biggest problem with this camera is that everyone wants to "see" it and play with it. On Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:20:55 GMT, "Keith Sheppard" wrote: My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. I just know I'm going to miss my 10x stabilised zoom but it's probably true that the extra weight and bulk is too much when we need to travel light. I took a quick look at the pocket sized cameras available but there are so many of them that I didn't know where to start. Anyone care to make any recommendations? Requirements are (in order): Lightweight and shirt-pocket sized. Some sort of optical zoom, the more the better. Takes commonly available and reasonably priced upgrade memory (see note below). I'm not too fussed about megapixels but I guess extra mp could make up for lack of zoom if I can digitally zoom (in camera or later). As much manual control as possible in this format of camera. Preferably takes NiMh AA sized batteries as I always carry those for my GPS. It will probably only be used in the great outdoors. When we get back to the hotel or whatever, I'm hoping I'll have my Oly available. Note on memory: My Oly takes SmartMedia cards and I have some spare cards. Are these old-hat/obsolete now or is it possible to get a modern pocket camera that takes them? It would save a few pennies if I could use the cards I already have available. Any advice on what to look out for or avoid greatly appreciated. I am based in the UK if that makes a difference. Regards Keith |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
Keith Sheppard wrote:
My wife keeps telling me, and probably with some justification, that my trusty old Oly C2100 is too big and heavy to carry in the backpack when hiking over the alps. For those of you not familiar with the beast, it's about the size of an SLR and weighs in at 540g without batteries. I thought this might be an excuse to upgrade to one of the new, lighter, super zooms but 'er indoors says this camera is for her and she wants something that will slip into a shirt pocket. I just know I'm going to miss my 10x stabilised zoom but it's probably true that the extra weight and bulk is too much when we need to travel light. I took a quick look at the pocket sized cameras available but there are so many of them that I didn't know where to start. Anyone care to make any recommendations? Requirements are (in order): Lightweight and shirt-pocket sized. Some sort of optical zoom, the more the better. Takes commonly available and reasonably priced upgrade memory (see note below). I'm not too fussed about megapixels but I guess extra mp could make up for lack of zoom if I can digitally zoom (in camera or later). As much manual control as possible in this format of camera. Preferably takes NiMh AA sized batteries as I always carry those for my GPS. It will probably only be used in the great outdoors. When we get back to the hotel or whatever, I'm hoping I'll have my Oly available. Note on memory: My Oly takes SmartMedia cards and I have some spare cards. Are these old-hat/obsolete now or is it possible to get a modern pocket camera that takes them? It would save a few pennies if I could use the cards I already have available. Any advice on what to look out for or avoid greatly appreciated. I am based in the UK if that makes a difference. Regards Keith I am afraid your SM cards are dead. No current camera uses them as the largest capacity was only 128 meg, and that is trivial by today's standards. Most popular are SD and CF formats (also cheapest). As for a camera, check out the DCresource and other review sites for more information. I believe Kodak sells a shirt-pocket sized superzoom, but I can't comment on how good it is. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 03:04:59 -0500, Ron Hunter wrote:
I am afraid your SM cards are dead. No current camera uses them as the largest capacity was only 128 meg, and that is trivial by today's standards. Most popular are SD and CF formats (also cheapest). SD's are popular, but I'm not quite so sure about CF. You don't see many of the "I'll never buy a camera that doesn't use CF cards" that were so common only a year ago. While CF still has some advantages for DSLRs, P&S cameras represent the greatest number of sales, so I suspect that the market share of CF cards has been steadily dwindling for some time. There are other devices that use large numbers of flash cards, and I don't think that very many phones, PDAs or mp3 players use CF cards. If CF cards are especially popular with any segment of the photographic community, it might be with geezers holding onto their old digicams well beyond their "discard me" dates. As for a camera, check out the DCresource and other review sites for more information. I believe Kodak sells a shirt-pocket sized superzoom, but I can't comment on how good it is. I wonder if that Kodak uses CF cards? g |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
Thanks for the suggestions. I shall check them both out.
I have read that the Panasonics suffer from excessive noise at high ISO settings (although this may not be a problem if the camera is mainly for outdoor use). Anyone got any observations on Panasonics and noise? Keith |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Pocket camera recommendations
I am afraid your SM cards are dead. No current camera uses them as the
largest capacity was only 128 meg, and that is trivial by today's standards. I was afraid of that. Never mind. They're not entirely dead until my C2100 pops its cloggs but at least that's one criterion I can stop worrying about in my search for a pocket camera. Keith |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
The f/ratio myth and camera size | Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark) | Digital Photography | 55 | February 9th 06 03:04 AM |
Dangers in copying pics from camera to computer | macca | Digital Photography | 184 | February 7th 06 11:40 PM |
Recommendations for compact camera (~$300) please... | [email protected] | Digital Photography | 3 | April 12th 05 02:46 PM |
editing DPOF on pocket pc instead of camera? | Alan Hinchcliffe | Digital Photography | 0 | July 24th 04 10:06 PM |
FS: Minolta Maxxum 7 AF 35mm SLR - Fully Featured Camera! | Lewis Lang | General Equipment For Sale | 0 | November 22nd 03 08:59 AM |