On 16 Jun 2003 12:58:31 -0700, voice_of_reason@australia.edu (Quiet Voice) wrote:

>I am looking to purchase a digital camera hopefully within the next

>two weeks.

>

>Actually, I was planning on getting one sooner. But, my encounters

>with the sales personnel in the stores I visited left me a little less

>than confident, so I've backed off and want to do a bit more research.

>

>I have a vague idea of the features I am looking for but am having a

>difficult time seperating the chaffe from the wheat so to speak as I

>do the research.

>

>I'd appreciate any suggestions both as to features and even as to

>specific brands/models.

>

>What I'm looking for is a good balance of between/among the following

>features

>

>1. High pixel rating

>2. Good low level light rating

>3. Ability to record mpegs as well as jpegs

>4. High optical zoom

>5. Ability to store on standard floppy disk (or other well supported

>media...would like to stay away from proprietary storage devices)

>

>The ultimate desire is for it to be an SLR type with swappable

>lens.....but it seem those are only available as pro cameras in the

>$5,000 range....a bit out of my price range. (I'm willing to go into

>the low 1000's....)

>

>Any assitance or advice appreciated!

Skip the floppy idea - it is impractical

for high-resolution images. Don't overlook

the $800-retail Sony 717. It looks funny,

but it is very easy to hand-hold steady (a

big problem with many digital cameras), has

a 5X fast zoom (38-190mm equiv. in 35mm,

f2), and for me the big advantage, an eyepiece

LCD "SLR" image that is useful for judging

exposure and color-balance (viewing the

rear-panel LCD for this is impractical in

daylight). It takes 14-meg TIFs, but I find

no losses shooting 1.2-meg JPGs - so a tiny

128-meg Memory Stick (commonly available)

can hold about 100 images. I never expected

to like one of these things, but I now shoot

100-200 frames a day with it for fun when I

take it out - and I like a surprisingly high

percentage of the results (the good VF I

"blame" for this...;-). The lens is good,

but does show considerable color-fringing

near the corners at "WA", and a bit at tele.

Also, only a very few WA lens converters

work well with it (a $400 Raynox fisheye,

a Sakar fisheye, and an Olumpus .8X 49mm

mount [with 58->49mm step-down ring - with

no vignetting]).