Digi Cameras, what to get???? Options

[tod914]

I'm in the market for a digi camera. Was considering the new nikon s1, fuji f10 and 550. They all seem to have their pros and cons. What would you guys/gals suggest? Is it worth putting a few bucks more towards and SLR? And if so... again what do you suggest?

Thanks,

Tod

[bmcwilli]

I agree with e'one's assessment of the various non-slr's. The current crop are all quite good. One area that is REAL important to me is how quickly the autofocus works. My first digicam (an Olympus) had very slow autofocus. I missed a lot of shots, and a lot were blurry.

You can get around that problem by pre-focussing.

One problem with the SLR's...eventually, the imager (CCD or CMOS) will get dirty. When you change lenses you provide an apportunity for dirt to enter thr camera. The cameras are designed with this in mind. Eventually, you must send the SLR to the MFG for cleaning. Not a big deal, but something to consider.

Other things to think about..what kind of batteries, what kind of battery life? As far as I can tell, Canon and Sony are tops in this area. I do not like cameras that use the AA battery format, but that's just me.

One camera I haven't seen recommended: Sonys. I have the DSC-F717, and have used it for 4 years. It has a 5x zoom (the newer DSC-F828 has 7x, and the newest DSC-H1 has 12X), a cool articulating lens, good performance and battery life. It's built like a tank. I recentlt dropped my 717 onto concrete from about chest level. The daylight filter cracked (it's expendable of course, and was there for lens protection). The lens cap jammed so hard that I had to destroy the cap to remove it. Yet the camera i FINE! No damage at all. Amazing.

I keep wanting to buy a digi rebel, as I have Canon lenses from my film cmaera. But the Sony keeps getting the job done.

Do look at the Sony's and the canon S2-IS. Alll have image stabilization. Unless you are dead set on a dSLR, and already own lenses, these are compelling cameras.

also..I really like Steves-digicams.com conclusion articles. I always read the conclusions FIRST (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/type.gif)

I would also recommend Ritz camera. Their prices are competitive, and they have the best protection plan I've seen. You can run over tha camera on they way out of the store, and Ritz will replace it (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/mueba.gif)