Which is the best all round 10x digital camera?

[mnlow]

Hi Everyone

I am not only new to the digital world but new to photography (manual) as well. I can't wait to get my hands on a digital camera and have been reading a lot of reviews.

I am looking for a 10x optical zoom camera which can act as a point and shoot and also allow you manual options. I've read reviews on Canon S1, Olympus C770, Panasonic FZ10, Fuji S5000 and Kodak DX6490. The more reviews I read, the more indecisive I become. I've somehow narrowed down to just the Canon or Olympus. There seem to be more better reviews on the Olympus than the Canon. I would pick the Olympus hands down if only it had Image Stabilizer and AA batteries. I have a digital videocam and I know how difficult it is when you are travelling and don't always have an option to recharge your batteries so having AA batteries will help in an emergency. With proprietary batteries, you will always need to buy a spare and they are not cheap.

How important is Image Stabilizer and AA batteries? Can I do without these factors?

I would appreciate if any of you experts out there who can help me especially those that own or have used these models.

Thanking you in advance.

[bobtrips]

I'm on my second IS camera. The first was an Olympus C2100z, 10x, 38-380. Wore it out. Wonderful camera.

I'm now shooting a Minolta A1, 7x, 28-200. I'm still getting to know this camera but I get the feeling that it's a winner.

IS is important to me because I don't carry a tripod when I travel, I don't use flash, and I take a fair number of low light shots.


The C2100z used AAs. But it only got 125-150 shots per set. Most days I went through one set and into my second.

The A1 uses a rechargeable lithium battery and gets ~500 shots per charge. That's like shooting around 14 rolls of 36 exp. between charges. I think a couple of batteries will do about anything that I want to do, including trekking. (When I head back to Nepal I may take a third battery.)

[jpwhite]

I wouldn't let the battery issue sway you too much. I have a spare battery for the Kodak DX6490 and have never needed to change the the spare on trips yet.

I have found the 10X zoom to be great except when it comes to focus in low light or at the extreme telephoto end of the zoom. The autofocus can take several seconds to find a focus point or fail completely. I'd be tempted to trya few out at the store to see which one works best for you.

One neat feature of the Kodak is the ability to zoom a captured image on the LCD to help determine if your shots worked well or not. I find that feature invaluable in making sure I got what I was after before moving on.

The Kodak exposure and color balance are very good. I was concerned at first that it was short on white balance options, but it does a very good job in most conditions in automatic white balance mode. Much better than Nikon digitals I've used in the past in terms of getting a good color under challenging conditions.

Biggest drawback to the Kodak is no manual focus. If one of the other cameras has a manual focus overide, that would be a hugh factor for me.

Hope you make the right choice for you.

JP

[mnlow]

Thanks for all your advice. I'm currently deciding on an Olympus C770 or Canon S1 IS. Now that batteries are not an issue, what about IS? I may not always want to carry a tripod with me all the time so won't IS help when I'm taking hand-held shots? However, through a lot of reviews, the C770 seems to take better quality photos. Is this true?

[castledude]

The rule is for hand held 1/(35mm focal length). So at the extreme zoom you need 1/380 sec or faster.

If you are using an external flash (the built in one won't reach to the distance when zoomed in) or shooting outdoors then you won't need IS.

Also remember IS stabilizes you not the subject. It may make interesting pictures but it won't stablilize an indoor basketball game (well unless its the Clippers )

[bard385]

I've had the Fuji s5000 for a few months and I'm very happy with it. AA rechargable, 10x, manual focus(not very effective) and movie (pretty good). I did only a little comparing and bought the Fuji because I liked the way it felt. I get sharp pictures and good color. You can check my galleries (bard385) but don't use me as a standard, I'm not all that good .

Visit the Fuji s5000 forum for more opinions, albiet biased.

http://www.s5000.net/forums/yaBB/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl

George

[s4030908]

I was faced with the same problem with 10x zooms
i found things to dislike about most

Kodak DX5490 weird though good family fun camera not enough manual control
Minolta Z2 plastic toy
Canon good though 3mp
Fuji S5000 weird super CCD poor image quality

then i finally bought a C770 and i havnt regretted it, it is a great camera. i was worried about the batteries because i already owned 5 sets of nimh AAs but i got an extra battery and the two of them give me enough shots also you can buy cheap higher capacity non olympus brand cells. I use a tripod so IS is not an issue but i am told that if you have steady hands you can hold 10x zoom in moderate light.

Overall the images are very nice
and this camera can take amazing sequences in the highest resolution 5 in 2 seconds then one every second or so straight after or another 5 if you wait 3 seconds. The video is very impressive and smooth for what it is and sound is clear, great on a TV. i would go with the olympus

[teletu]

what about IS?

