Anyway, that's not the point of this entry. I'm looking at dig cams. PCWorld ranks the Canon PowerShot A70 and the Olympus C-4000 Zoom as their top two (of a top ten) camera under $500. So I'm reading reviews and both seem to have a lot of positive things about them. The Canon is 3.2 megapixel and the Olympus is 4. But the Canon is smaller whereas the Olympus is bulkier. The Canon is only running about $225ish at the moment and the Olympus about $300ish but.....it's hard to find. No one seems to have it much anymore. I'm not sure if it's just been discontinued or what, but despite good ratings, it's not in stock. (Found one for $259 here though I don't know the company.) I like that both of these have a lot of manual control to them - something I'm woefully lacking on my current one. I also like the Nikon's - like the Coolpix 3100 (3.2 megapixel) and the 4300 (4 megapixel), but they both have issues. Reportedly hard to use manual settings and some awkward menus scare me away. I adore the Canon PowerShot S400 Digital Elph because it's just so damned small and cute, BUT...it lacks ANY manual settings and has shitty battery life. I want something with good control, great focus (including macro settings so I can actually take a damned photo of my jewelry!), good battery life and has short delay between clicking and the photo actually being taken.
So far, from what I read the Canon and the Olympus have more of what I want. But I'm not feeling 100% yet. I've never shopped for a dig cam before - the one I have now was a gift from an online friend and while it's gotten me by, I really need something newer and more attuned to what I need it to be. Of course, what I'd love is a digital SLR, but...I'm looking to stay under $400 for this thing which certainly isn't possible yet for an SLR. I just really love photography and I don't want my camera to hinder me; something I deal with too much with my current one. It'd be great if I didn't care so much about exactly what I wanted a shot to be or if it would ever for any reason focus without the flash (it won't, the pics are ALWAYS motion blurred). It's a great want a quick shot camera, but I've just out-grown it. I want something new and better.
So.....I'm researching cameras. And I'm overwhelmed! *chuckles* Oh well, I just want to make the right choice, so it's worth reading all the reviews and the specs and the ratings.
edit sheesh! I just read that the Nikon Coolpix 3700 is pretty good and it's supposed to be around $400, but I found it for $299 but then there's a $100 Nikon rebate making it $199 after the rebate! Damn!.
the serach continues...
~ flowers bloom near Memory and Dream
at 5/4/2004 11:38:45 PM ~
~
