Digital Camera Purchase
 

I am looking at getting this camera....

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.st...ct/View/XG3634

Opinions please.... would anyone not recommend it?
Thanks
J

Do you want something waterproof/resistant? Choppy video on that one BTW.

Tell us what your criteria is, and we can throw up some good options. :)

Gav.

Rightio.....
Yep, waterproof/shock-proof is what i want.
I dont really know much about them, but gotta think of something for my 21st and thought a camera would be the way to go.
Choppy video?? you mean cr@ppy?
It would mainly be used at partys, landscape shots, at the beach.

After much looking at Digi cams I went with the Canon S3IS. I love it.
I looked at that one you are looking at getting but i guess the thing that turned me off was the no Viewfinder. I use it all the time. I have been in so many sunny situations where an LCD screen is no use at all. Without a screen that you can see with glare on it what are you gonna use?

Everyone is so different though, that was just something I was personally looking for in a camera :)
I sure you have already been there but http://www.dpreview.com is a great site for reviews, professional and consumer reviews. It helped me a lot.

Happy Camera Shopping

You know thats soon so be no more (the 725sw) and FFS dont pay $598...

Clicky

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0701/Ol...ntback-001.jpg

Thanks for the responses guys.
I will have a look at the Canon S31S and see what i think.
Melbastina: i dont quite understand your post sorry

He meant to say "You know that's soon TO be no more". It's getting phased out...

I have an S2IS, and while the S2IS and particulary the S3IS are outstanding in their own right, there is no way in the world I would take them near water, or even subject them to any activies where they can suffer a knock of some sort...

If you're getting into surfing, no doubt you will want a decent zoom and a sturdy camera. The Canon Powershot A series generally have always had waterproof cases available. Unfortunately it does make the cameras a bit bulky though...

In comptact P&S cameras, Canon is the best. There are other cameras that have nice guimicky features and technologies, but noones photo quality and colour saturation comes close to Canon's. If you expect to do alot of low-light shooting, I would suggest Fujifilm (F30) however, they have the single best ISO performance on any camera, even if I don't like the pixelated look of the end result, it is less "noisy" than any other manufacturer in low-light situations...

ZING! A quick zap over to the PowerShot website revealed that it has it's own underwater photography section. I'm very impressed to see the HUGE range of underwater cases they make for the range of cameras now: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...derwater_photo

I tell you what, maybe you should look at that list of water resistant cases, and pick from the cameras still available which one you like, or run a shortlist past us for our opinion once again? ICBF'd going through so many of those cameras, but I will say don't get sold on more megapixels as a deciding factor. The best pictures I've seen from ANY P&S camera are still from an old Canon A60/70 2/3.2mp camera from 02/03!

Gav.

Cant go past a canon in my opinion. Im a photogrpaher my hobby. For snap shot pictures i dont believe you can go past a canon in the "IXUS" range. There is a variation or price and quality but the end result is just amazing from the canon range!

Yea, i thought that was prob it but wasnt sure!
Thanks so much for your responses - your suggestions and input is very much appreciated.
I reckon maybe a cheaper camera (not $600) and a waterproof case could be the way to go.
I will have a wander around town again tomorrow at lunch time and see what is at Harvey Norman and a few other camera shops - then i will list up my options and seek further advice.
Thanks :)
J

Look at Hardly Normals, Ted's and any electric/camera shops you like, but run it past us first to be sure to be sure. ;)

Also, something ppl overlook that you might want to consider is the type of media and batteries used in the camera. It's one of those thing that can get neglected but piss you off allmighty later on! I suggest SD and AA's if you can manage it. SD is the new CF, and it has great integration in laptops and phones these days. AA's are handy as they are only a quick purchase away when you are stuck. Proprietry batteries are generally an expensive special order item...

Gav.

So you dont rate XD very highly?
Also wouldnt go the rechargable batteries? Cant you get some cameras that take the rechargable one and AA's?

xD is fine I spose, just that the commercial support isn't as broard. However my laptop takes xD and SD, but I need an MS adapter to use MS Duo cards even though they are bigger than xD...

When I say AA I mean rechargeable AA. But digicams are power hungry, and it's easy to chew through a couple of sets of recently charged batteries when you least expect it. I cop that all the time...

Ummm, even though Canon is the best, they charge accordingly. I'm not sure you will get much change from $700 with a Canon Powershot A640 and an underwater case... Nice camera though, and you only have the case when you need it! :)

However, this is a cheap solution for you:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-Pentax-Op...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Pentax-Op...QQcmdZViewItem
Pentax Optios tend to be a bit slow in the focus department, and can suffer from what's known as vignetting in the corners (look through a tube to understand). However they have reasonably good quality, I almost bought an Optio 555 a couple years back, soooo, they are worth considering I spose.

Gav.

EDIT: Yes it does have a bloody proprietry battery... But it's got SD and choice video recording!!! :D

Ok, so i went around a few joints at lunch and am even more confused.
I have decided bugger the waterproof option - my pars reckon too $$ (there goes the idea of taking it to the beach) :(
So i am cutting back to something around the $300 mark i think.
My sis recently got an Olympus, hasnt used it much though - i will find out model number and post to see if you think it'd be ok.
J

EDIT**** so this is my sisters: http://www.olympus.com.au/component/...ail/Itemid,69/ ****

Ted's have the Pentax Optio S7 on sale ATM for $299 (normally $399), one worth considering....

And yeh, I meant it was due to be phased out, sorry about the typo...

Make sure you drop me a PM on prices and stuff, I did after all make #2 total sales for the company I work for in December (over 300 sales people), so I know a thing or two about how the camera sales business works...

Yeah, no worries Melbastina - i will make sure i PM you before i decide.
We dont have Ted's down here so unfortunately i wouldnt have a clue where your talking about!

Honestly, the quality of Olympus cameras at the moment aren't fantastic. Both my b/f and friend have purchased the waterproof olympus camera. B/f is a mad photographer and only uses the olympus where he thinks it will get knocked around or if he doesn't want to lug his bag and SLR lenses around. It produces an OK quality pic, but nothing like the canons out at the moment. ie. the compact IXUS range. Underwater, the quality is pretty ****house, as it focuses on everything and anything in the water, but hey, you might have better luck.

I have the S3IS and love it to bits.....however, it's not the type of camera you can cart around. I'm probably going to purchase a compact canon before I head o/s, as it's something you can easily pull out of your bag, and point and shoot. What i prefer about the S3IS is that you can set it to completely manual and decide exactly the settings you want (thanks gav for pointing it out the other night! ;) lol ). You're looking at paying on average about $580 for that atm.

Here's the threads we started awhile back:
Kitty's: http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8020
Mine: http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7694
Hope they help a bit.
Definitely use the site that Joczy recommended. Also google the model of the camera and "reviews". That'll get you the best idea of what other ppl are using and their experiences.

I have the Ixus and the S3IS and love them both.

I'm with Froggy, however, I must admit that i've had no trouble pulling the S3IS out, so for me it's not too big.
If I don't have my camera with me, then I generally use my mobile phone camera.
At 2megapixel, it's as good as my original Ixus :)

I got David Jones to price match some of the S3IS prices I was able to get online and got a VERY decent price reduction.

Oh, and make sure you get a good bag no matter what camera you get.

Best wishes

Ok people - went to Hardly Normal this morning....
Here is some options:
Canon Ixus 60
Canon Ixus 65
Fuji F20

Canon, whatever you get is fine.
If you can afford it, the Fujifilm F30 wipes the floor with the F20. :)

I'm not a fan of the IXUS 65, seems a bit plasticy to me, that said I moved a hell of a lot of them last month...