I'm certainly not a professionnel, but I've payed attention for several days in reading all the studies about APN. And for answer to your quest, I can say this :
You should go and see the CANON PowerShot S1 IS ; it only has 3Mo pixels, but it has a wonderful ImageStabilizer (I think only the famous MINOLTA Dimage A2 has it -and I insist : every good APN should HAVE this !) that allows a zoom x10. It has a silent USM motorization, a long time high resolution video possibility, a multiposition ACL screen... The best choice around 500-700$. The one after, more expensive, is the genial MINOLTA Dimage A2...

[crisdecuba]

+1 vote for the Canon S1 IS.

And IS is a big help - I wouldn't do without it.

~Cris

[alde]

I'm so upset about all this! Why can't these manufacturers come out with a camera that has it all! The S1 has features the Kodak doesn't and the Kodak has features the S1 doesn't. It's frustrating.

The biggest concern: The Kodak needs IS like the Canon and the Canon needs AF-assist lamp like the Kodak - both ideal for low light situations. And I want the IS at 10X zoom without having to use a tripod for both stills and video; for example- taking video at 10X of a california condor in flight without the shake and blur! Also the Canon allows you to use the zoom during movie mode but the Kodak does not!

I wish the Kodak's nice 2.2 in LCD could flip and turn around like the Canon's LCD - for protection from scratches, fingerprints and for tilt viewing,etc.

I wish the Canon would use the battery the Kodak uses; my friends that have the Kodak like the lithium-ion; they say it lasts long time per charge.

It's way too frustrating to continue because there are other things such as both the EVF and LCD freezing frame during burst modes so you can't follow your moving subject like you could through an optical viewfinder. Seriously these manufacturers need to make the right camera.

I want the IS so bad but I'm still going to go with the Kodak 6490; I guess you can't have it all at this point. Maybe in a year they will have the right camera.

[castledude]

The biggest concern: The Kodak needs IS like the Canon and the Canon needs AF-assist lamp like the Kodak - both ideal for low light situations. And I want the IS at 10X zoom without having to use a tripod for both stills and video; for example- taking video at 10X of a california condor in flight without the shake and blur! Also the Canon allows you to use the zoom during movie mode but the Kodak does not!

The Kodak does not have an AF-assist lamp. Getting an AF assist lamp to extend to the distance of the 10x zoom would not be easy.

The IS on the Canon seems to add about $150 to the price... I have never had real problems needing IS but I am willing to make the adjustments needed (using an external flash or a monopod).

I wish the Kodak's nice 2.2 in LCD could flip and turn around like the Canon's LCD - for protection from scratches, fingerprints and for tilt viewing,etc.

I wish the Canon would use the battery the Kodak uses; my friends that have the Kodak like the lithium-ion; they say it lasts long time per charge.

I agree with both of these, I wish my 6490 would rotate for looking over the head of people... Scratch protection is overrated since moving it around will increase the chances of scratching and you can always use protectors.


The Kodak battery is nice. And gives 400-500 shots.

It's way too frustrating to continue because there are other things such as both the EVF and LCD freezing frame during burst modes so you can't follow your moving subject like you could through an optical viewfinder. Seriously these manufacturers need to make the right camera.

I want the IS so bad but I'm still going to go with the Kodak 6490; I guess you can't have it all at this point. Maybe in a year they will have the right camera.

Well you could get the Minolta A2 ... smaller zoom but the extra pixels pretty much make up for it. But it is twice the price The A1s are selling pretty close to the S1 price and you can add a 1.5x adapter to make the lens jump to the new value.

[percival]

Did you get a camera yet? I am now using the Canon S1 IS as my every day camera and I find the image stabilizer to be super! Best buy for the money around in my opinion.

Photos at:

http://www.pbase.com/percival

Michele

[sny]

+1 vote for the Canon S1 IS.

I vote for the S1 IS too. Especially if you do the new firmware update. Big difference!

[bobt54]

I got one back in April and I love it. The IS is great for still photography but essential for taking digital movies which it does very well.

The S1 IS uses compact flash cards and AA batteries both of which are fairly inexpensive compared to their counterparts.

One drawback is that the viewfinder is hard to see in bright light conditions. Also, while there are a few lense attachments you can buy for it, the list is relatively small.

Also, if you like to print your images (I don't) then at 3.2 mega pixels you may be left wanting more.

[marcque]

Wait. Don't buy anything until the new Lumix (Panasonic) cameras are released in August. I've been using the four megapixel Lumix FZ10, with a 12x zoom and image stabilization for several months now and it's incredible. Now they're releasing a five megapixel version for $600. Damn.

Still, I have two five-megapixel Sonys and an Olympus 5050z and the FZ10 nearly matches them in image quality. The lens is beautiful (F2.8 throughout the range) and the stabilization is absolutely essential. I've actually gotten great shots at full magnification and 1/5 second. I don't even own a tripod.

They're also releasing a 3mp version with the same lens for $400. If you don't print photos over 8x10, that's fine.

The Lumix announcement is at http://www.dpreview.com/news/0407/04072 ... icfz20.asp